Welcome Finance Court Summons

[Hopeful1]

Hi thehomee. I'm sorry you haven't had the help you asked for.

 

It may be worth contacting national debtline (use the link i posted above to find a contact no). They can signpost you to people who may be able to look at the info you have and to offer some sort of advice. It may be you qualify for some support from a local law centre.

[thehomee]

No,it's not that. In fact, I am very pleased with the help I have had from this forum.

The problem is that I was advised to defend the whole amount, but I can't, because I genuinely owe them money and I don't want to shirk my responsibilities as far as that goes. I just think they've ripped me off and I don't know how to prove it. Plus, I have loads of other debts, so I don't know how much to offer them. On top of this, I have just had to give my car back to the finance company because I can't afford it, and they are still gonna sue me for over 4grand!

Anyway, I've done the court forms now and so I will let you all know what happens.

I'll let you know how it goes.

[Hopeful1]

Thehomee, national debtline (i'm not on commission, i promise!!), payplan, CCCS are all free organisations that could help you complete expenditure sheets etc and help you work out pro-rata what you can afford to offer each creditor.

[Hopeful1]

Unfortunately, I had to do the court forms online last night, so all I could do was write down the interest charges and rates, but I don't suppose the court will be interested in that. Maybe when they win i could then make a claim against them for extortionate interest charges?

 

 

Do you mean you submitted your defence?

[thehomee]

Yes, well, as I said, I didn't know how to defend the whole lot, because i do actually owe them money, so I worked out how much extra they charged me with the PPI and what the interest was on that and then deducted it from what I owed them. I then made an offer of a monthly payment.

I still think that the interest rate on the first loan was bloody high, but I don't have a clue what I can do about that.

I have now worked out what I owe them to be just over 4k instead of 6.5k and I have offered £40 per month. I can only just afford this, but I want the courts to know I am genuine.

[thehomee]

I am a bit confused about the latest turn this has taken. I admitted part of the claim and offered £40 per month. The part I didn't admit is the cost of the PPI that they should have cancelled, plus interest.

Today I have received, from the court, something called an 'allocation questionnaire'. There was no letter with it or any explanation as to what is happening.

I don't understand most of the questions, and at the end it says I have to pay a fee! It doen't say how much, but don't the courts realise I can't afford to pay any fees?

Why has the court ignored my part-admittance and what do I do next?

Please help as I am really really worried now. Thanks.

[steven4064]

The AQ is the next part of the court process where the court decides where to hold the hearing and which 'track' it is to be on. You will find guidance on completing the AQ here

 

You only have to pay a fee if you ar the claimant and you are claiming more than £1500 (and you're not exempt)

[thehomee]

OK. thank you . I will check out that link. Does this mean that Welcome still intend to sue me for the full amount and that it will actually go to court?

If so, I can't understand their reasoning. I can only just about afford the £40 per month I have offered, and surely the court won't make me pay any more, so what's the point of Welcome fighting for another 2k when it'll take decades to pay back anyway?

[steven4064]

It looks like they do intend to take you to court. They may well shoot themselves in the foot though. You should take an up to date statement of income and expenditure including all your ddebts. If you have not done one of these before have a look here (National Debt Line). On that basis the court may well order you to pay less than Welcome are getting at the moment.

[thehomee]

OK. thanks again. What they're doing doesn't make any sense to me, because I can't imagine the court making me pay more than i can afford! Oh well, I suppose they must know what they're doing....

[steven4064]

Oh well, I suppose they must know what they're doing....

Yeh, right

[thehomee]

Hi all. Please can someone advise what I should do next on this.

A quick recap to save you reading the whole thread;

I had a Welcome Finance loan and asked them to cancel the insurance. I did this within the 30 days but they refused. Eventually I stopped paying because it was the only way I could think of to fight them.

I then got a summons through the courts from Irwin Mitchell.

I defended roughly 2k because it represented the insurance that they didn't cancel, plus interest.

The court date is set for 29th August. I have telephoned the court's mediation service 2 weeks ago and told them I am happy to mediate but have not heard back from them.

Yesterday I received a letter from Irwin Mitchell saying that the client has now cancelled the insurances and interest as per my defence and now they agree with my figure.

They go on to say that, 'in the interests of saving court costs and to avoid lenghty proceedings, our client is willing to consider a reduced full and final settlement payable by 3 monthyly installments'.

I agree with the figure they now say that I owe, but the installments are nearly1.5k per month!

I have offered £20 per month through the courts, because I have no assets and no money and have even just given my car back to the finance company because I can't afford to continue to pay it, so now they are suing me.

I also have over 16k of other debts.

My question - is this letter likely to be some sort of response to the court mediation service? Should I reply to it or wait for the mediation service to contact me? If I do reply to it what should I say?

I would be very very grateful of any advice please.

Thanks

[steven4064]

I would guess that the letter has been brought on as a resonse to the mediation service. I would write back and tell them that you agree with their figures but cannot possibly afford £1.5k/month. Restate your offer of £20/month. Copy the letter to the court mediation service.

 

Do you have an up-to-date statement of income and expenditure. If not, it wold be worth drawing one up. You will need it for the mediation.

[thehomee]

ok. Thanks. I will do that. Thanks again for your excellent help!

[steven4064]

By doing that, they've stated their case to the mediation service and you have stated yours - that, with your statement of income and expenditure, is the 'bottom line' from which mediation can begin.

 

On consideration, I think you should send the statement of I&E to he mediation service as soon as you can. If you need help with it, there is exellent advice on the National Debtline website.

[thehomee]

OK, I'll do that too. Although I can't see them getting any more than I've offered as I've already given the court my income and expenditure details and it doesn't make good reading!

I can't really afford the offer I have made - I wonder if the court will reduce it? You never know....

[steven4064]

If you can't really afford £20 then don't offer that as an 'opening bid' - offer them £15

[thehomee]

Update and question; The court case was supposed to be tomorrow, but I received a letter from the solicitors asking me to sign a Tomlin order and a bank standing order. This meant that I would have to pay £60pm for 2 months then £110pm. If I stop paying, court action will continue.

I feel I have been bullied into this and can't really afford it.

If I cancel the standing order before the 1st payment and it then does go to court, is it likely that the court would make me pay more than that amount?

I have no idea what the courts take into consideration when making their decisions, so if anyone could shed any light on that I would be grateful, because I just can't afford what I have agreed to.

Thanks.

[sillygirl1]

DONT sign it, the court will certainly offer you less, they are trying to bamboozle you with terms, a Tomlin order is as bad as a charging order and you should let this case go to court - let the court manager know about this as it is a last ditch attempt by them to make you pay what you can't afford to and then they will hit you with further charges and orders.

 

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE don't sign this and mention it at the court tomorrow.

[thehomee]

Too late! I already did sign it because I was so scared about court action. The court have written to me to say that because I signed it the action has been 'stayed'.

I am now seriously considering cancelling the standing order, due to start on 1st, because I just can't afford it. All I really want to know is what will happen if I do cancel the S/O.

I had been really worried about having a CCJ, but now I am not sure there is that much to worry about. My biggest worry is how much the court will tell me I have to pay.

[thehomee]

Please help someone - thanks!

As I stated above, I signed the Tomlin order. Predictably, the monthly payments, due to start on Sept 1st, were rejected by my bank, as I simply can't afford them.

Today I received a 'Judgment for Claimant (acceptance) form N30(1) from Ipswich County Court.

It says;

To the defendant

You have made an offer of payment which the claimant has accepted.

It is therefore ordered that you must pay the claimant £6227.30 for debt (and interest to date of judgment) and £360.00 for costs.

You must pay the claimant a total of £6,587.30 forthwith.

 

I phoned the court and said I cannot possibly pay that as I don't have that sort of money and I have no car and rent the house I live in. They said I have to pay it and that's that, so I should get legal advice. I haven't got any money for legal advice and don't qualify for legal aid.

Please could someone advise what I should do as my wife and I are now pretty scared and we just can't pay or we would!

I accept I owe them the money but I just don't have it to give.

Thanks for reading everyone.

[Ubiquitious]

dont fear to much, ultimately they only have a few enforcement options...

 

In my opionion the worse they can do is go for bankruptcy if you dont own your house or anything.

 

I would consider calling debtline or talking to the CAB (citizens advice).

[thehomee]

Thanks Ubiquitious

I think you're right about them not being able to do too much. After all, they can't take what I haven't got.

But I don't know how to respond to this thing from the courts. I don't think ignoring it is an option, but I don't know what I should do.

[Ubiquitious]

Thanks Ubiquitious

I think you're right about them not being able to do too much. After all, they can't take what I haven't got.

But I don't know how to respond to this thing from the courts. I don't think ignoring it is an option, but I don't know what I should do.

 

Only thing you can do is write a letter stating how much you can afford and how you got to that (include an income and expenditure sheet).

 

The next move is their decision, they can either seek enforcement in a number of ways (bankruptcy, charge, bailiffs - all these cost money they might not get back) or accept your offer of payment.

[Hopeful1]

Hi thehomee. I really think you should seek advice on this. There are some contact details on this thread for national debt helpline, CAB etc:

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/getting-out-debt/130781-where-get-debt-help.html