2 x CCJs by default, 1 interim charging order; swimming in paper - £18K debt iceberg

[Mr Spoon]

Just as I thought we were getting on top of things

notice of an Interim Charging Order arrived followed shortly by a notice from the Land Registry.

 

It appears Mrs Spoon has been struggling (on her own) with nearly £18,000 of store and credit card debt and is now quite unwell.

It is only because we have a joint mortgage that I became aware of the tip of the iceberg - now the rest has become clear.

 

There are two CCJs (by default) against her and Restons have secured the interim charging order.

I understand that this can only be a restriction as long as I don't agree.

We don't intend to sell the house so what does that mean to us and to to Restons (John Lewis)?

 

I'm wading through the paperwork, and need to contact all the account holders to make arrangements to pay.

 

My questions are:

 

1) Is there any benefit to trying stop the charging order/restriction at the court hearing in January?

Is there any benefit to making an offer to start payments?

I'm not anticipating any seasonal charity from Restons, just a reason for them to stop.

 

2) Now I've collated the debt I am thinking that we assess what we can afford to pay back monthly,

and propose a proportionate repayment by ratio according to the amount owed. Is that the way forward?

 

3) Obviously I'm going to help financially, but by getting involved am I going to become vicariously liable for these debts?

 

4) How should the approach be made to the creditors - is there a form of words?

 

Thank you so much for your consideration.

 

Mr Spoon

[DuffNCustard]

OK time to roll our sleeves up.

 

First off if you haven't already done so you need to make an income and expenditure spreadsheet,

there are templates to be found on the net I used one from Stepchange but I think you may find one on this forum too.

 

 

Using one of these templates is recommended because they take into account all of your expenditure

from prescription charges and haircuts to pet insurance and emergency funds for boiler repairs and the like.

 

YOu don't enter the debts except those that are secured on property

- ie a mortgage or any other secured loan and the 'Restons' one does not count.

WHen you have tallied your expenditure and off set it against your income this is then divided on a pro-rata rate to all your crediotors

 

Q1 The first thing is to scrutinise the CCJ that Restons have obtained in respect of the interim charging order.

Was it awarded as a 'forthwith' payment?

If so you'll need to deal with this to ensure that you can pay in instalments.

 

 

For Mr Duff who had a CCJ and CO obtained by Restons it worked this way:

- I challenged the interim CO which ensures that the case was heard at our local court (informally in the judges room).

This session was also used as a redetermination as Mr Duff could not pay the whole debt in one lump.

Mr Duff though issued a partial dispute on the amount that was being claimed before the CCJ was awarded,

you are beyond this stage and will need the advice of the others on which forms you need to send to the court.

 

 

The judge spoke to me directly about my objections,

he also considered Mr Duff'sincome and expenditure statement and all his other debts

- Restons will not have provided this to the court.

 

 

He awarded the charging order and set monthly payments at the rate that Mr Duff was paying through his charity organised debt management plan

and ordered on the CCJ that no application for sale could be made as long as the payments were maintained.

 

2) YES

 

3) No you are not and never will be personally liable for the debts that are in your wife's sole name.

On your income and expenditure spreadsheet you should indicate the % of the income that you are econtirbuting to the shared living expenses.

On Mr Duff's we did it by showing only 33% of each expense rather than state my much larger income,

that was none of Reston's or anybody else's business.

 

4) If you go to the National debt line https://www.nationaldebtline.org/EW/Pages/default.aspx

you will find many useful letter templates including making a pro-rata offer.

[dx100uk]

did she get all the relevant claimforms etc etc and just hid them from you?

when were these attained

worth a look at set aside?

might be an idea the start a thread for each one before you put you neck into the noose?

 

 

just a thought.

 

 

dx

[Mr Spoon]

Thank you for such a speedy response!

 

The CCJ that Restons obtained specified £100 a month. Once I've assessed the income/expenditure I might need to apply to vary that, but in any case I imagine I need to contact the court because the first payment was due in October.

 

The other CCJ, Capquest obtained on behalf of Very was awarded "forthwith".

 

I am unlikely to challenge any amounts, but clearly need to get in touch with the courts.

 

It appears that you, Mrs Duff, did all the contacting on behalf of Mr Duff. It would be helpful for me to take on a similar role for Mrs Spoon. Are the creditors likely to talk to me? How about the Court/s?

[Mr Spoon]

Thank you dx.

 

I am satisfied that the CCJs were rightly obtained in light of Mrs Spoons lack of contact; I'm not looking to challenge amounts, just to get a payment plan in place. We are fortunate in that we both work and should, with a fair agreement, be able to pay it off.

 

There will be no necks in nooses - I've tried that and I don't recommend it.

[dx100uk]

hehe!!

 

 

no PPI or anything linked in?

 

 

dx

[Mr Spoon]

No PPI.

 

We spent it, we pay it back.

[DuffNCustard]

Mr Duff had a Debt Management Plan that was administered by Payplan,

it was them who supplied the documents to support his challenge.

 

 

It was Payplan who had the contact with Mr Duff's creditors and he had signed agreement that they were the third party acting on his behalf.

 

 

In the case of your wife you could adopt the same approach stating that you are the third party

acting on her behalf with her signature on the statement.

 

 

They are required to co-operate with any third party nominated by the creditor.

 

 

Be sure to state that you will only correspond in writing with them, even so be prepared for phone calls!

 

 

What I did was to respond to the interim charging order stating that I objected to it and listing all the reasons why,

this resulted in the matter being brought before the judge.

 

 

Turning to the Capquest Forthwith CCJ

you need to request a repayment plan.

I think you need to complete an N245 form and submit it to the court that issued the CCJ.

 

 

You can read all about this on the National Debtlines website in the section 'Factsheets'

[Mr Spoon]

Posted all my letters (6 store and credit cards). Letter of authority included so that the institutions talk to me instead of Mrs Spoon.

 

Mrs Spoon was paying one storecard and one credit card, so they have been made the same pro-rata offer as those on which she has defaulted.

 

I included an income/expenditure sheet based on the N245 Court form. Not very detailed, but it helps with my sums to keep it consistent. Also a table showing all debts (except overdraft), percentage of total debt, and pro-rata offer. As more is going out than going in to Mrs Spoon's bank "pot", I have added some money (from my pot) in order to be able to make payments.

 

As per Mrs Duff's advice I included mortgage, utilities a couple of others that come out of my account at 33% of the amount. The N245 says not to do this though...

 

Included with the N245s were letters requesting a redetermination of the amounts awarded. These 2 original judgements were made at the CCBC in Northampton, but the ICO was awarded at my local court. I will contact them tomorrow, and return the completed land registry forms.

 

I do feel better having started the ball rolling. Thank you for your help thus far.

[DuffNCustard]

Things always feel so much better when you regain control and are in charge. I had debts of over £90k and cleared the lot with a debt management plan and good advice from this forum. It was such a relief to get help from people who didn't regard me as chicken fried cr*p! I'm now cash only and use my current account for the bare minimum, no loyalty cards, no credit cards and no wishes for new TV's etc etc.

[Mr Spoon]

Today have phone the Court, and

 

 

it appears that the N245's and paperwork I sent to the CCBC Northampton will be forwarded to my local court

ready for the Charging Order hearing on 12 January.

 

 

I was advised to write to the local Court indicating that I would be attending on behalf of my wife.

 

I can't see a way of objecting to the Interim Charging Order and have indicated that to the Court.

 

 

I have also filled in the "consent" forms the Land Registry sent so as not to object to the restriction being added.

 

Just waiting to hear from everybody now, so need to get on with my other thread/Court case...