My wife and I are heavily in debt. We have arranged a debt management plan (DMP), where we pay our creditors on a monthly pro-rata basis.

Occasionaly, a creditor takes thing a stage further and threaten Court action to gain a Judgement. So far, so good, we have no CCJ's, thanks to this excellent forum.

However, one of our creditors started the process of a CCJ. We went through the motions of DPA & CCA, etc. Eventually, they came up with a copy of the original agreement, plus a list of all charges, etc.

A date was set for Court. Doom & Gloom prevailed!! However, in the post came an offer of a Consent Order. They will agree to £1/mth and drop the Judgement.

As we are already paying them £1/mth through the DMP, is there there a hidden trap by signing the Consent Order? Or, is this a CCJ without security.

Does a Consent Order get validated by the Court? Is it legally binding?

All my web searches for Consent Order's return info on divorce, personal breakups , etc.

After looking over all options, it would seem safe to sign the Consent Order, but another opinion would be much appreciated.

Are they asking you to give consent for a voluntary charging order? I have received one of these in the past from Weightmans.

I wouldn't rush to sign anything without further advice.

Is it possible you could scan and post up the letter (omit personal details) or at least type up the main body of it?

Also, are you paying for your DMP? There are several recognised, free organisations who can offer the same, if not better support.

Have a look at this link: http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/getting-out-debt/130781-where-get-debt-help.html#post1374472

Hi trapper,

I would seriously consider making an appointment at your local CAB, or talk to your DMP people or even go and get a free consultation at a local solicitors (many of them do a free 15/30 mins initial session).

& separate to the above, have you had the CCA checked out? is it even enforceable?

Good luck

gh

As requested, copies of letter proposing the Consent Order, and the Order itself. As you can see, CL Finance propose reducing the amount outstanding and ask for £1.00/mth under the Order, and will drop the CCJ. We are already paying this amount to CL under our DMP.

(Quoted figures have been altered)

Seems like a strange move! Any suggestions?

WITHOUT PREJUDICE

Dear XXX

Re: CL Finance Limited -Yourself

County Court Claim No: xxx

Small claims Hearing xxx

Balance to date: £ 1500

We refer to the above matter.

In particular we refer to the small claims hearing due to take place on the xxx 2008.

In an effort to bring this matter to a satisfactory conclusion, our client is prepared to accept payment of £950 by instalments of £ 1.00 per month, subject to a Consent Order which will avoid the entry of a county court judgment being registered against you.

We therefore enclose three copies of a Consent Order for your consideration. If you agree to the terms upon the Consent Order please sign all three copies and return them to this office immediately.

We apologise for any inconvenience and look forward to receiving your reply.

Yours sincerely

Howard Cohen & Co

.....and the Consent Order:

In The XXX County Court

Claim Number. XXX

Between:CL Finance Limited Claimant

And: XXX Defendant

Before an Officer of the Court

BY CONSENT

I . The parties having agreed the terms of settlement in the schedule attached hereto, all further proceedings in this

action be stayed save for the purposes of carrying into effect the terms in schedule hereto.

2. There be no order as to costs

3. Liberty to apply.

SCHEDULE

The Defendant do pay the Claimant the sum of £XXX by instalments of £1.00 per month commencing one month from the date of this order.

Signed (Solicitors for) Claimant

Signed (Solicitors for) Defendant

Dated: XXX 2008

One further question to my previous post: If CL Finance/Howard Cohan were taking us to court for a CCJ (we have received SAR, etc), why would they change their mind and seek a Consent Order??

Also, what are the implications with agreeing to a CO?

I haven't heard of a consent order, but i would be interested to know what it is exactly and what the implications might be, i hope others come forward with their views,

However i cant help smelling a rat here, if you have filed a defence, has it scared them off, are they trying to avoid a discontinuance.

I dont know, anyone else???

I've posted your link somewhere else to ask others to look. Sit tight, i will check tomorrow to see if you've received more help

What defence have you submitted to the original claim?

Does a Consent Order get validated by the Court? Is it legally binding?

Not sure about:

3. Liberty to apply.

and exactly what the implications are, especially as Howard Cohen are involved, since their modus operandi is usually more rotweiller mode than this

Failing further advice by anyone else, I would phone the National Debtline on 0808 808 4000

The parties having agreed the terms of settlement in the schedule attached hereto, all further proceedings in this

action be stayed save for the purposes of carrying into effect the terms in schedule hereto.

What is in the schedule?

See bottom of Trapper's post:

SCHEDULE

The Defendant do pay the Claimant the sum of £XXX by instalments of £1.00 per month commencing one month from the date of this order.

Signed (Solicitors for) Claimant

 

Signed (Solicitors for) Defendant

Dated: XXX 2008

Missed that, thanks Micheal.

 

Not sure about:

3. Liberty to apply.

 

I understand this means both parties would be free to make applications to the court, in the future.

Regards

Lantana

I had one of those from CL Finance and I wrote back and told them no. I wasn't sure at the time if it meant I would still get a judgement so I wasn't taking any chances. They have taken me to court over an unenforceable agreement, they issued the proceedings before I was notified that the debt had been assigned to them, and I have never received a default notice. I have literally five minutes ago faxed a four page defence to the court.

My thread is here:

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/debt-collection-industry/118810-goldlady-cl-finance-round-2.html#post1523363

Not sure if you can do anything at this stage, but CL Finance seem to be a bit trigger happy with the court claims IMO.

Just thinking aloud here -

is the original agreement actually enforceable?

if you agree to the consent order could they then apply to increase payments later (or sooner!!)

by agreeing to a consent order are you therefore accepting the debt???

What I am trying to get at is whether the OC is being lured into admitting an unenforceable debt - then the DCA will apply for higher payments or a CCJ & enforcement nasties

IMHO I can't see why anyone would formally accept 950 monthly repayments of £1 - doesn't make sense to me

but by the order you are admitting you will repay that amount even though the original agreement may be unenforceable, and you'll not get out of that 'new' debt of £950

Sorry for rambling

subscribing. This sounds very dodgy and I would be wary of signing something without knowing the implications.

I did some googling It looks as though Consent orders are used mainly in divorce cases where a maintenance order has been agreed. However the consent order allows the 'claimant' to go back to court at any time should the other person default. What I dont understand, is that you already have an agreement in place via a third party to pay what they are now asking you to sign up to?

I hijacked this paragraph from somewhere.

"Though not everyone calls it "Tomlin Order," there does seem to be merit to this consent order. The terms of settlement are incorporated into a schedule which is attached to a consent court order. That will be drafted by one of the party's solicitors and agreed by the other. The effect of the Order is to stay the action indefinitely whilst the defendant complies with the terms of settlement. If he defaults at any time you can return to court and apply for judgment for the balance outstanding. There would be no defence because he had consented to the settlement. If he fulfills his part of the bargin that is the end of the matter. "

It occurs to me that perhaps CL Finance/Cohens have had their wrists slapped for issuing blanket court claims and have realised that in your situation you already have an agreement in place and that if it goes to court they could be in trouble for wasting the court's time. Whilst I am sure you can keep to the proposed agreement if you do sign it I do think it is something that could turn into a judgement if you were to default;)

I did some googling It looks as though Consent orders are used mainly in divorce cases where a maintenance order has been agreed. However the consent order allows the 'claimant' to go back to court at any time should the other person default. What I dont understand, is that you already have an agreement in place via a third party to pay what they are now asking you to sign up to?

 

I hijacked this paragraph from somewhere.

 

 

"Though not everyone calls it "Tomlin Order," there does seem to be merit to this consent order. The terms of settlement are incorporated into a schedule which is attached to a consent court order. That will be drafted by one of the party's solicitors and agreed by the other. The effect of the Order is to stay the action indefinitely whilst the defendant complies with the terms of settlement. If he defaults at any time you can return to court and apply for judgment for the balance outstanding. There would be no defence because he had consented to the settlement. If he fulfills his part of the bargin that is the end of the matter. "

I think that sort of confirms what I was babbling on about last night.

My guess is that they have an unenforceable agreement, but 'offering' you a consent order, makes it into a new agreement and wholly enforceable for ever......

together with 'Liberty to apply' would mean that as soon as the order was in place they could apply for further enforcement saying that £1 pcm for over 79 years wasn't reasonable ....

I think that sort of confirms what I was babbling on about last night.

 

My guess is that they have an unenforceable agreement, but 'offering' you a consent order, makes it into a new agreement and wholly enforceable for ever......

together with 'Liberty to apply' would mean that as soon as the order was in place they could apply for further enforcement saying that £1 pcm for over 79 years wasn't reasonable ....

Absolutely. trapper, is there anyway you can scan and upload, minus your personal details of course,the 'agreement' form you have.

Wow, what a great response! It seems I was right to smell a rat, which is why I made the post.

It would seem that they have no confidence in winning a judgement and are now looking at another way of getting us.

CitizenB: Which agreement do you need to see? Would it be the copy of the original credit agreement, or something else?

They have supplied a copy of the original CCA, but we have no other agreement with them as such. As they have been receiving (accepting) regular monthly payments through the DMP (third party) does this constitute a form of agreement.

Following the superb response here, we will NOT be signing the CO. My only concern is that they could still opt to seek a CCJ if we do not sign on the dotted line.

Or, would a Judge throw out the case, based on the fact that we have recognised our position and are making every effort through the DMP to rectify our position?

We have been battling DCA's & solicitors for 18mths now, have never lost, and never been asked to sign a Consent Order.

Under our DMP, we have slowly increased our monthly payments when able to do so. What baffles me is that they are willing to waive the CCJ and instead are trying to secure a lesser monthly payment under the CO than they are already accepting under the DMP. It does seem strange indeed.

This is obviously an unusual tactic and your continued thoughts/suggestions are very much appreciated. Thank-you!

Hi trapper, yes the Credit Card agreement. Are you absolutely certain it is an agreement form and not an APPLICATION form, or that is is compliant in every way.

It would appear to me that they are trying to prioritise their debt which isnt fair to those creditors who are accepting your payments without question through the DMP.

Hopefully someone with more experience will pop in and advise you with more confidence.

I've posted your link somewhere else to ask others to look. Sit tight, i will check tomorrow to see if you've received more help

I think it's fair to say mission accomplished. Thanks to everyone who's posted. OK, Trapper?

CitizenB: Hopefully I have attached the copy of the agreement, as sent by CL.

It does appear to be a genuine agreement, however, you may see something that I have missed.

Any further help much appreciated!

ps; let me know if the attachment is missing & I will have another go!

CLdeb agreement.pdf

Unfortunately trapper, that agreement looks kosher IMHO. There's refernce to a credit limit, interest and repayment.

I assume your signature's there and you've simply blocked it out for privacy.

You may be able to fight them on default notice issues, if you wish.

I've been thinking long and hard about the consent order business. Personally I'd be inclined to accept it on the basis that...

a) Happy to pay £1.00 per month anyway.

b) Avoids a CCJ.

Although they'd have liberty to apply subsequently to the court to vary the terms of the order, it's for the court to decide to vary or not (in the absence of your consent).

A consent order is attractive to CL finance for the following reasons...

1) The full CCJ will require their attendance at court and they won't get the cost of this back (small claims track).

2) They are undoubtedly aware that by going for the full CCJ they'll still only get £1.00 pcm.

3) By agreeing to the consent order, should you default in the future, they can convert to a ccj very easily.

Regards

Lantana