order to attend court for questioing....help!!!

[tarisah]

I was rudely woken by a court officer who told me id been served

handed me a bit of paper and walked off...

 

.i have moved 3 times in the last four years

....so he handed me an order to attend court for questioning with regards to an unpaid debt..

.it says they issued a judgment order on 6th march.

..i have no knowledge of this.

..it also states if i dont attend i may be sent to prison for contempt of court....yikes..

 

..so could someone pleeeease help me.

 

...the debt is under £700 but im on benefits as i was diagnosed with a chronic illness

[ims21]

Thread moved to Legal forum where the guys will be happy to help as soon as they are available.

[ims21]

Threads merged and tidied..

 

Please keep to this one thread for this issue

[dx100uk]

what was /is the debt please

 

 

dx

[tarisah]

I think its a short term loan...it was over 3 years ago..moving and becoming ill i lost track of alot of things...

[the_shadow]

You do need to find out a few facts before answering the court.

 

Right now you need to find out about the debt, if you go to the trust register and pay for a search for the CCJ, http://www.trustonline.org.uk/ It costs £4.

 

Once you have the CCJ number and country court it was obtained at you'll need to contact that court by phone/fax and request a copy of the judgement document and original claim form.

 

When you have that you have details of the debt/how much it is/who claimed from you.

 

S.

 

Edit: You can then make the informed decision on whether you need to apply to set aside the judgement as you didnt receive the original court claim or whether to continue to court and provide the court with an accurate I&E which WILL be severly scrutinised by both the opposing council and court.

[renegadeimp]

Just to add, if it is an official court document, you MUST go to court as instructed.

[tarisah]

I have the details of the creditor on the summons...and it says i will be questioned by a court officer not a judge and the court details are also on the summons.....

[renegadeimp]

Whatever advice we give, you MUST go to court as instructed or you will be held in contempt. This will mean a short prison sentence.

[tarisah]

I dont know if i can cope with this..

.i have a chronic illness and severe depression already.

.this is causing me to have panic attacks and self harm...

.i dont know what to do..

..somebody help please.....

[renegadeimp]

Ok. First, calm down. Get the number for the court and give them a ring and explain your circumstances/medical history. They will be able to advise better.

 

You can also speak to a solicitior who has the first session free. If you get to court early enough, you will be able to speak to a duty solicitor there who deals with this every day. However, the duty solicitor is first come first served, so ideally you need to be at court well in advance of the day.

 

 

Don't run and hide from this. You NEED to contact the court and find out the best course of action. If you bury your head in the sand, it will get worse. Remember, the court reps and solicitors are there to help you out. You just need to take the first step and call them.

[tarisah]

I have a claim number

...not a ccj number..

.its an order to attend court for questioning.

..so what happens..

...i dont have a years worth of paperwork to show them and im liviing on disability.

..very scared....

[renegadeimp]

Call them up and ask what you need to take in. Whatever happens, you MUST go to the court. All it is, is a question and answer session. Thats it. If you don't turn up without a very VERY good excuse, thats where the problems start.

 

 

As i said, call them up and see what a court rep says.

[the_shadow]

As has been stated you HAVE to attend otherwise things will cascade and get worse quickly.

 

If you are on benefits then there is a limit to what you can repay and the court will take this into account. So long as you are truthful the court should side with you, if you have a large wad of money stashed away (dont we all wish ) then the court isnt likely to be pleased if the claimants have found out and reveal.

 

S.

[Bandit127]

When do you have to go to court? What date?

 

Experts here - what options does tarisah have with getting representation - maybe from a charity? Or at least some face to face advice and moral support. Sounds like she could do with it.

[renegadeimp]

At the court there is usually a duty solicitor who does a first come first serve representation. However, the OP is not actually going in front of a judge. He/she is just going for questioning to establish facts. However, because he/she has been called for questioning, they MUST turn up, otherwise a warrant for their arrest will be issued as they will be in contempt of court.

[dx100uk]

so this is a payday loan?

 

name and shame please

 

dx

[renegadeimp]

Since the OP is on benefits, they really have nothing to worry about. The maximum a court would order would be just under £4 a month. But since its simply a summons for questioning, chances are the court would look favourably on them.

[AndyOrch]

I was rudely woken by a court officer who told me id been served

handed me a bit of paper and walked off...

 

.i have moved 3 times in the last four years

....so he handed me an order to attend court for questioning with regards to an unpaid debt..

.it says they issued a judgment order on 6th march.

..i have no knowledge of this.

..it also states if i dont attend i may be sent to prison for contempt of court....yikes..

 

..so could someone pleeeease help me.

 

...the debt is under £700 but im on benefits as i was diagnosed with a chronic illness

 

 

The Purpose of an Order

 

The purpose of an Order to Obtain Information is to elicit sufficient information from the Judgment Debtor about their finances and personal circumstances to enable the Judgment Creditor to make an informed decision about the best way to enforce the judgment or, indeed, make a decision about whether enforcement is likely to be worthwhile.

The questioning is carried out either by a court officer or a judge.

 

If the questioning is carried out by a court officer then the Judgment Creditor or his representative may attend.

If the questioning is carried out by a judge, the Judgment Creditor or his representative must attend and conduct the questioning.

 

There are provisions for committal to prison of the Judgment Debtor for failure to attend but it should be noted that these provisions are rarely enforced and it is more usual for a judge or court officer to adjourn the matter to a later date and sometimes this may happen more than once as committal to prison is generally treated as a penalty of last resort.

 

Once the Judgment Debtor's financial situation is known, the Judgment Creditor will be able to make an informed decision as to which method of enforcement to use. In some circumstances, however, the Judgment Debtor's financial situation may be so precarious that the Judgment Creditor may make a decision not to enforce the judgment at all or make a decision not to enforce immediately.

 

Regards

 

Andy

[tarisah]

Wow..

.thanks for the help and support everyone

...couldnt of faced this without it..

.ive contacted the court and filled in a form to set aside the judgement and a form to wave the fees..

.im in court on the 4th september

..the company is forward finance..

..im still really nervous.

..but your posts have given me the confidence to face this..

.soo many battles to be won at the mo..

.fighting for high rate dla and a blue badge as well

....i have a medical assesment on 17th sept.

..any help on either would be great..

.looks likeva busy month for me...

[renegadeimp]

Just remember, if the creditor sends a rep out, that rep will do anything and everything to settle out of court. Dont accept it if you have a 100% solid case to present to the judge. If you are doubting it, then you could accept his/her offer. Just make sure that it is not negative towards you, such as the rep saying you pay costs, or share costs.

 

If they go in, they will try anything and everything to pull one over on you or the judge.

 

Most of the time however, they dont bother to send a rep out, and when they do, its normally some junior rep who looks like he just left high school.