Please help. Don't know what to do.

d_brat81

Received a Claim Form from County Court Business Centre today.

Total amount in the letter is £18727 with court fees and legal costs.  It's in hubby's name.  He isnt working and hasn't worked for the last 3 years due to a nervous mental breakdown and has subsequently been diagnosed with psychotic depression.   He is suicidal so I open all the mail and try to deal with things as he cannot cope.

He was paying £1 & £2 but stopped last year some time as things was really tight as my income is now the only income and I don’t earn alot.

Nothing has changed and in hindsight I shouldn't have cancelled the standing orders but I was trying to maximise every penny to make sure priority bills like mortgage and utilities were paid.

We can just about afford the £1 payments as we rely on credit cards to supplement his income and I am up to date with those payments so we don't end up in a predicament.  

We have tried debt solutions when he was working but due to his income no one would help.  I'm in the process of filling out an only form with Step Change to see how we could get on top of this.  

COVID has meant reduced spending so I was able to make a huge dent and have managed to repay 2 credit cards and have moved 1 to a 0% interest rate card so now have 3 cards left to pay back.  That is my priority right now because if there's an emergency we can rely on that.

What do I do?  Do I fill this form stating that £1 is all we can afford or just reinstate the standing order?

Do I put my income details on there too or just?  He is currently receiving money from income payment protection which covers the mortgage but my wages pay all the other bills, food, clothing etc.

Many thanks in advance.

sourcrates

Hi,

Did he not recieve a letter before action ?

That is a questionaire type document that is supposed to avoid action through the courts, it allows 30 days in which to respond to the creditor, its against the civil procedure rules not to send one.

What type of debt is it ?

If its gone straight to claim form, just fill it in as instructed and return in good time, if you acknowledge service online you get extra time to file your defence.

Budget will be family income, make it show what you can afford to pay.

fatbelly

It sounds like he has a lot of debt and no surplus income.

Can you do a statement of affairs for him and his debts?

https://www.lemonfool.co.uk/financecalculators/soa.php

To buy some time on this court claim I'd say acknowledge service and head over to

https://legalbeagles.info/forums/forum/legal-forums/court-claims-and-issues/received-a-court-claim

d_brat81

sourcrates said:

Hi,

Did he not recieve a letter before action ?

That is a questionaire type document that is supposed to avoid action through the courts, it allows 30 days in which to respond to the creditor, its against the civil procedure rules not to send one.

What type of debt is it ?

If its gone straight to claim form, just fill it in as instructed and return in good time, if you acknowledge service online you get extra time to file your defence.

Budget will be family income, make it show what you can afford to pay.

No he hasn't received one before. 
It's a loan from 2007.
Thank you

d_brat81

fatbelly said:

It sounds like he has a lot of debt and no surplus income.

Can you do a statement of affairs for him and his debts?

https://www.lemonfool.co.uk/financecalculators/soa.php

To buy some time on this court claim I'd say acknowledge service and head over to

https://legalbeagles.info/forums/forum/legal-forums/court-claims-and-issues/received-a-court-claim

Do I do this to submit with the form?  There is an income expenditure included in the pack.

Thank you for your help.

sourcrates

The two are seperate, the one with the pack should be returned, make sure it shows what you can afford to pay, it is not subject to scrutiny, but don`t leave a large amount of disposable income, as you/he will be expected to pay that.

The calculator linked too above is for us to help him maybe find a permanant solution to his debt problems, feel free to fill it in, and post it on this thread.

If once judgement is passed, you find the monthly payment is set too high, it can be challanged and reduced, so don`t panic.

d_brat81

[font=courier new][b]Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet[/b][b]

Household Information[/b]

Number of adults in household........... 2

Number of children in household......... 1

Number of cars owned.................... 1[b]

Monthly Income Details[/b]

Monthly income after tax................ 808

Partners monthly income after tax....... 1114.58

Benefits................................ 0

Other income............................ 0[b]

Total monthly income.................... 1922.58[/b][b]

Monthly Expense Details[/b]

Mortgage................................ 629

Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0

Rent.................................... 0

Management charge (leasehold property).. 0

Council tax............................. 121

Electricity............................. 40

Gas..................................... 40

Oil..................................... 0

Water rates............................. 27

Telephone (land line)................... 0

Mobile phone............................ 30

TV Licence.............................. 13

Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0

Internet Services....................... 25

Groceries etc. ......................... 200

Clothing................................ 60

Petrol/diesel........................... 58

Road tax................................ 20

Car Insurance........................... 32

Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 40

Car parking............................. 10

Other travel............................ 25

Childcare/nursery....................... 0

Other child related expenses............ 100

Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 60

Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0

Buildings insurance..................... 10

Contents insurance...................... 10

Life assurance ......................... 15.42

Other insurance......................... 13

Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 20

Haircuts................................ 15

Entertainment........................... 10

Holiday................................. 0

Emergency fund.......................... 12[b]

Total monthly expenses.................. 1635.42[/b]

[b]

Assets[/b]

Cash.................................... 0

House value (Gross)..................... 110000

Shares and bonds........................ 0

Car(s).................................. 3000

Other assets............................ 0[b]

Total Assets............................ 113000[/b]

[b]

Secured & HP Debts[/b]

Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR

Mortgage...................... 111138...(629)......0[b]

Total secured & HP debts...... 111138....-.........-   [/b]

[b]Unsecured Debts[/b]

Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR

Credit card....................1919.17...52.68.....20.84

Credit card ...................2993.87...86.7......27.95

Credit card ...................1397.74...41.41.....0

Loan...........................200.......18.56.....0

Loan...........................5574......107.2.....10.9[b]

Total unsecured debts..........12084.78..306.55....-  [/b]

[b]

Monthly Budget Summary[/b]

Total monthly income.................... 1,922.58

Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,635.42

Available for debt repayments........... 287.16

Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 306.55[b]

Amount short for making debt repayments. -19.39[/b]

[b]Personal Balance Sheet Summary[/b]

Total assets (things you own)........... 113,000

Total HP & Secured debt................. -111,138

Total Unsecured debt.................... -12,084.78[b]

Net Assets.............................. -10,222.78[/b]

[i]Created using the SOA calculator at www.LemonFool.co.uk.

Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using other browser.[/i][/font]

d_brat81

sourcrates said:

The two are seperate, the one with the pack should be returned, make sure it shows what you can afford to pay, it is not subject to scrutiny, but don`t leave a large amount of disposable income, as you/he will be expected to pay that.

The calculator linked too above is for us to help him maybe find a permanant solution to his debt problems, feel free to fill it in, and post it on this thread.

If once judgement is passed, you find the monthly payment is set too high, it can be challanged and reduced, so don`t panic.

The above post doesn't have all the debts.  Those are my cards on there.  I did the trial credit check on his name via Check My File and I can't see any debts on there, the loan included.  I know among the loan was about 4 others for smaller amounts, so I don't know exactly how much his total debts are.

Is that format okay?  There were 2 so I chose the MSE version.

I really do appreciate your help.

fatbelly

Yes,  MSE format is great - makes it easy to read.

This looks like a debt management plan  to me. You are a homeowner with a tight budget.

Make sure you have a bank account not connected to your debts and use stepchange or payplan, as they don't charge a fee.

There may be a little room for movement in your soa. I thought groceries may be a little low, but other expenses and medical seemed high. There were also a lot of insurances. If they are essential,  use mse guides to get the best deals at renewal time. If not, ditch  them.

Use legalbeagles for responding to the claim form

d_brat81

fatbelly said:

Yes,  MSE format is great - makes it easy to read.

This looks like a debt management plan  to me. You are a homeowner with a tight budget.

Make sure you have a bank account not connected to your debts and use stepchange or payplan, as they don't charge a fee.

There may be a little room for movement in your soa. I thought groceries may be a little low, but other expenses and medical seemed high. There were also a lot of insurances. If they are essential,  use mse guides to get the best deals at renewal time. If not, ditch  them.

Use legalbeagles for responding to the claim form

Medical is high because hubby pays for his medications and for my diabetic supplies like lancets/strips.   Those have been reduced slightly as I do a prepayment for 3 months at a time. Will check the exact amount and lower.

The insurances is for my current account, I've split the buildings and contents, maybe I should merge them as they are paid together.  The life one covers us both.  I will check on getting them reduced when up for renewal. 

I have posted on the other forum but haven't had a response yet.
Any idea how to find out the exact debt since none is showing up on his credit files?  I find that really strange.
Many thanks for your assistance.
Will adjust and repost.

kangoora

Can't you get your doctor to prescribe lancets and strips? I'm diabetic and all prescriptions are free but I don't use those items so unsure if they can be prescribed on the NHS