Application for Attachment of Earnings

[peaches109]

Hi all,

Firstly sorry if this is in the wrong place, I'm new and in a bit of a panic!

Today I received a letter from court stating BW Legal/Lowell had applied for an attachment of earnings. Now firstly, although I am aware I owe some money to an account they have taken over, I've never received any letters or documentation from them. They have tried to call, but always when I'm at work and I can't take calls of that nature there!
Now as I understand it, an AOE can only be applied for if:
1. A default has been registered
2. A CCJ has been granted
3. The debtor has failed to pay against the CCJ

Please correct me if I'm wrong!
I have never received a default notice, or any notice of court action, nor any notice of a CCJ being issued against me. How could I pay against a CCJ I have no knowledge of?!
So my question is, what do I do about this? I've just had the offer of a new job (which will sort my finances out), but it's a senior position and I suspect the offer may be in jeopardy if an AOE is granted. I've already handed in my notice at work, so would effectively be out of a job. I don't know this for certain, but it's not something I want to ask the new company.
Can anyone help? I'm in somewhat of a panic.

[stevemLS]

Re: Application for Attachment of Earnings

Does the notice from the court not specify which order it is that you are said to have failed to comply.

Have you moved recently.

If the letter gives insufficient information about the Order that they are seeking to enforce, ring them up and ask them.

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Application for Attachment of Earnings

Hi and welcome

You are absolutely right, :clap2: an AoE can only be applied for once they've obtained a CCJ. Your first step should be to check the record for CCJs: http://www.trustonline.org.uk/search-yourself

In certain circumstances, if a CCJ was obtained by default and you didn't receive the court papers and have a viable defence, you may be able to apply to have it set aside. :thumb: If the record shows you do, in fact, have a CCJ, take a look at this thread to see if you could apply: http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/...ants-in-Person

If you have a CCJ and have made no attempt to sort out a payment arrangement, the creditor can apply for an attachment of earnings as a way of enforcing the judgment. If you are not in a position to apply to have it set aside, you can contact the creditor and make an offer of repayment. Depending on the judgment amount and the amount you can realistically afford, you may have to back your offer with an income and expenditure form.

[peaches109]

Re: Application for Attachment of Earnings

Thank you and thanks for the welcome.
It says the creditor obtained a judgement against me which I've failed to pay. But I've never received any kind of notification of court action, nor the granting of a CCJ. Which is what is confusing me - I couldn't pay against a judgement I knew nothing about!
I last moved 1 1/2 years ago.
Should I ring the court and tell them I don't know anything about a judgement against me? Or will it make no difference and I should just fill in the forms asking for a suspended attachment due to new job offer?

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Application for Attachment of Earnings

Thank you and thanks for the welcome.
It says the creditor obtained a judgement against me which I've failed to pay. But I've never received any kind of notification of court action, nor the granting of a CCJ. Which is what is confusing me - I couldn't pay against a judgement I knew nothing about!
I last moved 1 1/2 years ago.
Should I ring the court and tell them I don't know anything about a judgement against me? Or will it make no difference and I should just fill in the forms asking for a suspended attachment due to new job offer?

As I posted above, I would suggest looking into the possibility of applying to have the judgment set aside on the basis that you did not receive the court papers therefore were unable to defend the claim.

Today I received a letter from court stating BW Legal/Lowell had applied for an attachment of earnings. Now firstly, although I am aware I owe some money to an account they have taken over

Can you give us more information about the account in question? Was it a loan, credit card, catalog account, overdraft, mobile contract? what's the outstanding balance? When did you last make a payment? When did you open the account? All this is not relevant to the AoE but if you can show the court you have a viable defence, you could have the judgment set aside. :thumb:

[peaches109]

Re: Application for Attachment of Earnings

To be honest, I doubt I have a lot of that information - it was a credit card - I had to move from my ex's in a hurry and a lot of paperwork was left behind.

I have no issue paying what I owe, I just don't want my employer's involved in case it reverses my new job offer. The salary increase is substantial and its the only thing that's going to get me out of my financial dire straits.
I'm hoping that the court will not go through with the AoE due to me never having received any documentation of a CCJ - I will look into the 'Set Aside' issue, but I only have 7 days from tomorrow to respond to the AoE and I don't want arresting for not responding in time!

[stevemLS]

Re: Application for Attachment of Earnings

You wouldn't be arrested for failing to respond.

TBH, if you agree you owe the debt, there is little point applying to have it set aside, you have to show that there was good cause for not dealing with it AND that you have a good prospect of defending the claim.

Can you afford to pay it off in one lump sum, or do you need time to pay.

You should be able to get details of the CCJ quickly as FlamingParrot told you how, then, if you need time to pay, contact the creditor and try to negotiate a payment arrangement with them. They somewhat have you over a barrel with the pending AoE application so you need to be reasonable with them.

Good luck.

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Application for Attachment of Earnings

You wouldn't be arrested for failing to respond.

TBH,if you agree you owe the debt, there is little point applying to have it set aside, you have to show that there was good cause for not dealing with it AND that you have a good prospect of defending the claim.

Indeed, but just because you owe the money doesn't mean the account is enforceable. That's why I asked about the history of it. For example, it could have been statute barred.

Can you afford to pay it off in one lump sum, or do you need time to pay.

You should be able to get details of the CCJ quickly as FlamingParrot told you how, then, if you need time to pay, contact the creditor and try to negotiate a payment arrangement with them. They somewhat have you over a barrel with the pending AoE application so you need to be reasonable with them.

Basically it's a question of making a decision to either apply for set aside or agree a repayment amount. There's no reason not to look at set aside first, then move on to "PlanB", i.e. the repayment plan, only if there's no prospect of success. The amount is also important, since you have to pay for the set aside application, it may not be worth doing for a few hundred pounds.

[stevemLS]

Re: Application for Attachment of Earnings

Agree with everything FP says in post 8.

[explorer121]

Re: Application for Attachment of Earnings

Hi,
read your post with interest. I am going through similar experience with Blake Lapthorn who obtained a CCJ against me at an old address of some 7 years ago for a Credit card debt which is 9 years old.
Through advice I have written to the Solicitors asking for a copy of the Credit agreement and paid the £1 fee for doing so. No reply as yet, I then applied to the court using form N244 with a fee of £155 to have the Judgement set aside pending a court hearing, now I am waiting to hear from the court.
In the meantime I have asked for a written explanation from the claimants solicitors as to why they obtained a judgement using an old address when the law states reasonable effort must be used to verify someone's address and why when my current address is freely available through the electoral roll and credit reference agencies.
I have also asked why they pursued a statue barred debt.
I doubt I will have a reply but would advise that all of this is hopefully leading to a court hearing where I am able to have this CCJ dismissed. I will have to fight my corner and give the Judge the facts and let him decide.
It's not easy to do and very stressful as you feel your worlds been turned upside down your on your own.
Take advice from others here and you will do the right thing.
Good luck.