Lifting of stay

[dinky201]

Also see if you can get a solitor for couple hundred quid, it protect you from in in the law club that I had to deal with

[Pragroup123]

So, update…

I went into court quietly confident, I had written my defence and served it upon the court and creditor/solicitor and included evidence of me having tried to set up a payment arrangement which they had repeatedly refused, I showed that I had responded despite what they said in their claim. I re-iterated that it had been going on for 3 years and even after providing the docs I requested, they had still taken another 18 months.

The judge immediately said they had read my defence but I’d obviously used an online template and I clearly didn’t have a defence. I said I did and repeated the above (quoting the Football Association case and explaining the stay should not be lifted). They said as I had received the documents I asked for and attempted to offer payment, I had obviously accepted I owed the debt and therefore, my issue was the length of time it had taken. They said their decision was therefore that I had no defence and as per my previous requests, I had obviously wanted to pay and get it dealt with so they were lifting the stay and granting judgement so we could set up repayments. I tried to say again that I felt this was unfair, the impact on my mental health and that I’d informed them of this before and had it looming, to which they again said that was why it was also in my best interests to get the judgement and make payments.

I tried to say that this would just mean that I’m now paying the amount I originally offered but after 2 lots of being off work due to my mental health which this contributed to and after allowing them to now add nearly £2k in additional fees, whereas if they had accepted the same payment then, this would not have happened. The judge said they were entitled to proceed to seek judgement if I wasn’t able to pay off in full and was satisfied this was now dealt with.

So, it seems quoting that football case made no difference and providing proof of my offer of payments actually went against me. I tried to argue that it would have a hugely detrimental effect now on my finances which had changed since I made the offer and I didn’t have the funds to now make a repayment. The judge said I would have to offer what I could as it is unreasonable to not repay a debt I owe and the debt is fully enforceable. I had to speak to the solicitor and arrange a repayment (which I will struggle to pay) to sort it out. I’ll admit that at this point, I felt totally defeated and got quite emotional.

It has put me off trying to counter any future claims as it seems it has just cost me a hell of a lot more money, despite all my time and effort. I’d have been better off just allowing the CCJ right at the start.

Does anyone feel this was justified and the judge is correct that the football claim included a clause as part of the test which said I would need to prove the case has no prospect of succeeding and as I have been provided all the documents and made offers of repayment, they deemed this to be evidence that it is fully enforceable and able to succeed? To say I’m gutted is an understatement.

[echat11]

That is very disappointing.

As soon as an offer of payment has been made it becomes 'difficult' to defend as you are spending different messages to the Judge / Court (they aren't great).

If you had written 'Without Prejudice Save as to Costs' on the offer letter when you sent them, the Judge wouldn't read them until after the Judgement had been made.

The Creditor couldn't use them in the case.

What you can do is fill in an income and expenditure form send that to the Creditor's solicitor / Court.

They can only ask you to pay what you can afford to pay.

Take into account the 'cost of living', if you are left with £5 month to pay monthly so be it.

https://nedcab.cabmoney.org.uk/