HFC issued court proceedings - Restons Collection Charge removed

[Amethyst]

Re: HFC issued court proceedings

pmsl. I have burger all patience.

You will be fine. I think the CO is going to be a given tbh and I hope it wont adversley affect costs.

All you can do is go in and listen to the judge. You are struggling financially, are making every efffort to sort out your finances, have been making reduced payments since xxxxxxx as he can see from your witness statement.

You are right in that many judges do not like COs unless a CCJ installment payment has been missed - however they don't all go that route, and it will probably be bought up however rightly or wrongly about the voluntary charging order (and if it does u can bring up the voluntary removal of colletction charge).

If the Restons peeps are there you will be asked if you want to chat with them before the hearing, it doesnt hurt and they are usually nice and basically tell u what they will be asking for in court - you dont agree or disagree with anything at that point but it is nice to meet them and know what their arguing for before u go in. Also the person there is unlikely to be very familiar with your case and will just have instructions to ask for x,y and z - it isnt their fault you just have to ensure the judge has read your papers and considers the collection charge.

No I wouldnt bother about the £100 late payment charges.

[fuzzybrain]

Re: HFC issued court proceedings

Thank hun - You have far more patience than you give yourself credit for .

I know the CO is going to be the main course of the argument, but i'll have a go and trying to avoid one if I can!! Will explain that hubby is not in agreement and that we are in neg equity by £13,000 (so CO of no benefit anyhow), and that we haven't missed one payment yet.

Doubt it will do any good, but it will make me feel better trying!!!

[Amethyst]

Re: HFC issued court proceedings

Behind you all the way xxx

[fuzzybrain]

Re: HFC issued court proceedings

Well its court day!!

I have the following put together:
Defence,
AQ
Witness Statement
Proof of payments
I&E
List of creditors
Couple of letters from restons that confirm payments were made but no deducted from the balance and what the balance would be without the CO (most have without Prejudice on the, but i thought i'd sneak them in anyhow!!)

All i need now is a lot of courage and for my knees to stop knocking!

Should i print off about Chargign Orders not being applied for unless a a CCJ has been defualted on?? - thought it might ber useful ammo.....

[Amethyst]

Re: HFC issued court proceedings

That all sounds perfect- yes if you feel more confident with something printed take the charging order info with you.

Stay calm- its not as bad as the dentist, honestly.

It will probably be over in two shakes so don't panic, and don't beat yourself up if you dont get to say everything you want to say. The Judge most likely will already have made a decision. Remember if you talk with Restons rep before the hearing just see what hes going to be asking for so you are prepared, don't agree to anything with him.

You will be absolutely fine honey and we will be thinking of you.

[Jester]

Re: HFC issued court proceedings

Not seen this thread before.

However, I've been in your situation and know how daunting the whole thing can be. As Ame suggests, it'll all be over pretty quickly. They don't assign much time to these cases in the county courts.

The very best of luck to you. You'll be fine with all the excellent advice you have received from here.

[TUTTSI]

Re: HFC issued court proceedings

Good Luck Fuzzy xx

[fuzzybrain]

Re: HFC issued court proceedings

Thanks for the support, i really appreicate it. I printed off the guide from the HMCS website and have highlighted the bit on Charging orders that says a when a CO should not be granted, so feel a bit more prepared about fighting my corner on this one. I know it won't do any good, but at least i know i tried - the titanic feels like a comparable story at them moment!!!

I have noted on my copies how much is outstandign and what I think a CCJ shoudl be granted for - I also have proof of all paymetns sent and have broken it down into a spreadsheet, so the judge can clearly see that restons have been littkle pickles and haven't been playing fair by applying credits to my account when payments have been made.

HFC sent through a statement that says nothing about a collection charge being added, so Restons will have some explaining to do on this one as they clearly said to me HFC had applied the charge, not them.

Am really nervous as i am going on my own, so have no support, but hopefully the judge will be nice to me, coz i'm only little!!! - mind you when i open my mouth - that when the trouble starts lol!!!

[Amethyst]

Re: HFC issued court proceedings

HFC sent through a statement that says nothing about a collection charge being added, so Restons will have some explaining to do on this one as they clearly said to me HFC had applied the charge, not them.

they argued that with me too but its definately added by Restons and its not some 16% as in the terms and conditions from HFC because there is no term in the agreement stating that whatsoever.

[fuzzybrain]

Re: HFC issued court proceedings

I'm back!!!

Don't where to stay really. Met with the claimant's sols and she was very nice. She explained everything and instantly said that the charges were dropped and gave a figure of 20166.67 plus costs of £410. This was actually less then I had allowed for, so that was a bonus!!

We then got onto the Charging Order argument - and boy was that a discussion!! They wanted a forthwith order and intended going for a charging order immediately. She wanted me to agree to this and said that if i did they would not enforce the charging order and it would sit there until the debt was paid off.

I politely declined this and so off to the judge we went.

Judge was very nice and agreed with the judgement for the amount put forward. Then the Charging Order matter was raised.

At first he said he was inclined to give a forthwith order but said he would not grant a charging order without a hearing. He asked me if i objected and i said i did and he gave me chance to raise my objections so i stated the following reasons:

We are in negative equity
We have not defaulted on any payments
It is a family home and the children need the security of their home
the debt is not joint and my husvand is not in agreement with a CO
That application for CO would increase the costs factors putiing us further in debt and that interest could be applied, thus meaning the debt would never be cleared

I questioned what the value of a CO was considering there is not any equity to secure the CO amount and that we should be given the chance of a repayment plan to show we are committeed to clearing the debt.

The judge agreed but said the repayment was a little long to be unsecured, so he offered me the option of having a payment order for 8 years @ £210 per month and he would refuse all applications for a charging orders should the repayment plan be adhered to. He did mention that the legislation of CO's maybe in changing in the future, so a CO maybe allowed when this new legislation comes in, but it is at least 3 years away.


The other side tried to but in and ask for an adjournment so i couold consider my I&E as i didn't have that with me - which i replied i did & it was in my WS and then gave them extra copies I had brought with me. They still weren't happy and asked how we were going to increase our payments. I said that we would have to decrease the payments to other creditors slightly as this was now a priority debt and the security of our home was dependant upon it.

The jduge then stated he was very impressed with the argument I put forward and by the way i presented myself and that i was clearly committment to reducing my debts and had shown a responsible attitude to do this and gave an order for a repayment plan for £210 a month, with permission for a CO denied!!!

The sols said that if they appealed it would come before him there was little point in appealing the decision. He smiled at that!!

Result was a repayment order of £210 per month and no charging order

[Jester]

Re: HFC issued court proceedings

Way to go. Sounds to me like you acquitted yourself very successfully and succinctly. Particularly proud (and impressed) at the way you dealt with the bullying attitude of Restons (I have had dealings with those barstewards so know how aggressive they can be), especially as you were fighting this fight in their domain and not yours.

Seems to me you got the best result that you could expect under the circumstances (and much to the chagrin of Restons - which is another plus point lol).

Told ya the advice you got all the way was sound and to trust in it. Well done too to all the contributors who helped with this outcome.

Now go out and buy yourself a nice cheeky bottle of red wine and enjoy/relax. You certainly earned it today.

Well done !!

[Budgie]

Re: HFC issued court proceedings

Well done Jen

xx

[Sapphire]

Re: HFC issued court proceedings

Nice result, well done.

[Curlyben]

Re: HFC issued court proceedings

[Amethyst]

Re: HFC issued court proceedings

BLOODY WELL DONE MRS XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Just don't bloomin' mess up the payments.

A payment order is a brilliant option - nice judgey.

Did they mention interest at all ? is it frozen ?

Sounds like it if the £210 over 8 years is the end of the matter

Bet you are glad you didnt go ahead with your idea of the voluntary charging order !