Help Needed with The Sheriffs Office Please **Resolved**

[wheels2013]

Hi there I need some advice please.

 

I borrowed £1220.20 from a friend of a friend a couple of years ago.

 

I was originally going to repay this when I got a promised back payment from DWP.

 

Unfortunately the back pay didn’t materialise.

 

I offered to pay but she wouldn’t accept anything but £100 a month which as a pensioner on pension credit I could not afford.

 

In March 2013 she opened a Claim on Line,

 

I completed all the forms and offered to pay £4 a month.

 

The judgement came back for me to pay £1 a month from 1st August.

I set up a standing order and payments have been made since.

 

I then received a summons to County Court as she wanted more per month.

I couldn’t get to the court as I suffer from COPD & a heart condition

 

phoned the court to explain 3 days before the hearing

and was told to email the court with an offer and covering notes.

I did this the same day.

 

Then I got a judgement saying that I had to pay £50 a month from 1st Dec,

the letter was posted by the court on 3rd Dec.

 

I spoke to the court who told me that the papers weren’t given to the Judge

and that he had been told that I made no payments.

 

I couldn’t afford £50 so

 

went to CAB who prepared a Financial statement and completed an N244 and a hearing was set for 18th Feb.

 

In the meantime I received 4 threatening letters from her saying I had short paid her and that she would take further action if I didn’t pay up.

 

I attended that hearing but the judge hardly let me speak,

told the woman that she could put a charge on my house

(under threat of eviction as I’m in arrears on the mortgage) she declined.

 

He then ordered payment in full and told her to get details of the bailiffs from the office.

 

The following week I came back from a hospital appointment to find a Form 55 Notice of Seizure from The Sheriffs Office (SHCE Ltd)

with a Walking Possession Agreement that states “all goods of defendant or property required to satisfy the debt”

 

The date on the High Court Judgement is 12th Feb 6 days before we saw the County Court Judge.

 

I didn’t sign it nor send it back,

spoke to CAB who told me that they couldn’t force their way in or break in if I was out.

They also said that they weren’t allowed to base a walking possession notice based on a look through a window so not to sign the forms.

 

The following week I got a call from the Sheriff which I found quite disturbing as

he said that they would come back and get in and take my things.

When I said that they couldn’t force their way in

they said they would call the police and have me arrested for obstructing a court officer.

 

He went on to say that he would send a van to collect my property. I hung up at that point.

 

On Saturday I got a letter from the woman telling me to stop my £1 payments and pay the full amount owed to the Sheriff (now £2285.24)

or she would take further steps and get the Sheriffs to enter my house even if I wasn’t there.

 

I am now getting really worried and don’t know what to do or what to expect next.

 

I have a support worker who is helping me to deal with the council

and eviction threat but he has no idea what to do about this.

 

So any advice would really help.

 

Sorry if this is a bit long winded but if you need any other info just let me know.

 

Thanks

[mikeymack2002]

WD how wrong is this one

 

 

Welcome to CAG

 

Lets break this down in to basics for you

 

 

You are classed as a vulnerable person and you must notify the Sheriff at once, do this in writing to their office. Are you in England or another part of the UK?

 

 

Rather than drown you in too much info we will do this in stages so it will be easier for you to handle ok

 

 

You should apply for a variation order for this debt at court, others will guide you through this which is what you did, but did the Judge explain why they would not allow you to pay what you could afford, was this debt a personal loan for a special reason?

 

Secondly I assume with your COPD you may have a machine to assist with your breathing?

 

 

It appears from your post that there are significant other debts ass well, we can help with these as well.

 

 

In the meantime I received 4 threatening letters from her saying I had short paid her and that she would take further action if I didn’t pay up.

Do you still have these letters?

The following week I got a call from the Sheriff which I found quite disturbing as

he said that they would come back and get in and take my things.

When I said that they couldn’t force their way in

they said they would call the police and have me arrested for obstructing a court officer.

If the Police are called to your home this will be to prevent a breach of the peace nothing more, this is a scare tactic used by a bailiff to gain payment from you.

On Saturday I got a letter from the woman telling me to stop my £1 payments and pay the full amount owed to the Sheriff (now £2285.24)

or she would take further steps and get the Sheriffs to enter my house even if I wasn’t there.

You must keep all of her letters to you and make sure you can get another person to assist you in making sure your home is secure, don't answer the door or invite the EA (Enforcement officer) formally a Bailiff in ok

 

 

Also you have stated you are facing eviction as well this too is a priority debt and you MUST seek help straight away. With you facing eviction for arrears this to is a priority. I know this may be hard for you at the moment but we at CAG have your best interest at heart and will do all we can to help you ok.

 

 

You can always start a new thread in regards to your possible eviction in the correct forum, there you will also get great help ok

 

 

MM

[renegadeimp]

If its the sheriffs, then chances are the OP is in scotland.

[wonkeydonkey]

Hi Wheels and welcome to cag.

 

Please try not to worry albeit easier said than done.but at the end of the day it's a fact you can't get blood from a stone!!

 

What I must query with you is that you say you submitted an N244 but you do not say what your application was for?

 

It is a two tier process....you would submit form N244 and form N245. I will try to explain....

 

N244 is normally an application to stay execution of the High Court Writ (stops them attending your home to enforce the writ)) and an N245 is an application to seek a variation to the payments you have been ordered to pay.

 

So... you would need to complete the N244 and where the form asks " what order is it you are asking the Court to make" you would state "I am asking the Court to stay execution of the writ pending the outcome to a variation order". at the same time you need to fill in Form N245 and submit that alongside the N244.

 

When the Court receive the N244 it will be likely the Judge will stay execution of the writ until such time as your variation application (N245) is given a hearing, your financial statement should be submitted with the N245.

 

Once I know exactly what it was you applied for we can look at the rest of your thread. That you suffer from COPD and a heart condition could class you as a vulnerable person and it is very important you immediately notify the Sheriffs Office of your heath issues . that you have a case worker is a plus as they can possibly confirm your health issues to the Sheriffs Office.

 

Once the. Sheriffs Office receive notice their is possible vulnerability they can put all enforcement on hold until they get to review the matter. If they don't know the health issues are in existence then follows they can't act on them for you, so please contact them urgently, should you encounter any difficulty with their office please come straight back here and let me know.

[wheels2013]

Thanks for your reply to answer your questions

 

I'm in Berkshire

I have kept all letters and their envelopes as she tried to pretend they were all posted from different places with different handwriting. The contents were the same in each of the 4 letters.

The house is completely secure as live alone I have good locks on all doors and windows.

 

The eviction side of things has been going on for the last 8 months with help from Shelter I applied for Mortgage Rescue my wits endScheme but was turned down last week. Long story but at my wits end.

I will get a letter to the sheriffs sent in the morning. Thanks again

[mikeymack2002]

renegadeimp

 

Could you please advise the OP which would be the correct forum to post in for their possible other debt the eviction side of things that way they can get a head start on that as well. As the advice will be more specialized for them thx

 

 

MM

[wheels2013]

Sorry wonkeydonkey I have just seen your post. I first sent a variation request but the court said that I had to ask for a hearing due to the mix up at the first hearing.

Thanks

[mikeymack2002]

wheels2013

 

 

Can I ask the question were you aware of the original Court case, the one where the "friend" got the CCJ?

 

 

As this could be very important to further advice given

 

 

MM

[wonkeydonkey]

WD how wrong is this one

 

 

Welcome to CAG

 

Lets break this down in to basics for you

 

 

You are classed as a vulnerable person and you must notify the Sheriff at once, do this in writing to their office. Are you in England or another part of the UK?

 

 

Rather than drown you in too much info we will do this in stages so it will be easier for you to handle ok

 

 

You should apply for a variation order for this debt at court, others will guide you through this which is what you did, but did the Judge explain why they would not allow you to pay what you could afford, was this debt a personal loan for a special reason?

 

Secondly I assume with your COPD you may have a machine to assist with your breathing?

 

 

It appears from your post that there are significant other debts ass well, we can help with these as well.

 

 

In the meantime I received 4 threatening letters from her saying I had short paid her and that she would take further action if I didn’t pay up.

Do you still have these letters?

The following week I got a call from the Sheriff which I found quite disturbing as

he said that they would come back and get in and take my things.

When I said that they couldn’t force their way in

they said they would call the police and have me arrested for obstructing a court officer.

If the Police are called to your home this will be to prevent a breach of the peace nothing more, this is a scare tactic used by a bailiff to gain payment from you.

On Saturday I got a letter from the woman telling me to stop my £1 payments and pay the full amount owed to the Sheriff (now £2285.24)

or she would take further steps and get the Sheriffs to enter my house even if I wasn’t there.

You must keep all of her letters to you and make sure you can get another person to assist you in making sure your home is secure, don't answer the door or invite the EA (Enforcement officer) formally a Bailiff in ok

 

 

Also you have stated you are facing eviction as well this too is a priority debt and you MUST seek help straight away. With you facing eviction for arrears this to is a priority. I know this may be hard for you at the moment but we at CAG have your best interest at heart and will do all we can to help you ok.

 

MM

 

Until the poster confirms what applications were made, I can only assume the dear old CAB have used the wrong forms..hence the Judge being confused as to what was actually being asked of him/her. Given all the facts the poster has supplied and if they can be substantiated, I really cannot see the SO pushing ahead with enforcement The poster refers to S(sheriffs) HCE (High Court Enforcement) Ltd which indicates we are not dealing with 'sheriffs' as in Scotland.

 

We can help the poster but it must be one step at a time to avoid overload and mistakes.

[mikeymack2002]

WD no problem thx

[wheels2013]

mikeymak asked

 

 

Can I ask the question were you aware of the original Court case, the one where the "friend" got the CCJ?

 

 

As this could be very important to further advice given

 

 

MM

 

The original CCJ was via Money Claim on line so there was no hearing.

[wonkeydonkey]

Sorry wonkeydonkey I have just seen your post. I first sent a variation request but the court said that I had to ask for a hearing due to the mix up at the first hearing.

Thanks

 

I understand what you are saying to having kicked off with application to a variation order and the mix up that followed BUT you followed that with an N244 and what I am trying to establish is what did the N244 ask the court to do? do you still have a copy you can let me see,? (please remove all personal identification if you are going to post it up on the forum)

[wheels2013]

WD I have copies of everything to back up my original post. I can scan/email if you would like to see them.

[wheels2013]

The first form asked to have the £50 reduced to £4 a month and the second asked for the same.

[wonkeydonkey]

The first form asked to have the £50 reduced to £4 a month and the second asked for the same.

 

Ok.... that is exactly what I was wanting to hear. I am going to need to see all your paperwork and ask a lot of questions...you don't have PM facility so what I am going to do is contact the site team and get a message to you with an email contact address. You can send everything to that address and I will read it over before anything goes back on the forum.

[wonkeydonkey]

Message sent to site team ..keep an eye to your notifications...top right of screen.

 

It's getting late so please try to get some sleep as I will need you bright eyed and bushy tailed to tackle this later today.

[wheels2013]

Thank you. I'll scan all documents in the morning. I really appreciate your help.

[wheels2013]

The first email just sent. Thanks

[HCEOs]

If you are vulnerable (and it sounds like you may be) then you MUST notify the HCEOs office handing the matter as soon as possible.

 

Without this enforcement must continue (the HCEO has a legal responsibility to the creditor) and a further visit will be likely.

 

Therefore the sooner the above is done the better.

[wheels2013]

Thanks HCEOs I have emailed them first thing this morning to inform them.

[mikeymack2002]

The first email just sent. Thanks

 

 

please keep this up to date as much as you can please you are in great hands here ok

 

 

MM

[wheels2013]

Northamton court papers, email & court papers, n244, n245, letter & 4 envelopes plus reply, sheriffs papers now sent. More to follow

[wheels2013]

Reply just received from Sheriff

 

 

 

First Link

 

2nd Link

[wonkeydonkey]

I can advise the forum The Sheriffs Office have been extremely helpful and understanding to this posters situation, enforcement is now on hold until we can unravel all the issues raised. It enforces what we have been telling people for sometime.. the HCEO.does not have a crystal ball and if they don't know there is a problem you cannot expect them to address it.

[mikeymack2002]

Good show WD a pat on the back, I guess it's a sit and wait till the Op updates her thread

 

 

MM