had letter from sherforce.scared stiff.

[ghostie63]

In 2004 i opened a shop.After just 6 months some builders moved in upstairs and caused my stock room ceiling to collapse causing approx 30ks worth of damage.The resulting court case (which took years) i took out against the builders (nothing to do with me) caused a terrible toll on my health.In the stock room I had stock that was brand new on a 30 day account the stock was for the coming year (valentines, easter etc).The result was that one of my creditors got particularly aggressive and wanted immediate payment.At the time I had pneumonia from the dust in the shop and no income as i had lost my shop.The result in January 2006 was a CCJ.The ccj paperwork had been sent to my (useless) solicitor who did nothing to help me even negotiate with them.I didn't even get the 14 days to respond because my solicitor didn't bother to even tell me.Their solicitor was pretty nasty and started asking if I owned my house so they could put a charging order on it (i rent).I paid the ccj as best i could and by Jan 2012 when the ccj disappeared from the register i owed £600 having paid some £2500 over those 6 years.I am now in financial difficulty and I have 2 children with additional needs as well as a husband with health issues.This morning I had a letter from sherforce plus threatening me and telling me they want to send a recovery officer to my house.Are these people bailiffs? Please help as i am terrified and in tears.What happened with the shop was a dreadful time in my life and this is like a never ending nightmare.I have nobody at home who I can even tell I have had this letter (my husband is poorly and wouldn't deal with the stress of it very well)

[unclebulgaria67]

You can seek protection from the court in this situation, by completing the N245 form to ask to pay the claimant the remaining amount in affordable instalments. Now I believe that Sherforce may do County Court work, as well as High Court work. Have they told you, whether this is county court or high court, as there is a different process for applying to the court to pay by instalments ? If you don't know, ask Sherforce which court they are representing, as you wish to apply to the court to vary payments, as you are currently in financial difficulty.

 

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/england/debt_e/debt_action_your_creditor_can_take_e/debt_bailiffs_e/how_to_stop_bailiff_action.htm

[ploddertom]

Have a read http://www.sherforceplus.net/ , is it possible you can find out exactly what you owe.

[ghostie63]

According to the letter it says i owe £686.99 which i think is correct.

[ploddertom]

Take no notice of what Sherforce say you owe as they have likely added charges to it, you need the definitive figure from your Creditor or their solicitor.

[ghostie63]

I have spoken to Bury St Edmonds county court and i asked them if there was any action taken through the court and was told no.She thinks this has just been arranged by the creditor.I need to find the paperwork which will say how much i owe.I don't want to speak to either by telephone.The lady i spoke to said she was very surprised they are doing this after all this time.

[ploddertom]

Sherforce mainly operate as High Court Enforcement Officers and do not write to you first. I suspect because of the age of the debt they cannot take enforcement action, you will find Sherforce Plus are just common or garden debt collectors although I don't doubt if they visit they may confer a different message. You do have some choices to make:

1 - the debt has dropped off your credit history but a CCJ is never statute barred as you still owe the remainder

2 - ignore Sherforce Plus in the hope they will go away

3 - if following 2 above then they may give it back to the Creditor who in turn will try someone else & you start again

4 - go back to Court and apply for a Variation Order for a sum you can afford, even if only £10 a month. If granted then it would prevent this cropping up again.

 

For my money I would go with 4, you apply on Form N245 - available from HMCTS website - it is a simple application although you do need a comprehensive I&E. Cost of the application is £45 although if on certain Benefits or low wage this may be waived - see Form EX160a & 160c for details. This would also cut Sherforce or any other out of the loop. The downsides to it are - the length of time it may take to pay or the Creditor could apply to have it varied again at a later date but as long as your I&E backs up your financial situation there is not much they can do.

[ghostie63]

would it be a good idea to send a letter to sherforce removing their rights to come to my door while i sort this out? I will need to go to the library on monday and copy out the court forms and once i send them off they will take a little while to process i am guessing.The last thing i want is them on my doorstep especially as i have children with additional needs and a husband who has illness and suffers from severe anxiety.

[ploddertom]

personally I would ignore them completely. You can fill the forms out online and print them off - make sure you print 3 copies, one for you, one for the Court & one for your Claimant - yes they get a copy. The forms need to be returned to the Court where the original CCJ was awarded unless it has previously been transferred to your local Court, if it has I would suggest take it in person.

[ghostie63]

no it is still bury st edmonds.just panicking about the letter and the threat of a visit as hubby has found the letter.I personally think its just an attempt to frightening me into responding and they are trying it on.

[HCEOs]

With the greatest of respect you admit you still owe the money in this matter. Sherforce Plus are doing nothing wrong in writing to you requesting it and I do know that they send their enforcement officers on 'debt collection' cases like this.

 

My personal opinion is that you should try and make some kind of affordable repayment plan and explain your financial position in detail.

[ghostie63]

"With the greatest of respect you admit you still owe the money in this matter. Sherforce Plus are doing nothing wrong in writing to you requesting it and I do know that they send their enforcement officers on 'debt collection' cases like this.

 

My personal opinion is that you should try and make some kind of affordable repayment plan and explain your financial position in detail."

 

Thank you for your reply but I have never disputed that I owe the money.If that was the case then I wouldn't be printing out forms to make a formal offer to the court.I would have just ignored it.What concerns me is that they state that they wrote to me before.When they absolutely have not.The tone of this letter I thought was quite aggressive and it is the first time that I have had contact with them.If their attitude is that aggressive then I do not want them on my doorstep it is as simple as that.I would rather deal with the creditor and the court directly.As I explained before the creditor (actually their solicitor) wasn't a pleasant character to deal with and made it very difficult to negotiate any kind of reduced payment.However the suggestion of sending the forms back to the court is something that I will do.

[ghostie63]

UPDATE I have followed the advice and sent the forms to the court.However today some burly thug turned up at my door aggressively ringing the doorbell.My children are now scared stiff.He was taking pictures of the front of my house and my landlord lives next door and was at home.What do i do? As i predicted this has caused a lot of distress.

[unclebulgaria67]

Write to Sherforce and tell them you have decided to put this in the hands of the court, as you are suffering financial hardship. Advise them that you are waiting for the court to come back to you and ask that they put matters on hold.

[tomtubby]

Ghostie,

 

You say that you have sent the forms to the court. Have you made sure that you have applied to STAY THE PROCEEDINGS.

 

Unfortunately, the enforcement officer is legally entitled to continue with enforcement until such time as the STAY is actually in place.

 

Sometimes, courts can rush these applications through in a day but this varies considerably between different courts. With cutbacks to the court service there are inevitable delays.

 

You need to be aware that even though the debt is being enforced by a High Court Enforcement Officer there is NO RIGHT for him to gain entry into your property UNLESS by peaceful means. He can however, levy upon a car outside of the property.

[tomtubby]

Ghostie,

 

In your above post you have stated the following;

 

"would it be a good idea to send a letter to sherforce removing their rights to come to my door while i sort this out?

What do you mean by this?

[brassnecked]

Ghostie,

 

In your above post you have stated the following;

 

"would it be a good idea to send a letter to sherforce removing their rights to come to my door while i sort this out?

What do you mean by this?

he thinks he can send a letter withdrawing any implied consent to entry, similar to a WOIRA to TV Licensing Crapita salesmen. Don't think Sherfarce will pay any attention to a WOIRA.

[wonkeydonkey]

Send to Sherfarts a copy of the application to stay execution and if you have also applied to a variation of payment send that also, any decent, reputable enforcement company would likely withdraw from enforcement until such time the Court gets to hear the application but unfortunately Sherfarts don't fit into either of the categories to being decent/reputable.

 

Do not be disturbed to find their 'thug' at the door again, as it is called desperation and no secret within the industry they are having a tough time securing work, it has not gone unnoticed they have once again failed to file their accounts on time and not only for Shergroup but also their 'legal' side Sherwins.

 

As others have already told you,regardless of how many times they call they cannot force entry to your home and as long as they are denied a levy there is little they can do and that advice is sound.

 

They are allowed to enter any outbuildings that are not attached to your dwelling eg. sheds garages etc. so the answer to that if you have such buildings is to make sure they are empty.

 

WD

[ghostie63]

I sent an email to the claimants solicitor telling them that i would be going back to court with a variation order.I have made it quite clear that i am not at all happy with them frightening and intimidating my daughter (he was trying to intimidate her from his car..she was looking out of the window) I mentioned that i had called the police and will do so again.I have also told sherforce that this is now the subject of a variation order and that i want them to give that a period of time to allow it to be processed and that i will not deal with them in any way what so ever.

[ghostie63]

tomtubby: this is not being enforced by an hceo at all.This is just a dca sent by the claimants solicitor.The ccj expired well over a year ago.They know full well they have little chance of enforcing so are trying to frighten me.I checked with the court and there are no enforcement proceedings in place at all.

[wonkeydonkey]

Our posts have crossed.........please tell me you also applied to stay the writ and did not simply apply for a variation to payment alone?

 

WD

[lookinforinfo]

As Sherforce are only acting as debt collectors, you can send them the sod off letter in the library

 

Written by pt2537

 

Dear Sir or Madam,

 

Account Ref xxxx

Please be advised that I will only communicate with you in writing. I have noted your repeated attempts to contact me by telephone over the past few weeks/months and these have been duly logged by time and date.

 

Furthermore, should it be your intention to arrange a “doorstep call”, please be advised that under OFT rules, you can only visit me at my home if you make an appointment and I have no wish to make such an appointment with you.

 

There is only an implied license under English Common Law for people to be able to visit me on my property without express permission; the postman and people asking for directions etc (Armstrong v Sheppard & Short Ltd [1959] 2 QB 384. per Lord Evershed M.R.). Therefore take note that I revoke license under Common Law for you, or your representatives to visit me at my property and, if you do so, you will be liable to damages for a tort of trespass and action will be taken, including but not limited to, police attendance.

 

 

HCEOs I am aware that If Sherforce have been employed to collect the debt, there is nothing wrong in writing to the debtor providing they make clear that they are acting as debt collectors and not bailiffs.

Unfortunately bailiff companies who double up as debt collectors tend to forget in which capacity they are operating and their collection letters tend to be more threatening than required especially in this

situation where the money is being paid off on a regular basis.

In addition you can see that Ghostie63 is terrified of dealing with bailiffs/debt collectors not only from her own point of view, but also what effect they may have on her husband. I guess insensitiivity goes

with the territory.

[ghostie63]

lookinforinfo: that was pretty much what i sent earlier

[ghostie63]

wonkeydonkey : there is no writ. I checked.No enforcement through the court of any kind.As lookinforinfo says they are trying very hard to make it look that way.

[ghostie63]

lookinforinfo yes you are right.That little visit earlier caused a great deal of distress both to my daughter and my husband.