Debt Advice Required for an old Credit Card debt

JPage2307

Hi

I have recently been contacted by Drysdensfairfax solicitors who are acting or behalf of Arrow Global and are chasing up a £4500 debt that I haven’t paid anything towards since 2013 (not statute barred I checked the dates) a few weeks back Northampton court sent me paperwork to fill out to either contest the debt, admit to it and pay in full or admit to it and then provide a income/expenditure breakdown and offer to pay in instalments.

It is a debt I know I had but unfortunately I haven’t got the money to pay it in full so I offered to pay it in instalments, I worked out my income and expenditure down to the last penny and then took the amount left each month (£350.43) and I then calculated the amount to pay them based on adding all the other debts I have and calculating this as a percentage of my entire debts. Having done this I sent them the calculations and other debt totals and offered to pay £114.81 per month which they have now sent a letter back to state that they accept my admission but do not accept my offer to settle the debt!

I have limited income, 2 dependants and we don’t live a lavish lifestyle (haven’t been away on holiday in 4 years and no real luxuries to speak of) so this is what is affordable at present so I’m not sure how or why they think I should be paying them more as currently I’m not in a position to. I also have no assets and no savings so have nothing they can realistically take or expect me to sell.

What should I do now as they have said they have written to the court stating why they feel the instalment should be higher than the offer made.
Is it worth me writing to Drysdensfairfax and/or the court to explain the situation again or is this just a scare tactic?

Any help or advise would be much appreciated as I’m trying to get all of my finances in order and get out of debt but they don’t seem to be being reasonable.

My partner (not married) is also concerned about how this might affect her as she does have some assets e.g a car and household furnishings etc but as far as I’m aware it’s my debt and she shouldn’t be affected at all?

Thank you in advance

Jimmy

Willing2Learn

Hi,

Was the paperwork you received Pre Action Protocol paperwork or has the CCJ actually been awarded against you already?

JPage2307

I filled out an N9A form if that helps?

Willing2Learn

Okay. So the following is what I believe, but I cannot be certain. The N9A form is part of the Pre Action Protocol paperwork. Since your creditor has declined your offer of affordable instalments, I believe that they will send your N9A admission form to the court, for them to make a decision. A court officer or District Judge will then decide an appropriate payment schedule based on the figures you provided in the N9A form.

I am not a debt counsellor though. So I am not certain if you can submit further evidence to the court. If I were you, I would wait for there to contribute to this thread, before making a decision.

JPage2307

Thank you Willing2Learn, i was under the impression the CCJ bit was already decided and that it was just a process of working out how to pay now, I didn’t realise that was pre action protocol paperwork.
I will wait to hear from someone regarding the rest of it.

sourcrates

As you have admitted the debt on the N9 response form, it’s likely a CCJ will be granted to Arrow Global.

The court may call you to a hearing which you must attend, if they do, to discuss your budget.

Otherwise, if the judgement amount is too much for you, you can fill in a form to get the payment reduced.

JPage2307

I got a letter from the court stating that they wanted me to pay £470 per month starting 19th August, which is more than my entire monthly unallocated income by about £100 and way more than the £114.81 per month I offered to pay.

I then applied to the court for a redetermination and put the same budget I sent to Drysdensfairfax as nothing has changed apart from my partners family paid off the joint overdraft and shut the joint account which means I have just increased the monthly amount that I was paying towards the joint overdraft bringing it up to £140 per month that I’ve offered.

I have today received a letter saying that the matter has been passed to my local county court for redetermination and that I will hear something soon.

I’m not sure what I need to do now, I can’t pay £470 by the 19th as requested but I’m not sure whether i have to pay anything now due to the redetermination which is unlikely to be resolved by the 19th, what do I need to do now? Do I pay anything by the 19th or do I wait until after the local county court decision?

Any advise or help would be much appreciated

WhenIam64

Do I pay anything by the 19th or do I wait until after the local county court decision?

Anecdotally from others in the same situation, I would pay what it says on the court order as it is still "live". DF could argue you are in breach of the order if you don't pay anything. Paying something may be in order rather than nothing as you don't want to be seen to be ignoring the court.

If you are successful at a redetermination, you can have the payments taken into account in any rescheduling.

What is the amount being deducted as a % of your income?

JPage2307

Hi Wheniam64 thanks for the reply.

The £470 that I have been asked to pay is roughly 25% of my income and I just don’t have it, even paying the £140 I am now offering is leaving me with about £30 until I get paid again at the end of the month.
The £140 that I’ve offered is about 7% of my take home income and as can be evidenced this month this is all I am capable of paying at present

WhenIam64

If you look at some other references you'll see that the rate they are asking is not unreasonable(*)

https://www.gov.uk/make-benefit-debt-deductions/calculating-dea

There will be a similar tariff at the courts for civil debts but can't find it. The tariff will be based on the "average" person and not your personal circumstances. The Redetermination will be your opportunity to show how you differ from the average.

*Not unreasonable ..... debt has been around forever and there will be a legal logic to the scales / the redetermination process. For example, and it is only an example, if your debt was due to spending unwisely, and your current £140 left over is based on similar spending habits, it would be "unreasonable" for the court to penalise the creditor by giving you longer to pay. The (legal logic) argument is everyone is treated equally and fairly i.e. the average person.

So go through your spending and see where the real necessities are so you can explain to a judge at the redetermination about your variation from the average. Judges see all sorts every single day. They are keen observers of people and will know when numbers are being fudged. They will also give you are fair hearing.

fatbelly

Wait for the redetermination. £114 per month on a 4500 debt clears it in a 'reasonable period' i.e. under 5 years. So provided your expense figures look OK (that will depend on the judge) you should be ok.