Sense check please

sourcrates

fatbelly said:

A creditor has six years to enforce a ccj

But not many do as it costs them more money in court fee`s initially, with no guarantee the debtor will have any cash or other assets to realise.

SPM87

sourcrates said:

fatbelly said:

A creditor has six years to enforce a ccj

But not many do as it costs them more money in court fee`s initially, with no guarantee the debtor will have any cash or other assets to realise.

exactly, hence why some people on these boards really need to think about what they are saying. I mean how many are forced into court to provide evidence on their money situation? and if you engage with the process this is never happening also

fatbelly

Orders to obtain Information are vary rarely used

sourcrates

SPM87 said:

sourcrates said:

fatbelly said:

A creditor has six years to enforce a ccj

But not many do as it costs them more money in court fee`s initially, with no guarantee the debtor will have any cash or other assets to realise.

exactly, hence why some people on these boards really need to think about what they are saying. I mean how many are forced into court to provide evidence on their money situation? and if you engage with the process this is never happening also

Well we try to give factual responses to questions, most CCJ`s for consumer debt are not enforced, that`s true, but some are, mainly by an attachment to earnings if you work, and occasionally the country court bailiff.

Even though such instances are rare, we must make posters aware of the possible consequences, we always stipulate the difference between what "can" happen, and what is "likely" to happen.

SPM87

sourcrates said:

SPM87 said:

sourcrates said:

fatbelly said:

A creditor has six years to enforce a ccj

But not many do as it costs them more money in court fee`s initially, with no guarantee the debtor will have any cash or other assets to realise.

exactly, hence why some people on these boards really need to think about what they are saying. I mean how many are forced into court to provide evidence on their money situation? and if you engage with the process this is never happening also

Well we try to give factual responses to questions, most CCJ`s for consumer debt are not enforced, that`s true, but some are, mainly by an attachment to earnings if you work, and occasionally the country court bailiff.

Even though such instances are rare, we must make posters aware of the possible consequences, we always stipulate the difference between what "can" happen, and what is "likely" to happen.

if you go back to what I originally quoted, it was a reckless statement and readers would be fearing all sorts. From my experience on message boards and also educating myself, most people who come for help are already scared, worried and paranoid about the consequences etc... I am sure some secretly seem to get off on frightening them some more with this stuff. "you may be lumbered in front of a judge and prove your situation" is not helpful especially when it is simply not used in consumer credit situations, I have yet to see one situation yet.. sure the option is there but what matters is if this is ever used

fatbelly

Tryingtofly11 said:

Thank you, all. Good to know. I will post again and ask for advice with next steps when we get there. Thanks so much again.

We're here when you need us

Tryingtofly11

Hi everyone, defaults and default notices have now started to come in.
Sainsburys (now Natwest) have served the default notice, but say in the same letter that because we "have failed to make the minimum monthly payment you are now in breach of clause 3 of your credit card agreement and arrears of £1,232.28 are now due and outstanding." The total amount to be paid on that card is £10,149.29. This was on 5/8/25 and I've not heard anything from them since. Is the default notice different to the actual default - basically serving me notice that they are going to default? How long is there usually between a default notice and registering the actual default?
Do I just keep waiting for the actual default? 
Once a default has actually been registered, do I wait again until I hear from a debt collection agency? Is it always passed to a debt collection agency, or might the card company themselves get in touch again and ask for a payment plan?
Thank you as ever, for your help and advice. 

sourcrates

A default notice is served under sec 87(1) CCA, it will give you 14 days to remedy the breach to your account.

They may also ask you to repay the full outstanding balance as well.

Once the 14 days have passed, they may then register that default on your credit file, there is no specific timeframe to do this, sometimes they don`t do it at all, but its part of the same process, yet two separate events. 

This is the lender effectively washing their hands of you, they will then decide what to do with the account, as they have a number of options, foremost in mind is to either sell the debt to a 3rd party, or assign it to a collection agency, sometimes they will keep them inhouse, and on rarer occasions will just do nothing at all with the debt.

Whatever is decided, you will be written too, just wait until someone writes asking for payment, if it gets sold, a notice of assignment will be sent to you, along with a welcome letter from the new owner.

If its sent to a collection company, they will tell you they are acting on behalf of their client, if they choose to handle the debt themselves, the original lender will write to you, on very rare occasions nothing will happen, and after 6 years the debt will become statute barred, this does not happen often, but has happened in the past.

So wait for a letter basically, texts emails etc should be ignored, anything of importance comes in the post.

Tryingtofly11

Ah, I didn't realise they might not even register a default. I thought that we were not supposed to enter into any payment arrangement until the default had definitely happened - because otherwise the credit record was affected for 6 years after the debt had been paid off rather than 6 years after the default. (Not that I have any intention AT ALL of taking any credit cards out in the future!! But may want to move house at some point after the 6 years of penance is up)

sourcrates

Don`t get me wrong 9/10 a default will be registered.

Its just on occasion, some lenders don`t bother, just trying to include all the possibilities, not saying that will happen, most lenders follow guidance.