Britannia Repossession / Eviction - Help & Advice Needed with N244***Suspended***

[Cadbury10]

Hi, I will try to be online for the rest of the day. 

 

I called them in the hope that they might agree to my offer. I am shocked that they are still going for eviction, especially after receiving my letter and the phonecall was basically just 2 hours of abuse and threats. I wish I hadn't bothered as they are so unreasonable and I felt ill after the call.

 

They even, in a non-direct way, admitted that they are deliberately causing me as much harm as they can. They even had the audacity to tell me in a sarcastic manner that they were apparently helping me by evicting me and there was laughing in the background also. I am disgusted at what nasty, ignorant bullies and cowards they are. 

 

I did record the call and have recorded some previous calls too, but some past telephone calls with them I did not record. I have made several attempts to resolve with them over the phone since I fell in arrears and they have been uncooperative and rejected any offers I have made, however they claim in their letters that I have be uncontactable throughout.

 

There is no paper trail of any of the phonecalls I have had with them, so I think a letter might be a good idea if you agree. And yes please - Would love some help with wording for a letter. Do you think anything might help to get them to stop their action against me - I was thinking maybe a complaint to the CEO of Britannia, but not sure if that would make matters worse or not. 

 

I feel all of their communications have been malicious, with no intention of acting in my best interests whatsoever. This has made my financial situation worse and they have caused a lot of damage to my health. Had they not have done so I would have been back to work much sooner and could have also put the property on the market for sale sooner. The financial loss this has caused me is bad enough and I feel they are actively preventing me from working and recovering my health. 

 

I received a letter today from their solicitor stating that they are enforcing the possession order against me and if I want it to stop I must pay the entire arrears balance. The end of the letter also states "If necessary, an application for leave to enforce the court order has been made" ?

 

How much notice do you think am I likely to receive of eviction date? Worried and very keen to get my N244 application to court.

 

 

[Ell-enn]

Hi, I don't think any letter will make them stop proceeding with an eviction notice.   So we really need to get the N244 application going:  if you wait for the eviction order the court fee should only be £50.00, if you do it before the court order if will be £250.   I have affixed the EX160 form and notes about how to qualify for a remission fee.

 

I have affixed an N244 application form please print it off and follow the instructions below for filling it in - when you have done that let me know and we'll move to the next stage.

 

1.Name
2. Tick Defendant
3. Suspension of eviction
4. No
5. Tick at a hearing
6. 15 minutes
Agreed by all parties: No
7. Write - Not applicable
8. District
9. Both Parties
10. Tick box for attached witness statement
Cross out all options except The Applicant Believes
11 Sign and cross out all options except Applicant
Sign and cross out all options except Applicant. Enter your address and contact details.

 

n244_0400.pdf EX160.pdf ex160a_web_1010.pdf

[Cadbury10]

Thank you so much - I will get this done as soon as I can and will let you know when it's done.

 

Do you think I should put anything in writing to them about the phonecall yesterday and the offer I made, so that the judge can see some evidence of that? 

 

I have read on other posts that others have made whatever payments they can prior to court... Will it go in my favour at all that I made a payment of £10 yesterday and should I make any further payments to them prior to court hearing if I can afford - Even if minimal?

[Ell-enn]

If you write to them it should be a complaint about the way your call was handled - don't bother mentioning anything about arrears/payments or anything else - they're not interested.  At the end of the day they are entitled to proceed with possession as there are arrears on the account and no monthly payments being made.  What they're not entitled to do is be rude on the phone and treat you with derision.

 

Keep the letter short - don't rattle on about anything else, tell them the date and time of your call and how they dealt with it, then ask them to treat your letter as an official complaint - they will have 8 weeks to respond so it won't make any difference to your court hearing as you won't have a result by then.  I will add a note in your statement saying how you were treated.

 

I would imagine you'd have 10 - 14 days from receipt of the eviction notice before the actual eviction date, so if we have everything ready to hand into the court the day you receive the eviction notice you will get a hearing in probably 5 - 7 days after handing it in to court.

[Cadbury10]

Thank you - I have some wording mind but yours may be better and I'm not thinking as clearly as I usually would be. Would appreciate any help with wording if not too much trouble

[Ell-enn]

Hi - draft wording below:

 

 

COMPLAINT

 

Dear Sirs,

 

Mortgage Account No: XXXXXXX

 

 I am writing to make a complaint regarding the manner in which my telephone call was dealt with when I called on (date) at (time).   The call handler was extremely rude and dismissive, even at one point stating that you did not care about my health and that you were actually helping me by evicting me, I could also hear laughter in the background at that statement. I was kept on the phone for almost 2 hours causing considerable stress, even though you are aware of my mental health issues.   I have recorded the call as I was appalled at my treatment.

 

I expect you to deal with this complaint as a matter of urgency,  a copy of this letter and a transcript of the telephone call together with  proof of delivery will be included in my documents for court when I defend  eviction proceedings.

 

Yours faithfully,

 

 

XXXXX

[Cadbury10]

Thank you for the help with wording of letter. I might struggle to prepare a transcript of the call in time for eviction hearing, but have already asked Britannia to send me audio copies and typed transcripts of all telephone calls I have had with them.

 

Should I mention in letter complaint also about how they have acted in general towards me since falling into arrears and the damages and distress they have caused me? 

 

I have completed the N244 application.

[Ell-enn]

You must put in the letter what you think best, but don't make it too long or they will simply stop reading.

 

Can you be on line in the morning?  the statement I drafted is on my PC at work so we can't do anything with it at the moment.

 

In the meantime - can you print out the budget sheet with your current circumstances and write the number 1 on the top right hand corner. 

Take a photocopy of your doctor's letter and write the number 2 on the top right hand corner

Next - make copies of the estate agent's documentation - contract, any advertising etc and write the number 3 on the top of each of those pages

Finally print the budget sheet with your income when back to work and give it number 4

These documents will be the appendices to your statement in the N244.

I'll send you the statement in the morning with instructions for it

[Cadbury10]

Ok thank you - I will do that as soon as I can. 

 

Yes I will try to be online as much as I can tomorrow.

 

Will the hearing be at the same court as the original hearing?

[Ell-enn]

The hearing should be in your local court, so if that's where the original hearing was then yes.

 

Let me know when you have all the numbered documents ready.

[Cadbury10]

Will do.

 

The court is about 60 miles from me so I may have to post the application.  

[Ell-enn]

Well you'd better ring them first to see  if  they take payment over the phone.  Have you had a look at the fee remission information? will you have to pay the court fee?   you might have to take the application to court along with documentary evidence of your entitlement to fee remission.  

[Cadbury10]

 

When I tried calling them before original hearing there was no answer but will try to call them tomorrow to find out.

 

Thank you for sending the fee information

- I think I probably am eligible but not currently in receipt of any benefits, so think I will have to pay the fee for now and maybe look at claiming it back later to avoid any delay sorting out relevant paperwork.

Hopefully they can take payment over the phone.    

 

I have the doctors letter and estate agents documentation ready.

 

Still working on the budget sheets

- I will let you know as soon as done

- Will you need to see these to check they ok?

[Ell-enn]

Have you any idea when you will be back at work and earning usual income ?

[Cadbury10]

Have been trying to ring the court to find out if they accept payment over the phone but just continuously ringing. 

 

I am hoping I will be able to go back to work sooner rather than later, but I am not sure exactly when

 - It will be when I feel well enough and able to come off of certain medications.

Many of my health problems are stress related and the threat of eviction isn't helping.

 

You said the judge may allow 3-6 months to sell the property.

Am I also allowed to ask the judge for as much time as possible to recover my health and return to work, to avoid potentially having to go through another court hearing?

 

Some breathing space to recover my health without so much worry and stress would help me get back to work sooner.

 

Would the judge for example be able to allow 3-6 months for me to return to work and commence payments from a specific month? 

[Ell-enn]

If you are unable to give the judge a date when you reasonably expect to go back to work and earn enough to pay the mortgage and the arrears I'm afraid you're not going to get anywhere.   I am really concerned that you have no income at present - no date when you will start to earn income but you want the judge to give you up to 6 months to sell the property or return to work to maintain the mortgage.   I have to be honest I doubt that will be a winning defence, medical condition or not.  I had assumed you would be able to state when you would have an income.

 

If you are going to submit the N244 you'd best make the journey to the court and take and financial information with you that might allow you fee remission.  If you have no money how are you going to pay the fee?   It's unlikely you could claim it back if you do pay it.

 

Reality check time I think - what do you want to do?

[Cadbury10]

I feel quite concerned and distressed by your last post.

 

I am trying my best and can only do what I am capable of doing. I can assure you that I want to be able to get back to work as quickly as possible and recovering from a nervous breakdown, amongst other things, does not happen overnight. Being told I am unlikely to win in court or that I should face up to losing my home & being evicted is really not helping. Is it the case then that if somebody is suddenly unable to work due to an accident, injury or other health reasons they should automatically be evicted?  

 

It was/is all of the harrassment and threat of repossession/eviction that caused my nervous breakdown in the first place, causing my health to deteriorate and making my arrears / financial situation worse. I could have been back to work much sooner otherwise. Is that something we can put to the judge?

 

I have spinal injury that I sometimes have to take strong painkillers to manage. I have severe panic & anxiety attacks, which also often induce severe asthma attacks. I have high blood pressure, problems sleeping, chronic fatigue and suffering exhaustion, amongst other things. I am currently on several prescription medications including for depression & anxiety following nervous breakdown, which can affect my ability to function. I also suffer from dizziness fairly often at the moment. Some days I feel better than others, although some days I barely have any physical or mental energy at all.       

 

It's difficult for me to specify a date of when I will be able to return to work. What would be the maximum time I would be allowed to ask the judge to allow for me to return to work that would be considered reasonable?

 

I will have to borrow the money for court fee from family. There is still no answer on the court number and it also mentions on their website that the court counter is available by appointment only. It is not easy for me at the moment to make a 4 hour round trip to take application to the court and travel costs too, so I will keep trying them and hope that I will be able to post the application. I can also only hope that I feel well enough to travel to court for hearing, but fingers crossed will be ok. I would prefer to have everything ready to send with application as soon as possible.

 

I appreciate your help and support so far. You have given me hope and I have felt more positive about things, so really hope you can help me through this. 

[Ell-enn]

I  really do sympathise with your situation, honestly I do - but I know that the judge can only look at things from a financial probability view.   There isn't a definitive time that a judge would allow for you to resume working and getting income,  he's actually not obliged to do that at all.

 

I think the best thing is to only submit the budget sheet with your income when back to work - you will then have to try and negotiate in the hearing some time to actually return to work.  Therefore can you remove the budget sheet with no income and start the numbering with your Doctor's letter as number 1, estate agent's documentation as number 2 and future income budget sheet as number 3.  I will amend the statement accordingly.

 

I think you will definitely have to actually go to the court to submit your N244 by making an appointment with them.   Is there an email address for the court- you could send an email marked Urgent asking them what telephone number you can use to make the appointment.

 

You must attend the actual court heating - there is no way of avoiding that,  if you're not there the judge will have no option but to award possession in your absence.

[BazzaS]

It is hard for you, that much is clear.

You seem to want to hear “it is all fine, you can tell the court you hope to be back to work but don’t know when”, and they’ll automatically accede, and people aren’t telling you that.

 

I don’t say this to stress you further, but Ell-enn really is trying to help you, but part of that help is telling you what you can expect, not just telling you what you want to hear to avoid distressing you. That would merely be a recipe for later greater distress.

 

 

You need to plan for and aim for what is achievable, not just what you’d like.

I can only say that listening to and working with Ell-enn is your best bet.

Edited June 6, 2019 by BazzaS

[Cadbury10]

Thank you Ell-enn, yes I will do that. 

 

The telephone number to make counter appointment is the number I am trying. I will keep you updated on that. 

 

You mentioned the judge may allow time to sell. I have friends whose properties have taken anywhere from 6-18 months to sell and my last property took around 12 months to sell from being put on the market to completion of sale. I feel 12 months to sell is a more realistic amount of time to sell - Would I be allowed to ask the judge to consider allowing 12 months to sell, in the hope that judge might allow 12 months, or as close to that as possible? Had I not had nervous breakdown also due to the stress / harassment/threats of repossession/eviction, then I could have also put the property on the market sooner and could have been further forward with that. Is that something we could put to the judge for consideration?

 

If the judge does allow some time to sell the property then the mortgage and arrears would be paid in full on completion of sale and bearing in mind my current health situation and difficulty predicting a return to work date, would I be allowed to ask the judge to consider same period of time for me to recover my health and return to work, in the hope that property is sold within any time period the judge might allow? Would it be possible to ask the judge in the statement to suspend the possession order/eviction altogether until my property has sold due to above reasons?

 

Really do appreciate your help and support.  

 

 

[Cadbury10]

Bazza, I don't "expect" anything and certainly did not choose to be in this position. Your comments are not helping and have caused me distress. 

[Ell-enn]

I think it's completely unrealistic to expect a judge to allow 12 months to sell a property when there is no actual date for when you might be able to commence payments in the meantime.  The lender would most certainly object to having another possible 12 months with no payments.

 

I'm really sorry I can't promise you the outcome you want - all you can do is go to the hearing and hope the judge allows at least some time to sell and return to work.

 

Keep trying the court number - if there is an alternative number try that too and ask if the other number is out of order.

[Cadbury10]

Ok , thank you. Hopefully the judge will allow some time.

 

There is only the one telephone number for county court - I will keep trying.

 

Have just received an email from Britannia with the income & expenditure form they said they would email on Tuesday. Should I send that back to them, or is it a waste of time considering they have applied for eviction date?

[Ell-enn]

It would be a complete waste of time doing their I & E form - what would you put on it anyway?     by the time they got round to looking at it and then still saying no, you would have had the hearing anyway.....

 

Which court is it you're trying to get in contact with - I'll see if I can find anything out about alternative contact numbers

[BazzaS]

Yet : I never said you expected anything, nor did I say you chose to be in this position.

 

If you are distressed by people gently trying to ease you to be realistic and help yourself (like the multiple times you have been advised to contact Shelter), and “kick back” against them, then you risk a much greater distress at court.

 

Realistically speaking: you aren’t able to pay the mortgage, and haven’t been able to for quite some time. You can’t actually say when you’ll be able to pay the contractual sums, let alone any arrears. You need to put forward the best case you can and hope for a better outcome than the most likely outcome, distressing as that may be.