CCJ Claim Form Query

TheSilverChair99

Hello

I am a long time reader of these boards, however, this is my first post.

Yesterday I received in the post a claim form from the court in Northampton for a CCJ. Ironically, it crossed over with me submitting my stepchange application (the day before) after finally facing up to our MASSIVE debt situation.

I won’t go into my full situation in this post, but I will in a later post. In a nutshell we (my husband and I) owe about £120k in unsecured debt including credit cards x10, personal loan x 2 and overdraft x 2.  Link Financial bought a lot of the debts mostly from Barclays.

Now my question - The CCJ detailed on the claim form matches the amount outstanding from a personal loan from Barclays, however, in the particulars of claim it says Barclaycard is the original lender which it is not. I do have a Barclaycard that has defaulted (which they also bought) but that is for a different amount.

How do I complete the form? Complete form N9A Admission form? I agree I owe that amount of money but not to who they have detailed in the form. Does that matter as Barclays no longer own the debt. LC ASSET 2 S.A.R.L is the claimant.  The Barclays loan was taken out in 2016 (this is the date in the particulars of claim) and the Barclaycard was opened in 1999.

Or do I complete a N244 form to have it set aside because the details are wrong?  I have read through a lot of posts both here and debt camel, but I can’t seem to find the answer to this. Unfortunately, I do not have the money to repay it in full within 30 days for the CCJ to be cancelled. I was made redundant last year, and I am currently unemployed, my husband currently is paying for everything. It’s a mess. I am so stressed.

Thank you. 

sourcrates

Barclaycard/Barclays same company,  if you’re unemployed make sure you fill in the income/expenditure forms, it’s unlikely the court will grant a payment order if your only income is benefits.

Tell the creditors your circumstances, they should suspend payments and put accounts on hold for a period of time.

With that amount of debt, is bankruptcy or insolvency an option for you?

fatbelly

By any chance, has it been six years since the Barclays loan was defaulted, without you making a payment or acknowledging it in writing?

Are they trying to claim a ton of interest since this defaulted (read the particulars of claim)?

You haven't had a ccj, you've had a court claim.

You must respond within 14 days of service (14+5 days since issue date) or acknowledge service and respond within 28+5 days of issue date.

Set-aside doesn't apply if you still have the chance to defend this. The question is - do you have a defence?

https://debtcamel.co.uk/court-claim-form/

TheSilverChair99

Thank you for replying sourcrates and fatbelly. 

sourcrates that is pretty much what I thought Barclays/Barclaycard same thing. I thought it was worth asking the question though, as any little glimmer of hope to avoid getting a CCJ recorded against me. 

I am unemployed, however, I do not receive any benefits. My husbands income would be taken into consideration and that is too high. If the court does not grant a payment order - what would they do? Do they still record a CCJ against me? 

Yes, I may need to look at insolvency rather than a DMP - the reason I didn't before is because I work in financial services (not advising people on money I may add!) so that was a big no no. 

fatbelly with regard to all the debts, I am mortified to say that we stopped paying all them in February 2020. I have not acknowledged any of them since then. They all defaulted within one year. They don't appear to be claiming a ton of interest as the amount on the claim form matches the amount of when it defaulted.

I understand the importance of replying within 14 days - it arrived a week after the date on the claim form. 

Do I have a defence? After reading the link. I guess I don't. If it had been for any of the other debts there might have been some hope as I am not sure if they would have been able to produce a written copy of the credit agreements as many of the debts are credit cards opened from 1999 to early 2000's. Unfortunately this personal loan was taken out in 2016 so I am pretty sure they will have a copy of the agreement. 

I don't think they would accept bad mental health as a defence either ( a big reason for burying my head in the sand). My intention 3 years ago that once they defaulted I was going to set up a DMP but covid happened I got complacent and let it stupidly slide. My job was really stressful together with health problems and trying to rear a family. Then I was made redundant. Through therapy and medication I am doing much better hence why I contacted stepchange to help me sort this mess out as it is very overwhelming. We are homeowners with about 360k equity. My husband earns a good salary but even without the debts we have very high outgoings. I have cut everything back to the bone. 

I am very worried. Thanks 

sourcrates

That`s a lot of equity, we don`t recommend re-mortgaging to pay unsecured debts, but it might be an option here.

Your choices are limited, you could go for an IVA, designed for homeowners with large debts who cannot go bankrupt, any CCJ will be admonished, it will still show on your credit file (if granted) but cannot be enforced.

Or debt management would be the safe choice, but like an IVA, requires you to have an income, without an income, non of the traditional repayment methods are open to you, which could be problematic, as that house of yours with all that juicy equity, will start to look very appealing to your creditors.

See what fatbelly thinks on that score.

fatbelly

It sounds like your least worst option is to make an offer of payment on the court forms. You can do this online as long as you keep to the timescales.

It doesn't actually matter what day you actually received the paperwork. The claim is deemed to have been served five days after the issue date, and you then have 14 days to do something.

If the court considers your offer too low (and don't ask me where the bar is on that one) then it will issue a 'forthwith' judgement, i.e. you must make payment immediately.

TheSilverChair99

Thanks both I appreciate your replies.

Sourcrates re-mortgaging is not an option I'm afraid. Too many defaults, we wouldn't get approved. 

Fatbelly, yes I was going to make an offer of payment, however, now I am freaking out it and a bit confused...

because I don't work does that mean I cannot have a payment plan? My husband works and we consider it our income - all his income goes into our joint account. Do I tick the unemployed box on the N9A form and include all his income details?  for example include the income and expenses sheet generated by stepchange. 

The amount is £7279 plus court fees. I was going to offer £100 per month? 

fatbelly

The way things are at the moment I would expect that offer to be accepted as long as it was justified by your figures. As long as you can pay that, you should.

That solves the immediate problem.

In the longer term you both need a strategy to get debt-free. Much as they get a bad press on these boards, you situation seems to suit a joint IVA

TheSilverChair99

Thanks fatbelly. I will offer that and see what happens. 

I think you're right, for us an IVA is probably the best way to go. I am just very scared to go that route but it is probably the best way to protect our home and repay the debt over a shorter time period. The DMP is about 25 years! (Not started yet) Are there any reputable IP's out there you would recommend? Or will I just go through stepchange like I was with the DMP. 

fatbelly

Stepchange do their own IVAs, so def talk to them

RAS

Yep, I believe Stepchange decided that IF an IVA was suitable for a small number of people, it was better that those were served by a reasonably priced option with them than most of the commercial providers.

Think this is only the second time, I recall seeing someone for whom it might be appropriate.