Received County Court Claim Form

nayfeee

Hello everyone,

I am looking for some advice please. I accept full responsibility for my actions and I know that the situation is nobodies but my own so please do not judge me.

In my past I managed to take out some silly debts and got myself into a situation where I had several defaults on my credit file. I have paid back most of my debts over the last couple of years and I only have one default outstanding that is yet to be settled.

I have been trying to save to negotiate a settlement on the last debt as well as saving for a mortgage, so the timing could not have been any worse for this.

The date of the default was getting close to 6 years ago and I was hoping it would get to a stage where it would no longer show on my credit file and I would be default free and we could use the money we have managed to save towards a deposit and then settle the debt.

My questions are quite simple and none of the above matters really: is it too late for me to ring the creditor and offer to negotiate one of settlement rather than paying them monthly for however many years once the CCJ is in place?

Are they able to accept a lump sum settlement now and me avoid getting a CCJ that will destroy our hopes of buying a home?

Thank you

National_Debtline

Hi

It’s up to the creditor but they could still accept a full and final settlement and not continue with the court proceedings. Make sure you get confirmation of this in writing before making the payment. Alternatively you would need to pay the judgement off in full within one month to avoid it being registered as a CCJ.

Have you been making paying towards this debt over the years? If there have been 6 years since you last made a payment or acknowledged the debt in writing it might be statute barred and unenforceable in court, so you could potentially defend on those grounds.

James
@natdebtline

nayfeee

Hi James/National Debtline,

Thank you for replying, I appreciate your help. I'm very concerned about this ruining our hope of purchasing a house in the near future.

Is it possible that they would accept a partial settlement and me still avoid a CCJ? The debt is for £2000, the claim form is asking for £2800 including interest. I do not have £2800 to pay them but I may be able to find/borrow from family a smaller amount to clear it if they are willing.

I am 99% certain that I have not made any payments to this debt in the last 6 years. Is there any way to check for certain?

The date of default registered on my credit file is 20/05/2011, however I know that I stopped making payments into the account a considerable time before that date.

Thank you again

nayfeee

Having thought about it and looked into it, it may be just under 6 years since I last made a payment or acknowledged the debt.

National_Debtline

It is possible that the creditor could accept a partial settlement and then confirm that you no longer owe them any money. They could then stop the court process. If a CCJ had been made at that point you could use the written confirmation of the settlement to show the court.

Another way to avoid a CCJ if you still need to pay by instalments is to request a Tomlin Order rather than a CCJ. A Tomlin Order is an order approved by the court, usually to say that you’ll pay a certain amount per month, but it wouldn’t be registered as a full CCJ. You would need a solicitor to help you set up a Tomlin Order.

To check when you last made a payment on the debt you would need a statement of the account. It’s for the creditor to prove the debt isn’t statute barred if you say it is.

If you don't think the debt is statute barred you could make a request for the CCA agreement, as the debt would be unenforceable if they can't provide you with a copy.

It’s a good idea to seek legal advice if you’re considering defending a court claim but for now you could reply to the claim using the ‘Acknowledgement of Service’, which gets you an extra 14 days to respond.

James
@natdebtline

nayfeee

Thank you.

I spoke to the creditor yesterday and asked them if I were to offer a partial settlement would they stop the CCJ process.

After explaining our financial situation: I am currently unemployed having been made redundant, our combined salary is currently lower than our outgoings. We have relied on some savings to cover the deficit and I do receive a dividend from a company I am Director of but how much is not official until year end.

As I am not working and have been impacted financially by that fact they have said that they will halt the legal proceedings and pass the debt onto another team who will contact me to discuss the debt and see if they feel the court action is still appropriate.

They have told me I do not need to send back the acknowledgement form for the CCJ - should I believe that as I don't want the 14 days to lapse and for things to get worse? Obviously I have received nothing in writing to confirm the conversation yet as I only spoke to them yesterday.

Should I write to them in the mean time requesting a copy of the CCA? If they can't provide it does that mean that they cannot proceed with court action for a CCJ? If I request the CCA and receive a further court claim form whilst waiting for them to reply, what do I do?

Thank you again James at National Debtline and to anyone else that replies.

nayfeee

Sorry for another post - one more point I forgot to include:

The debt is an old overdraft, does this mean that there will be no CCA and therefore they do not have to provide this to me to enforce the debt?

National_Debtline

I’m sorry to hear about the difficulties you’re having financially. It doesn’t sound like this creditor would gain much from taking court action at the moment as you’re unemployed, but it’s possible they could continue with it.

I think it's still worth returning the Acknowledgement of Service and going along with the court process until you have some certainty that the claimant isn’t going to proceed. You need written confirmation from them if they say they’ll accept your full and final settlement and will not pursue through court.

You’re correct that a CCA agreement doesn’t need to be supplied to enforce an overdraft debt. I should have clarified that before.

James
@natdebtline

nayfeee

Thanks James,

I'll do my best to find some funds and see if I can agree a settlement with them to avoid any further action.

One last question I have, if you could help? If they do not pursue court action, are DCAs able to include interest and charges in the amount that they are claiming?

The amount was 2000 that they'd been chasing me for, however since the county court claim form was received the debt is now 3000 as they have added interest and charges.

Thanks - you've been a massive help

National_Debtline

You’re welcome.

The DCA will have the same rights as the original lender if they’ve bought the debt so they can claim interest and charges due under the original terms.

They will probably have bought the debt for a lot less though which is why there is potential for a low lump sum offer. Especially now they know that even if they go through court they’re only likely to get very small monthly instalments.

Good luck with getting this resolved. Let us know how you get on.

James
@natdebtline

poppasmurf_bewdley

[QUOTE=nayfeee;70789605
The debt is an old overdraft, does this mean that there will be no CCA and therefore they do not have to provide this to me to enforce the debt?[/QUOTE]

Although the debt is for an overdraft, you can ask for a CCA, even though officially a CCA doesn't apply to an overdraft.

If they can't produce the CCA, they frequently don't know what the debt is for, and will treat it as unenforceable.