Attachment of Earnings for Loan not taken

Good afternoon,

I’m looking to receive some advice on behalf of my Sister-in-Law.

She received on Friday 22/09 an attachment of earnings (AoE) order from the courts for an alleged debt owed to 1st Stop Recoveries Ltd. Having never heard of this creditor, or received any other correspondence in relation to this debt, she understandably called the courts to see what was going on.

The courts advised her the AoE stands, and that 1st stop made the application for a debt of £250 which was taken in August 2012. She asked them why there had been no other correspondence, and the court advised that this is because there is another address held for her on file (which they gave her). She made the courts aware that she has never taken this debt or even heard of it before, but the courts advised she would have to contact the creditor who would have to contact them to remove the order.

My sister-in-law then called 1st Stop Recoveries, who stated they couldn’t help as the debt has been passed on and gave her the contact details for Asset Collections and Investigations Ltd. We spoke to a very unhelpful gentleman at Asset Collections (Jamie, I’ll name and shame!) who from what I could tell did not want to deal with the call 15 mins before his shift ends, so gave us another number to call, which was a dead line. We called Jamie back, who then stated that he couldn’t help so we would have to call back on Monday.

The Sister-in-Law called them back today, and they have told her they have no records of the loan. Called back 1st Stop Credit, they give the same excuse.

We have filed a report of fraud with the police and have a fraud ref number (did this online). We has signed her up for Noddle and CallCredit and obtained her credit reports, nothing at all outstanding her. We have been through her bank statements to confirm there was no credit into her account in August 2012. She has never had any other bank accounts. I have also complete a CallML check to confirm she has been registered on the electoral role at her current address (not this extra address the court gave) her entire life.

Unfortunately, we do not know where to turn now. The courts state the creditor must request the AoE be removed, and the creditor denies knowledge of the account. We have given them the court claim number and the reference stated on the AoE form, but still nothing. Clearly the sister-in-law is distraught that deductions from her meagre income will be made towards a debt which now stands at around £1,200!

Any advice from here is most welcomed. Do we send Subject Access Requests to the creditors? this will take 28 days to be processed and cost her more money. Do we challenge the court over never having received a N56 form? I feel this could possibly be a case of mistaken identity (there are 4 other people in the town we know of with the same forename and surname as the sister in law) but no one is willing to do anything to check! Do I submit written complaints to 1st Stop Recoveries and the court in hope to get the ombudsmen involved? Also, how on earth will we go about getting any payments made under the AoE back once we finally get this sorted?

Thanks for any help you can give!
Paul

Comments

  • http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/guides/article-3798933/Don-t-let-debt-ruling-knew-ruin-life-year-900-000-county-court-judgments-handed-s-fight-them.html

    If you want to challenge the debt, you will have to defend it. That means going back to the County Court with proof that your sister was not living at that address at the time (probably more than electoral roll records) and did not receive the money (bank records). I would speak to her bank as well to see if any other fraudulent activity was happening at the time. I think that whilst you are defending the claim, the AoE can't be used.

    I would involve the Ombudsman now if you can.
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  • Thanks Sarastro,

    As far as I can see, the courts haven't satisfied their own obligations of;
    1)Notifying the debtor of the CCJ (They must of had her address to send the attachment order to her)
    2) They have not issued a N56 form or given the debtor a chance to respond.

    Might it be worth pursuing a complaint with the court for this given the creditor is being so obstructive?

    Is it possible for me to raise a complaint with the Ombudsman without first submitting a complaint and receiving a response from the creditor? In my industry, these obligations must be met before a complaint can be escalated. 1st Stop Recoveries state up to 28 days to respond. At this rate, she will have paid off the full debt and be chasing them for a refund!
  • StopIt
    StopIt Posts: 1,470 Forumite
    RauHughes wrote: »
    Thanks Sarastro,

    As far as I can see, the courts haven't satisfied their own obligations of;
    1)Notifying the debtor of the CCJ (They must of had her address to send the attachment order to her)
    2) They have not issued a N56 form or given the debtor a chance to respond.

    Might it be worth pursuing a complaint with the court for this given the creditor is being so obstructive?

    Is it possible for me to raise a complaint with the Ombudsman without first submitting a complaint and receiving a response from the creditor? In my industry, these obligations must be met before a complaint can be escalated. 1st Stop Recoveries state up to 28 days to respond. At this rate, she will have paid off the full debt and be chasing them for a refund!


    That's for later.


    Right now, you need to deal with the courts.


    You must apply for a set aside: https://www.nationaldebtline.org/EW/factsheets/Pages/howtosetasideacountycourtjudgment/settingasideaccj.aspx


    It costs £255, unless if you're eligble for relief, details in the link also.


    Basically, you need to show the court that you would have had a defence to this claim as well as a reason for not replying the first time. Non receipt because of not updating creditors is not enough, but if you can show that this debt is either in dispute, or not even for your sister in law, that should be enough.


    Once Set Aside, you can defend any subsequent follow up claim, or the creditor may just give in, but you have to take this step first, otherwise the attachment will be enforced sooner or later, complicating things.

    In debt and looking for help? Look here for the MSE Debt Help Guide.
    Also, If you need any free and impartial debt advice, the National Debtline, Stepchange, and the CAB can help.
  • Arleen
    Arleen Posts: 1,164
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    StopIt wrote: »
    That's for later.


    Right now, you need to deal with the courts.


    You must apply for a set aside: https://www.nationaldebtline.org/EW/factsheets/Pages/howtosetasideacountycourtjudgment/settingasideaccj.aspx


    It costs £255, unless if you're eligble for relief, details in the link also.


    Basically, you need to show the court that you would have had a defence to this claim as well as a reason for not replying the first time. Non receipt because of not updating creditors is not enough, but if you can show that this debt is either in dispute, or not even for your sister in law, that should be enough.


    Once Set Aside, you can defend any subsequent follow up claim, or the creditor may just give in, but you have to take this step first, otherwise the attachment will be enforced sooner or later, complicating things.
    And given the flimsy documentation they will likely agree to the set aside as soon as they will receive letter about it. But as annoying as it is, you will have to pay the fee for set aside.
  • robatwork
    robatwork Posts: 7,086
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    Arleen wrote: »
    And given the flimsy documentation they will likely agree to the set aside as soon as they will receive letter about it. But as annoying as it is, you will have to pay the fee for set aside.

    Presumably this fee as a result of this company's negligence (or someone's fraud) is claimable, given she will need to find out who is actually at fault here?
  • Arleen
    Arleen Posts: 1,164
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    robatwork wrote: »
    Presumably this fee as a result of this company's negligence (or someone's fraud) is claimable, given she will need to find out who is actually at fault here?
    Sure if you can prove that they acted negligently and manage to track down the negligent party she can then take that part to small claims at later date, after set aside. It will cost a lot more time and effort than the 255 is worth though, better to put those days to work.

    Alternatively can give FOS a try first, at least it's free.
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