Hello All Update - the HCEO have been round to the builders new home. He has, as I expected, pleaded poverty and says he is unable to pay the debt. He has offered to pay £100 per month, (£65 to me ). The HCEO has decided there is no sufficient goods to take from his house and so this offer appears to be a fait accompli. If I don't accept the offer then they will "deem the file as abortive and would advise I seek further Legal advice for same". It seems I have no choice but to accept his offer. If he defaults again, we will forever be chasing him. It doesn't sound right M

Hi All Just to update you all, its been a few weeks.. Some typing errors came to light on the CCJ which needed correction but the Writ was finally issued. A notice of enforcement was issued to the builder 4 weeks ago. He responded by making excuses to explain why "a few payments" were missed and wanting to reinstate a payment plan. Last week SO HCEO made an attendance at the address but no one was available and they couldn't gain access. However they left a card, and the builder has rang them to say he is willing to enter into a payment plan arrangement, and has made a small initial down payment. I can not understand why SO is even having this conversation with him since he has already demonstrated he does not stick with agreed arrangements. I don't want to continue dealing with his shenanigans, which is why I approached them in the first place. I have explained to the SO that i do not want to go down this line of another payment plan but what if they accept the builders proposal, who ends up paying their fees? As each week goes by their fees keep on accumulating. And are they right to accept whatever arrangement he is suggesting? MM2

Hi Dodgeball Many thanks, I think I follow what you are saying... Can you explain what you mean when you ask if I have "considered by an attachment"? What do you mean by an attachment? Thanks

Aha! Thanks ploddertom - you've explained it perfectly to a layman. I have also been recommended the use of DCB Ltd, but their split is 50/50, Is this the company you warned me of in your earlier post ? Does anyone have any experience of using either The Sheriffs Office or DCBL?

That is not how I am reading it. It says in the T&Cs -10.4 "All money is split after £200 is received from the defendant and that from the first £200, the £90 Compliance Fee is retained, and the remaining of £110 is split on a 65%/35% basis between the judgment debt, costs and interest, against our fees incurred under the Writ. All future money thereafter is split on a 65%/35% basis."

Hi All I have spoken to the Sheriffs Office this morning, who say if they are successful then they will charge the Debtor for their work, not me. But if they are unsuccessful at recovering the whole debt they will charge me a "compliance fee" of £75+vat! Something that really puzzles me is that if they are not successful or only part successful, ie they only collect assets for part of the whole debt then, then although I am still charged the £75 they will continue to chase the debtor. Their email says - "This does not cover our costs, therefore it is in our interest to successfully execute the Writ in order to obtain our fees. Please see our terms of business for full conditions.". I have checked their T&Cs on their website and these are, as I expected quite complicated but it suggests they take 35% of whatever they recover! This does not sit well with me if it is correct. Am I reading this right? Can they do that? I would much rather placed some sort of order on his house and recover the whole of the remaining debt that way. It doesn't make sense going through with SO anymore.

. Hi Avatar - I have done the Land Registry search. He is down as the Registered Owner(s) on the Title deeds, but reading further in the deeds the house is leasehold with 999 years lease. not sure if that makes any difference for my purposes.

Hi Ploddertom - The CCJ was issued 4 years ago. I believe he is a sole trader. Other than his new home, which he bought only last year according to Land Registry, I have no idea if he has any other assets. As for his van, I believe that even if that was his own, since he needs it for his work, just like his tools, it cannot be taken by the HCEOs. Which is why I thought perhaps bringing him to court to declare his financial situation under oath in front of a judge might be better. At least I would know what he is capable of paying. But it is not clear from reading some of the threads what is the best way to go about this either. there seems 2 ways with an EX324 Order to Obtain Information or by completing Form N316 (Application for an order that the judgment debtor attends court for questioning). Either way, in the end he can continue to play cat and mouse by agreeing to pay a new amount and then defaulting!

Thanks BankFodder - I will ring someone on Monday and keep you guys posted. M2

Thanks BankFodder and dx100uk for your very quick responses. - "neither - go ring one of the HCEO firms like 'the sheriffs officers" Really?? I thought I would have to issue a Warrant of Control in order to pass it on the a HCEO???

Hello All A few years ago I took my builder to court for shoddy workmanship and a CCJ was served against the builder to pay just over £5000. He pleaded poverty and, feeling a little pity on him, I accepted a monthly payment of £40, which by my calculations would take him over 10 years to pay back. Anyway, in the first few years he missed the odd payment which I ignored but for the past 6 months he has stopped paying all together. I am considering taking action to recover the rest of the amount he owes which is still over £4000. But I am unsure what method i use, as there is so much conflicting information out there. As I see it I have 2 choices 1. take out a Writ of Control, which I understand will result in a bailiff turning up at his home and demanding the full debt paid or 2. take out am Order to Obtain Information which I believe will bring him back to court to explain his current financial situation. I like the first option, as he has messed me about and I'd like to be rid of him really but I feel he will plead poverty again, (even though he is has recently bought a flashy new builders van and a new executive home). and so Bailiffs may not be able to recover much. Using the 2nd option he will most likely offer a nominal monthly repayment and later down the line start missing payments again. Can anyone advice whats the best approach and how do I go about this to stand any chance of recovering the rest of the debt? Any help much appreciated. M2

Can anyone help please? Several years ago I purchased a Sony PS3 for my 11 year old son. I set up the online account with my own email address and since then he has been using this account to play games online. He is in his early teens now, and last week he bravely went online and wanted to change the email address on the account to his own email address. but in the process entered a typing error and now cannot get into the account. I have contacted Sony and explained the situation to them, giving them my original email address home address etc but they have asked me to tell them what the new email address was which my son has set up. Now, he cannot remember exactly which bit was a typing error so I cannot give them this. So I asked them to reset it to the original email address but they won't do this until I send in two forms of photo id. I explained that there is no reason why they would want my photo id from me as they cannot compare it against anything. I don't recall sending it to them when I set the account up. They argue that my account now has other information on it such as billing or purchases but we have never bought anything from Sony online and I don't believe they have any of my credit card details. Are Sony right to demand photo id before they reset my account. It is easter holidays and my son cannot go online to play his beloved PS3 because a lot of his scores and settings for his games are accessed via the account. Can anyone help please? Kind Regards Gobsmacked

Thank you for the response Mrs Blackadder. I have been of the similar opinion and ignored them in the past. But reading a recent posting on this forum from someone who came to know long afterwards that this company had indeed managed to register a CCJ against them without even their knowledge has made me worried that companies can do that. I have been at my current address for 3 years and ocassionaly mail still comes to my old address but thankfully the people living there pass onto me any mail they get for me. usually just junk mail anyway. One of the advices on this forum suggests writing a SAR to the bank, but I have accounts in several banks and a few credit cards too, so the £10 charge for each of these SARs soon adds up. Notwithstanding this is it still worth while requesting a SAR from all my lenders/banks? and should I get my credit file from all the agencies or should just the one be ok? Many thanks in adavance.

Hi A couple of months ago I started getting regular missed calls and later txt messages from Fredrickson Internaltional to contact them urgently. After a quick googling I realised they were dodgy debt collection people and checked my credt file from Experian. When i relaised, as expected that everything was in order, I dont have any debts other than the credit cards and mortgage that I am paying, I thought I had nothing to worry about. So I just ignored these texts and sure enough they stopped about month ago. This week I have started to receive a daily ext from Bryan Carter Solicitors. The message reads: "This is an URGENT message. Please contact Bryan Carter Solicotrs on 02031478411 quoting reference no xxxxxxx. Thank you." I have checked my credit file and have asked the banks if they have instructed any 3rd party to chase any debts. I am paying the minimm amount on 2 credit cards by direct debit. I had thought if they were genuine then I ought to have received something in writing from them rather than just missed calls or text. but reading some of the tales from people on this forum makes me very anxious. What do you suggest I do? Kind regards MM2

Hi Ihateyes point 1: Homeserve dont cover accidental damage, so they wouldnt have repaired that.... full stop... its obvious this engr didnt have the balls to tell you face to face. Perhaps you are correct I may be confusing it with Buildings Insurance. But I am sure in some of the Homeserve adverts, I have seen the analogy if you have "put a nail through a water pipe...". point 2: Homeserves standard plumbing and drains start at £6.55 (per website/non £50 excess), to have ball valves and tap washers covered you have to pay an extra £3odd a month. I am paying for what is supposed to be the top plumbing and heating cover, paying over £25 /m so I should think that covers everything. inded the policy T+c states the following: "Plumbing Maintenance. You are covered for... 1.b Any hot or cold water tap to a bath or sink in your property or any external tap that is dripping and requires repair to remedy the problem. The approved engineer will repair the tap." So he should have repaired it. shouldn't he?? point 3: again i prove my point about companies that only use subbies.... you report the fault, but it takes them hours on end to notify a subbie to come do the work... On both visits the engineer came in a Homeserve Plumbing and Drainage van - so not a subbie. It seems HPD engineers are no better than subbies. MM