need help understanding Sherforce notice

[dreamsofoz]

Hi

i was rudely awoken this morning by a high court enforcement officer who had a warning notice for a debt i was aware of but was not able to start repaymentstill next month but failed to notify the original debt office.

 

the officer passed me the letter which states my original debt being £919.08 but after charges is now £1910.90

 

the paperwork states it is notice of legal control of goods this is the first contact i have had with this company or any contact since a letter from original people i have debt with since Feb this year.

 

I tried to speak to the head office who advised pretty much its tough you have to pay full amount within 24hrs or someone will take my property i have tried to offer repayment of £300 a month but will not take this i really need some advise if anyone can help it will be greatly appreciated

 

cheers

[ploddertom]

Hi

i was rudely awoken this morning by a high court enforcement officer who had a warning notice for a debt i was aware of but was not able to start repaymentstill next month but failed to notify the original debt office.

 

From what you say above I assume you were aware you had a CCJ against you. Did you receive the original Court docs about this and if so did you acknowledge service and/or subsequently defend/counterclaim/make an offer of payment. Is the debt personal or business?

 

the officer passed me the letter which states my original debt being £919.08 but after charges is now £1910.90

 

Sounds normal - but a lot of the fees can be challenged

 

the paperwork states it is notice of legal control of goods this is the first contact i have had with this company or any contact since a letter from original people i have debt with since Feb this year.

The paperwork may say a lot but in reality he can only take control of your goods if he can levy upon them in the normal fashion. Best bet therefore is to deny him entry to your home - but he is allowed to force entry to any detached building to seize goods that may be therein. In particular if you have a car move it well away from your home.

 

I tried to speak to the head office who advised pretty much its tough you have to pay full amount within 24hrs or someone will take my property i have tried to offer repayment of £300 a month but will not take this i really need some advise if anyone can help it will be greatly appreciated

 

They are supposed to give consideration to any offer of payment and pass that to the Claimant for them to decide - of course the Claimant may have already said "full cash only"

 

cheers

 

The HCEO is more tenacious than the Bailiff but providing you can deny him entry there is nothing much he can do.

 

PT

[dreamsofoz]

hi

i was not aware of ccj and have no paperwork stating this. It is a personel debt for housing benefit overpayment. i live in rented shared property and own no furniture just my laptop which i am still paying for with brighthouse so i am assuming as long as i dont let tham in they cannot take anything? i have not signed any agreement with sherforce.

further advise would be gratly appreciated

thanx

[ploddertom]

hi

i was not aware of ccj and have no paperwork stating this. It is a personel debt for housing benefit overpayment. i live in rented shared property and own no furniture just my laptop which i am still paying for with brighthouse so i am assuming as long as i dont let tham in they cannot take anything? i have not signed any agreement with sherforce.

further advise would be gratly appreciated

thanx

 

If the Council have taken you to County Court for this overpayment you should have had:

a - Court docs served on you to admit/dispute the Claim

b - notification of a Hearing

c - as you did not turn up you should have had a "Judgment by Default" served on you.

 

I'm assuming the overpayment occurred at a different address to which you now reside at. If so did you notify the Council of a change of address? AS you have not had the opportunity to defend yourself as you did not receive the relevant paperwork you can apply for Set Aside & as you now have Sherforce on your tail you MUST at the same time apply for a Stay of Execution - these are both done on Form N244 from the HMCS website. If you also think you are not liable to pay the Court Fees then you should also fill in Form EX160 which is for Fee Remission

 

Please note that at the present time the Stay of Execution is the most important as this will halt all further HCEO activity and charges until the Set Aside can be determined. In you own interests you must do this ASAP. If you do win Set Aside then all Sherforce charges will be scrapped/refunded.

 

The copies of the N244 you will need are:

- for the Court

- for the Claimant

- for Sherforce

- at least 2 copies for yourself

If the HCEO still turns up inform him you have applied for Set Aside & a Stay - the majority will accept and withdraw but not all.

 

PT

[dreamsofoz]

the debt was for a property i was living in a couple of years ago i started making repayments last year but had to stop and defaulted.

 

is there any guides in regards to filling the form out? and do i need to get legal assistance in this?

 

sorry im not very good at this sort of thing and have never taken action against anything in my life but this has scared me to death and have spent most of the day in tears well until recieving your advice which is greatly appreciated

[RaeUK]

Hi dreamsofoz,

I'm glad you're feeling a bit better. You're in good hands with ploddertom and others here who might be attracted to your thread.

I notice you live in shared accommodation with minimal personal property. Is there anything in your personal circumstances that may be of interest? Just curious...

Best wishes

Rae

[dreamsofoz]

Hi Rae

 

no nothing in my house apart from laptop as the rest is owned by the landlord someone gave me a surround sound set that i didnt want so they are more than welcome to take that lol i have no jewellry that is worth anything my phone cost me £50 and doesnt work well due to dropping it down the loo the same week i brought and i do not own a car as i am quite happy to walk everywhere so there is nothing for them.

 

my landlord has kindly written a letter stating he owns everything in the individual rooms and the rest of the house and if they want to talk to him they can but his time may be charged for

[RaeUK]

Ok, dreamsofoz. I was just wondering about low income, benefits, disability etc.

As for the phone ... I've done that before as well! I just dried it off as best I could then left it snugly in the airing cupboard for a few days. Worked perfectly well after that...

Best wishes

Rae

[dreamsofoz]

the overpayment of housing benefit was from when i was on job seekers allowance about 3 years ago i have not claimed any benefits since with the money i earn due to having 2 jobs so that i can clear my debt i can afford to pay 300 a month but the charges are awful and the letter states it has daily interest of 6.40 and i spoke to the main office and they would not take a payment plan

cheers

Sammy

[ploddertom]

To save a bit of time as I'm tied up most of today have a look at this post as what you need is mostly in there.

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/bailiffs-sheriff-officers/257826-sherforce-advice-needed.html#post2903772

 

The only extra you need to put is to offer a payment plan that you can afford.

 

PT

[dreamsofoz]

ok thanks i will get straight on it thanx for all your help