Hi All

Apologies if this is a common thread but Iv been reading for hours and coming up short and getting more and more confused as time goes on.

I have had some advice which was very honest but has left me even more confused because i have two options so I figured I have nothing to lose by asking! Naturally I would prefer comments where PEOPLE KNOW what they are talking about as I have had enough guesses!!

My situation is that I have a loan with GE Money which is a second charge secured loan which was originally £13,000 and is still £11,405 with about £7,000 arrears and only 1 year remaining.

I understand the loan to be covered under the Consumer Credit Act and I have been told that this gives me the option of applying for a time order, however I dont really know what this means and certainly dont know how to apply for one other than filling out an N440 application.

The reason I was directed towards a time order is that it apparently gives the Judge the power to grant more time to my loan as I only have about a year left and to clear the arrears over that period id very high.

My eviction however is in 2 weeks. Is it too late to apply for a time order, will it be considered or just rejected and the eviction enforced?

It was suggested that i apply an N244 application to get a suspended order to either agree to the ridiculous overpayment, or ask for time to sell, and then apply for the time order once the eviction is out the way.

I just dont know the validity of either approach or the liklehood of getting them through, time is running out, and I have to do something!!

Any well founded advice is very welcome!

If there is no possibilty of you paying the loan off before it's end date then there is no point in entering an N244 to get a hearing to stop the eviction as the judge would look at the remaining term of the loan. It would seem a Time order is your best option, but the cost of the application is £150. If you can't afford to make monthly instalments which would clear the arrears before the end of the agreement then you should request that the loan and arrears be re-scheduled. However, for the court to allow a time order, you do need to be able to make an offer of payment. The court will then decide whether they think you can afford to pay what you have offered or if they think you could offer more.

Make sure you add any information that might help your case, such as:

• The reason you took out the credit

• You could afford the credit when first took out, but can no longer.

• Your payment record was always good until you stopped paying.

• Your creditor has refused to negotiate with you.

• Is your situation likely to improve in the future?

Also if you feel that the interest rate on your agreement is very high, you could argue that it is extortionate credit under the Consumer Credit Act. However, it can be very difficult to persuade the court of this.

I have affixed a Time order form to this post.

Hope this is helpful.

n440- time order.pdf

Ell enn thank you for such a quick response!

I can offer to make the payments inline with the end of the term however, with me having ignored the loan for some time, my concern is that i dont think they will believe my affordability has suddenly recovered! I researched all the law in this regard however, c&g v Norgan and admin of justice Act etc and it appears pretty strong, if only my term was longer!!

Is there any legal background law on a time order that I need to quote about the Judges ability to make such an order? Or am I to simply trust that the Judge will understand it all? ie is a Time Order UNDER the Consumer Credit Act? does it have a specific section or is a Time Order something different entirely? And is it not too late to file one??

Filing one on my current knowledge base feels like I am leaving it very much to chance which is not how I would prefer to move forward!

Also how do I explore the issue on getting time to sell? Is that potentially a stronger argument, i have an estate agent confirming the value and that I have £20,000 in equity, but Iv read quite conflicting results that the property "must be on the market" to "you MUST have exchanged contracts"

Please forgive all the questions, I just cant afford to pay out for this information and am trying to make sure i dont get torn to pieces by handling it myself!

Thanks

Mouldy

Hi, I'm at work at the moment so don't have much time. If you need help with understanding the application for a time order and the relevant case laws etc. give National Debtline a ring (0808 808 4000), they are really good at this sort of thing - I think they also have a pretty good factsheet on this subject - and will be able to answer your questions much quicker than I will as it may be later this evening before I get a chance to advise you more fully.

thanks for that Ell-enn Il see if I can get the boss to let me have 30 mins t phone them! I cannot realistically make any applications before tomorrow anyway so any further advice later would be appreciated if you are not to drained after work.

thannks

Mouldy

Hi mouldy .... How did you get on? I'm in a similar situation myself ......