Consent Order

[Deleted User]

Hello

Can anyone advise on behalf of a work colleague.

She has been served court papers for a debt of which she has no knowledge and is desperate not to get a CCJ so has sent a defence.

The company has writtten to her saying they have put court action on hold and if she withdraws her defence of the cliam they will draw up a consent order.

She is considering doing this to avoid a CCJ but wants to know if at a later date she can insist they send her the relavant peperwork showing she has this debt. If they have this paperwork why would they not submit it to the courts at the time of the action ?

Any advice gratefully received, can a consent order be recinded later if she agrees to it now ?

StopIt

I'd be signing nothing.


If they can't prove the debt, they can't win a CCJ. Keep the defence. If the case is stayed ask for it to be struck out for a bad faith/spurious claim and tell the DCA to get lost.

National_Debtline

Hi BBH123,


I would suggest that your friend gets some legal advice. She can discuss her concerns about the claimants reaction to her defence and what she can do next. If she withdraws her defence, she is not realistically going to be able to challenge the debt later.


A basic consent order is an admission to the debt and an agreement to pay instalments to prevent the CCJ being entered, but if a payment is missed they can register the CCJ. She may be able to draft other 'conditions' into the order but would need legal advice.


Laura
@natdebtline

[Deleted User]

Thanks Both

Could she say she will agree to the consent order on the provision of papers proving the debt does anyone know ?

StopIt

BBH123 wrote: »

Thanks Both

Could she say she will agree to the consent order on the provision of papers proving the debt does anyone know ?

No, because if they prove the debt, they don't need a consent order.


Tell them to either prove the debt, or go away. Signing responsibility for this debt means that they then can gain a CCJ without proving anything because you've admitted the debt in this declaration.


If they're using this tactic it is likely because they can't prove the debt, so the power is in your hands. Stick with the defence and tell them to put up, or shut up.

sourcrates

Hi,

Get over to Legal Beagles, and ask there.

They are expert at dealing with this type of thing, your friend would be wise to follow there advice :

http://legalbeagles.info/court/

Silver_Queen

Depends on the contents of the consent order?

She should see the contents of the consent order before she considers withdrawing but at the end of the day it sounds a bit like they're just trying to frighten her into agreeing to pay.

It would be fine for her to insist on seeing the proposed terms without agreeing to withdraw but not sure how much point there would be. Sounds like she would be better off persevering with her defence if she's sure she doesn't owe the money.