Help With Arrow Global

Calvert2005

Hi All , Just need a bit of advise on this ,my Wife has just received at attachment of earnings from the court ,authorized to take payment direct from her wage for Arrow Global of which we knew nothing about for a debt going back to 2011
To this day we have never received
1/notice of assignment
2/Statement of account
3/copy of any credit agreement
4/Any court paperwork (expect the AOE)

Is this legal - ,Know we have moved 3 times in the last 4 years but have been now stable for the last 18 months and nothing showing on the credit Score , find it strange that we receive absolutely no paperwork for anything expect for the AOE . Think this debt might have been time barred but how can we even put a defense in for something we don't know know is happening . Have tried to ring arrow but been told it might have been for an old address so tough !!!

National_Debtline

Hi Calvert2005 and welcome to MSE,


Court papers only have to be sent to the last known UK address, so if you moved, and didn't inform them of the address changes, then I am afraid that is why you missed the original claim forms. The creditor does not have to supply a copy of the credit agreement or a breakdown of the debt now there is a CCJ and whilst you can ask for copy of the notice of assignment, I can't see how that will help you now.


You must reply to the attachment of earnings order request. You have 8 days to do this, and failure to reply can mean you are in contempt of court, which is very serious, and is one of the few occasions where there is a risk of imprisonment by failing to respond.


You can request the attachment of earnings order be suspended because you wish to challenge the judgement with a set aside application. However, you must think carefully about this, before you do it. A set aside application can cost up to £255 to submit and if you are unsuccessful you can incur costs of the other side. You may be able to argue this debt is statute barred but it will really depend on when the last payment in 2011 was made? If it was made later in 2011, then the limitations act couldn't apply. You will likely need some personalised advice from one of the free debt agencies, and maybe even some legal advice. You will need to move quickly to comply with the deadline, and you will also need to understand quite a lot of information to complete the reply.


Laura
@natdebtline

Calvert2005

Thanks Laura
The problem we have is that the court isn't asking for anything it has just ruled . We have not had any court form (Think is should have been N57) just that deductions will be made my my wife's wages and didn't even get chance to submit the statement of means . It just seems very strange that we did not receive anything from the court apart from the payment at the end.

National_Debtline

Hello again,


I think you should contact the court, quote the case reference number and confirm how this has happened without you providing any information. The only explanation I can offer is if the claimant knows your employer’s details then they may have gone to them directly. However, this is rare, and the court must take into consideration the Protected Earnings Rate when setting an attachment of earnings order in the county court, which they cannot do without information about income and expenses, so it is very rare for the court to complete this order without your response.


The normal process would be that if you do not reply to the original attachment of earnings order request (on the N56) then the form would be given to a bailiff to hand deliver and if you still fail to respond you will be asked to attend a court hearing to explain why you haven’t responded, which is why this can be quite a serious matter.


However, if the creditor knows your employer's address, the court can go directly to the employer to ask them to provide details of your earnings if you do not return the N56 form to the court. You will need to check if this is what has happened with the court, because the cost to vary an attachment of earnings order is £255 if the order was made more than 14 days ago.


Laura
@natdebtline