Order for recovery of award. housing benefit overpayment

[dayoshir]

My partner has just received this order this morning. It appears it went before the county court yesterday but we received no notification about the hearing so were unable to provide a defence.

 

The claimant is a borough council and the amount is for housing benefit overpayment of about £4500.

 

We do have a defence in that at the time her and her children were subjected to severe physical, emotional and financial abuse. They only got out nearly 2 years ago after suffering 13 years like this. She was moved 150 miles away by police and social services.

 

We know it would need repaying but we've not had a chance to sort a repayment through the court. I don't trust bailiffs to agree to a reasonable amount either.

 

Can anyone tell me what our next step should be!

 

Thanks.

[BazzaS]

Do you have a defence?

(a reason why the decision that it is owed is wrong),

since you also say "we know it would need repaying".

 

Or do you not have a defence (and it is owed), but you need the court to order repayments at an affordable rate?.

 

For the first (you have a defence), you ask for the judgment to be set-aside (cancelled), and the case to go back to be reheard with your defence submitted.

 

For the latter (you don't have a defence but need time to pay), you ask for an order setting out the payments at an affordable rate.

 

It could even be a combination of the 2 (you owe some, but not all, and need time to pay that which you do owe).

 

Is the judgment sum due 'forthwith' (what is the wording of the order?).

 

I don't trust bailiffs to agree to a reasonable amount either.

 

Can anyone tell me what our next step should be!

 

Thanks.

 

County court bailiffs are usually very reasonable if you engage with them and explain the situation, and tell them what application(s) you are making.

 

HCEO's can be less easy to deal with, but again, engage with them.

 

 

For both, with a personal civil debt,

they have no power to force entry into residential premises

(so, as option is just to not let them in),

 

 

but if you decide to go down that route they may be less amenable to engaging with you,

so make sure you don't have any seizable assets where they can get to them

(such as a car parked outside, or goods in a shed or out-building).

[AndyOrch]

Thread moved to the appropriate forum...please continue to post here to your thread.

 

Regards

 

Andy

[dayoshir]

The exact wording is:

 

On 28th April 2017, A Proper Officer

 

Sitting at the county court at .......

 

Considered the application and the award made to the applicant on ........ by the council under reference .........

 

And the court orders that

 

1. The applicant may enforce the award in court.

 

2. The respondent pay the applicants costs of the application, which are to be added to the amount unpaid under the award.

 

3. The amount enforceable is:

 

Unpaid under the award £4500

(Including interest)

Court Fee £44

 

Solicitors costs £0

 

Total £4544

 

Together with any further interest becoming due.

 

 

 

So I've no idea now what's going on?

[dayoshir]

It's a letter N322 order for recovery of award.

[theronstar]

The Council has probably applied for this Order against you in order to protect the debt from expiring. In the past, debts can, and have become 'statute barred.'

 

For the Order to have been issued, the Council made a paper application to the Court and paid a fee. They were not obliged to put you on notice. Then a court officer issued this Order.

 

I think you were expecting both claimant and defendant go before a Judge before the Order was issued?

 

However, paragraph 1 shows that it can be enforced in the same way as a County Court Judgement would be. Definitely try and avoid the Order getting to the enforcement stage, only because bailiffs add on their own fees to the original debt.

 

To reiterate what the earlier poster said.

 

1) Resist it if you have the grounds to do so. I could not really understand your grounds from your earlier post. Have you spoken with your Citizens Advice Bureau?

 

2) Alternatively try and set up a payment plan.

[BazzaS]

Did you appeal? If there was an appeal and it's handling was procedurally flawed : that would be grounds to seek a set-aside of the order.

 

If you owe the money, agree a payment plan.

At the moment they are at the stage where they can now apply to the court to enforce the order, and a payment plan that you stick to may stop them going for enforcement.

[dayoshir]

Did you appeal? If there was an appeal and it's handling was procedurally flawed : that would be grounds to seek a set-aside of the order.

 

If you owe the money, agree a payment plan.

At the moment they are at the stage where they can now apply to the court to enforce the order, and a payment plan that you stick to may stop them going for enforcement.

 

All this happened before we got together. She was in a highly abusive relationship where her ex partner made all the claims, refused her access to the finances etc...

 

All I know is that it went to court on the grounds of benefit fraud. But there was no order for repayment made by the court.

 

She has told me that under caution the abuse issue was raided but for some reason this never made it to court, she doesn't know why either.

[theronstar]

Has your other half been in touch with Womens Aid or suchlike? They are meant to be helpful with this kind of thing. I have no direct experience of their work though.

 

As already stated, the Order you have set out above, is an Order stating that the amount to be repaid and that the Order can now be enforced!

 

The burden is on you (or your other half) to raise the domestic abuse issue. To be brutally honest, it sounds like the Council just wants to be paid. They are not going to pursue your side of the story for you!

[dayoshir]

Yeah, it just reared its ugly head on Saturday morning in the post, so going to have to delve into this in much more detail.