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Got my first CCJ!

41 replies

HowRyou · 05/05/2018 19:14

Hi all, my mum just recieved a letter stating i have to pay £1900 before May the 4th. It was dated the 20th of April and it only bloody came through the door on the 5th of May at 10:30am and it's a bank holiday! I'm scared the bailiff's will come over soon and i don't even live there. I can just about pay it but i'm wondering if they can reduce it if i pay in full? I should of payed it year's ago! And now the debt has risen.

Thankyou

OP posts:
redannie118 · 05/05/2018 19:17

This reply has been withdrawn

The OP has privacy concerns, and so we've agreed to take this down now.

Mamabear1475 · 05/05/2018 19:19

They do usually offer you a deal if you offer to pay a large sum. Or you can set up a payment plan. Try not to worry too much they don't send the bailiffs out that quick after a non payment. Just call them as soon as you can. Leave a message if they are shit weekens/bank holiday. Make sure you give your reference number.

Mamabear1475 · 05/05/2018 19:19

*shut weekends Grin

HundredMilesAnHour · 05/05/2018 19:30

So is it an actual CCJ i.e. your debt went to court and the judgement was passed against you or is it a letter saying you'll be taken to court if you don't pay?

HowRyou · 05/05/2018 19:35

Hi HundredMilesAnHour and redannie118, yes it went to court. Would that affect me getting some sort of reduction so i can just pay the whole thing off? It's scary as it's from the court and not the standard debt collectors.

Thanks everyone so far

OP posts:
HowRyou · 05/05/2018 19:37

I'm out at the mo but letter heading read...."Notice of issue of warrant of control" so i think it went to court.

OP posts:
Personwithhorse · 05/05/2018 19:39

A CCJ will affect your ability to get a phone contract, housing rental, mortgage application, credit card application... These sort of communications should never be ignored

LIZS · 05/05/2018 19:39

Why did you not respond to the court summons? The debt will have increased since that was issued.

HowRyou · 05/05/2018 19:42

I did not ignore it. The letter just arrived today as i was visiting my mum. It was dated the 20th of April and had to pay by the 4th of May. It arrived on the 5th!!!

OP posts:
LIZS · 05/05/2018 19:44

But it will have been in court before 20th April, and you should have had notice to attend.

HowRyou · 05/05/2018 19:45

I would of bloody payed it ages ago if i had recieved it. Talk about kicking you when your down!!!!

OP posts:
HundredMilesAnHour · 05/05/2018 19:46

Oh dear OP, this isn't good. You need to ring the court first thing on Tues morning and find out if you have a CCJ against you. A Notice of Issue of Warrant of Control is only issued AFTER a CJJ has been issued but the person owing the money still hasn't paid it despite the CCJ.

This is what the web says:

If your creditor has a county court judgment against you which you don’t pay, they can apply to the county court for an order which allows them to use bailiffs. The written authority from the court is called a warrant of control.

A warrant of control is valid for twelve months from the date of issue. This time limit can be extended by a district judge. So at any time a baliff may come to your premises and remove your goods.

The creditor can also apply for a warrant of control if the court ordered you to pay the debt by instalments and all of the following apply:

  • you failed to pay the whole or part of an instalment
  • there is at least £50 owing on the debt
  • there is at least one monthly instalment or a four weekly instalment left to pay.

The bailiff doesn’t have to show you their authorisation before entering your home.

HowRyou · 05/05/2018 19:47

I haven't recieved any letter about attending court. I would never of ignored something as serious as that. What is going on!

OP posts:
TammySwansonTwo · 05/05/2018 19:49

So you’re saying you were never notified of the court date? Why is correspondence going to your mum’s house? You need to call the court on Tuesday. I don’t know if you can apply to have it overturned but I think it’s unlikely and CCJs can really be a problem for you.

The money saving expert forum has great sections on debt, CCJs etc

HundredMilesAnHour · 05/05/2018 19:50

I haven't recieved any letter about attending court. I would never of ignored something as serious as that.

Are you sure? It seems like you've known about the debt for years (you said it yourself) so what did you think would happen if you didn't pay it?

theaveragewife · 05/05/2018 19:50

If you pay within 30 days the CCJ can be removed from your file - it's not all bad!

HowRyou · 05/05/2018 19:53

I should of payed it. I was a fool. The ccj was dated f-ing two weeks ago and now it turns up!!! Said i should of paid by the 4th and it came through the door on the 5th!!!!! I will pay it Tuesday as its a bank holiday.

OP posts:
Catstar123 · 05/05/2018 19:55

A warrant of control can only be made after a Creditor has made a claim against you, judgment entered against you, a CCJ entered against you and have not complied with the payment terms of the CCJ. Documents at each stage should have been sent to you by the creditor and/or court. It would be very odd you have received none of the above, but yet court has issued warrant of control (court would almost certainly have asked for proof of service).

Your first step is to apply to suspend the warrant. The form to do this is called an N245 and can be found at gov.uk . How to proceed will depend on what you knew about this debt etc. Your best bet is to ring one of the debt charities who can advise you further

national debtline
Christians Against Poverty

AllyMcBeagle · 05/05/2018 20:03

I haven't recieved any letter about attending court. I would never of ignored something as serious as that. What is going on!

Well you should have received a claim form (which is basically a form saying that you are being sued) before the CCJ - maybe around a month ago? If you don't respond to a claim form within the time limits then the court will enter a default judgment in favour of the claimant - ie whoever is suing you has won by default because you haven't responded to the claim form.

It sounds like you didn't respond to the claim form because you didn't receive it. It is possible to apply to set a default judgment aside (ie cancel it) but I'm not sure if it's worth doing if you admit that you owe the money and would not have had any defence to the claim. Am I right in thinking that is your position? Setting the default judgment aside just means you get a go at defending it, but it sounds like that would be pointless here if my understanding is correct.

TammySwansonTwo · 05/05/2018 20:15

There are so many pieces of correspondence that you should have received by now. Did you run up the debt while living there and now you’ve moved out? If so, is it possible that other letters have been thrown away?

If you have other debts, I would seriously recommend checking your credit report and there may be other CCJs or proceedings you don’t know about.

Despite what some people online will tell you, there are very few ways to avoid paying debt, beyond bankruptcy or an IVA. They will catch up with you eventually, and even if they don’t the defaults and other results of debt will destroy your credit rating.

My DH had a large phone bill when we had been to America. He disputed it since there was some problem with it, I can’t quite remember. He was offered a reduced figure which he stupidly refused. Went to debt collection and they cocked something up so he was able to get the debt written off and had an apology and a small amount of compensation from them. All good right? Nope, five years later we applied for a mortgage and despite it being written off it was still listed as a default on his file and the mortgage companies mostly wouldn’t touch us. One said they would if he paid off the debt, but since the company had written off the debt they wouldn’t take the money... it took months to resolve.

If you make a partial settlement that will show on your credit file too and make lenders reluctant anyway. Always pay debts if you can and if you can’t, always contact them and come to an arrangement.

If the creditor goes via the high court, you could have high court enforcement officers at your mums house taking anything that she can’t prove isn’t yours.

NerrSnerr · 05/05/2018 20:17

Did the letter come to your mums? Could the other letters have gone to your mums and she hasn’t passed them on or she thought they were junk?

namechangedtoday15 · 05/05/2018 20:25

OP. Your post doesn't make sense. A CCJ is an order from the Court saying you have to pay a sum of money. The money is payable within 14 days. Only once those 14 days have past (and you still haven't paid) can your creditor apply for a warrant of control (and that usually takes a few days to come through) Hmm

As everyone has said you should have have at least 4 or 5 pieces of correspondence from creditor / Court by now.

Woodman03 · 05/05/2018 20:33

Not wanting to kick you but there will have been numerous phone calls and letters pre-court hearing.
Phone the court first thing Tuesday they will take payment in full, you should be able to remove CCJ or arrange a payment plan then difficult credit for 6 years.
I was a knob in my late teens early 20's I had a few, no credit for 6 years, since then never had an issue with getting credit.

BodgingThisMumThing · 05/05/2018 20:35

Is there a possibility your mum hasn’t passed on letters?

CurtainstoCurtains · 05/05/2018 20:45

There is a little known debt solution called an admin order which may help you.

You could contest the CCJ, but the success rate is slim, I would argue if you have already defaulted on the debt the damage is done to your credit record and contesting it would just be extra stress.

If you want an admin order you need to have a ccj and owe money to at least 2 creditors of no more than £5,000.

This is just one of multiple options available though and I would contact someone like step change to work it out.

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