Advice regarding CCJ

Joulesw

Hi All,
A few months ago I had a letter from a company claiming I owed them around £800, and telling me I need to contact them asap. I used to have quite a lot of debt when I was a student, so although I have had a lot of debt in the past I haven't had one of these letters in a long time. I called the company and explained I had no idea what the debt was. I was told to put this in writing, so I wrote a letter asking for evidence. The debt was over 8 years old, so I explained I really had no idea what it was, and asking why the debt was only being chased now 8 years after I apparently defaulted. I received a letter explaining the debt was from Lloyds TSB, and that I needed to arrange a payment plan. To be honest I should have done more, but I'm planning my Wedding for later on this year, and about to start Teacher Training, so I've been running around like a headless chicken.
Last week a received a claim form from the county court from Bryan Carter Solicitors LLP, with all the charges the debt is now £1052.70.
Can anyone offer any advice? I can't pay the whole amount, but could probably afford a payment plan, but I don't know what the debt is. I did bank with Lloyds while at University, but I asked if it was something to do with my overdraft and they said no. I'm unsure if it's a store card, but I'm pretty sure all my cards have now been paid off. My future husband knows I have had debts in the past, but I am working hard to improve my credit rating so we can one day buy a house.
All advice would be grateful, thank you x

Marktheshark

You need to sit down.
Get this wrong and bailiffs will be at your house in less than 40 days.
You are going to have to file a defence and quickly or they get an automatic CCJ.

You say you have information and its 8 years old.
Is this to what they refer ?

Did you make any payments in a period of six years after you stopped paying ?
Stick to facts, we do not need to know about weddings, chickens or teacher training.

rizla_king

You need to acknowledge the service saying you will defend to give yourself 28 days to sort out a defence or decide to admit and make an offer.

You really need to ask on a specific legal advice forum like http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/forumdisplay.php?105-Received-a-Court-Claim or http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/forumdisplay.php?170-Legal-Issues

Firstly, don't panic.

Secondly, many of these Consumer Credit debt based Court Claims are issued through the County Court Business Centre and are rather lacking in detail and information. The are often claims bought by debt purchasers who don't have the paperwork to back them up to hand and who wing it on the hope that they obtain a default judgment.

So, first steps (within 14 days of receiving the claim)

1: ACKNOWLEDGE THE CLAIM - you can do this online usually at www.moneyclaim.gov.uk
You'll need your claim reference and password from the front of the claim form - this will extend the time you have to respond to the claim to 28 days from when you received it

2: Send A CCA REQUEST to the CLAIMANT ( see here )
This applies to all credit cards / loans / hire purchase / store cards type debt. It doesn't apply to Mobile Phones / Utilities or Overdrafts.

3: Send a CPR request to the CLAIMANT'S SOLICITORS ( see here )
This applies to everything unless they happen to have supplied you with a bunch of paperwork to back up their claim (v. unlikely)

If you are unsure of any of those steps then please make a new thread on the forum (you must be registered to do this)

Once those letters have been sent off you should make a new thread on the forum (you must be registered to do this) and make a post titled the claimants name v your username, and containing the date of issue from your claim form, date of service (ie when you received the claim form), type out the Particulars of Claim (exclude account numbers) and tell us the approx amount of the claim. Also tell us any specific disputes or background to the claim you may have. If you know please also tell us the last time you made a payment towards the debt or acknowledged the debt in writing, and confirm you have acknowledged the claim, and what letters you have sent off.
OR
If you received a court claim and want to start a new thread in this forum please complete this form . Thank you.


And people here will help guide you through the next steps.

NOTE: The defence date is 28 days from service (ie when you received the claim) or 33 days (which allows 5 days for service) from the issue date printed on the front of the claim form.

http://www.timeanddate.com/date/dateadd.html