Tomlin / Consent Orders - basic consumer credit claims

[Amethyst]

Quite often in consumer credit debt cases you will be able to negotiate a settlement agreement with the claimants that will keep you from having a CCJ ( county court judgment ) entered against you.

Most often these will be offered by the claimant when they have a weakened position - for example after you have entered your defence and while they are unable to provide you with documents, but sometimes you can instigate the order if you wish to just get the claim settled at any point. Every case is different and you should always post on your thread on the forum for help from others who are experienced dealing with these types of claims.

Tomlin Order - basically a consent order, you agree a settlement or instalment arrangement with the claimants on the condition the claim is just held in court and no judgment is asked for whilst you keep up with your side of things, and they have it as security in case you default (I'll find an example for you) Once agreed you both sign and lodge that with the court, then if either of you break the terms of that agreement you can return to court (more likely to be them to get judgment if you failed in your payments)

Here's a couple examples









http://i390.photobucket.com/albums/o...rs/bcsett2.jpg

http://s236.photobucket.com/user/rip...tter4.jpg.html

http://i1238.photobucket.com/albums/...1.jpg~original

[Diana M]

Re: Tomlin / Consent Orders - basic consumer credit claims

This is what Joanna Connolly recently posted on the forum where the Claimant's proposed Tomlin Order seemed too good to be true to the OP >

Here is a copy of the draft Tomlin order as requested.

I am just wondering why they would offer this unless it would provide them with some kind of advantage. Otherwise they would be better off agreeing the £1/mth payment for now and waiting for us to have more money available in the future and getting the payments increased. By putting the Tomlin Order in place the payments are effectively fixed regardless of whether our circumstances change. Unless I'm being really naive & missing something here.

Anyone receiving a Tomlin Order like this should be careful. It is a Tomlin Order drafted so as to fail. The old adage if it looks too good to be true it is too good to be true springs to mind...........

Problem 1

Para 2.3 states that the payments must be made by cleared funds For a long term Tomlin Order the OP would usually (and would be well advised to) set up a standing order to ensure that the payments are not missed.

Paragraph 2.4 states that "Where the last day falls upon a weekend payment is to be received as cleared funds by no later than the last working day preceding month end." If your standing order payment date falls on a Saturday, Sunday or bank holiday the bank delays payment until the next working day.

In this case the payment falls due on 31 December 2017 which is a Sunday. The bank will pay it to PRA Group (UK) Limited on Tuesday 2 January 2018. Under the terms of the Tomlin Order the payment must be made by Friday 29 December 2017. The OP is in breach by not making payment as required and the claimant is entitled under Paragraph 4 to enter Judgment for the full amount and proceed to enforcement.

Problem 2

Another potential problem is if the claimant changes the bank account to which payments should be made and you don't receive the letter sent notifying you. Payment would be returned and the OP would be in breach of the Tomlin Order and the claimant is entitled under Paragraph 4 of the Tomlin Order to enter Judgment for the full amount and proceed to enforcement.

Problem 3

A payment term of some 1,000 years at £1.00 a month or even say 2-3 years. The £1.00 is such a small amount it would be easy to not notice if for some reason it wasn't paid by your bank or if on if the OP were to change their bank account to set it up again..

Problem 4

Should an OP die then the Tomlin Order carry's on and the Estate would need to carry on paying the £1.00 a month or the full amount will become due and payable.

Suggestions

The solution to avoid the traps is to pay say at least 12 months payments in advance (£12.00) or even longer .

For anyone already signed up to this type of Tomlin Order with this wording don't worry. Put yourself ahead on payments or if you have already missed the payment day then If PRA should seek to obtain Judgment for the full amount because you paid on a Monday instead of a Friday as payments are ongoing the Unfair Relationship provisions under s.140 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 are still applicable.

We recently had several cases where clients who had been paying by standing order PRA Group (UK) Limited through its agent Experto Credite had proceedings issued against them because they had "breached the agreement" when Experto Credite went into liquidation.

Experto Credite's bank account was closed due to the liquidation so payments could not be accepted. No letters had been received by the clients providing alternative payment details.

An Order agreed by consent should be a two-way street when it comes to negotiations. If it's drafted by the Claimant or their solicitor it may not have the Defendant's best interests at heart.

Link to thread > http://legalbeagles.info/forums/show...142#post747142

Di