Thanks HCEO

Thanks Ploddertom

Thanks Wonkeydonkey.

Hi Thanks for all the advice - very useful. It looks like I'll be chased for 12 months at least, for this CCJ, so will have to live with it. Whether the HCE will accept that I cannot pay and have no assets, we'll have to see. Bailiff Advice - The variation order application failed because the claimant did not agree to it, opposed it and convinced the judge it was too long a period for me to pay off the debt, (I offered £20 on a £2000 debt). Cheers anyway BAE

Thank you DX100 and HCEOs:-) HCEO - do you think they will accept and believe an e mail stating I have no assets? Won't they want to visit and see proof? I have now moved and it could be that they have visited my last address, I have no way of knowing. Will the company who obtained the CCJ just leave it with the HCE for a few months or might they call a halt sooner? Will the creditor have paid a large amount to the HCE already or is the fee mostly obtained from the debtor? I'm hoping that the claimant will call a halt to the enforcement but I have no way to read their minds!!! How long will the writ stay valid for? How long will the HCE usually give it before they 'give up'? DX100 - yes I did contest the CCJ but failed. Then I asked for instalment order and was again unsuccessful - it only had the effect of adding costs to my debt!! I don't really want to say too much about the CCJ as the claimant may be watching this - but I certainly am stuck with the CCJ, of that there is no doubt. Thanks for the advice, much appreciated BAE

Hi, Over the last few months I have received a CCJ, then a notice of enforcement now an e mail threatening that a HCE are going to enforce a Writ of Control. I do not have a car or any belongings that are valuable. I know not to allow entry to bailiffs. I am just wondering how long the HCEs will keep trying to obtain the money which I just do not have??? Also, might they try to escalate the matter to making me bankrupt? If so, do they have to serve a writ by hand? I will be moving soon so this may alleviate some of the pressure! Lots of questions I know - and any advice would be most appreciated, thanks!: BAE

Thanks Steampowered BAE:smile:

:-)Thanks CB BAE

Hi, A few months ago I sold my house. It had a charging order attached, worth £2000 ( for a ccj on a credit card). I informed the solicitor that was dealing with the sale and sent them details of who they had to pay, (Nat West). There was enough equity to pay for this. The house sale went through without a hitch but I did notice that the charging order was not itemised on the final sale of house statement that the solicitor sent me. Now, a few months down the line, the solicitor has contacted me to say they made a mistake and did not pay the charging order and can I send them £xxx to clear it. The problem is I can't now pay the full amount. What should I do? I want to clear the debt and am thinking to ask that a payment plan is set up for £xx per month till the debt is paid. Will the bank accept this? And what is the solicitor's role in this now, seeing as they have made the mistake? Should I make a complaint? And what happens to my credit record? Sorry for all the questions!!! Thanks in advance for any advice. Cheers, BAE

Hi MyFamily, Sorry to hear the news but the Suspended Possession might not be too bad a situation as long as you can manage the payments of £903 per month. They are tied to the agreement too so can't start to apply pressure for more money. What costs were awarded? I would start a claim to recover the charges they have added to your account over the years. Once you add interest to it it will probably make a tasty sum. Or if you don't want to go through the court route, you can firstly complain through the FOS. Cheers, BAE

Hi Gerson I preferred to take my mortgage company to court (3 times) and each time they paid back the unlawful charges, just before the court hearing. However, going down the FOS route is fine too - if you're not successful with the FOS you can then still take the court route!! BAE

Update: Hearing has been adjourned until February. Claimant has asked for the extra time to look into my request for a full set of documents relating to the account. I agreed to the adjournment. BAE

Thank you AndyDD I will get my witness statement in asap so to give them chance to pull out . . . don't think that will happen though! And yes, I will also put in a claim for costs, thanks. BAE

Thank you Andyorch. This gives me more confidence as the claimant's legal team obviously do not know that they could not request a judgment without a hearing - so they do not appear very competent . . . I'm hoping that they will pull out of the SJ hearing once they receive my Witness Statement, but we'll see (wishful thinking probably . . . ). BAE

Thanks Andydd and Citizen B, I feel more confident now that the judge will not grant summary judgment, though I know that will depend on the judge I get. Cheers, BAE

Thanks Citizen B and MJT I will take both your advice and not bother trying to delay proceedings. Instead I will compile a witness statement. I will try my best to convince the judge that it should be heard at a full hearing. Another turn of events is that I haven't actually heard from the court about the hearing - I only know the date is December because the claimant has informed me when they sent me a copy of their application. On their application it asks that the SJ is made 'without a hearing', I wonder why? I will have to phone the court to see if it requires my attendance or not. Cheers, BAE

Hi I am being pursued for a credit card debt. I put in a holding defence based on lack of agreement and charges added to the debt. The creditor did not follow through with the action and the case was stayed. Six months down the line the creditor has now applied for a lifting of the stay and summary judgment. A hearing has been arranged for December. As part of my original defence, I asked for the creditor to supply statements of account, documents like the default notice and copy of agreement. They have not complied so it is difficult to comply a proper defence. Can I apply for an order from the court which will force the creditor to supply the statements etc so I can then make a proper defence? And do I need to include in my application a request that the Summary Judgment hearing be delayed until the documents are supplied? Thanks BAE

Hi Pete42 On my schedule of charges - an A4 sheet which lists their charges date by date , specifies what the charges were for and should be attached to the N1 claim ( and previously sent with your LBA) - I simply added the interest on a year by year basis, ending with a cumulative total, and then left it at that. I don't think this is a big issue when it comes to whether you win your claim so I would just estimate what interest they have added to your arrears, then add 8% a year, which represents what you could have made had you kept the charges money in a bank etc, Make sure this is clear on your POC and the front of the N1 claim form. There are all sorts of online interest calculators you could use but I prefer the simplicity of an honest estimate - ( and the interest part of my claim has never been queried). BAE

This is the sort of Particulars of Claim you could use with adaptations to suit your circumstances. I have sued my mortgage company three times for mortgage arrears charges and each time they paid up before the hearing, ( but only after a lot of bluster about how they would defend the claim) In the XXXXXXXXX county court Claim Number: _____________ xxxxxxxxxxxx (claimant) vs xxxxxxxxxxxx(defendant) Particulars of Claim Summary: This is a claim for the return of arrears charges that the claimant believes to be unlawful along with associated interest. 1. The claimant has a mortgage with the defendant. Account number XXXXXXXXXXXX. Signed and dated XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX. Original amount of credit £XXXXXXXX 2. The loan is subject to the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 (UTCCR). 3. The defendant is statutorily bound by Financial Services Authority regulations – mortgage Conduct of Business rules (MCOB) contained in the FSA Handbook, implemented under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. 4. The mortgage fell into arrears after the claimant fell into difficulty and was unable to keep up the repayments as required by the mortgage agreement. 5. The defendant levied mortgage arrears charges against the claimant. 6. The defendants also levied further interest on the arrears charges. 7. The arrears charges were levied at a rate which exceeded their administrative costs. According to the MCOB rules, by which the defendant is statutorily bound, lenders should not impose administrative charges to customers in mortgage arrears unless those charges were, ‘a reasonable estimate of the cost of additional administration required as a result of the customer being in arrears’. This rule is found in MCOB 12.4.1(1): 12.4.1(1): ‘A firm must ensure that any contract that it enters into does not impose, and cannot be used to impose, a charge for arrears on a customer except where that charge is a reasonable estimate of the cost of the additional administration required as a result of the customer being in arrears.’ 8. Additionally, the level of the charges was unfair because they breach the requirement of fairness contained in UTCCR. 9. The charges are also unlawful because they are levied in breach of the defendant's statutory duty to treat their customers fairly, as stipulated in MCOB. 10. Furthermore, as the amount of the Charges exceeded any genuine pre-estimate of the damage that would have been suffered by the defendant in relation to the Claimant’s transgressions, the Charges were both punitive and a penalty, and thus unenforceable at common law. 11. For these reasons the interest levied on the arrears charges is also unlawful In conclusion The claimant seeks the return of unlawfully levied charges plus associated interest – £ xxxxxxxx This is a true statement of the facts Signed _________________________ _(claimant) Dated____________________ BAE

Hi, Mooshy, I'm with Skipton and met an adviser recently - he said that his company would not simply look at defaults on a credit file, but also look at repayment records, when evaluating new mortgages or remortgages - he seemed to imply that there was some flexibility and it was worth it to explain circumstances face to face - don't know if this is indicative of other companies but I think it would be worth a try to explain your situation and get them to look at your evidence etc. BAE

Hi They will have been taking arrears charges every month, no doubt, and you can claim these back if you're prepared to put a court claim in. Most mortgage companies charge about £50 per month when you're in arrears - there is no justification in this. If you've been in arrears for a few years, they will have taken a big chunk of charges and lumped interest onto that, it could run to £1000s. You need to send them a SAR (Subject Access Request) and find out exactly what they OWE YOU - then you claim it back. BAE

I think 2 letters are recommended as courtesy but if this ever gets to a hearing - which is very doubtful - the other side are hardly going to hold you to issue over a lack of notice over you suing them. They are a large company with dedicated legal depts and you are a litigant in person so I don't see you sending sevaral letters politely stating your case will bear any fruit or be relevant once you put a claim in. Therefore my advice would be to send a LBA now, then instigate proceedings 14 days from this day. Whatever you decide, GOOD LUCK! BAE

Hi Zoltron, Personally I don't think they will let it go to court. I have sued my mortgage company 3 times - each time they claimed they would defend and that their charges were lawful - and each time they paid up before the hearing. As for them saying that they can claim costs because of a clause in your contract, I would counter with the argument that this clause is unfair under the UTCCR. They will claim all manner of legal loopholes in their defence because they think you will back down - then they capitulate and offer the refund as a goodwill gesture. I don't think a judge has any cause to complain at you claiming more than once - for one thing, they will not know unless you or the other side tells them - and you can always argue that your second claim involved charges only discovered at a later date. Regarding which charges to claim, yes you may want to claim for those you feel are totally unrealistic. I claimed for arrears charges of £50 per month and they refunded swiftly once it went to court. Good luck BAE

Best way to avoid costs issue is to keep your claim under £5000, thereby keeping it to the smalls claims court where sides generally pay their own costs. As your claim is over £5200 even without interest, I would claim for a period of time that meets the under £5000 criteria, eg 2005 - 2009: charges £4000, interest £900, total claim £4900. You can claim for the other years later. BAE

Here are some examples of areas of mortgage advice that may give rise to complaints, and therefore compensation, taken directly from the fiinancial Services website Where a consumer has not been advised about the different types of mortgage available, which resulted in them choosing a mortgage that was not suitable for them at the time. They have lost money as a result. If specific details of the mortgage chosen are incorrect, for example a longer term has been selected than the consumer had intended or required, and the consumer has lost money as a result. If a consumer was advised to switch mortgages but was not given an adequate explanation of why a switch should be made, and the advice to switch mortgages resulted in the consumer losing money. If a consumer was advised to take out a lifetime mortgage that was unsuitable for their circumstances at the time and they have lost money as a result. If you were advised to take out a mortgage endowment policy by a financial adviser, this will usually be an investment claim. These types of claim have been protected by the FSCS since 28 August 1988.