Unusual situation can anyone help?

[dannygr27]

HI

I had a sherforce high court enforement officer visit me on wednesday, he did not come in and after i talked him to death on my doorstep for 2hrs went away empty handed, i then spent a few hours making phonecalls and kicking up a stink over the fees he tried to add to debt (627.00), after being a pain in the !!! and harrasing sherforce and howdens and anyone else that would listen agreed a much lower enforcement fee.

The problem is Sherforce wont take payment and keep giving me a number to call which is constantly engaged, howdens wont take payment as they say it has to be paid to sherforce.

I have called both companys on the 2nd,3rd,4th and 5th of april to try and make payment and have an e-mail from Howdens to confirm agreed settlement, i also have a copy of e-mail sent to Howdens advising of repeated attempts to pay and offering once again to make a direct payment to them.

Im very confused as to why they are doing this and am wondering if there is anything i can do to force someone to take payment as i desperatly want this debt settled.

I cant understand why after taking us to the high court less then a week before we would of had funds to pay them anyway they are refusing to take payment and am very concerned that they may be up to something, is there anything i can do to protect myself from futher action being taken if they are up to something? Northampton court told me to take legal advise but i cant afford a solicitor so was hoping someone on here could help

ps ive been telling everyone from my boss to the girl that served me at tescos about the new rights Mr blair would like to give balliffs

thank you for listening

Sam

[The Watcher]

I'm sure someone with better knowledge than me will be able to advise - but it does seem as though they are deliberately refusing payment (so they can add further fees later)?

[dannygr27]

Hi

Thats what im worried about, i have an e-mail from them confirming the settlement figure but i am not sure if that would stand up in court and also dont really know what i could do about it if they do try to add futher charges.

We have just remortgaged to pay off all these debts and if they try anything we just wont have the money to pay them.

Would it be in my best intrests to send payment via cheque via special delivery?

thanks
Sam

[The Watcher]

Originally Posted by dannygr27

Hi

Thats what im worried about, i have an e-mail from them confirming the settlement figure but i am not sure if that would stand up in court and also dont really know what i could do about it if they do try to add futher charges.

We have just remortgaged to pay off all these debts and if they try anything we just wont have the money to pay them.

Would it be in my best intrests to send payment via cheque via special delivery?

thanks
Sam

If you agree the settlement figure that they have quoted, I'd be very tempted to send them that amount (keeping a copy of the letter, and either the cheque stub or postal order counterfoils) just in case they call again.

[tiglet]

Absolutely - if you can afford to pay it, send them a cheque (by specail delivery) stating in your letter "this is in full and final settlement of this account". By cashing the cheque, they will be accepting this payment.

I would personally take a photocopy of the cheque, but that's just because I am now becomming ultra-paranoid!

[dannygr27]

well im not happy about paying up as the debt was in dispute over an extra item valued at £228 being added to the invoice after delivery, apparantly the kitchen with 14 units actualy had 15 units, not quiet sure where the 15th unit is (somewhere in la la land i presume), we never got the paperwork about ccj and knew nothing about it til the balliff turned up with a high court judgment, still you live and learn
With hindsight i would strongly recommend anyone who opens a trade account reads the small print lol
Fortunatly we were going to pay the bill anyway and do have funds to make payment.
Fingers crossed this will all be over soon, just wish we had got the origianl paperwork from court as have been ripped off and are paying them for the privilage

[tiglet]

What do you mean by not knowing about the CCJ? Was it sent to an alternative address?

Give a few more details - it may be possible to apply for it to be set aside, which would mean you could then dispute the debt in court.

[dannygr27]

checked with northampton court it was definatly sent to this address, but we never got a thing, if we had got something thru we would of defended as account was in dispute

[tiglet]

I would apply for a set-aside on that basis - the worst they can say is no, then you haven't lost by trying. I think it costs £65, however.

[dannygr27]

I have downloaded the forms to apply for a set aside, will post them first thing on tuesday

[The Watcher]

Originally Posted by dannygr27

checked with northampton court it was definatly sent to this address, but we never got a thing, if we had got something thru we would of defended as account was in dispute

Exactly the same with me - although at that time there was a postal stike in the Northampton area and mail was taking 5/7 days to get though (of course no one realised this !).

Our defence (sent back immediately) arrived the day after the Court hearing !

[dannygr27]

Our ccj was taken out in Jan! we only found out last week and since then its been to the high court

[ChloeJane]

Hi Danny,

Sherforce fees are high, but you can argue them.

Statutory regulations for Sheriffs and charges are here. together with their regulations. I have argued fees with them and have had them reduced so stand your ground.

Legally, they have to accept payment. They cannot refuse payment from you and if you write to claire sandbrook who is the MD make it clear in an email that money is being refused by their company and the fees you seek clarification for. Her email address is c-sandbrook@shergroup.net

By Law, there is protocol that the Company must follow before applying for judgement and registering a CCJ. Letters and a demand for payment etc.....if you did not receive these or they did not deal with the complaint of the missing kitchen bit, then you can argue your case for the matter to be set aside as judgement was as it appears, granted by default.

The company seeking the money will not deal with you as they have paid money to the HCEO for collection.

HCEO's do have much greater powers so while you may have kept him from the door, make sure your application is made with urgency or they WILL be back and your write to the MD.

Good luck

[dannygr27]

Hi chloejane

I did argue their fees and got them reduced to £50, I have that in writing, the company we owe money to will speak to me and respond to e-mail but wont accept payment, Sherforce wont even talk to me just keep telling me that they are no longer dealing with the matter!

I have been told that the warrant has been removed by hsmo but until someone accepts payment this thing wont go away

Thanks for your advice its much appreciated
sam

[belljar]

yeop think the watcher's right - this is a business -they left me in a different kind of lurc.

thgis numbert they gave you is a call centre- be careful - they are inefficient. they lull you into a false sense of security and then forget to charge and the charges keep rising. keep in touch with sherforce by email and on phone - and keep trying that number....good luck.