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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Third Party Debt Orders.

35 replies

Rappyx · 20/03/2018 07:48

To cut a long story shortish, my ex partner ripped off an electronics catalogue over the course of 2 years in my name (believe me i did not know, i was working and he was not.)
When we split i started to get all the letters from firm used and i proceeded to explain to them that although it was my name it wasn't my account, they didn't care because they said my name is on the account and they can prove it.
Well after the letters came the threats, then the default, then the sale of the debt, then my day in court when i argued that this was done behind my back with the police aware of it and even proof that the account was flagged due to what was being bought and security done nothing about it.
Well i guess the the county court just wanted there fee and slapped me with a CCJ to pay the £4300.
Here we are 2 years later and i still refuse to pay, the debt company has now changed tactics and said they are going for "Third Party Debt Order".
I have read up on this as much as google will provide, the bailiffs will never enter my home and an attachment of earnings is out due to me being self employed.
They have no idea who i bank with and my bank address for me is still my parents, so if they were to find out who my bank was could they still be granted this freezing of my account if the bank is not registered to my home address.
If theirs anyone who knows the answer to this i would love to here from them as a 4 hour google search came up with no clarification.
Thanks

OP posts:
WeAreEternal · 20/03/2018 07:55

Why don’t you take your ex to court?

He has the items purchased, since they are in your name and you are being held liable for the cost of them you have ever right to them or the value of them.

Take him to court and either get the money or the items that you can sell.

The ccj won’t go away unless you pay it and your credit will be ruined until you do so.
Yes it’s unfair but hiding from it will only make the debt bigger and the problem worse.

CaptainMarvelDanvers · 20/03/2018 08:00

But if she takes her ex to court and he doesn’t pay it then it still leaves her with the CCJ.

AverageSnowflake · 20/03/2018 08:02

None of this makes sense. Is identity theft not a crime in the U.K.? You should have reported the crime as soon as you found out what happened. All you did was tell them it wasn't you and refuse to pay.

I'm not sure what you can do now, but hiding won't help.

kaytee87 · 20/03/2018 08:05

He's committed a crime. Go back to the police. Take your ex to court.

IanRushesInadequateFlushes · 20/03/2018 08:08

I think you need to look at what happened at the hearing. It's a bit daft to assume the court "just wanted its fee" - you do realise that the fee is tiny for a £4300 claim (about £200 issue fee and £300 trial fee), and that it would have got the fee whichever party won? Instead it might be useful to look at why you lost, and see if there is anything there that you can revisit that would help you work out how to approach this.

Andrewofgg · 20/03/2018 08:14

If they can trace a bank account in your name, and there are ways, yes, they can go for a third-party debt order. If your account is in credit on the day they serve the bank the order will freeze enough to pay the debt and some scale costs; if it is in credit but not enough it will freeze the lot.

You lost the case and now there is a judgment debt. You need to be in touch with the creditor and agree a payment plan for some at least of it. This will not go away.

WeAreEternal · 20/03/2018 08:19

But if she takes her ex to court and he doesn’t pay it then it still leaves her with the CCJ.

She has already got the CCJ regardless, they will get their money, the op could at least try to get some of it back from her ex.

Andrewofgg · 20/03/2018 08:21

Only if he is good for the money - if he is not it is a waste of court fees.

Booboobooboo84 · 20/03/2018 08:24

You can appeal a ccj but you can’t refuse to pay one

CuriousaboutSamphire · 20/03/2018 08:25

I would say much as Andrewofgg said. Don't ignore it, it won't go away!

And do explore suing your ex. Try CAB for advice.

Allthebestnamesareused · 20/03/2018 08:49

Did you actually attend the court hearing to defend the case? If so the case has been heard and you owe the money. As it is a court judgment for £750 they can actually issue bankruptcy proceedings against you.

If you did go to the court hearing the District Judge would have looked at the evidence before them inckudjngbthe police evidence so it must have been determined that the evidence did not back up your story.

Original poster
Rappyx · 20/03/2018 11:28

My day in court was basically the forms which the county court sent me and as for my ex, he actually wrote a statement to the police stating what he had done, however they said and i cant remember the actual wording they used (deniable something or other) but seeing as he must of had access to my address then he must of had access to other material in being able to obtain the credit and that i must of have known this (which i didn't).
Believe me when i say that it was a mickey mouse court judgement it would of have one as Oscar for comedy, however thanks for all the responses.
I did enter another forum and someone suggested that the only way they would get there money is through the third party debt order and the only way to stop them from doing this would be to add a close relative to the bank account and make it a joint account, which is what i shall be doing.
Thanks

OP posts:
IanRushesInadequateFlushes · 20/03/2018 11:32

And then you'll probably get a stat demand as a precursor to making you bankrupt, OP. If you're self-employed, being made bankrupt would not be good for your business.

It sucks but you have a Court Order against you saying that you owe the money. You'd be much better trying to cut a deal with them than pretending you can make it go away.

Sprinklesinmyelbow · 20/03/2018 11:33

Sympathy OP, the courts are shit at curtailing this and debt vultures get away with it all the time. The police obviously don’t want to do anything, and there is no suing your ex- it will cost a fortune, and for what?

People saying she lost the case clearly haven’t witnessed and of these proceedings Hmm

I don’t have any advice though OP- you actually are in a shit place. Joint names on the account sounds like a good idea.

Chattymummyhere · 20/03/2018 11:39

The thing with ccj’s they don’t disappear until they are paid unlike other debts. You would be better off clearing it and sueing the ex for the money.

Chattymummyhere · 20/03/2018 11:40

You will ruin the other persons credit rating By making a joint account as you will then be linked financially and your CCJ could affect them for a long time.

Bombardier25966 · 20/03/2018 11:45

If you fail to comply you'll be summoned to attend court, where you will be asked to provide your bank details and details of your (self) employment. If you fail to attend you will be arrested, you will be held in a cell until you appear before a judge and explain yourself, and give the relevant information.

Adding someone else's name to the account will not work if you are doing so in order to avoid making payments. The court will see this and will treat the account as if it is your own.

Bombardier25966 · 20/03/2018 11:47

To add to that, you can't be jailed for failure to pay a civil debt. You can be jailed/ fined etc for failure to respond to a summons, as you are then guilty of a criminal offence.

frankchickens · 20/03/2018 11:53

Believe me when i say that it was a mickey mouse court judgement it would of have one as Oscar for comedy, however thanks for all the responses.

Believe me OP, I sympathise and take a similarly dim view of much of brave and noble legal "profession" but sadly they have all the power and we don't. You are going to have to start dancing to their tune a bit or they will make things very difficult.

LakieLady · 20/03/2018 11:55

I'm afraid you went wrong at an early stage. You should have reported your ex's fraud to the police, and/or joined him as a third party to the case against you.

Go to see CAB and see if it's too late to apply for the judgment against you to be set aside, and what the cost implications in terms of doing that are.

IanRushesInadequateFlushes · 20/03/2018 11:55

Sprinkles - if she has a CCJ, she lost the case. It's that black and white. Utterly barking to think that because we weren't in court to witness it, she might not have lost (in some parallel universe).

Of course whether she deserved to lose or whether she could now try to have the judgment set aside is a totally different question and none of us have enough info to form a view there.

But it won't just go away if the creditor wants to pursue it. Seeing if she can do something with the order; chipping them right down on what they'll accept; or trying to get the cash from her ex are far less risky options than trying to be sneaky/ostrich like and hoping that it's never pursued.

Sprinklesinmyelbow · 20/03/2018 11:56

Ianrush gave you attended court for a CCj case? She’ll be lucky if she got 30 seconds to explain

Sprinklesinmyelbow · 20/03/2018 11:58

I once acted for someone who was awarded a CCJ that he defended in person. the debt wasn’t his. The creditor had a very old debt (too old to be perused by the court- the court didn’t notice) RANDOMLY FOUND someone with the same name (this is common) and simply applied for a CCJ against him.

We got it overturned but it happened. It wasn’t even unusual.
These companies are scum. They know what they’re doing and they don’t care

Backscratchesforever · 20/03/2018 12:03

Oh man, if you had have posted about this before this stage you could have got out of paying this.

Go on Facebook, find “Beat the baliffs and Banks” group. Post there and tell them what you told us. Also ask to go to the other private group for court proceedings.

IanRushesInadequateFlushes · 20/03/2018 12:05

Sprinkles - well yes, seeing as I've been a litigator in the city for many years! I don't dispute that these companies employ underhand tactics, but we really don't have enough to go on here. sadly for the OP, she should have fought it properly at the time or sought advice on appealing or having the order set aside then. It's now much more difficult.

with no disrespect intended, it's clear from the OP's posts that she doesn't really understand the court (and why on earth would/should she, it's not her job), so she should really be taking proper advice now from someone who can see the papers, rather than googling and asking a random forum. She could end up even worse off by taking bad advice or ignoring it and hoping it goes away.

The ex sounds like a scumbag.