CCJ Redetermination Hearing - what to prepare/expect?

InLimboInLondon

Hi, I have a CCJ Redetermination hearing later this week and I just wondered what I should prepare and what I should expect, can anyone advise?  It's a long time since I requested the redetermination (CCJ was awarded last March, court didn't read my income/expenses info properly and so put in place an incredibly high repayment, so I immediately requested redetermination.  I would have sent them my income/expenditure sheet at the time, but a) I apparently didn't keep a copy and b) it doesn't really matter since my current circumstances are totally different now.

I'm going to redo my income / expenditure info now and take it with me, but I'm currently job-hunting/on UC as my last full-time job ended in early December (was fixed term contract).  I also don't know what my living expenses will be by end of Jan, as I need to vacate my current property then, and haven't yet found a new place to live (and the lack of job/CCJ is making it very hard to find one, so will probably end up moving in with family until I get myself sorted).  Because I don't know what my circumstances will be in a few weeks, I'm thinking the best thing to do is to use my current figures.  Or would the court effectively want to postpone the hearing until my circumstances are known?

Thanks in advance for any advice!

fatbelly

As long as your circumstances are not likely to get worse, i'd present the situation as it is.

How much is the ccj for and how much are you proposing to pay per month?

sourcrates

Can I also ask who the creditor is?

A lot of CCJ`s just sit on file and don`t ever get enforced, but it does often depend who the judgement is in favour of, and how much it is for.

InLimboInLondon

It's Link Financial who bought an MBNA debt, total is just under £7k..  Judging by their attitude/behaviour prior to getting to this point, I wouldn't want to chance it... 

As far as what I'd be proposing to pay, my budget will show a deficit until I find a new job or build up my self-employed income significantly, soooo. Not sure what they do in that situation?

fatbelly

Under those situations the judgement will stay as a forthwith judgement, i.e. you must pay immediately. If you cannot do that then the creditor is allowed to enforce by bailiffs, attachment to earnings etc.

For a 7k debt, can you rejig your finances to offer £150 per month? If not, there wasn't much pint in asking for a redetermination.

In any event it is good form to attend. Arrive early. Dress smartly, call the judge Sir (or ma'am), only answer the questions you are asked. Yes or No if possible

It's a shame it's got to this stage. Let us know what happens.

InLimboInLondon

As I mentioned, Fatbelly, when I asked for the redetermination I was employed, and could have come up with something a bit less than what they were asking. I didn't expect it to take almost a year to get a court date through.

I live in London, my rent is £1200, I am hit by the benefits cap, and even if I wasn't, as you probably know, UC does not cover rent/heat/light/food, so how I can show I have anything to pay I don't know, there are no finances to rejig. 

I have zero assets, so I'm slightly bemused as to how the court would expect me to be able to pay £7k immediately. 

I also have to find money for the tax man (£3.5k by the end of Jan), the arrears to the electric co I'm leaving (only because it's winter and there's a small deficit now, not that I've not been paying them), and I'm effectively going to be no fixed abode if I'm not sorted by 21 Jan.  How exactly the bailiffs are going to come round to take the nothing I've got, I don't know, ditto the attachment of earnings order for the money I'm not earning.  Take it off the benefits? Sure, that makes sense.  

Honestly I know you're trying to help, but I'm sorry I posted, this has left me more anxious than I was before I did.  If this is what will happen, I despair. I'm guessing from what you've posted they don't take a person's mental health into consideration either.  

And breathe... this is (hopefully) a short-term situation, I'm trying to get a new job and had several interviews before Christmas, but then decision makers went on leave.  I could have a (good) salary to report in two weeks, but the fact remains, on the date of the hearing, I will have zilch, and from what you're saying, it sounds like that's what they will assume is the case.    

fatbelly

They cannot attach to benefits.

This remains a debt of lower priority than electricity and rent and income tax, so you should prioritise those.

You should still attend the hearing and explain what you've explained to us. Ask for the instalment to be set at £1 per month. I have seen them given, and if the other side doesn't turn up, then you might get it.

As things stand, with no earned income and no assets there's nothing Link can do with this.

When things stabilise you might want to see if a Debt Relief Order would work for you