High Court Enforcement Officers & CCJ

[frederena]

Hi all,

 

I'm sorry if I've posted this in the wrong place, I'm a little stressed at the moment and not thinking properly.

 

I've been on a self managed dmp for a while with several of my creditors, but this one has really stumped me and I need help.

 

In 2007 a creditor for one of my credit cards issued forms through northampton to apply for a ccj. I sent the forms back in good time to the creditor with my payment proposals on, and waited for the court judgement letter.

 

When I received the letter, it stated I hadn't returned the forms, and judgement had been entered for the full amount against me which was payable immediately. I had no idea I could apply to have the judgement set aside.

 

1 month later, I returned home to a letter pushed through the door from a high court enforcement officer with a writ, and adding nearly £1000 to the amount in charges, stating they would be returning to take goods. I received nothing from the court before this to say there had been any more hearings.

 

Following a phone call to the national debt line, I wrote to the court, and the enforcement officers asking why my debt had been transferred to the high court as it was under £25,000 and covered by the consumer credit act.

 

We moved 2 weeks later, our post was re-directed, but I heard nothing more.

 

Fast-forward until now, 2 babies later and another house move.

 

I have received a letter from the creditor asking for immediate payment, and interest is being accrued.

 

I don't know what to do. I don't work anymore as I have to care for our daughter who has difficulties to say the least. My hubby is part time due to short time being imposed at work.

 

Will I have high court enforcement officers coming round again? I need to ring the court on monday to find out whats been happening, but is there any way I can apply have the judgement set aside in order to make my representations?

National debtline were adamant this should not have been transferred to the high court jurisdiction due to the amount and it being covered by the credit act. Is this right? and if so, I have no idea how to challenge it!

 

Sorry if this doesn't make sense, I have no idea what to do, and have had no experience of high court enforcement officers. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thank you.

Edited September 12, 2009 by frederena

[Crapstone]

National Debtline England & Wales | Debt Advice | Factsheet 31 Dealing With Debts In The High Court

 

I'd take it a step at a time. Find out what is going on, send an SAR and ask for a copy of the original CCA from the creditor but don't admit the debt. Ask the court for all the info they have and why it's come under their remit.

 

Are you absolutely sure it's CCA regulated? Some cards don't fit into that boat and aren't classed in the same way. Can you say who the lender is and what card?

Edited September 13, 2009 by Crapstone

[Crapstone]

This can be worked through and set-aside but it's not going to happen overnight. Don't open the door to anyone unknown to you and keep your doors and windows locked until this is resolved.

 

Gather all the documents you already have so that you can answer any questions put to you here and get this moving in the right direction.

[frederena]

Thank you so much for your reply, I appreciate it.

 

It's a barclaycard visa. The debt is for less than £10,000.

 

Who would I send the SAR to? The original creditor, or the company chasing me now? (who incidentally are awful).

 

Paperwork all here that I can find. Some is missing from 2006 I think - a particularly bad year for me following a family upset - I went off the rails a bit, so filing wasn't the best.

 

Thank you for your help.

[Crapstone]

Send your SAR to the original creditor and send a CCA request to the company chasing you now. You should be able to find template letters on this site and addresses where to send them.

[frederena]

ok, I'll do that tonight and post first thing tomorrow.

 

What does requesting the cca do? I've done that with other debts I have, but can I still do that with judgement against me?

Trying to get my head round it all and not succeeding I'm afraid!

 

Just to add, it wasn't barclaycard who took me to court, it was this other company. (not sure I should name them to give away too many details) however, as soon as they took over the debt things spiralled out of control.

 

Thank you again for taking the time to reply.

[Crapstone]

Even with a judgement against you, it should still be provided. It should also state that either the debt is governed by the CCA or not and include any terms that refer to contractual interest.

 

I'm not entirely sure and it seems to be a grey area with one side disputing that it's not needed after judgement. But looking at it objectively it is the core to the contract and must be made available if the judgement is challenged at a later date. There doesn't appear to be a time limit so all and any requests to the creditor must be complied with and their record keeping must be accurate. If I'm wrong then hopefully a more experienced cagger will step in and correct this.

 

First off you need to find out what has happened. You say the debt was possibly sold and another company took over.

 

Do you own your home?

 

Do you still have the letters from the Enforcement Officers and can you scan them up with your details removed?

 

It sounds like it was a [problem] by a DCA, as you should have been notified of all and any enforcement action made through the court. The courts will know as a fee would have been paid and records kept if it was heard in the HC.

[spitfire650]

Although actions to recover consumer credit regulated accounts have to be commenced in the county court, a claimant is allowed to 'transfer up' a judgment for enforcement by the HCEO.

[frederena]

Even with a judgement against you, it should still be provided. It should also state that either the debt is governed by the CCA or not and include any terms that refer to contractual interest.

 

I'm not entirely sure and it seems to be a grey area with one side disputing that it's not needed after judgement. But looking at it objectively it is the core to the contract and must be made available if the judgement is challenged at a later date. There doesn't appear to be a time limit so all and any requests to the creditor must be complied with and their record keeping must be accurate. If I'm wrong then hopefully a more experienced cagger will step in and correct this.

 

First off you need to find out what has happened. You say the debt was possibly sold and another company took over

 

Do you own your home?

 

Do you still have the letters from the Enforcement Officers and can you scan them up with your details removed?

 

It sounds like it was a [problem] by a DCA, as you should have been notified of all and any enforcement action made through the court. The courts will know as a fee would have been paid and records kept if it was heard in the HC.

 

Thanks again for taking the time to reply.

The dca were terrible to deal with - it's not one I've had dealings with before, and hope to never again. IND Ltd - need I say more?

 

They are the original dca who went for judgement.

 

I do have the letters from the enforcement agency, but my husband has kindly 'put them safe', just forgot to remember where.

Going to ring the court shortly to get an update and see how many more times I've been taken to court without notification.

 

They definitely did apply to transfer to High court jurisdiction - I have a statement with fees added etc, and they also applied for an attachment of earnings. Thats not especially useful as I had to give up work to look after our daughter who has difficulties, but I have been charged fees for this also.

 

We don't own our own home, we rent privately.

[frederena]

Although actions to recover consumer credit regulated accounts have to be commenced in the county court, a claimant is allowed to 'transfer up' a judgment for enforcement by the HCEO.

 

Thanks for your reply. The National debtline have this on their fact sheet:

 

"Most credit agreements are regulated by the Consumer Credit Act 1974. This means that your creditor has to sue you in the county court and cannot transfer the debt to the High Court for enforcement.

The High Court is most likely to be used by creditors for debts over £15,000 that are not regulated by the Consumer Credit Act 1974."

 

Have I read this wrong? The debt is a credit card and states its covered by the Consumer Credit act.

 

I feel way out of my depth - I have no idea what I'm doing

[Crapstone]

Debt Factsheets - Dealing with debts in the High Court

 

It seems that your debt, although it's been dealt with in the County Court, has been passed to the High Court for enforcement i.e bailiffs, attachment to earnings....etc..

 

The original judgement still remain with the County Court so you should start working on trying to get this set aside. Is the CCJ a default judgement seeing as they didn't acknowledge the papers that you sent back? Have you paid anything since the judgement? If it is default then keep silent about any acknowledgment admitting the debt or making a proposal to pay.

 

We just need to find firm grounds that you can have this set aside on apart from your reply not being received or acknowledged.

 

I'd start by writing to IND and disputing the debt, asking for a copy of the CCA. Enclose a £1 postal order and send it recorded delivery, keeping copy for yourself.

 

If they want to use enforcement officers again they will have to pay a further fee and it seems like they will be running out of options without throwing good money after bad. A Charging Order is out of the equation as you are renting.

 

An SAR or looking through your statements should also show up any unfair charges applied that shouldn't have been included in the CCJ, so these can also be challenged along with anything else irregular.

 

Moving on from that, it might also be worth ringing National Debtline so you can explain your whole situation. I also recommend Community Legal Services as you would probably fit into their criteria for free legal advice. Even if your income or assets exceed, they can usually offer at least a few hours work by a solicitor to help you out. They won't help you on challenging the debt but all and any infomation or help will empower you to be able to deal with this.

 

It also seems that you are caring for your disabled(?) daughter so this needs to be pointed out too.

 

Take it a step at a time.

[frederena]

Thank you again for your reply.

 

Well I bit the bullet today and rang the court to see what had happened.

 

The lady was so unhelpful, and stated my papers were with the court bailiff as a form N61 needed to be personally served on me. She basically refused to speak to me as it was in the hands of the court bailiff.

 

This is for an attachment of earnings, and apparently I have a set period of time to return this after completing my income/expenditure.

She said they'd confirmed with my employer that I work there (I officially left after maternity leave in May 2008- so how they will get an attachment of earnings is baffling me really.

 

I rang the National debtline who advised me to complete form N245 with a view to vary the original judgement, and suspend any enforcement action. I've just completed it, before I read your post, and my realistic offer per month is £30. It's going to take years.....

 

They didn't seem to think I had much chance of getting judgement set aside.

 

After reading your post I don't know what to do for the best! Because of the stage I'm at right now with the serving of papers, I'm mindful of the time. Would you still advise requesting the cca?

 

Yes I do care for my daughter who has special needs, both physically and mentally. With the amount of appointments & therapy etc that she has to have, no employer would have put up with me having the time off- hence the reason why I left my secure job. I now rely on carers allowance and tax credits. At what point would you point that out? I don't want them to think I'm unemployed without reason.

 

So sorry for all my questions, I do really appreciate all your help.

 

Edit: Forgot to add - I don't know how to thank on here either, is there a button somewhere?!!

Edited September 14, 2009 by frederena

[Crapstone]

Ok, so at least you now know what's going on and they haven't got a prayer of getting an attachment to earnings, neither can they expect to take anything from benefits that you receive.

 

Do what National Debtline have advised as any imminent enforcement needs to be stopped.

 

Do still send off a CCA request. As I said previously ND look at debts in a structured way and don't look too much into challenging judgments otherwise they'd never have enough hours in the day to cope with demand!

 

I'm going to alert a person on the site-team ( Ell-enn) that will be able to help you more than I can with the court paperwork and advising the creditor of your situation.

 

And you don't need to thank anyone Frederena, we are all here to help each other!

Edited September 16, 2009 by Crapstone

[Crapstone]

I think you need to make the creditor aware of your full situation ASAP as it's not likely to change anytime soon and it would be unfair of them not to take your position as a carer into consideration, or the fact that there is a dependent and disabled child on the premises.

 

The I/E isn't that difficult to fill out and you'll find plenty of guides on the net and on this site. Offer an amount lower than what you can afford, it may be accepted but still gives you room for any court determination.

 

You probably already know all this but you are allowed to take into account savings and entertainment, within reason,and not just put in an offer of your total disposable income.

 

Any amount offered has to be one you can keep to in the long term comfortably without scraping every penny and putting yourself in poverty.

Unless anything has changed I think the fee is still £35 but you can fill in form EX160 in cases of hardship. Look it up though as I'm not an expert and I'm relying on a fuddled memory.

 

Once the court or creditor accepts your payments and backs off with enforcement we can then start to look at the CCA and grounds to set aside.

.......................

 

I spent ages on an I/E form supplied by National Debtline and another similar one supplied by a solicitor in the usual form.

 

The judge took one look at it, threw it on the table and asked how he was supposed to understand it as it meant nothing to him. He wanted everything itemised, not just an average figure for clothes or food for a family of 5. I think you can guess my thoughts on his attitude and the words that followed. If he couldn't understand a prescribed format then ...grrr.

[frederena]

Thank you again for taking the time to reply.

 

I found out yesterday that the N61 is the process of the bailiff serving form N56 on me - which is the i/e sheet to complete for an attachment of earnings application.

 

So, I filled the form in, along with form N245 and sent them to the court yesterday recorded delivery. I'm hoping that when they receive the N56 they will put it on file and cancel the N61.

 

With this form I included a covering letter - I have no idea whether this was the right thing to do - just stating my current situation with unemployment, and the reasons for it.

I just *hope* it helps.

 

I'm going to hang fire with requesting the CCA from the dca - I don't want to rock the boat until I've heard back from the court - I don't know whether that's the right thing to do, but you may have gathered I'm a little frightened!

 

Once that's sorted, I'll request the cca from the dca, and SAR Barclaycard. They will owe me a lot of money through charges & ppi - and whilst it's been an awful week, it's made me determined to fight back...

 

Thank you again - your help has certainly reassured me.

[ollie122010]

I am currently just going through the exact same process and I feel for you.

It is correct that a debt regulated by the Consumer Credit Act 1974 has to remain in and be dealt with the County Court and cannot be transferred to the High Court.

However, if the debt reaches the High Court for one reason or another then you have to apply to the High Court to 'Stay the Writ' on the grounds that the debt is regulated under the Consumer Credit Act 1974, the form is N244 and costs £35.

The reason debts are transferred to the High Court are to get them settled quicker although illegally.

I wrote to the company who issued against me and advise them they were in breach of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 and am currently awaiting a Court date.

I have received a letter from the company in question admitting that they or rather their debt collection agency were over zealous and issued to the High Court incorrectly.

I am now seeking legal representation and hope that a Solicitor will deal on a no win no fee basis for me.

I will be looking to sue the claimant for the distress it has caused me. Since January I have lived in fear that the bailiffs will turn up again and take items from my home in front of my 5 year old son.