County Court Judgement - help!

reb1989

Hi all,
This is my first post although I've been reading lots of your posts here for a long time.

Basically, when I was in my late teens/early 20s I got myself into some debt, well, quite a lot of debt. If I'm honest, I really still don't know how much I owe in total - but that's another story.

When I was 19, I took out a £100 overdraft with Halifax, I didn't pay it back and needless to say it spiraled out of control. I was left with a debt of £876. At the start of the year I received a letter for Bryan Carter solicitors who the debt had been handed to from Lowell, they asked me to get in touch. I made an account on their website and sent them an email as instructed on the letter. I received no reply, so one month later, I sent another. I received no reply. On Wednesday morning I awoke to find notification that litigation proceedings had been started. I had a pack containing one of those admission forms/defence forms from the county court. This morning, I received a letter from BC informing me that these proceedings had been started, and additional costs had also been added to my account, it now totals £1070. I called them and said I wasn't prepared to pay those additional charges since I had attempted to contact them twice and had received no reply from them, the guy I spoke to discussed this with his line manager and I was then informed that they had emailed me (which they hadnt) thus I was responsible for the additional charges and they were sticking. Long story short, I was the phone for a long time and eventually bullied into paying £100 today (leaving me with about £30 to last me the next week and a half), and they have set up a repayment plan thats £160.12 per month for six months. If I don't meet any of these monthly payments then I will be given a CCJ apparently. I agreed to it, I was scared, didn't know what to do and really can't face getting a CCJ, I already have one and I'm desperately trying to sort my finances out. The thing is, I simply can't afford this amount each month. Even if I stop all unnecessary purchases, I still can't. I can probably afford it if I stop eating or don't use any gas or electricity!

So my question is this, what should I do? I was thinking about going to the CSA and discussing it with them, would they be able to arrange a more affordable payment plan? BC said that they would not accept any less than £160 a month and had no issue with letting it go to court if I refused to pay less. Do I just need to bite the bullet and accept I'm going to get another CCJ?

Sorry for the long post

Rebecca

Bobarella

Hi Rebecca
Sorry to read about your situation. I'm no expert but my first thought was could you get an evening job just for 6 months? If you really want to get rid of the debt without any further action then maybe that's one option. To be honest they shouldn't have bullied you though, it's horrible being in that position.
Hope you get more advice here soon.
Bob

reb1989

Thanks Bob, I've thought about getting an evening job but honestly I already put in a 40 hour week (studying for a PhD) and I do teaching at the university, thus evenings/weekends are spent marking. I would love just a few more hours in the day so I could earn some extra money!
Rebecca

sourcrates

reb1989 wrote: »

Hi all,
This is my first post although I've been reading lots of your posts here for a long time.

Basically, when I was in my late teens/early 20s I got myself into some debt, well, quite a lot of debt. If I'm honest, I really still don't know how much I owe in total - but that's another story.

When I was 19, I took out a £100 overdraft with Halifax, I didn't pay it back and needless to say it spiraled out of control. I was left with a debt of £876. At the start of the year I received a letter for Bryan Carter solicitors who the debt had been handed to from Lowell, they asked me to get in touch. I made an account on their website and sent them an email as instructed on the letter. I received no reply, so one month later, I sent another. I received no reply. On Wednesday morning I awoke to find notification that litigation proceedings had been started. I had a pack containing one of those admission forms/defence forms from the county court. This morning, I received a letter from BC informing me that these proceedings had been started, and additional costs had also been added to my account, it now totals £1070. I called them and said I wasn't prepared to pay those additional charges since I had attempted to contact them twice and had received no reply from them, the guy I spoke to discussed this with his line manager and I was then informed that they had emailed me (which they hadnt) thus I was responsible for the additional charges and they were sticking. Long story short, I was the phone for a long time and eventually bullied into paying £100 today (leaving me with about £30 to last me the next week and a half), and they have set up a repayment plan thats £160.12 per month for six months. If I don't meet any of these monthly payments then I will be given a CCJ apparently. I agreed to it, I was scared, didn't know what to do and really can't face getting a CCJ, I already have one and I'm desperately trying to sort my finances out. The thing is, I simply can't afford this amount each month. Even if I stop all unnecessary purchases, I still can't. I can probably afford it if I stop eating or don't use any gas or electricity!

So my question is this, what should I do? I was thinking about going to the CSA and discussing it with them, would they be able to arrange a more affordable payment plan? BC said that they would not accept any less than £160 a month and had no issue with letting it go to court if I refused to pay less. Do I just need to bite the bullet and accept I'm going to get another CCJ?

Sorry for the long post

Rebecca

Hi,
This is nothing short of bullying. And I would not stand for it.
I'm afraid if this is unaffordable, you will have to bite the bullet, and accept another CCJ is likley.
If it was me, I would not pay them under the arrangement you have made, I would write to them, cancelling the arrangement, insist you felt bullied into making this agreement, and invite them to take you to court !!!!

The court will not make you pay more than you can afford, fact !!

You just need to admit the claim, make sure you include your income/expenditure, make it clear what you can afford to pay.

It will likley be a lot less than £160.

In this instance going to court may benefit you.
Call there bluff !!!

fatbelly

Rebecca

If you have received a court claim form then you need to deal with that and stop talking to/emailing the lying scumbags at Bryan Carter.

If you do not respond within 14 days of the date of service you will receive a default judgement ordering you to pay the whole sum immediately and, if you do not do this they then have the options of bailiffs/attachment to earnings/ charging order.

Was there ever a period of 6 years (England/Wales law) when you did not acknowledge this debt by either making a payment or writing to the debt owners?

When you say CSA are you referring to the Credit Services Association? - they are not going to help here.

To respond to the claim form the guys at Legalbeagles have a dedicated sub-forum to Bryan Carter

http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/forumdisplay.php?105-Received-a-Court-Claim

As you appear to have a wide-ranging debt problem you may need a broad solution and the guys at National Debtline will give honest impartial advice

https://www.nationaldebtline.org/EW/Pages/default.aspx

What's your total debt, Rebecca, including the full value of this claim?

macman

You say you are 'desperately trying to sort your finances out', but you 'don't know how much you owe in total'.
I have to state the obvious-you can't begin to sort your debt problem out until you know what your debts actually are. So establishing where you are now should be your first priority. Otherwise you are just putting your head in the sand.

Bobarella

reb1989 wrote: »

Thanks Bob, I've thought about getting an evening job but honestly I already put in a 40 hour week (studying for a PhD) and I do teaching at the university, thus evenings/weekends are spent marking. I would love just a few more hours in the day so I could earn some extra money!
Rebecca

hummmm does sound like you would struggle to do anything else. My only other suggestion is have you got any thing you could sell on the side. Ebay. Music magpie etc. But that's not going to get you £160 a month. Sounds like others have given some good advice though. Good luck to you.