Debt advice 24 February 2019 at 10:19AM edited 24 February 2019 at 10:30AM in Debt-free wannabe 12 replies 1.2K views

welshbloke82

Hello. I am writing this post as I need some advice regarding some debt that I have incurred.
Over the last 2 years I have been going through a messy divorce, it has caused me to lose work and has made me ill but I am pleased to say I am through the worst times now and want to move forward.
The problem I have is that during this time of duress I have buried my head in the sand regarding outstanding debt. My now EX wife openly admitted to me that she used to throw letters that arrived for me away so although I was aware of the debt I suppose I wasn't really aware of how bad it had got.
Anyway.... this weekend a Warrant arrived on my doorstep regarding a CCJ from Lowell. Now this was news to me, The CCJ is for a Three mobile bill and I have only ever used virgin. I signed up to a credit file agency and sure as day the CCJ was registered Jan 18. The warrant states in 7 days an enforcement agent will be at my address to take goods. I have also come to realise that I have around £3000 in unsecured debt from other sources, a couple of which are with Lowell and some of which still with the original creditor.
So my questions are this;

Is there any way in which I can negotiate a payment plan and avoid a home visit regarding my CCJ?

How do I best go about dealing with the remaining outstanding debt from my credit file? I have done a rough income / outgoings spreadsheet and with all the bills, food, fuel and child support I am left with about £80 spare. Would this be enough to satisfy the CCJ monthly payments (if accepted) and well as contributing to the £3000 across other creditors? I have around £500 in savings that I could use to negotiate with too. (this pot was for the clutch on the car, but its still going at the moment)

Some help and advice would be great thanks.

D_M_E

If you have only ever used Virgin, why are you even thinking about paying a CCJ which was obtained against a Three bill?

If you can prove this then you should apply to the court for a setaside and report what sounds like fraud to actionFraud which would also help your application.

Trouble is, if the collectors show up before your setaside is granted - if you apply - then you would have to make some arrangement to pay, but I think anything you pay would be returned if your application is successful.

welshbloke82

Im assuming its an account my wife made in my name before we split up. Can that still be set aside? it is for £335 + Charges now.

fatbelly

It's not clear whether Lowell are using a county court bailiff or have escalated this to High Court - which they are entitled to do.

The county court bailiff is likely to be less aggressive but laws are otherwise the same.

They are not allowed to force entry on a first visit and can only take control of your car if it is on your land or a public highway. So it may be best to keep doors locked and the car parked elsewhere.

It would be good if you can at least make up your mind what you intend to do before they visit. If you are applying for set aside that would probably be enough for a county court bailiff to back off.

3 criteria for setaside:

1. a defence with a reasonable prospect of success
2. a reason why you did not respond to the initial claim
3. to 'act promptly'

It's going to be really difficult to get money back once you have paid for it and doing so will be construed as you admitting the debt. I would not recommend that you pay the bailiff anything unless you are going to accept this as your debt.

If you do decide to take this on as your debt you will need an N245 to suspend the warrant and vary the order.

sourcrates

Hi,


Youve seen the bailiff programs, "can`t pay we`ll take it away" yes ?


The very last thing they want to be doing is removing goods, its basically a pain in the bum to them, not only do they have to take goods to the value of two or three times the debt, in order to cover it fully, as second hand goods never sell for what they are worth, they also have to cover the cost of removal as well.


What they will be looking for is payment in full, and as a last resort, maybe a payment plan.


The best way for you to deal with them, in my opinion, is to deny them access to your property, they cannot force entry to private property, unless they have been in previously, leave a letter on the outside of your door addressed to them, explaining you will be dealing with their head office directly, and basically just ignore them.


In the meantime you need a plan, a setaside application costs £255.00, you need to weigh up if its worth it for a 300 quid debt, Lowell will be open to a payment plan, if you contact them, its a priority one this, so needs dealing with sharpish.


The rest of yours debts could be managed by a debt mangement plan possibly, that may be the easiest solution.

welshbloke82

the letter has County Court Business Center on it as well as my Local County Court address for me to make payment there.

I will take your advice on board regarding trying to get this set aside.
Anyone have any advice on how to approach the other outstanding debt?

sourcrates

welshbloke82 wrote: »

the letter has County Court Business Center on it as well as my Local County Court address for me to make payment there.

I will take your advice on board regarding trying to get this set aside.
Anyone have any advice on how to approach the other outstanding debt?

Debts under £600 cannot be upgraded to the high court, so it will be county court bailiffs you will be dealing with.

sourcrates

fatbelly wrote: »

It's not clear whether Lowell are using a county court bailiff or have escalated this to High Court - which they are entitled to do.
.

Its only £335 FB, so they can`t upgrade to the high court, as the debt is less than £600.

welshbloke82

At this stage then can I speak to Lowell regarding the CCJ debt? or should I speak to my local County Court?

Thanks all for you help and support

fatbelly

sourcrates wrote: »

Its only £335 FB, so they can`t upgrade to the high court, as the debt is less than £600.

You're quite right - I posted that post at 12:49 and didn't spot that info coming in at 12:46.

If you're taking the debt on as yours, the 'correct' thing to do is to vary the order and suspend the warrant.

https://www.nationaldebtline.org/EW/factsheets/Pages/varyingpaymentsonaccj/instalmentsonaccj.aspx

WhenIam64

As explained above, pay or set-aside. If you are on low income or benefits, you may not need to pay the full £255.

If Lowell are in agreement about the set-aside (highly unlikely but worth the ask) you can do a "with consent" set-aside at £100.

As I have mentioned elsewhere, of the 2mn County Court Claims issued each year, 87% are default CCJ's like yours as there is a lot of head in sand burying. The MoJ has consulted on how to stop the excesses of claimants (no-names but Lowell firmly in their sights) who prey on people who have issues that mean they are unable to respond within the 14 days.

If you have the time and inclination to fight the claim (the set-aside) then look at it. If not then it is a SOA and get a payment plan from them. A CCJ does not go away.