6 Days Notice.

[katiecoffee]

Just got a letter through the door from Marstons. They'll be here in six days to 'seize and remove'.

I had dealings with these people a few months ago, went to CAB and fired off a letter of statute. The alleged debt is some student rent arrears that I had no clue about until the bailiff turned up at my door. Thing is, I left student digs just before Xmas 2005 (hence the statute letter).

 

The advisor at CAB seemed confused as the paperwork the bailiff gave me was incomplete (sic) so I hadn't been properly served. As I was in a bit of a panic at that time I wasn't sure what that meant but all went quiet after I sent them the statute letter.

 

Now this!

 

Stuck.

 

Anyone advise on my next move?

[ploddertom]

What did the letter say?

[katiecoffee]

This execution has not been settled and we now write to give you fair warning that our Officers will attend at your premises with REMOVAL CONTRACTORS on the 31/10/2012. The purpose of this visit is to seize and remove sufficient of your goods to satisfy the writ.

 

Talks about having a representative & contacting them in 2nd paragraph.

 

We have previously advised you that the effect of the writ we hold is to bind your property in your hands from the time the writ is lodged until it is withdrawn (schedule 7 section 8 (1) of the court acts 2003). Section 9 places a duty on us to seize sufficient of your property to satisfy the judgement debt and related costsin the absence of payment voluntary.

 

Next paragraph relates to £400 for first hour and £250 per hour thereafterfor the removal contractors on top of the £2,583.10 I allegedly owe already.

[postmn]

just had a quick look about student loans and it appears they have changed then , it all depends wether its a old style loan or the new style since the new style does not become statue bared for 12 years

[katiecoffee]

Thing is I don't believe I owe this debt or even if I do it has been grossly inflated. Plus I left student digs over 6 years ago.

The property I live in was rented by my partner before I moved here. There is nothing in the house that is mine anyway.

Our little boy is disabled and I'm on long term medication for a debilitating illness. Strong minded as I am I really don't need the stress of all this so I really do appreciate you taking the time to advise.

[katiecoffee]

It is a debt for rent arrears in student accomodation arranged through the uni. Not the same thing as student loan......I think.

[ploddertom]

What you have is a letter from a High Court Enforcement Officer. You have had a CCJ awarded against you sometime & following non-payment it has been transferred to the High Court for enforcement purposes. May I suggest you check your credit history to see when this happened, to do this go to Registry Trust Online - cost £4 I think - or get a free subscription to one of the CRA's, don't forget to cancel afterwards however I believe Noddle is free.

[katiecoffee]

Thanks for the heads up re: Noddle. I've found a judgement (Northampton court) dated 09/08/2011 at an address I'd already left at that point but the amount stated is £1000 less than the bailiffs are demanding. I assume this means it's not statute barred then.

[ploddertom]

I assume they have gained Judgment by Default as you will not have received any of the original paperwork. You may well be able to apply for Set Aside but if you did owe the money and cannot afford to pay it then your application would fail anyway. Is the Claimant who you though it might be?

[katiecoffee]

UH OH! Found another 2 CCJs from 2008. Haven't a clue what they are for. I could cry now.

[katiecoffee]

Plodderton it doesn't say who the claimant is. Just a case number.

[ploddertom]

I think what you need to do is to contact the Courts concerned and try to find details for each one. However regardless of this you will need to deal with Marstons, out of the visits they have made what other paperwork have they left you?

[katiecoffee]

Right.....deep breaths! Two possible options. 1) Pay them in instalments.....but at a painfully small & slow rate. But are the bailiffs going to go for that? Or 2) My partner has a DMP with PayPlan. Been steadily paying things off for ages and is due to have everything settled by March 2013. He wonders if we should/could add these on & just continue paying the monthly amount. Or are we just grasping at straws here? Hope I'm making sense.

 

P.S Still unsure that I actually owe £2,583.10 but making some form of payment may give me breathing space to look into exactly what's going on.

[katiecoffee]

I'll have to go dig around downstairs & find the two pieces of paper he gave me at the (closed) door and let you know. CAB also has copies in a file. Going to check if they are open on Fri mornings.

 

Sorry if I'm getting beyond myself. I don't usually panic like this but it's been a long day.

[ploddertom]

The fees they will have added to the original CCJ will be approx £1k to £1.5k. To stop further enforcement or charges you will need to apply for a Stay of Execution but to do this you will need to find out the CCJ it applies to and we can progress from there - sounds worse than it actually is. Usually on a 1st attendance you are given a Form 55 which when you read it makes you think they have seized all your worldly goods. However to be able to do so he still has to gain entry, providing you keep him out or otherwise deny him levying on any goods outside - a car perhaps - then he is actually powerless.

[katiecoffee]

I have no intention of letting him through the door. I've picked up that much knowledge at least. LOL! I'll find the other paperwork first thing & check the details. It must be the right one as the other two CCJs I've just found out about are for much, much lower amounts.

 

Am going to try & relax & get some sleep now.

 

Thank you Plodderton. X

[katiecoffee]

Just fired an e-mail off to the Head Of Finance at the University (possible claimant). Requested a meeting asap (but I'm going to pay a visit tomorrow anyway). Would prefer to make an arrangement with them and hope they can call off the dogs (i.e Marstons). CAB here is closed Fridays.

 

Right...definately off to bed now.

[katiecoffee]

Well that was horrible. My O/H seems to think that the bailiffs can legally just break the door down & clear us out. Tried to explain that this is not the case. He admitted that he phoned the bailiffs this morning (I had no idea) and, whilst they would not discuss the debt with a third party, they implied that they had a legal piece of paper to enter (sic). Of course, this has freaked O/H out as he's concerned that he will be at work & our young son will be in the house when they turn up. Showed him this site and the statement on CAB site about not having to let them in. He's gone to bed a bit calmer but I'm a wreck. Tears have been shed. Have an appointment to see Uni Finance Dept on Monday. Hoping to get to the bottom of this once and for all.

[katiecoffee]

Regarding the other 2 CCJs I discovered, am I correct in thinking that my best move is to contact the court that dealt with them, find outwho the creditors are and then deal with them directly. Would they pass my address on to yet more bailiffs?

 

After tonights drama if I get any more bailiffs at my door I'm terrified I'll be a single parent by Xmas.

[ploddertom]

Regarding the one that is with Marstons.

 

By all means find out more about from the Claimant but be warned they will probably refuse to deal with you, reason for this is because if they make an arrangement with you then they can be held liable for the charges the HCEO has applied - which will be quite high. However you do need to find out if the monies they are claiming originally are correct or not as that may dictate the path you have to tread. The very worst scenario is that you apply to the Court for a Variation Order whereby payments can be set at a more manageable rate, this coupled with a separate Stay of Execution against Marstons should hopefully settle it.

 

As for your other 2 then yes you need to find out the particulars from the respective Courts, this will not involve the Court passing your details on to others unless there are outstanding Warrants of Execution against them.

 

Whatever happens do NOT under any circumstances allow them entry to your home. If you have a car it should be removed immediately to somewhere safe, usually a good 10 minute walk away.

[katiecoffee]

The original claimant (York St John University) wont deal with me. They passed the debt on to Incasso (???). Is it worth getting in touch with them. They filed at Northampton in August 2011 & my address quoted is wrong for that time. Never heard of them, had any correspondence from them nor any court papers.

Been proactive this w/end though as have discussed the matter of all the debts I've discovered with Payplan & put together every scrap of info & an SOA together.

Now on with a Variation Order and stay of execution.

Also, is it worth informing Marstons bailiff that we wont be in on the 31st anyway. Or will they just arrive regardless.?

[BASFORDLAD2]

Surely if you didnt know about the CCJ then you could apply for it (them) to be set aside ?

[ploddertom]

The original claimant (York St John University) wont deal with me. They passed the debt on to Incasso (???). Is it worth getting in touch with them. They filed at Northampton in August 2011 & my address quoted is wrong for that time. Never heard of them, had any correspondence from them nor any court papers.

Been proactive this w/end though as have discussed the matter of all the debts I've discovered with Payplan & put together every scrap of info & an SOA together.

Now on with a Variation Order and stay of execution.

Also, is it worth informing Marstons bailiff that we wont be in on the 31st anyway. Or will they just arrive regardless.?

 

If the Claimant deals with you and accepts payments then they become liable for the HCEO fees. You do have grounds for set aside on the basis of the paperwork being sent to an address other than your own but if you do actually owe the money then you need to be able to pay that in full or otherwise you would be swapping one CCJ for another. As you say you can apply for a Variation Order so the Court can set payments that are affordable, this is done on Form N245 - cost of application £45.

 

The most important application is for a Stay of Execution against the HCEO, this is done on Form N244 - application fee £80. If on certain Benefits or low wage - up to £13k then you may apply for the fees to be waived or part paid - see Form EX160a & c for details.

 

If need I can help with what to put on the forms. As for them coming back they will come when they want regardless of wheteher you are in or not but I certainly would not tell them.

[tomtubby]

Katie,

 

I have read this thread and it is CLEAR to me that you have some CCJ's that we obtained by "default". This was because the summons etc had been sent to a previous address. This is a VERY COMMON situation indeed and so as to avoid any injustice, your are allowed to apply to have these CCJ's "set aside".

 

The "expert" on this is Ploddertom and in at least 2 of his posts he is advising you what to do and how to do it. PLEASE PAY ATTENTION TO HIM.