HCEO advice please

[nigrob]

HI , recently i was made aware of a CCJ that had been passed to HCEO for enforcement.

The CCJ was obtained when i was recovering from illness and I failed to file a defence.

 

The debt was from EON for about £450 however the balance on my account was only around £360.

 

HCEO have been in touch and i explained my situation then sent an I & E form to them offering £20 / month as this was all i could afford. I setup a standing order for this amount.

After about 2 weeks i received a letter saying that the client did not accept £80 of expenditure on my form and decided i need to pay £100 / month.

Next HCEO were at the door again saying that i owed £80 on my arrangement and needed to pay immediately.

This was not possible and the Officer left.

 

The letters i get from HCEO have no court numbers on them but are made to look like court letter, the only ref number is a HIG number with the Claim number blank.

Since my first offer my situation (financial) has worstened.

 

Can anyone advise me of how to deal with this as the HCEO is wanting an urgent phone call from me over the £80.

 

Nic

[wonkeydonkey]

If the debt was £450 including costs at the point a ccj was awarded I fail to see how eon have managed to hike it up to the £600 required to transfer it to the High Court? Can I ask if you have seen this alleged Writ or are you being duped into thinking the matter was being addressed by HCEO by use of a clever letter heading? who is the alleged HCE company?

 

WD

[nigrob]

Hi,the letter just says High Court Enforcement at the top.Address is Marine House,Colwyn Bay, LL29 8PH. I have never seen the writ however the person who called produced a sheriff's badge. They also say that the owed is now £1199.67.The Letter goes on to say Removal of your assets will now take place with or without my presence at the property if necessary and without further notice. I will have to check the actual figures that were claimed by Eon but it was higher than my closing balance before costs were addded.

 

Nicurro

[ploddertom]

At a quick guess it will be your debt + their over inflated costs that got it to the magical £600 + they need to involve a HCEO.

[brassnecked]

How much is the HCEO asking for in total? Debt plus his fees =?

[nigrob]

Hi , he is asking for £1199.67 altogether.

[ploddertom]

What paperwork have you been left?

[nigrob]

Hi , i have aqttached the letter from them about refusing the offer of £20 / month also the last letter from the person who called at my property.

On the original claim form they claimed £584.92 before solicitors costs even though my closing balance was £409.00.

 

Thanks

Nicurro

[ploddertom]

Sorry to be a pain with all the questions.

 

The 2 attachments above, can youconvert them to PDF files - JPG's are too small to read? Make sure you obliterate all personal info though.

Do you have EON's Particulars of Claim, this is the when the original claim was made?

Excluding the HCEO fees are you in a position to pay the initial debt?

The amount you say they are disputing on your I&E. is it possible you can tell us what that is - if you think I'm being too nosy then I apologise?

Has the HCEO gained access to your home?

Has the HCEO seized any goods outside?

[TB Law]

The original debt is below the £600 transfer threshold and you have an HCEO concealing evidence of a writ.

 

I would say you have a nupty trying it on because the debt you describe is not compatible with the criteria laid down rule 30.3 of the civil procedure rules.

[wonkeydonkey]

As I see it your most important task is to stay execution of the writ, to do this you need to download forms N244 & N245 from HMCT website and make an application (N244) to stay the writ pending decision to a variation order(N245) If you are on a low income or certain benefits you can claim fee remission to the costs of these applications using form ex160.

 

If your local Court is listed as a District Registry you can take both applications in person to them and explain to the counter staff the Stay is seen to be urgent due to the HCE threats to remove your goods. Quite often their is a 'spare' Judge available who can hear your application there and then, if the Court is busy you might be asked to wait/return later/await a reply by phone or even post. In the meantime you should send a copy of your application to a stay to HCE they in turn SHOULD step back until a decision is made but if they want to be awkward they can still attempt to enforce until the stay is granted.

 

If you need help with the forms please don't hesitate to ask.

 

WD

[nigrob]

Hi , the attached letters explain the reason for not accepting my offer , since this offer my income has reduced and the two things they don't agree with can be removed still leaving me in a position to pay £20 / month.

The claim was earlier this year when i was taking morphine for my illness , i thought i had filed a defence but i hadn't , they got judgement by default. I heared nothing from the court , no letter no call and thought that no judgement had been made until HCE knocked on my door.

I am unable to pay the initial debt at this time.

 

Nic

[ploddertom]

Thank you for that information.

 

As I see things you cannot really apply for Set Aside but should apply for a Variation Order as Wonkeydonkey has said. The form for this involves submitting I&E and although it may be submitted to the Claimant for their approval - they will probably reject it & cite what you have given previously. Don't worry about that as they are probably incapable of thinking peoples circumstances change - up or down - and the Court can direct how much you pay. Again if it is too much you simply apply again. I suspect I could hazard a guess as to who the solicitors may be as I have seen this scenario previously.

 

As for the HCEO there are 2 possibilities here. Firstly following what you have said there may be chance you could be classed as vulnerable according to the National Standards for Enforcement Agents to which HCE Group should agreed to adhere too. Of course the chances are the Enforcement Officer attending is instead focusing on his fees. Secondly as Wonkeydonkey says apply for a Stay of Execution which if granted halts all further enforcement action & charges. Your grounds for doing so may include:

i - pending determination of a Variation Order

ii - you cannot afford the fees charged because of your financial circumstances - again provide I&E

iii - because of your illness/condition you cannot deal with this in a satisfactory manner

[nigrob]

Hi again , I am still being pursued by HCEO , they called again and put a notice of seizure on my mobility car , I explained that he could not do this as it was not mine to which he replied '' I can do what I want ''. I since contacted their office who told me they would check the DVLA database , if it is not mine they will remove the notice.

Does the statement '' I can do what I want'' breach the code of practice as it implies that he has more powers than he actually has , also it comes across as a threat which I felt very intimidated by.

also I asked for a breakdown of fees and it looks as if the list still has charges for the seizure notice on it, along with £240 for enforcement costs( re-attendance fees ) for the visit when he left the seizure notice.

I spoke to the head office about what he said and they agreed he should not be saying this and to write a complaint to them.

 

any thoughts please and help with a complaint letter would be appreciated.

 

I have also complained to EON's Director of Customer service about the original debt am mount and the HCEO fees and attitude to see if they can help.

 

Nic

[wonkeydonkey]

Did you follow the advice as given post #10?

 

WD

[HCEOs]

At a quick guess it will be your debt + their over inflated costs that got it to the magical £600 + they need to involve a HCEO.

 

The HCEOs costs cannot be added to the debt. If the figures are correct it will either be the creditors costs detailed in an agreement (some add legal fees I believe) or the court costs that have pushed it over the £600 threshold.

[ploddertom]

The HCEOs costs cannot be added to the debt. If the figures are correct it will either be the creditors costs detailed in an agreement (some add legal fees I believe) or the court costs that have pushed it over the £600 threshold.

 

If you read it I never said that - it is the original debt + any costs the creditor has come up with.

[HCEOs]

Apologies, I misunderstood your statement of 'over inflated costs'.

[wonkeydonkey]

Apologies, I misunderstood your statement of 'over inflated costs'.

 

Glad to see you can admit to 'misunderstanding'....thats got to be a plus in your industry.

 

WD

[ploddertom]

Apologies, I misunderstood your statement of 'over inflated costs'.

 

Thank you.

[nigrob]

Hi, yes u have but have been waiting for national debt line to send my income / expenditure forms , the list has the original debt amount then about another 8 items that have been added onto this given a full total of around £1400.00

[brassnecked]

So the debt has now more than doubled due to costs. How does this help the debtor, discharge their debt? As to Motability car, and HCEO saying he can do as he wants, if the levy is not removed, complaint to EON and if you live in Clwyd West, inform David Jones MP, he may well be interested as would Darren Millar AM no doubt.

[ploddertom]

The only way to prevent the HCEO chasing you is to apply for a Stay of Execution, even if you apply for any other application enforcement can & will continue. As for your car a clue the HCEO should have noticed is that of your RFL which should have told him it was issued via Motability Fleet, no excuse at all for missing that.

[brassnecked]

Do as PT suggests as the Stay will put the HCEO on hold, once granted, you could then also complain to MP and AM, regarding levy on Motability car etc, if you are on certain benefits or low income the fees for the Stay can be remitted.