Attachment of earnings and order on property.

[Ambulanceman]

Hello,

 

I am desperate to find some help with an issue that started by a car I had on a personal lease being stolen. The Insurance company refused to pay and then RCI FINANCIAL l in conjunction with MATTHEW, ARNOLD AND BALDWYN SOLICITORS somehow managed to get a CCJ against me. The next I heard was that I had to go to court for them to make an order on our property for £1700 which they claim that I owed. This was made up of repossession charges (Car found by police) and also storage charges plus the outstanding payments up to the end of the lease.

 

I attended court and was told I could have applied to have this set aside - I would have tried this had I known because the solicitor never wrote to me until I had to attend the court for the property order. I write a letter explaining I was on a Debt management programme and had been for some years but the court just treated me as a formality and granted the order on my property which is also owned by my wife. This happened in MAY 2012 and charges of £250 were added to the debt.

 

I was told by the solicitor in court that as long as RCI know they have the order on our property they will not pursue this matter or can they force us to sell our home. We have 4 children under the age of 11 so we need to protect them but this is a real struggle - we barely manage to feed them and ourselves and often do not heat the house as we cannot afford both.

 

We think we had been mislead by the solicitor in as much as they have the property order they will get their money if and when we sell the house, this is because we showed them we could not afford to pay anything.

 

Now I have received an attachment of earnings order which to me seems sheer bloody spiteful and all I know what I can do is ask here for some advise and to also make the debt management plan CCCS aware.

They have also added another £100 to the debt.

 

If they are allowed to take money from my wages our home and and the other debts will not be possible to pay and I will be out of a job and we will be homeless.. I just feel so desperate that I am prepared to tell them to send me to prison and the solicitor has again not written to us and proceeded straight to another court action.

 

I would be ever so grateful for any advice please.

Edited November 4, 2012 by Ambulanceman
addition of text

[BRIGADIER2JCS]

Hi welcome to CAG lets get on worry out of the way first debt is NOT a criminal offence!!

 

If you believe that the AoE is going to cause you hardship then you must apply to the court for a review.

 

Joint ownership of the property will make it very difficult to obtain an order for sale and for an original debt o£1700.00 I would seriously doubt the court would make any such order.

 

Write to cccs and explain what has happened, a court order does take precedence over unsecure debts.

[Ambulanceman]

Thank you Brigadier, I am worried both about the financial hardship and if my employer finds out then I could suffer under a present workforce review and be made redundant. I will write to CCCS and try to find out if I can suspend the AoE whilst I can add this debt to my existing Debt management plan. I am also quite disturbed that the solicitor at court when we attended said we had nothing to worry about and we would not be forced to sell and the creditor would not take any further action as they would in light of us having no disposable income only have to pay the money when the house was sold. We believe we have been misled on this.

 

How can I apply to the court for a review ? and would I apply for a review if I ask for the AoE to be suspended whilst the debt is added to my present Debt management plan.?

[BRIGADIER2JCS]

Your employer should not disciminate in any way because of the AoE,.

 

It certainly appears you have been misled, a Charging order is usually looked upon as security for the debt whilst paying it off I think the AoE is unfair here, yo must ensure that you get the amendment to the amount your employer has been ordered to pay, the employer cannot refuse to act upon the order.

[Ambulanceman]

Thanks again Brigadier, if I lose this then it means we will be left in a deeper much situation with it being unmanageable to service the debt or keep a roof over our heads.

[BRIGADIER2JCS]

The Court will not order you to pay any more than you can reasonably afford to pay and if that is only £1 a month so be it.

 

Do an income and expenditure calculation to see what you can reasonably afford to pay cccs would be able to help you with this.

[Ambulanceman]

Thanks again - I can now see beyond the impending doom. I will work on the income and expenditure calculation today. I am confident that when the court does see we have barely enough to live on that it will accept we are trying to do our best.

[BRIGADIER2JCS]

Good luck!!

[Ambulanceman]

Will keep this thread updated in case it is helps someone else.

[BRIGADIER2JCS]

Will keep this thread updated in case it is helps someone else.

 

Please don't hesitate to come back if you need further help!!

[Ambulanceman]

I have worked on getting the income and expenditure calculation together and written an Email to CCCS explaining the position. I guess I will hear from them tomorrow in which case I will update this thread.

 

Many thanks Brigadier.

[Toque]

I have worked on getting the income and expenditure calculation together and written an Email to CCCS explaining the position.

I would be inclined to avoid emails as these things can vanish into the ether. Proving what was or wasn't sent is then a nightmare. It's best to do anything legal in writing. If it really matters, Recorded Delivery, otherwise Proof of Posting.

[Ambulanceman]

Just received a copy of the attachment of earnings which has been sent to my employer instructing them they must deduct £140 per month from my salary. This will mean we cannot afford to keep up with the DMP we have with CCCS whos statement I gave in to the court along with a budget which shows we do not have £140 dispsoible income.

 

I got the paper work in on time wrote a letter explaining the situation and gave them details of our creditors. I asked them to suspend the attachments and that I would pay £10 per month. Now I cannot even afford to get to work !!

 

These people just ruin lives ... Dartford County court are just evil and I say that and mean it. How can I stop this ?

[BRIGADIER2JCS]

Hi I have alerted the team to get some help for you.

This does seem harsh, and does not take into consideration the other committments/debts you are trying to pay off.

Maybe a letter to the court asking that the other commitments are properly considered and the anount is revised.

[Ambulanceman]

56 TOTAL EXPENSES 1860

57 TOTAL INCOME 1970

58 SURPLUS/(DEFICIT) 110

 

I offered to pay £10 per month and asked for suspension of the order - I told them I work for the finance department and was due for promotion on may when my boss retires.

Does anyone know if I need a form to ask the court to change the order - I can give them the budget which I made with a debt charity showing I have just £110 are mortgage payments work travel and basic living costs. ?

[Ambulanceman]

Thank you for the prompt reply BRIGADIER I will check back later as on on shift.

[Ambulanceman]

I would have also thought that the court should have sent me advice on how to appeal the AoE order ??

[BRIGADIER2JCS]

I would have also thought that the court should have sent me advice on how to appeal the AoE order ??

 

Yes I believe there should be notes on getting this reviewed.

[Ambulanceman]

Also dated 31st December and only received it today.

[AndyOrch]

What if you disagree with the Attachment of Earnings Order made?

 

There could be a number of reasons why you disagree with the Attachment of Earnings Order, for example you may feel the monthly instalments have been set too high, or you may have requested for it to be suspended (in this case you may need to supply the courts with more information as to why you need it suspending). Either way you have 14 days to let them know you disagree, once it has been put in place (your creditor may also not agree with the order, if so the 14 days rule also applies to them). You must then write to them to advise why you disagree, and ensure to keep a copy of the letter for yourself. You will then be invited to a hearing to state your case; make sure you have all the requested documents with you.

 

Changing the details of the Attachment of Earnings Order at a later date

 

If in the future you need to make changes to the Attachment of Earnings Order, you can do so by applying to the courts with a N244 form. You must state why you cannot afford the deductions set by the court, and provide them with full details. You can also use this form if you’re working circumstances have changed. Please note; there is a fee of £80 that will be charged for this application, however if may be wavered if you receive benefits.

[Ambulanceman]

I also saw that yesterday andyorch whilst trawling through the net. Thank you very much for posting the information above.

 

I am going to write to the court and send it tomorrow as not much time to seek any legal advice now

[Ambulanceman]

Thanks for posting the information above andyorch - I am going to write a letter tonight but will they listen to us ? I doubt it as they had a budget and a statement from CCCS all up to date and showing we are paying our debts and have done so for 3 years.

They can also see from our budget that we have just £110 for 2 adults and four children after we pay our living costs... they did not suspend or inform me why they just sent a copy of the AoE and will take £140.

 

This will destroy this family and that is not a joke!!

[BRIGADIER2JCS]

They seem to have taken a totally wrong attitude to what amounts to disposable income, they cannot demand that you pay more than you can reasonably afford without causing undue hardship, which quite clearly is the case here.Make sure you mention that you will not be able to pay debts already on dmp if this does not change.

[AndyOrch]

I don't envisage a problem...your creditors should be all treated the same....let us know what transpires.

 

Regards

 

Andy

[Ambulanceman]

I don't envisage a problem...your creditors should be all treated the same....let us know what transpires.

 

Regards

 

Andy

 

This one obtained a CCJ as I never received the court papers, then got a charging order against the house 6 months ago and now without informing they intended to do so have obtained the AoE. The Court officer would have had the statements and the budget along with the N56 when they considered the request to suspend and the offer of paying £10 per month and add to DMP.

 

I will have the letter posted tomorrow with proof of posting/recorded delivery.