CCJ Help and Advice

Grizzly_B

I was wondering if someone could provide myself and my wife with some advise.

Before I met my wife she had some issues with money and took out some cards and loans that she was unable to pay back, they are dating back to 2006/2007. When we first moved in together in 2011 I thought it would be a good idea for her to look at a Debt Management Plan and try to pay back at least a small amount, however when it didn't seem like the DMP was setting up any agreements she stopped the plan and we both agreed that attempting to get over the 6 year mark for statute barred might be our best option.

Today she has received a CCJ Claim from one of the old Credit Cards which totals around £3800, unfortunately this is not an amount that we can simply pay back to avoid the CCJ entirely but we would be prepared to try and set up a reasonable payment plan.

I have a few questions though, is the debt now statute barred, given that even though she entered into a Debt Management plan we do not believe that any agreements were made on repayments and if so what would your advise be going forward.

If the Debt is not statute barred is it worth contacting the company directly to try and set-up a payment plan to avoid a CCJ being entered onto her credit file and what are the chances of them agreeing to this?

Any help is much appreciated, I know we have both been fairly silly and we should have sorted this when we had the opportunity.

sourcrates

Hi,

If she has not made a payment, for any period of 6 years, or acknowledged the debt in writing, then it's likley to be statute barred.

If you can answer no to the above, then you should defend the claim on the basis that time for collecting the debt has passed, and the creditors claim is denied.

It's then up to them to prove its not SB, not up to you to prove it is.

You should act quickly as strict time limits apply.

Karonher

In 2011 were the companies told that the debts were owed in writing? If so it will be less than 6 years so wont be statute barred.

sourcrates

Karonher wrote: »

In 2011 were the companies told that the debts were owed in writing? If so it will be less than 6 years so wont be statute barred.

Debtor has to acknowledge in writing, 3rd party may not count, to restart the clock.

National_Debtline

It may be possible that a third party can acknowledge the debt on your behalf if they have been specifically appointed to do so. The Limitations Act refers to the idea of an 'agent' which may mean a letter of negotiation from a Debt Management Company could be considered an acknowledgement of the debt from the individual. This section of the Limitations Act may help: -


29 Fresh accrual of action on acknowledgment or part payment.


(5)Subject to subsection (6) below, where any right of action has accrued to recover—
(a)any debt or other liquidated pecuniary claim; or
(b)any claim to the personal estate of a deceased person or to any share or interest in any such estate;


and the person liable or accountable for the claim acknowledges the claim or makes any payment in respect of it the right shall be treated as having accrued on and not before the date of the acknowledgment or payment.


30 Formal provisions as to acknowledgments and part payments.E+W
(1)To be effective for the purposes of section 29 of this Act, an acknowledgment must be in writing and signed by the person making it.
(2)For the purposes of section 29, any acknowledgment or payment—
(a)may be made by the agent of the person by whom it is required to be made under that section; and
(b)shall be made to the person, or to an agent of the person, whose title or claim is being acknowledged or, as the case may be, in respect of whose claim the payment is being made.


However, your wife will likely need legal advice to decide whether to try and defend the claim. Remember that the claim forms have to be responded to correctly and on time. We have a factsheet that may also help - https://www.nationaldebtline.org/EW/factsheets/Pages/replyingtoacountycourtclaimform/replyingtoaCCJ.aspx


Laura
@natdebtline

fatbelly

Laura's factsheet is really about replying to a court claim when you agree it is enforceable, owe the money and want an instalment order. There's a separate factsheet if you want to defend the claim.

Another idea may be to run this past the guys at legalbeagles

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

if you think it may have been over 6 years since the debt was acknowledged by payment or in writing (by the debtor or his agent).

See if the creditor can disprove the assertion that this is statute barred.

Azzzaa

Thinking simply, if you have to pay off the £3,800 you can break it down tomhow much you'd repay back per month/week/day providing there is no interest!

£3,800 \divided by the 12 months in a year is £316 per month to pay off.
£316\divided by 30 is £10 a day which in theory is nothing. I think

Can you think of things you could do to save yourself £10 a day?!

fatbelly

The courts view 3 to 5 years as a reasonable period to repay debts, provided that the offer is justified by the financial statement.

Of course , if you have other debts then you should take advice about a strategy that deals with the whole situation.