Egg Banking Charging Order / credit card fees

[alu1000]

Hi,

I’m new to the site and to the complexities of debt.

My partner and I are experiencing some serious financial problems at the moment. We have acknowledged the problem and have received some fantastic help from the CCCS who have set up a debt management plan which we have been paying into since December 2006.

I have two questions I hope someone can help me with. The first is concerning Egg Banking and an outstanding unsecured personal loan of £10,600 which is solely in my name. When Egg was approached with an offer of repayment by the CCCS in December the offer was accepted. I then received a letter from Dryden Lawyers acting for Egg indicating they intended to peruse a Charging Order on my property (which is jointly owned). Having filed the relevant paperwork with the County Court and providing them with a breakdown of my income and expenditure which the CCCS had compiled the Judgment for Claimant determination was set at an unrealistic amount payable monthly. I have asked for a redetermination at my local County Court, but am unsure of where I stand. Can Egg force a Charging Order even though I have been making regular payments via the CCCS since December? Does it make any difference that the property is jointly owned but the debt is solely in my name? And how will it affect our other creditors? (We have 13 creditors in total).

This brings me onto my second question. Much of the debt we owe is to credit cards, which over the last two years or so have had a significant amount added to them in charges. Would we be able to reclaim these charges at this point even though all of the accounts have been defaulted and terminated, and some have been passed onto debt management firms?

Sorry for the long winded question but we are finding the process extremely confusing and worrying!

Thank you

[pmhcfc]

This brings me onto my second question. Much of the debt we owe is to credit cards, which over the last two years or so have had a significant amount added to them in charges. Would we be able to reclaim these charges at this point even though all of the accounts have been defaulted and terminated, and some have been passed onto debt management firms?

Sorry for the long winded question but we are finding the process extremely confusing and worrying!

Thank you

 

Not sure about your first point but the answer to your second question is YES...You can claim back all the charges, itdoesn't matter if the account is open or has been closed

[sequenci]

are you within the time limit to request a redetermination?

 

The charging order would depend on the judgment granted by the judge. if the redetermination allows you to have an instalment order at a reasonable rate and you stick to it there would be no default on the judgment. While this stands the creditor would not be able to apply for a charging order.

 

This is confirmed by the caselaw Mercantile Credit V Ellis (1987) which states that a Charging Order should only be made if the payments on a judgment are in arrears or if you were ordered to make the payment forthwith (all in one go).

 

So if you are up to date with instalments there should be no Charging Order.

[alu1000]

Thank you for your help!

The original claim was heard in Northampton County Court. I filled in the admission form as requested and send my income/expenditure details that had been compiled by the CCCS. The original payment they had agreed to prior to the court action was £50.00 per month. When I received the Judgment for Claimant the Court had decided I should pay £164.06 per month, this is set unrealistically high. I am currently waiting for the redetermination to be heard in my local Court.

I have spoken to Drydens layers and they basically told me they don’t care what payment I offer, or what is agreed at the redetermination they will object to it and force a charging order. Are they able to do that?

[sequenci]

I have spoken to Drydens layers and they basically told me they don’t care what payment I offer, or what is agreed at the redetermination they will object to it and force a charging order. Are they able to do that?

 

hmmm. i'm no expert on this and the one person who is has just gone hom for the day. I was always under the impression that ultimatlely the court decides what is reasonable.

 

you will need to take as much evidence to the hearing as possible such as budget sheets etc.

 

i know alot of people dislike charging orders but they can be one of the better forms of enforcement, especially if you have conditions attached such as no order for sale so long as you pay an instalment each month. A regulated agreement shouldn't have any interest charged either.

[professor yaffle]

Think Egg may just be trying their luck. If you own a house then creditors seem to make a bee-line for it the minute you can't pay. I'm dealing with one at the moment that won't agree a payment as they've said they're taking me to court specifically for a charging order!! But as far as I am aware in your situation as you had an agreement in place and although they may not like the amount they're getting, I would be surprised if they manage to get a charging order.

 

If you take all the information to the judge detailing how you have been paying them, then it should go in your favour.

[sequenci]

they're taking me to court specifically for a charging order!!

 

get them to confim that in writing, the judge would love it.

[alu1000]

Thank you for all your help, it’s very much appreciated! It’s a difficult process trying to get your head around consumer law but this site is certainly an invaluable tool to anyone facing financial problems.

Edited January 15, 2009 by alu1000

[WormHasTurned]

Hello alu1000

 

Has this debt been a personal loan from the outset, or was it until recently a credit card debt which they persuaded you to change to a new agreement for a personal loan?

 

(This may seem an odd question, but it very relevant)

 

Regards

[alu1000]

Hello alu1000

 

Has this debt been a personal loan from the outset, or was it until recently a credit card debt which they persuaded you to change to a new agreement for a personal loan?

 

(This may seem an odd question, but it very relevant)

 

Regards

 

Yes it's been a personal loan from the outset, could you explain the relevance please .

 

Thank you

[WormHasTurned]

There have been occasions of Egg and other CC companies trying to get people to sign to a new agreement for an existing debt - a motive seeming to be that they wanted a new agreement as they no longer had the original agreement to enforce the debt in court.

 

I can see now that this has not happened to you.

 

Have you sent Egg a CCA request for a true copy of your original loan agreement? If not you need to satisfy yourself that they do hold your original agreement. If they cannot produce it there are others here who could be able to advise you further.

 

(Egg did seek a charging order on my property but - to date - have not produced the original agreement.)

[yaffsimone1]

Sorry to jump in but can someone clarify something for me with regards to a charging order. I was under the immpression a charging order cannot be applied for unless you have failed to pay the original CCJ? Also if the creditor does win a charging order does that mean all payments stop and they get thier money when the property is sold, what if you dont sell the property? Or if a charging order has been issued can you make monthly payments towards it so the balance will finally come down to zero and when you come to sell your property there is no order to pay?

[alu1000]

There have been occasions of Egg and other CC companies trying to get people to sign to a new agreement for an existing debt - a motive seeming to be that they wanted a new agreement as they no longer had the original agreement to enforce the debt in court.

 

I can see now that this has not happened to you.

 

Have you sent Egg a CCA request for a true copy of your original loan agreement? If not you need to satisfy yourself that they do hold your original agreement. If they cannot produce it there are others here who could be able to advise you further.

 

(Egg did seek a charging order on my property but - to date - have not produced the original agreement.)

 

Thanks for the advice, will CCA them today.

[alu1000]

Sorry to jump in but can someone clarify something for me with regards to a charging order. I was under the immpression a charging order cannot be applied for unless you have failed to pay the original CCJ? Also if the creditor does win a charging order does that mean all payments stop and they get thier money when the property is sold, what if you dont sell the property? Or if a charging order has been issued can you make monthly payments towards it so the balance will finally come down to zero and when you come to sell your property there is no order to pay?

 

As far as I am aware they can only enforce a charging order when you default on a CCJ, this is my problem. When sneaky Egg were offered a reduced monthly payment by the CCCS they accepted it, then I received a CCJ set at an unrealistic amount, so obviously they know that I’m not going to be able to pay it therefore if I default they can then force the Charging order. I am awaiting a redetermination but have spoken to Eggs solicitors who have told me point blank that they don’t care what the payment is set at they will not accept it until they get the Charge.

I’m not sure about your other questions sorry, but would like to know the answers as we :? ll!!

[sequenci]

I am awaiting a redetermination but have spoken to Eggs solicitors who have told me point blank that they don’t care what the payment is set at they will not accept it until they get the Charge.

 

it would be the court that will decide your instalment based upon your means, at the end of the day they are there to determine what is just. if your instalment offer is unreasonable based upon the amount owing then they *could* order a forthwith or unrealistic instalment if it is more reasonable to do so.

 

a charging order the end of the world prividing you have conditions attached such as no order for sale. it is unlikely that they will be able to have interest after judgment as it is a regulated agreement (i'm guessing it is).

 

of course a cca might scupper their plans so it is well worth doing, if they wanna get legal on you, get legal on them i say. of course they may be able to furnish the agreement, we will cross that bridge when we come to it.

[alu1000]

Hi everyone, well it’s been a while since I last posted so here goes. I CCA Egg but unfortunately (for me that is) they sent me a copy of the original credit agreement, so no go there.

I am however a little confused as to how the court system works. As you know from my previous threads Drydens solicitors, acting for Egg are trying to obtain a charging order on my property. In March a determination was set by Northampton County Court setting monthly payment at an unrealistic amount, obviously Drydens do this to force the charging order. I therefore appealed against the judgment and asked for it to be transferred to my local Court. The redetermination for the appeal was heard last Monday, 14th May and the Judged set the payments in my favour to what I was originally paying Egg through my debt management plan. Here’s where the confusion comes in! On Tuesday I received a letter and documents for an Interim Charging Order that they had obtained in my local court on the 25th April as I did not meet the original monthly payments. Now, I knew nothing of this hearing! Surely they couldn’t continue with the order whilst I was waiting for my appeal to be heard? I telephoned the court and all they could advise is that I turn up for the hearing set for 27th June. Where do I stand now? As the Judge has set the payment to an amount I can afford will the order still stand? I’m really confused and hope someone can shed some light on this for me.

Thanks everyone!

[powelll]

An interim charge is always made without a hearing - it's an automatic process and just registers a 'caution' at the land registry so the property cannot be sold.

 

You should still go along to the hearing ( this is where the judge will decide on the issue of making the final charging order. Bring the evidence that you already have along with proof of the redetermination. It sounds as if their application has crossed over with the redetermination but you should always go along to the hearing ( unless you get written confirmation from the court that you don't need to )

 

Hope this helps