marston group please help

[shellie_eeyore]

Please can someone give me some advice and help

In 2012 I signed up for a university add on couse which was £1500 I attended the first meeting but then my father who had terminal cancer became very unwell so I sent a letter explianing I would not be taking part in the course, they did send me letters for payment but with caring for my father who subsequently passed away I didnt reply to them. After this my husband became unwell and now has a blood disorder which has also left him with chirros of the liver insulin diabeties, kidney heart and pancreas problems.

 

With everything happening and still working full time I stupidly ignored letters. Last week marston turned up at my house my husband had let them in, they are seeking the fee for the course I didnt do. I explined the situation and the guy that came said I needed to email all evidence of illness wages outstanding debts plus an offer to them by the monday and they would be in contact with me this i did.

 

I have just come home from three days away at a close friends wedding to find a letter saying they are coming to seize my goods 31.7.13 I dont know what to do I have a lot of worry about my husband who wil probablyl eventually need a liver trasplant , without the stress of this. Please can anyone help me I tried calling them but have been told their enqirey line isnt open till money !!

Edited July 26, 2013 by citizenB
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[filrobbo]

You don't have to let them in, they carnt brake in but they can get in throug an unlocked door or open window, they can only enter peacefully.

[unclebulgaria67]

Marstons visited presumably as High Court Enforcement Officers with a writ of execution. I am guessing you signed something with a list of the items in your home and this is what they will be taking next week.

 

I think you will need to apply for a stay of execution first of all.

 

This is the Citizens Advice guide on this subject.

 

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

 

Did you actually receive the county court claim stating what the University were claiming for ? If so, what did you actually do with this ?

[shellie_eeyore]

I did recieve it from the court but I recieved it 2 days before the date and I didnt do anything about it . I didnt imagine this would happen. I meant to get in touch with them but just didnt.

[ploddertom]

Have you checked your credit file to see if there is a CCJ against you? What paperwork has the enforcement officer left you?

[shellie_eeyore]

Hi there I have found the court paperwork that was2/7/2013 it lists the amount I need to pay and the address for payment which is a solicitors in Buckingham.

the forms the bailiff left me says I have received a high court writ that is enforceable at this address with a notice of seizure form he told me I had to email them proof of everything by the Monday and that they would contact me to either accept of decline my offer which was included with all the documents I emailed to them.

ive checked out the court information at the citizens advice site and do I need a N244 form ? as the link doesn't work

If the court order was for a lump sum (the most usual order in the High Court), and you wish to pay by instalments, you can apply for the order to be suspended. This is called applying for a stay of execution.

You apply by filling in an application form N244.

or is it aN245 form I need ? To apply for a county court warrant to be suspended, you fill in court form

N245

 

thank you in advance for any information im just trying to check my credit file now to see if its on there

[shellie_eeyore]

I have just checked my credit rating on noodle and it does not appear on there

[unclebulgaria67]

Date of county court judgement only on 2/7/13 ? If so how have they obtained a high court writ, as you would have had 30 days to arrangement payment following receipt of judgement.

 

The Citizens Advice site has limited info. I think you can apply for a stay of execution on the basis you will be applying for a set aside i.e you dispute the original judgement, but did not have time to do as the court claim form was received very late and personal circumstances did not allow you to defend.

 

I will flag this thread, as you are needing people with more legal knowledge. You could call National Debtline and they may also be able to advise you on what you need to do.

[unclebulgaria67]

Reading further, I think the N244 form is completed if you wish to apply for stay of execution, so that you can arrange to pay the judgement by instalments based on affordability. This means obviously you are accepting the judgement. Alternatively you complete the N245 set aside application so that you have the chance to defend the original judgement.

 

National Debtline will tell you what you need to do, if you don't receive any response here about exactly what you need to do. I don't know whether you have a good basis for a set aside or not. The court claim form only being received 2 days before the acknowledgement date timeline would seem a good reason for a set aside, plus your circumstances and a reasonable chance of defending the judgement about the university fees,

[shellie_eeyore]

I am very confused is this a CCJ or a high court writ and can someone tell me what the difference is I do not want to send the wrong form in to them? and where I find the fees to the court to send the form in as I cant find them on the site ?

[unclebulgaria67]

I am very confused is this a CCJ or a high court writ and can someone tell me what the difference is I do not want to send the wrong form in to them? and where I find the fees to the court to send the form in as I cant find them on the site ?

 

Appears you had a CCJ which was not paid in time and they applied to have this upgraded to the High Court. I have replied further.

 

This link is a bit more helpful.

 

http://www.bdl.org.uk/images/31_dealing_with_debts_in_the_high_court.pdf

[ploddertom]

Date of county court judgement only on 2/7/13 ? If so how have they obtained a high court writ, as you would have had 30 days to arrangement payment following receipt of judgement.

 

 

Unfortunately they can go for enforcement straightaway, there is nothing that says they have to wait.

[unclebulgaria67]

Unfortunately they can go for enforcement straightaway, there is nothing that says they have to wait.

 

So what does Shellie need to do, as they have the bailiff coming back next Thursday ? If they complete the N245 set aside form and take this to their local county court as an urgent application, will that do the trick ?

[ploddertom]

What you have is a County Court Judgment which as said earlier has not been paid so there has been transferred to the High Court solely for enforcement. The paperwork the enforcement officer has left you alludes to having seized all your goods whereas in fact to do so he has to make peaceful entry to your home to seize goods or make a levy on anything of value outside.

 

Like most bailiffs if you deny him entry or prevent him seizing anything outside - most notably a car - then he is powerless. Regardless of what he may say he has no automatic right of entry to a residential property and cannot force entry unless a previous peaceful entry has been made. He may however force entry to any detached buildings that belong to you if he believes there may be goods inside to satisfy the debt - garage, shed, greenhouse etc.

 

The way forward is to apply for 2 different applications:

1 - a Variation Order - made on Form N245, cost approx £40 and to be submitted to the Court where the original CCJ was granted. This is a simple form and if your Creditor refuse the offer you may make then a Judge will decide what you must pay. Even then there is nothing to stop you or your Creditor making another application to reduce or increase this in the future.

2 - a Stay of Execution - made on Form N244, cost approx £80 and to be submitted to the High Court or a County Court that acts as a District Registry of the High Court. Your grounds for apply for this could be:

i - you cannot afford the fees demanded

ii - pending determination of a Variation Order

iii - the enforcement officer is refusing to acknowledge your present possible vulnerability status

This form is a little more awkward to fill in but I do have a guide as to how to do it.

[tomtubby]

shellie,

 

In your initial posts you stated that the bailiff had visited "last week" and that you husband "had let them in".

 

Can you confirm whether this is correct and if so, did the bailiff "levy" upon any goods and if so, can you list the goods.

 

PS: Try not to worry. You will get a lot of good help on here.

[shellie_eeyore]

Yes he let them in and yes they made a levy which included two leather settees 1 tv, printer desk microwave and a table and 4 chairs, everything else is either financed or not mine he did take registration numbers for both of our cars but he also documented that these are both on hp arrangements.

I have spoken to the national debtline who informed me to speak to the bailiffs on Monday morning and to complete a N244 form and take this into my local court and they would hopefully be able to put an urgent/ temporary stop on this for me to make further arrangements.

My concern was that the letter they have sent me says they are coming Wednesday and my teenage son will be here alone that day as I work 8-6

 

tomtubby if I make a Variation Order would I be able to email or fax this to the court tomorrow as the court is Northampton which is not somewhere I can get to tomorrow?

which am I best doing the N245 or the N244 ?

Thank you again for all your help with this

[unclebulgaria67]

What do you want to do ?

 

Do you want to settle the CCJ but pay affordable payments agreed by the court ?

 

Or

 

Do you want to set aside the CCJ, as you do not agree that you owe any money to the claimant ?

 

This will inform the action you need to be taking.

[tomtubby]

Almost always National Debt Line give excellent information but I would assume that the person you spoke with only had a little knowledge about county court judgments that have been transferred to the High Court to enforce.

 

The "expert" on such types of enforcement is Ploddertom. I will do my best to provide background info:

 

If a creditor obtains a CCJ for OVER £600 he can EITHER use a County Court bailiff to enforce the debt or alternatively have the judgement "transferred" up" to the High Court. This sounds serious but in reality , for the debtor it simply means that instead of receiving a visit from a County Court bailiff (where charges are minimal) the debt instead gets transferred to a PRIVATE High Court Enforcement Officer. The charges applied to the debtor are a great deal more that if enforced by a County Court bailiff!!

 

The advantage for the creditor:

 

If a creditor has a judgment, then in order to get the debt enforced by a COUNTY COURT bailiff he must pay £100 for a Warrant of Execution.

 

Alternatively, if the creditor wishes to have the debt enforced by a HCEO then he needs to only pay a REDUCED sum of £60.

 

Many creditors complain that County Court bailiffs are not "tough" enough and are a "walk over" compared to HCEO's and that by using a HCEO they have a better chance of getting their judgment paid.

 

Unfortunately, with CCJ's that have already been passed to a HCEO it is NOT a simple matter of filing an N244. What you need to do is to file an N244 to STAY THE PROCEEDINGS and an N245 to VARY the order ( to accept affordable monthly payments).

 

Until and unless a STAY is in place, Marston Group ( or any HCEO) may continue with enforcement.

 

Hopefully Ploddertom will advise you on what you now need to do.

[ploddertom]

Post 14 - will look back inlater tonight when I get home as should have more time then.

[ploddertom]

Yes he let them in and yes they made a levy which included two leather settees 1 tv, printer desk microwave and a table and 4 chairs, everything else is either financed or not mine he did take registration numbers for both of our cars but he also documented that these are both on hp arrangements.

I have spoken to the national debtline who informed me to speak to the bailiffs on Monday morning and to complete a N244 form and take this into my local court and they would hopefully be able to put an urgent/ temporary stop on this for me to make further arrangements.

My concern was that the letter they have sent me says they are coming Wednesday and my teenage son will be here alone that day as I work 8-6

 

 

Looking at the levy, if they were to remove the leather sofas & 4 dining chairs would you have any seating left - in particular you need 1 seat per member of the household? The TV - how old is it & what size, is it flat screen or CRT & is just listed as a TV? The printer & desk will have little value. How old is your son?

 

Going back to Post 14 you can add another ground for applying for a Stay:

iv - the enforcement officer is threatening to remove goods for sale but which are of little value plus he has not left us sufficient seating for each member of the household.

[ploddertom]

What do you want to do ?

 

Do you want to settle the CCJ but pay affordable payments agreed by the court ?

 

Or

 

Do you want to set aside the CCJ, as you do not agree that you owe any money to the claimant ?

 

This will inform the action you need to be taking.

 

I don't believe Set Aside is an option here as an agreement was made at the outset for a Course. It may however be open to interpretation as to whether the full fees are payable.

[unclebulgaria67]

I don't believe Set Aside is an option here as an agreement was made at the outset for a Course. It may however be open to interpretation as to whether the full fees are payable.

 

I suppose it depends on the contact terms signed and whether there is a clause that allows the student to withdraw before the first day of term, without incurring the full cost of the course.

[ploddertom]

I suppose it depends on the contact terms signed and whether there is a clause that allows the student to withdraw before the first day of term, without incurring the full cost of the course.

 

I'll go with that.

[brassnecked]

I'll go with that.

 

Agreed any such clause would depend on cancellation within a set period, under Op's circumstances, there may be leeway, so if that is the case a set aside, and defence under a cancellation clause is another option.

 

Did you expressly cancel before the first date of attendance and how long before the start date did you cancel. I would look at any paperwork regarding fee payment online at their website also.

[shellie_eeyore]

Thank your for all your replies and help

unclebulgaria67 i have accepted that i have to pay for this i know someone else in a similar situation with same university and they have had to pay in full so i simply want to delay any sort of baliff visit and for them to accept a reasonable payment offer.

 

ploddertom yes these are the only seats we have we have three settees (2 2 seater 1 three seater and the tv is flat screen but has damage to the screen (area of blurring in one corner) so wouldn't be worth much

As for my son he is 15 but is a big 15 so doesn't look his age which is why i am concerned they will turn up when im at work.