Received a "Notice of intent to enforce a judgement" for wage overpayment 6 Years ago

octavius0

HELLO!

I have an odd one, I don't know where else to put it so I put it here. I hope you can advise me.

I received a "Notice of intent to enforce a judgement".

The story:
6 years ago I worked for the Department for Social Development in the Northern Ireland Civil Service.
My 1 year contract with them finished in November 2010. I received a letter some months later saying I was overpaid by £400 and could I pay it back. I had been unaware of this at the time of being paid, assumed the pay was mine as I had some holiday pay to still get.
I heard nothing else of it for some years and since moved address several times and forgot all about it.

In June 2016 they asked me to pay the "outstanding amount" but now it was £470. In July 2016 they sent a letter about a small claim and if I intended to dispute it/accept it etc. I did at this stage intend to reply but somehow it slipped me by and I did nothing.

I assume I had been send a letter since then saying they have judged me to owe the money but I didn't get it because now in December I receive this "Notice of intent to enforce a judgement" by the "Department for Communities".

Present state of affairs:
I am currently unemployed (over a year) and without property, assets or savings. I have zero chance of getting the money.

What path to take now. Can I fight this? Or should I just aim for a very low "repayment" plan with them? Will they accept such a deal? What about the fact it has been over 6 years?

Simply put:
What can/should I do now?

Thanks for any advice.

xapprenticex

ANSWER:

Arrange to pay it back, £15 a month, sorted in just over 2 years. No CCJ wrecking your life.

Keep us updated............

octavius0

xapprenticex wrote: »

ANSWER:

Arrange to pay it back, £15 a month, sorted in just over 2 years. No CCJ wrecking your life.

Keep us updated............

Thanks for the reply xapprenticex.

What, do you think, is the likelihood of them accepting such an arrangement?

DCFC79

octavius0 wrote: »

Thanks for the reply xapprenticex.

What, do you think, is the likelihood of them accepting such an arrangement?

Why not put the arrangement to thsm ?

Who knows, they might accept it.

octavius0

DCFC79 wrote: »

Why not put the arrangement to thsm ?

Who knows, they might accept it.

Yep, I am going to try this tomorrow. Seems the only actual option, for them and me.

xapprenticex

octavius0 wrote: »

Yep, I am going to try this tomorrow. Seems the only actual option, for them and me.

They would rather that than going through court and having the judge set a repayment plan that you offered in the first place. Just say you can comfortably pay £15 a month (or whatever you can pay) and set up a direct debit.

Dont know how it is in NI but its usually quite easy to arrange payments with Gov Depts

keithdc

Not quite clear what you mean by " 'Notice of intent to enforce a judgement' by the 'Department for Communities'."

Has judgement been issued by a court?


Precise dates may be important here as claim could have been out of time.

What was date of over-payment?
What was date of claim?
Have you ever acknowledged debt?

Undervalued

keithdc wrote: »

Precise dates are important here as claim could be out of time.

What was date of over-payment?
What was date of claim?
Have you ever acknowledged debt?

It is certainly worth checking carefully but I'm afraid the way I read the dates quoted in the opening post it would not be statute barred.

I am assuming NI is six years (like England and Wales). Scotland of course is five years so if the OP was at the other end of the Giants Causeway.....

keithdc

Undervalued wrote: »

It is certainly worth checking carefully but I'm afraid the way I read the dates quoted in the opening post it would not be statute barred.

I am assuming NI is six years (like England and Wales). Scotland of course is five years so if the OP was at the other end of the Giants Causeway.....

Pretty sure it is six years in Northern Ireland.

My question was mainly driven by me not being sure about the relevant stages in the original post (i.e. was it issuing of the small claim in June/July or just letter before action?)

But... based on previous history, OP may not be back. Like the intention to reply, it may just "slip their mind."

octavius0

I have worked out a deal with them. Case closed. Regarding the six year statue barred: That is why they pushed so hard out of the blue on this, it was a matter of weeks until it would've be SB, they got it in in time.

There is a surprisingly awful lot of smarmy, patronising, holier than thou plums on here. Begone, go polish your halo elsewhere.

Thanks a lot to those who assisted with info. This was the first time I've had this sort of thing so your assurances were very welcome.

No thanks to the sneering clowns.

:xmassign:

TELLIT01

octavius0 wrote: »

There is a surprisingly awful lot of smarmy, patronising, holier than thou plums on here. Begone, go polish your halo elsewhere.


:xmassign:

I presume by that you are referring to those who suggested that you should have sorted it when the overpayment was first brought to your notice, or at the second opportunity when you again allowed it to slip your mind.
With your attitude it's a shame you didn't get a CCJ against you. It might have woken you up to the fact that problems don't generally just go away.