Overdale Solicitors - Warrant of Control letter

KLinerz

Hi, I have received a letter from Overdale Solicitors for a debt of £1.4k from a CCJ in March 2019.
From memory its from Vanquis, which has gone to Lowell and now with Overdale. I think my last payment on this was early 2018.
I wont pretend I didnt know about the debt as I did, but my life at that time was not good and was in a pretty bad place, and I kinda just disregarded everything in my life at that point. I spent a long time just ignoring it and I dont recall getting any CCJ through the post but I also moved house a couple of times over a short period.

The letter titles : 7 days to avoid a Warrant of Control.

It states : "We previously wrote to you as we have been instructed to enforce the County Court Judgement (CCJ) dated March 2019 by applying for a Warrant of Control, to recover the debt.
Once our application has been drafted and accepted by the Court, a bailiff will be authorised to contact you and visit you at your home to recover the debt, either by arrangement with you or by taking control of your goods"

I was hoping someone can help with advice on whats best to do. How true is this Warrrant of Control? Is it just a tactic?
Potentially I could be in a position to offer a settlement of about 20% of the balance to make it go away, but otherwise its a long payment plan which I dont want either.

Ive not paid anything on this since I think around mid 2018. Anyone got advice?
Are they known to send bailiffs? I know they were previously known as another company but not much comes up.

Any help immensely appreciated.

Many Thanks 

sourcrates

The notice you have received, is a warning that enforcement action will be taken if you do not come to an amicable arrangement with them, once sanctioned by a court, a seven day notice of removal of goods will be issued, along with a £75 compliance fee. .

You would be foolish to ignore it, as Lowell have long standing form for escalation of CCJ`s.

Lets be clear, the bailiff cannot enter private property, unless -

(A) They are invited in
or
(B) They enter via an unlocked door.

Once they are in, they are free to return at will, they can remove assets to sell to clear the debt, but realistically that is the last thing they want to do, they prefer payment in full, or by instalments, but they won`t be as amicable or as easy to deal with as Overdales.

You can stop them entering simply by keeping the doors locked, but the fee`s will escalate in the meantime.

My suggestion to avoid a bailiff visit, and the £420 odd quid they will charge you in fee`s, is to make an arrangement with Lowell`s*/Overdales as quickly as possible.

* Overdales (Solicitors) are the legal arm of Lowell.

fatbelly

Because this is a Consumer Credit Act debt, Overdales must use the court bailiff. This is an employee of the court and so not likely to bend the rules.

The fees for a bailiff are £75 compliance fee (sending a letter) and £235 enforcement fee (for a visit). There will be a court fee paid by Overdales which they will add to the account.

We can't tell you what's best to do. You could try to tough this out, or start to negotiate. I can't see them accepting 20% on a ccj unless there are exceptional circumstances, but you never know.

How long is your long payment plan?

When the warrant arrives you can use an N245 to (a) suspend the warrant and (b) vary the order to an instalment order.

I believe the fee has been reduced to £14

If you are proposing payment over more than 3-5 years (depends on the judge) they may not agree to suspension.

KLinerz

fatbelly said:

Because this is a Consumer Credit Act debt, Overdales must use the court bailiff. This is an employee of the court and so not likely to bend the rules.

The fees for a bailiff are £75 compliance fee (sending a letter) and £235 enforcement fee (for a visit). There will be a court fee paid by Overdales which they will add to the account.

We can't tell you what's best to do. You could try to tough this out, or start to negotiate. I can't see them accepting 20% on a ccj unless there are exceptional circumstances, but you never know.

How long is your long payment plan?

When the warrant arrives you can use an N245 to (a) suspend the warrant and (b) vary the order to an instalment order.

I believe the fee has been reduced to £14

If you are proposing payment over more than 3-5 years (depends on the judge) they may not agree to suspension.

The notice you have received, is a warning that enforcement action will be taken if you do not come to an amicable arrangement with them, once sanctioned by a court, a seven day notice of removal of goods will be issued, along with a £75 compliance fee. .

You would be foolish to ignore it, as Lowell have long standing form for escalation of CCJ`s.

Lets be clear, the bailiff cannot enter private property, unless -

(A) They are invited in
or
(B) They enter via an unlocked door.

Once they are in, they are free to return at will, they can remove assets to sell to clear the debt, but realistically that is the last thing they want to do, they prefer payment in full, or by instalments, but they won`t be as amicable or as easy to deal with as Overdales.

You can stop them entering simply by keeping the doors locked, but the fee`s will escalate in the meantime.

My suggestion to avoid a bailiff visit, and the £420 odd quid they will charge you in fee`s, is to make an arrangement with Lowell`s*/Overdales as quickly as possible.

* Overdales (Solicitors) are the legal arm of Lowell.

Thank you for the reply to you both.
I dont wanna live in fear of the door so will contact them. Have you known of people to be able to negotiate a settlement at this stage? If so do you have any idea of % they can be stretched to?

Many thanks again

KLinerz

Would you also say I'm best to email, maybe offering a settlement amount or asking for a settlement amount?
And who should I contact, Lowell or Overdale?
They've not had any correspondence from me at all in this so this will be the first contact.

sourcrates

You contact Overdales, as they are dealing with your case.

As fatbelly says, they have a CCJ, so the wiggle room won`t be huge.