Hello, Advice needed on Attachement of Earnings & best course of action on CCJ please

[actnow2015]

Hello, I'm new to the forum and would be grateful for some advice please.

I have several questions so I hope this is the correct place to ask them, apologies if it isn't.

To outline my position, I am self employed, earn very little, have no property (it was repossessed a while back), have no assets or savings and have two children under 10 yrs. I am a financial man of straw, generally happier this way than ever I was when I earned a good salary and spent too much. However it would be good to get these DCA's off of my back if at all possible because I can't afford to pay them and dealing with them can make me feel unwell at times.

Anyway;

1. I've received notice of an application for an attachement of earnings which I have to respond to asap, I am self employed and my understanding from browsing the forum is that this makes the application all but useless to the Creditor, is that correct? Should I fill in the income section or just tick that i'm self employed and return the form?

2.The application has a case number relating to a CCJ which was obtained a few years ago and I have zero idea of who the original creditor was because the judgement was obtained by Hillesden Securities and when I called the court this morning to seek clarification they had no other info apart from to state that the original claimant would not have changed.

I have no recollection of defending this claim although I was in a dark place at the time having been made redundent and subsequenty having my house repossessed so may well have replied and don't remember, the court said that a claim was received!

I wonder, as I've not made any attempt to pay since the judgement 5 years ago, and have no recollection of it, should I just return the attachment to earnings form and then see what happens next when the DCA discover i'm self employed and earning peanuts or should I apply to vary the judgement and offer £1 because my income is so low or something else, what do you think please?

Thank you in advance for your time, thoughts and help.

Have a great day!

[nemesis45]

Re: Hello, Advice needed on Attachement of Earnings & best course of action on CCJ pl

Hi Welcome to LB
I'll take your points in order.
1. Yes state self employed.
2. If you want clarification as to the original creditor it's Hillesden you will have to contact. (not recommended at this point)
3. It seems that the was most likely a "judgement " by default either the claim was not acknowledged or was acknowledged and not defended.
4. Just return AOE form as said above.

Apart from this it seems you have little chance of making any reasonable payments to this debt in the foreseeable future and there
are no realisable assets that could be used to satisfy the debt even if the judgement was amended to allow small monthly payments.
I would not I suspect be of any advantage now to make an application for variation. Your decision of course.

As an Aside Actnow the Freemen on/of the Land " Straw man" theory has been discredited worldwide.

nem

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Hello, Advice needed on Attachement of Earnings & best course of action on CCJ pl

An attachment of earnings cannot be made if you are self employed, only if you work for an employer so saying you are self employed on the form should be enough for the purpose of that application. An AoE is just one way to enforce a judgment and if that doesn't apply, they can look into alternative forms of enforcement such as a warrant of control to send bailiffs and even a statutory demand if the amount is above the limit (currently £750 but soon to change).

For that reason you should apply to vary the judgment, presumably it was forthwith as most default judgments are, meaning the full amount is payable immediately. You'll need to fill in an N245: http://hmctsformfinder.justice.gov.u...s/n245-eng.pdf.

[actnow2015]

Re: Hello, Advice needed on Attachement of Earnings & best course of action on CCJ pl

Dear Nem & Flaming Parrot,
Thank you for your swift and helpful replies.

My sense now is to send in the form to the court with proof of self employment then wait to see what the DCA's next move is and deal with that as it happens, is that your suggestion Nemisis?

If the creditor does apply for a warrant of control and baliffs are instructed is there a course of action that I can take then to limit any damage? I understand that I do not have to allow the baliffs a walk in posession, are they allowed/likely to climb 6' rear garden fences to explore the shed or would I need to either leave the gate open or allow them access?

The idea that they might issue a statutory demand appeals to me as there was a significant shortfall on the mortgage when the house was repossessed and I didn't/don't have the money to apply for bankruptcy which may have been the best option for me at the time and maybe even now just to draw a line under a chapter of my life which didn't work out as one might hope!

Thanks again for your support, it is very helpful and appreciated.

[nemesis45]

Re: Hello, Advice needed on Attachement of Earnings & best course of action on CCJ pl

Dear Nem & Flaming Parrot,
Thank you for your swift and helpful replies.

My sense now is to send in the form to the court with proof of self employment then wait to see what the DCA's next move is and deal with that as it happens, is that your suggestion Nemisis?

If the creditor does apply for a warrant of control and baliffs are instructed is there a course of action that I can take then to limit any damage? I understand that I do not have to allow the baliffs a walk in posession, are they allowed/likely to climb 6' rear garden fences to explore the shed or would I need to either leave the gate open or allow them access?

The idea that they might issue a statutory demand appeals to me as there was a significant shortfall on the mortgage when the house was repossessed and I didn't/don't have the money to apply for bankruptcy which may have been the best option for me at the time and maybe even now just to draw a line under a chapter of my life which didn't work out as one might hope!

Thanks again for your support, it is very helpful and appreciated.

Hi I think you are taking the right approach Actnow, keep all " outhouse " doors locked and side gate as well.

The debt has to be over £750 for an SD an that's going to rise. Some of these companies issue SD's when they are fully aware that BR is not an option that is going to achieve the results they want.

I wish the very best for the future.

nem

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Hello, Advice needed on Attachement of Earnings & best course of action on CCJ pl

Dear Nem & Flaming Parrot,
Thank you for your swift and helpful replies.

My sense now is to send in the form to the court with proof of self employment then wait to see what the DCA's next move is and deal with that as it happens, is that your suggestion Nemisis?

If the creditor does apply for a warrant of control and baliffs are instructed is there a course of action that I can take then to limit any damage? I understand that I do not have to allow the baliffs a walk in posession, are they allowed/likely to climb 6' rear garden fences to explore the shed or would I need to either leave the gate open or allow them access?

First of all, under the new regulations, you would receive a letter, a notice of enforcement, giving you at least 7 clear days before any bailiffs turn up. "Clear" days do not include Sunday or BHs.

If you receive such a notice, your next step would be to fill in an N245 and apply for suspension of the warrant, send it (or hand deliver if possible to save time) back to the court that issued the warrant.

Under the new regs they would only be allowed to use normal means of access, so unless you normally gain access by climbing your 6ft fence I'd say that's a no-no. You don't need to leave anything open or allow them access.

The idea that they might issue a statutory demand appeals to me as there was a significant shortfall on the mortgage when the house was repossessed and I didn't/don't have the money to apply for bankruptcy which may have been the best option for me at the time and maybe even now just to draw a line under a chapter of my life which didn't work out as one might hope!

Thanks again for your support, it is very helpful and appreciated.

If you think that's the best course of action, and large shortfalls are often a reason to go bankrupt, there are organisations that may be able to help with the costs:

• Funding bankruptcy fees – a list of various organisations that may be able to help
• British Gas Energy Trust
• Severn Trent Trust Fund
• Charis Grants
• Royal British Legion
• Turn2Us
• Christians Against Poverty
• Rowland Hill Fund

[actnow2015]

Re: Hello, Advice needed on Attachement of Earnings & best course of action on CCJ pl

Flaming Parrot,
Thanks again for taking time to reply so thoughtfully, the information is very helpful, I'm going to return the AoE sheet next week and see what transpires.

Once I know how DCA are going to proceed I will update this thread in case the information is helpful to anyone else. The debt is in excess of £10, 000 so qualifies for a SD if they want to go that route.
All the best.

[actnow2015]

Re: Hello, Advice needed on Attachement of Earnings & best course of action on CCJ pl

Just an update;
I returned the AoE questionnaire to the court and have since received a notice from the court that the application was dismissed.
So far i have heard nothing else from the DCA, it's early days though so i will wait and see what happens and provide further updates if there is anything useful to report.
Thanks again to all that offered advice and support.

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Hello, Advice needed on Attachement of Earnings & best course of action on CCJ pl

Just an update;
I returned the AoE questionnaire to the court and have since received a notice from the court that the application was dismissed.
So far i have heard nothing else from the DCA, it's early days though so i will wait and see what happens and provide further updates if there is anything useful to report.
Thanks again to all that offered advice and support.

Can you clarify what application was dismissed, was it your request for a suspended AoE order or their application for an AoE order. :confused2:

EDIT: Going back up this thread, it looks like you are self-employed, in which case the court would have dismissed their application because if you haven't got an employer you cannot attach your own earnings, if you see what I mean. :grin:

[actnow2015]

Re: Hello, Advice needed on Attachement of Earnings & best course of action on CCJ pl

Hi Flaming Parrot,

Yes, It was dismissed as i'm self employed I imagine, albeit the court form doesn't give a reason it just says it was dismissed by the DJ.
I'm now waiting to see what their next move is, I have zero idea of who the original creditor is for this one as it's been passed aaround a bit I suspect, and the DCA are named as the claimant on the CCJ which is 5 years old so no clues there.

I expect a visit from a baliff at some point, I won't allow walk in possession and my car is worth very little and registered in busines name so no worries there, if they go the SD route that's fine with me too as it saves me having to deal with my mortgage shortfall as mentiioned in previous posts.

If anyone has experience of what the next steps might be for the DCA and likely timescales that would be helpful.

Thanks again.

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Hello, Advice needed on Attachement of Earnings & best course of action on CCJ pl

Hi Flaming Parrot,

Yes, It was dismissed as i'm self employed I imagine, albeit the court form doesn't give a reason it just says it was dismissed by the DJ.

AoE requires you to be employed by someone else, that's why it was dismissed.

I'm now waiting to see what their next move is, I have zero idea of who the original creditor is for this one as it's been passed aaround a bit I suspect, and the DCA are named as the claimant on the CCJ which is 5 years old so no clues there.

These days OCs hardly ever issue claims, choosing instead to sell on the debts and save themselves the trouble of litigation and having their names on judgments. I suspect the reason for all this sudden action after five years must be because they are aware that if they don't attempt to enforce a judgment in the first six years the courts won't let them do it later on.

I expect a visit from a baliff at some point, I won't allow walk in possession and my car is worth very little and registered in busines name so no worries there, if they go the SD route that's fine with me too as it saves me having to deal with my mortgage shortfall as mentiioned in previous posts.

If anyone has experience of what the next steps might be for the DCA and likely timescales that would be helpful.

Thanks again.

I suspect they may try the bailiff route but fortunately the new regulations have removed the surprise factor by requiring a notice of enforcement to be sent to you giving you at least seven days notice (excluding Sundays and BHs) before a bailiff visit. That should allow you to fill in an N245 application to suspend the warrant before that happens. :thumb:

SDs are used infrequently these days and Hillesden were not amongst the ones who took that route very often. The cost of bankrupting a debtor is quite high and if people have few assets and lots of debt, it's hardly worth their while, so even when SDs were issued, they weren't always pursued all the way to a petition.