Please tell me i can do something about this possible CCJ just arrived

[mooshy1970]

I`ve been very very silly and ignored letters about a debt for too lond.
A letter arrived this morning from Northampton county court very official looking and looks like a ccj.
The amount is for over 4000 on an old credit card - there is no way i can pay it off in the 14 days i think would mean it wasnt registered.

The thing is i was just sorting my finances out after returning this week to work after maternity leave and i really wanted to spend a year or 2 making my credit file a1 as we would like to sell up and move house in next couple of years-so it is really really going to have a massive impact on my life.

The letter is entitled a Claim form with a county court stamp and claim no. with various options of response and times - court fee of 85.00 and solicitir costs of 80.00 are added to the debt.

Is there anyway i can prevent this from beng registered against me if i only agree to a payment plan or am i well and truly done for ?
Any advice very welcome.
i know its wrong that i ignored the letters so please dont have a go at me .
Thanks again

If you can't pay in one go it will go on your credit file as a ccj. You can pay in installments and they can apply for you to disclose your bank statements.

I only know because we got one against DHs ex partner and she's pays us monthly.

National debtline can help explain it better.

what do you mean looks like a ccj?

If it is a ccj you need to contact the court asap to work out a payment plan.

It doesn't sound like a ccj yet, it is a court claim form, which is the start of the process. You will have a few weeks to submit a defence (if you have one) or to admit the claim. If admitted, a CCJ will be entered if it is not paid within 14 days or so. If you defend because the debt is disputed it will go to a court hearing where the judge will decide if the debt is owed or not. If the judge decides it is owed, he/she will make their judgement - that will be a CCJ. If you admit the debt but can't afford to pay it all off, try making telephone contact to explain why you haven't paid yet and to see if they will let you set up a payment schedule now. They may be prepared to write to the court to "stay" the proceedings so that for so long as you keep up your repayments, they won't take the court action further You will need to ask them to do this specifically and if agreed, ask them to send you a copy of the letter they send to court. This will prevent a CCJ being on you record.

How old is the debt?