Advise please :)

[MK2017]

Hello,

I have been offered 60% reduction of my debt which is over 8k. I have asked for CCA etc and they have provided it.
I wanted to ask a few questions.

How many times is 'ok' to go back and forth with offers on both sides? I cant afford 60%!

The debt is 4 years old.

If it goes to court and I can only afford 3k what then happens? I am trying to settle this way.

Also, I don't own anything! Not even a tv! I'm real skint - I haven't worked in a year or so which is how this all happened - the debt.

I may be able to ask a family friend to help with a bit more but that will I guess take a while to sort out and may be longer than the 30 says they the DCA have given me.

So my questions are:

1. How many offers can be made before its taken off the table?
2. If they refuse all offers I make and they take me to court but I do not have anything then what happens - if I make them an offer through the court so I still get a CCJ?
3. If I am able to raise more money and need lets say two weeks more than 30 days - could OI use that in negotiation ?

Thanks anyone and everyone!

[Diana M]

Re: F&F settlement help!

Have you received a Letter Before Claim because you refer to "30 days" to raise the money?

Are you dealing with the original creditor (who is that?) or has the debt been assigned to a debt purchaser (if so who is that?) and you're possibly dealing with their solicitors?

You say the debt was from four years ago, do you mean that (2013) is when the account was opened or when you defaulted on the account and stopped paying?

You say they've sent you a credit agreement but that doesn't necessarily mean the debt is enforceable in court. You need to run forensics on the document!

Sorry for all the questions but £8k is not a small sum so you need to consider all your options.

Di

[MK2017]

Re: F&F settlement help!

Have you received a Letter Before Claim because you refer to "30 days" to raise the money?

Are you dealing with the original creditor (who is that?) or has the debt been assigned to a debt purchaser (if so who is that?) and you're possibly dealing with their solicitors?

You say the debt was from four years ago, do you mean that (2013) is when the account was opened or when you defaulted on the account and stopped paying?

You say they've sent you a credit agreement but that doesn't necessarily mean the debt is enforceable in court. You need to run forensics on the document!

Sorry for all the questions but £8k is not a small sum so you need to consider all your options.

Di

Hello,

Thanks for the fast response! The original creditor is Welcome Finance. The debt has been assigned to a DCA I have the letter - what do I need to check on the letter - I don't have it hand right now. The debt has defaulted, I stopped paying into it 2015 - I opened it in 2014.

[Diana M]

Re: F&F settlement help!

Who currently owns the original Welcome loan and who is the DCA chasing you on their behalf? You believe the debt has been assigned (sold) but DCAs only act as 'collection agents' for the owner.

Did you have PPI on the Welcome loan?

How did you take out the loan (broker etc)?

Did you send a formal s 77-79 CCA Request with the £1 statutory fee in order to obtain the credit agreement or was it simply a request by letter/email?

Di

[MK2017]

Re: F&F settlement help!

Hello,

I had a letter saying the debt has been assigned to the agency I cant remember their name. WF also sent me a letter saying they no longer own the debt it has been assigned. On my credit file its changed and its the agency that now are the named owner of the debt. I took the loan out with the company WF direct.
I understand there may be a chance this debt is not legally theirs and I will look over the paperwork with the fine tooth comb to check as this is really useful advice.
If though the debt is legally assigned and owned as I think it is by the agency, could you advise on the below.



1. How many offers can be made before its taken off the table?

2. If they refuse all offers I make and they take me to court but I do not have anything then what happens - if I make them an offer through the court so I still get a CCJ?
3. If I am able to raise more money and need lets say two weeks more than 30 days - could OI use that in negotiation ?

[MK2017]

Advise please

Hello,

I have an old debt that's over 10k (just).
ive been offered a settlement figure & wanted to ask
a couple of questions :-

- if this goes further ( ie pre court claim) can I check
on timeline to judgement?

- is it:-
* 30 days to respond
* if tick need to seek advice will have an additional 30 days to do so
* following this when receive the actual claim form have 14 days to submit what I want to do
* if tick acknowledgement of service will Irvine both sides wth 14 days to gather information
* from this point how long does it take to go to
court? Is it immediately? As this is over 10k will it be fast tracked?
* if a judgement is made against me is there still 30 days to settle ( pay in full) to cancel CCJ or offer payment plan and have CCJ lodged too?





Thanks all!

[warwick65]

Re: Advise please

Hi
Times lines are varied and can depend on how quickly things happen.

If you get a letter before claim you should have 30 days to respond and can get more time if you are seeking advice with the caveat that they can bring a claim forward if there is urgency such as it about to become statute barred

Will it be fast track, well that depends, some firms will argue it should be while others say it can go small claims


From the date on the claim form you have 19 days to acknowledge and a total of 33 to file your defence. From then the claimant has up to 28 days to file a Directions Questionnaire

Remember if a claim is issued then you have chances to settle or come to an arrangement without a cci.

Maybe some more details as some cases are easily defended
[MENTION=87380]Diana M[/MENTION] can you help?

[MK2017]

Re: Advise please

Hi
Times lines are varied and can depend on how quickly things happen.

If you get a letter before claim you should have 30 days to respond and can get more time if you are seeking advice with the caveat that they can bring a claim forward if there is urgency such as it about to become statute barred

Will it be fast track, well that depends, some firms will argue it should be while others say it can go small claims


From the date on the claim form you have 19 days to acknowledge and a total of 33 to file your defence. From then the claimant has up to 28 days to file a Directions Questionnaire

Remember if a claim is issued then you have chances to settle or come to an arrangement without a cci.

Maybe some more details as some cases are easily defended
@Diana M can you help?

Thank you for the super quick reply!
just to clarify - to make sure I have understood - in summary of your timings outline above: the shortest time is as per below ( pending claimant not making case to bring case forward as its urgent)

1. Letter before claim gave 30 days to respond
2. ' more time' to seek advice ( must tick the relevant box in pre claim form) - this may be 30 extra dats on top of 30 days to respond. But claimant may bring claim forward if can make case it's urgent.
3. Once are served the claim form to go to court have 19 days if tick acknowledge on form and then another 33 days to file defence ( 52 days total).
4. Claimant then has 28 days to file a questionnaire - and following this court date is set.

In total 120 days til go to court minimum from being served pre claim to court hearing.
Then 30 days once and if a judgement is made to settle to stop CCJ or make repayment plan offer.

[Kati]

Re: Advise please

once the claim form has been issued, you have 19days from the issue date to acknowledge service. You then have 33days (again from the issue date) to enter your defence ... 33 days in total so far.
After that, the claimant has up to 28days to file their DQ

[Amethyst]

Re: Advise please

Point 3 - it is 14 days from service to acknowledge and IF you acknowledge that time is extended to 28 days from Service for defence. So ( with postage time allowance) the maximum period from claim issue to defence is 33 days, not 52.

Point 4: they can reply in a few days saying they wish to proceed, or they might wait the whole 28 days, or just never bother and the claim is stayed.

Definates are the 30 days from pre-claim letter, 30 days for seeking advice ( although that is reliant on the claimant following the pre-action protocols) 33 days from issue date and a month from judgment to CCJ registered. Earliest you'd need to pay the debt in full if everything went against you would be 4 months ( but likely to be 6 or more depending on the court and how busy it is to fit in a hearing date ).

Is the debt undisputed and you're considering full settlement if they take it to a judgment ? or just thinking of your negotiation position paying in installments over X months and using how long a court claim would take to reach a conclusion as a negotiating point?

Is it a consumer credit debt ?

The £10k is likely to have interest added on, and of course the court fee and solicitors fee - there could be further costs if it went through to hearing. It will automatically go in fast track unless the parties agree / ask for small claims.

( apols crossed with Kati, but hopefully still useful)

[MK2017]

Re: Advise please

Great thanks! Just a last clarification - re claimant filing up to 28 days. If they wanted they could file within a day and then it would go to court?

Also from when the claimant files their DQ, how long does it take for court date to be set? Is it immediately , is it a matter of days / weeks etc. Basically I'm seeking to understand what the shortest timeframe could benefits s judgement is given - and just to be double sure: once a judgement is given the defend went has 30 days to pay the agreed sum ( to avoid Ccj bring lodged) or arrange payment plan wth ccj being lodged?

lastly, as this is over 10k but only by a few grand, this could be processed thru small claims? If so is the minimum timeline as per above too?

Thank you!

[warwick65]

Re: Advise please

Hi
Well yes, in my case they filled a DQ within a few days but you have some time to reply by filing yours.

Although small claims i received my claim in Feb 2017 and the initial court hearing was I think early August. For various reasons it didn't get settled until Monday when my legal representatives gave them a good thrashing
http://legalbeagles.info/forums/show...514#post768514

[Amethyst]

Re: Advise please

Once judgment is given if you don't want it to go on the register/your credit file etc then you'd need to pay the full amount within the month after judgment. There are some circumstances where a judgment isn't registered - if it's a forthwith order and you negotiate payments with the claimant to pay without registering over a period - but if the CCJ is something you must avoid ( eg buying a house etc ) then I'd be safe and either win in court , negotiate settlement before any court claim, or ensure you can pay in full after judgment. If you're going to pay in full after judgment then it'd be more beneficial to negotiate settling now ( at a discount and by monthly installments without court etc )

However, we know nothing of this claim or whether you do have any chance of defence ? or if it is a simple undisputed debt that you don't wish to try and defend and are just sussing out the timescales you have to raise the funds to pay it off without receiving a CCJ against you?

Small Claims and Fast Track - fast track would likely take longer to go through - longer hearing and disclosure procedures to go through. It's not really something you can work out with any certainty, other than generally it's likely to be over 6 months from letter of claim to judgment.

Shortest would be if they ignore preaction protocols, stick a claim in straight away and you fail to acknowledge and they get a default judgment - in which case they could have a judgment in 3 weeks, registered a month after.

It is a kind of how long is a piece of string question really....

[MK2017]

Re: Advise please

Point 3 - it is 14 days from service to acknowledge and IF you acknowledge that time is extended to 28 days from Service for defence. So ( with postage time allowance) the maximum period from claim issue to defence is 33 days, not 52.

Point 4: they can reply in a few days saying they wish to proceed, or they might wait the whole 28 days, or just never bother and the claim is stayed.

Definates are the 30 days from pre-claim letter, 30 days for seeking advice ( although that is reliant on the claimant following the pre-action protocols) 33 days from issue date and a month from judgment to CCJ registered. Earliest you'd need to pay the debt in full if everything went against you would be 4 months ( but likely to be 6 or more depending on the court and how busy it is to fit in a hearing date ).

Is the debt undisputed and you're considering full settlement if they take it to a judgment ? or just thinking of your negotiation position paying in installments over X months and using how long a court claim would take to reach a conclusion as a negotiating point?

Is it a consumer credit debt ?

The £10k is likely to have interest added on, and of course the court fee and solicitors fee - there could be further costs if it went through to hearing. It will automatically go in fast track unless the parties agree / ask for small claims.

( apols crossed with Kati, but hopefully still useful)

Brilliant cheers! It's yes personal credit debt - ideally want to settle out of court as do not want the stress hanging over me! Am about to start talking to them but also wanted to check timelines too. Thank you very much!

[warwick65]

Re: Advise please

Have you sent a CCA request to them ?

Who is actually chasing you for the debt?