County court business centre claim on cc?

Imladris

Hi, when I search for this I keep finding lots of posts about parking fines being chased by the County court buisness centre, with some great process advice but can't seem to find anything for when it is a credit card default?
Basically, we are paying off lots of before children, illness and low income plus "young and stupid" credit card debt. Dealing with several debt collectors amicably with payment plans in place.
Then our largest CC with BC realised we were in difficulty even though we had kept up with min payments, knocked off a couple of thousand late last year, and sold it off to a DCA earlier this year.
They sent us a couple of letters, then we got a Northampton County court Business centre notice with 2wks to reply.
Partner did some looking around, decided the printed out letter with no real ink, lack of data (no account number, just his name and address but no dob), etc meant it was a scam and ignored it.
Just got a second later, 2 wks to the day the first was printed, but less than 10 days since we received it (our mail goes next door a lot due to landlord selling garden for a new house, and both lots tend to go there, we get on well but can be late when they are busy with work) saying "judgement for claimant".
Frankly, it was just too short a timescale for us to get into it. I have ADHD, and don't do well on the phone, and ongoing tax credit/housing benefit changes after renewal means I'm still trying to finish the form the DCA sent late May regarding our income. All stuff we have gone through before with each of the other DCAs (dealing with 5 small and 2 large debts cross 5 agencies - some bought some on behalf of) but they didn't ever go to tactics like this so quickly.
We've been paying some of them over 3 years. Kids literally just broke up from school, we've been doing all the end of term stuff and only now am I turning to see what else is to be caught up on. We have 3 children, one newly diagnosed ASD, and one just starting the process, so I'm just not best placed to research and respond to setting like this in a 2wk timescale, let alone the few months previously.

I bet this is familiar to most of you, but is it real? Has a legitimate debt collection agency, bought our debt and legally requested court action and got a judge to agree we are fully liable for the whole amount plus £1000 costs without even sending a letter signed for?

Sorry if I sound like a total dweeb. It's in his name, not mine, but we're married and I tend to be better at this stuff overall. We've tried so hard to put right getting behind (we bought just before recession, sold house after, still renting etc) and just as it finally felt like we were getting somewhere this starts.

Are we too late now? I suppose calling the DCA might help, but the idea of that literally puts me in the shakes and I feel sick. They put on so much pressure on the phone and I can't talk numbers with the kids around me and watch out for being tricked.

Many thanks, even if it's all bad news.

Willing2Learn

Hi,

You haven't made clear what question you are asking. Are you asking if it is a legitimate CCJ? You are saying this is quite recent...so is the CCJ listed on any of your three credit files? Or is the CCJ judgement date less than 30 days ago? Or are you asking if the CCJ Pre Action Protocol paperwork was served to you correctly?

[Deleted User]

So they sent you letters.
Recorded or signed for it standard post matters not.
You ignored the letters presumably?

You need to get the debt settled especially if a CCJ has been granted by the CC

Imladris

Hi, sorry, several of those I guess.

I'm asking if this is legitimate, do real CCJ proceedings start like this now with such dodgy looking letters and a very short timescale? There is a video on utube from years ago that claims it is fake, whether true or false, this letter is identical.

Also, are we already stuffed, and just have to lay back now and let it happen, because too late in their books, or can I still buy time to get the income/outgoings forms the original agency sent completed?

We have to start with the forms, because even if I got the guts up to phone them, I'm not named so they won't talk to me. The permission to deal with either of us had to be done in writing with all the others.

Finally, I have no idea if this was done correctly.
We received a letter 10 days ago stating that we had 14 days from issue (5 days before by date on letter, post mark following day) to agree a payment plan or they would proceed.
Today is the 10th day from getting it, and second letter arrived, issued and posted the 14th day from the issue date of first.
Both are a single sheet of A4, no signature, like a printed piece of paper with the same address and phone number that shows online. Both are missing my partner's date of birth, and first has a name as a rep for the agency, 2nd is just the name of the agency. Nothing else in either one to explain or send back.

[Deleted User]

There’s no “dodgy letters”.
If you’ve got a CCJ then you’ve got one.

You made no effort to contact them since receiving the first letter.

Imladris

Thanks for replying.
Yes, essentially we have ignored them, although not as a deliberate decision. More that we already had forms from the agency I am still doing, and finishing them still seems like part of the process, so just hadn't got to deciding how to deal with them.
Partner is convinced they are fake, after searching online, including threads on here - which I read after and think were by posters the majority disagreed with.
But yes, whilst we still intended to respond somehow, as far as they are concerned we haven't.

Imladris

Sorry Gary, typing same time.
We've had letters for a totally unrelated matter from his old job that were totally different, traditionally official, so it was easy to wonder if fake.

Imladris

Sorry, crown court letters, was meant to say

Willing2Learn

Imladris wrote: »

… I'm asking if this is legitimate, do real CCJ proceedings start like this now with such dodgy looking letters and a very short timescale?

… We received a letter 10 days ago stating that we had 14 days from issue (5 days before by date on letter, post mark following day) to agree a payment plan or they would proceed.
Today is the 10th day from getting it, and second letter arrived, issued and posted the 14th day from the issue date of first.
Both are a single sheet of A4, no signature, like a printed piece of paper with the same address and phone number that shows online.

Exactly what letters have you received? Are they Pre Action Protocol letters and forms N1, N9, N9A and N9B? Do they look like the forms in the video contained in the StepChange link below (you need to scroll down for the video):
https://www.stepchange.org/debt-info/ccj.aspx


If your paperwork are the correct Pre Action Protocol forms then you have 14 days to return N9A or N9B to the creditor. And you have 30 days for the rest.

[Deleted User]

Contact the agency then.

Why are you still replying to letters received nearly 2 weeks ago?

This should have been done and dusted with as soon as you received them

Imladris

Thankyou Gary. Quite right, I believe most normal people open their mail the day it arrives and deal with it promptly.
This was addressed to my husband not me, was collected from our neighbours (which is normal.sadly), and then my husband decided it was fake.
I am the SAHP, so falls to me to do household admin. I have ADHD, diagnosed in my teens, but untreated now as I have to be reassessed by the local adult ADHD clinic which has a 2.5year wait list. I won't go on about what that means, I appreciate I am the one that asked for help, and that you are trying to give me some answers.
But it does mean that here, any task requiring concentration can take far longer than a neurotypical person, and ones I am (however stupidly) anxious about take even longer.
2wks is a crazy short period of time to me for something this huge, and I was already working on the forms for the agency which needed the same info so just kept on trying to finish that.
I appreciate they won't give a hoot about any of that, so I guess it's hopeless and we will just have to take a CCJ now that we can't pay.
Thankyou for your time.