student trapped in contract! ccj advice urgently needed!!

marjoria

Hi all I need some urgent advice. 

A few years ago, I moved to a university accomadation, this was after I was informed by a friend that my costs would be covered by student finance if I applied. So I informed the university about this and asked if they had any rooms left which they did. I found out that I would not be entitled to the full amount, knowing that I could not afford to pay, I informed the university and packed my things. This was in the first term and I was ready to move out before chrismas. I told them about the stress I was under and the effect it was on my wellbeing. I met with the course director in january and essentially I was told the only way I could be released from contract was if I left the university and rejoined the following year. I was worried about falling behind and stayed to stay on the course. My situation regarding accomadation did not improve though and I had may dark days in my room with no one to confide in. On one occasion I nearly ended up in the river and was saved by a man who called police, who sectioned me.

As the second term was coming to an end, I offered to give them all of my maintance payments and for them to let me stay on. When I couldn't, I spiralled and became isolated. Years went by until recently when I discovered that I have a ccj. 

I want to know what I can do. I want to seek proper legal advice but don't know which type of lawyer I need. I believe that the University had a duty of care towards me and should have allowed me to leave my contract in term one. There were no students waiting to move in so the university chose to have me trapped in this contract for the money over my life. Please advice me. I have never told anyone what happened to me and petrified that ballifs will come knocking on my door. 

Stateofart

Most universities do let you out of the contract if there's problems such as these?  Was this run by the university or a private company?

sourcrates

I can`t comment on the circumstances in which the debt was accrued, but I assume there is a debt outstanding that the CCJ is attached to ?.

So can you clarify what is it you are trying to achieve here ? what outcome are you looking for ?

Compensation of some kind, or advice about the debt ?

What is the date the judgement was applied to your credit file, it will show quite clearly in the public information section.
Whatever the date is, it will automatically be removed 6 years from that date, whether it`s paid/ignored or whatever.

Large organisations sometimes take these actions obtaining CCJ`s, however, the judgement usually just sits there, it`s quite rare for them to further enforce a CCJ, as that would cost them more money, with no guarantee of ever recovering it, usually the "punishment" is the judgement it`s self.

Are you currently being chased for this debt ?
From what you have said, it`s likely this was applied some years ago, and will be close to being removed from your files by now.

marjoria

Stateofart said:

Most universities do let you out of the contract if there's problems such as these?  Was this run by the university or a private company?

They didn't. I informed them that I was struggling but they tied the contract to my studies. What can i do about the contract, as far as I thought I would be entitled to full amount but once I found out, I informed them that I could not afford it and sought to exit. sourcrates said:

I can`t comment on the circumstances in which the debt was accrued, but I assume there is a debt outstanding that the CCJ is attached to ?.

So can you clarify what is it you are trying to achieve here ? what outcome are you looking for ?

Compensation of some kind, or advice about the debt ?

What is the date the judgement was applied to your credit file, it will show quite clearly in the public information section.
Whatever the date is, it will automatically be removed 6 years from that date, whether it`s paid/ignored or whatever.

Large organisations sometimes take these actions obtaining CCJ`s, however, the judgement usually just sits there, it`s quite rare for them to further enforce a CCJ, as that would cost them more money, with no guarantee of ever recovering it, usually the "punishment" is the judgement it`s self.

Are you currently being chased for this debt ?
From what you have said, it`s likely this was applied some years ago, and will be close to being removed from your files by now.

Yeah, its outstanding amount. 

I want to argue that the terms that I entered the contract in to had changed and once I knew, I informed them. Futher, the stress of it caused me immense pressure and impacted my mental health. They knew I was struggling but kept me on the becuase there was no one else waiting to move in so they rather collect several thousand than my life.  I want to take this back to the court but don't know if the same court will hear it or not. 

I just want to have it off my record. In the theory, there may be a chance that I could take legal action regarding duty of care or report to regulator but thats not something that I want to do right now. 

On here, I want to know who I can speak to. I don't know what steps to take. 

I am not currently being chased for it, however I am worried as I don't know if they will send me a letter beforehand or just show up to my house someday. 

sourcrates

Again, if you can tell us when the judgement was granted, what date, we will know when it will be gone.

No one will show up at your house, please do some research on the matter, as I said before, CCJ`s are rarely enforced, if they haven`t chased it by now, I doubt they ever will.

A bailiff must give you 7 days notice of attendance in writing, they can`t just rock up at your door, unless the debt is escalated to the high court, again at more expense, then they can, but they cannot force entry to private property, so all you would do is keep your doors locked.

Non of that is going to happen though, I was just using it as an illustration of the process they must go through.

Once a CCJ reaches the 6 year mark, it is automatically removed from your file, the debt is still owed, but a creditor would need to go back to court and obtain permission to further pursue the matter, as they haven't done so in the previous 6 years, its unlikely this would be granted.

So in essence the debt and the judgement would just vanish and you would not have to pay it.

As so much time appears to have past since this went to court, you have lost the right to challenge the judgement, if it was more recent, you could have applied to have it set aside, the judge may have accepted your argument, and you would have been back to the pre-action stage.

Once this drops off your credit file, and its not been chased, the matter is essentially over.

saajan_12

Contractually, I expect you owe the money and this wouldn't be successful:

marjoria said:

I want to argue that the terms that I entered the contract in to had changed and once I knew, I informed them.  

- if the changing terms ^ here refer to you thinking the student finance would cover it, that's not part of the contract.
- If you mean they tied your contract to your studies, then the default would have been you liable for the full year, so letting you out if you leave the course is a concession. 

I think the only real argument is the duty of care etc - I'm not well versed on how strong that argument would be so I'll leave to experts. 

Taking a step back, how many years has it been? 6 years after the date on the CCJ it'll drop off your credit file and you won't chased either, so might be better to just wait it out if you're nearly there. 

fatbelly

marjoria said:

As the second term was coming to an end, I offered to give them all of my maintance payments and for them to let me stay on. When I couldn't, I spiralled and became isolated. Years went by until recently when I discovered that I have a ccj. 

I want to know what I can do. I want to seek proper legal advice but don't know which type of lawyer I need. I believe that the University had a duty of care towards me and should have allowed me to leave my contract in term one. There were no students waiting to move in so the university chose to have me trapped in this contract for the money over my life. Please advice me. I have never told anyone what happened to me and petrified that ballifs will come knocking on my door. 

I think I'm singing from the same hymnsheet as sourcrates, as usual.

If they have not attempted to enforce this before now, they may never do. In which case it drops off your file after 6 years and also (separate legislation) can then only be enforced by specific order from the court. The court's view is that you have 6 years to enforce a ccj and after that you'd need a pretty good reason for the delay.

Suppose they did appoint bailiffs on this. The court bailiff is an employee of the court and would not be aggressive or cause any problem. If they escalate it to High Court (and waste even more money on it) then their bailiff has no extra powers and cannot force entry. You are still given notice* and just have to be doubly careful to keep exterior doors locked, which you probably do anyway. Fear of bailiffs is something the industry plays on but is unfounded.

* Didn't use to be the case but this changed with TCG Regs 2013

Clouds88

The university that my husband owed debt to (for a module resit that he didn’t even start, didn’t even step foot into the uni in the new term!) they went to CCJ as per my thread and then they sent the ballifs round. 

I didn’t know universities were so harsh. He was Suspended and then dropped off of the course and subsequently ended up with a mental breakdown and all they care about is chasing a few grand when they didn’t even lose out on anything. Hopefully because yours hasn’t been chased yet then they won’t do anything about it now. Interestingly though it doesn’t show on any of his credit files.

marjoria

sourcrates said:

Again, if you can tell us when the judgement was granted, what date, we will know when it will be gone.

 Sorry if seems like I am dragging it out. The ccj is dated back in late 2019. So 3yrs 1/2 yrs. Seeing that someone has commented below regarding their spouse's situation - do you think they might start coming after me now and would that allow me the opportunity to put forward arguments? 

fatbelly said:

Suppose they did appoint bailiffs on this. The court bailiff is an employee of the court and would not be aggressive or cause any problem. If they escalate it to High Court (and waste even more money on it) then their bailiff has no extra powers and cannot force entry. You are still given notice* and just have to be doubly careful to keep exterior doors locked, which you probably do anyway. Fear of bailiffs is something the industry plays on but is unfounded.

* Didn't use to be the case but this changed with TCG Regs 2013

What can bailiffs do? Can they call the police to gain access for example. I have seen "can't pay we will take it away", on there, they insisted on making payments on that day and often had the police with them. I will do research to save you the effort of typing it all out but I am really worried. 

Clouds88 said:

The university that my husband owed debt to (for a module resit that he didn’t even start, didn’t even step foot into the uni in the new term!) they went to CCJ as per my thread and then they sent the ballifs round. 

I didn’t know universities were so harsh. He was Suspended and then dropped off of the course and subsequently ended up with a mental breakdown and all they care about is chasing a few grand when they didn’t even lose out on anything. Hopefully because yours hasn’t been chased yet then they won’t do anything about it now. Interestingly though it doesn’t show on any of his credit files.

sorry to hear about your situation. When was his ccj date wise. I also did a credit search and didn't find it anywhere although I have been informed its in "public record". I do not want to pay them and have no plans on buying a home in the next years but I do hope to write to them once the 6 years passes and let them know a few things.  

One question I do have is - I see they are claiming interest on the amount, what are the chances they will let it accumulate and then come after me just before the 6years are up. If it becomes a waiting game and I hold out, would they be able to have it renewed and start the clock again. 

fatbelly

"can't pay we will take it away" is an entertainment programme.

I hate it

The police can only be called where there is a likely breach of the peace, for example if you threaten the bailiff with a crowbar. , Police like being on tv but in real life do not want to be dragged in to civil matters. 

Keep  doors locked and laugh at the bailiff through the window.

sourcrates

Debt is a civil matter, the police cannot get involved with any kind of debt collection, they are only there to prevent a breech of the peace, nothing else, they are certainly not there to facilitate the bailiff in any way, shape or form.

"Can`t pay we`ll take it away" is a heavily edited program, they would not have a program at all if everyone exercised their rights and did not unlock the door to them, a bailiff cannot force entry to private property, although they can walk in through an unlocked door, the only exception to this is if they are carrying out an eviction, or are chasing certain court fines.

Basic advice is keep the door locked, the bailiff is stopped dead in their tracks.

Universities don`t escalate CCJ`s, its very rare anyway, its impossible to say if you will hear any more about this, once its over the 6 year mark it`s effectively dead in the water, and no it can`t be extended at all, no resetting any clocks, until then, if you are contacted, respond in writing telling whoever writes to you that any payment right now is not affordable, and enclose a copy of your budget to back it up.

No one will be interested in your arguments now, its far too late to argue anything, legal action has been taken, a CCJ granted, there is no argument anymore.

If any collection activity re-starts it more likely to be in the form of a debt collector assigned the debt to collect on their behalf than a bailiff, bailiffs cost money, letters are cheaper, honestly don`t worry about it, try not to overthink things.