ccj recieved

[BOBnancy1]

Hi, everyone. I am new on here and don't know much about debt law. I received a Northampton court document saying I owed £2064.99(including court costs) and I will have to pay Lowell/Bryan Carter £50 a month. I had this debt of the Home Retail group and couldn't afford to keep up payments. I have checked Trustonline.org and its the only ccj that is there. I have had no contact with Lowell/Carter, but by reading this I should of returned a claim form to court, never, so they won judgement. My main concern is what will they do if I cannot pay it and I have only until the 28 Aug to pay. I own no property, have no savings, my car is worth about £600, but I need this as I am a single parent foster carer for the local authority. Will they send the baliffs in to take my car? Is foster carer payment counted in what I can afford to pay? Any advice would be gratefully received. Thanks.

[nemesis45]

Re: ccj recieved

Hello Bob welcome to LB,
Did you receive a " Claim Pack" from Northampton County Court Business Centre?
You can apply to the court to have the judgement varied or write to Lowell stating
your financial situation and ask them to change the judgement order or accept a
reduced amount.

Lowell could apply for a warrant to enforce the judgement and instruct bailiffs but
it would achieve nothing given your financial status.

The other alternative is if you did not receive the claim is to apply for the judgement to be set aside,
but there is a fee to pay and you must be able to show that you have a defence to the original claim
that has a reasonable chance of success.
Considering all you have said approaching Lowell asking for a reduced level of payment is the best option.
If you need help with a draft letter please let me know.

nem

[FlamingParrot]

Re: ccj recieved

Hi, everyone. I am new on here and don't know much about debt law. I received a Northampton court document saying I owed £2064.99(including court costs) and I will have to pay Lowell/Bryan Carter £50 a month. I had this debt of the Home Retail group and couldn't afford to keep up payments. I have checked Trustonline.org and its the only ccj that is there. I have had no contact with Lowell/Carter, but by reading this I should of returned a claim form to court, never, so they won judgement.

A couple of questions if I may:

1. Did you receive a claim form to start with? If not, you may be able to apply to have the judgment set aside, provided you can also show that, had you received the claim, you could have successfully defended the claim.
2. When was the judgment made? If you can't afford to pay £50 a month you can apply to vary that amount. One way to do that is via a redetermination but you can only do that within 16 days of the judgment being made, the advantage is that all you have to do is send a letter and attach and income and expenditure statement to it and no fee is payable. If the judgment is older, then you'd have to use an N245 to apply for a variation and, unless you are eligible for remission, a £50 will be payable. :mad2: You'll find the form here: http://hmctsformfinder.justice.gov.u...s/n245-eng.pdf

My main concern is what will they do if I cannot pay it and I have only until the 28 Aug to pay. I own no property, have no savings, my car is worth about £600, but I need this as I am a single parent foster carer for the local authority. Will they send the baliffs in to take my car? Is foster carer payment counted in what I can afford to pay? Any advice would be gratefully received. Thanks.

They could apply for a warrant to send bailiffs but under new regulations you should receive a notice of enforcement giving you 7 clear days (excluding Sundays and BHs) before any bailiff visit and, if you look at the N245 I linked to above, you can also use that form to apply to suspend a warrant, obviously you' only apply to suspend it once it had been issued. It would be best to get the court order varied before it reaches that stage though. :thumb:

[BOBnancy1]

Re: ccj recieved

Thankyou for advice. I never received claimform but my son was moving out at the time so could be buried amongst his stuff. They won judgement on 29 july. I don't think I can have it set aside as I carnt really defend it apart from at the time I couldn't pay it. Would they still lower payments even though I get foster care allowance and would this be taken into consideration as earnings on form N245?

[nemesis45]

Re: ccj recieved

Thankyou for advice. I never received claimform but my son was moving out at the time so could be buried amongst his stuff. They won judgement on 29 july. I don't think I can have it set aside as I carnt really defend it apart from at the time I couldn't pay it. Would they still lower payments even though I get foster care allowance and would this be taken into consideration as earnings on form N245?

The FC allowance cannot be counted as your income.

My feeling still says contact Lowell send an I & E statement ( excl. the Foster Care Allowance) and make an offer
that YOU can reasonably afford even if it's £1 a month .

Lowell has nothing to go for no realisable assets, property to be sold to meet the debt.
If you decide to take this path send the letter to.

Mr Andrew Bartle
COO The Lowell Group
Ellington House
9 Savannah Way
Leeds Valley Park
Leeds
LS10 1AH

Marked Private and confidential.

nem

[BOBnancy1]

Re: ccj recieved

Thanks for replying. I never received a claimform or not what I know of. It says to pay Bryan Carter solicitors. I am a foster carer does this get taking into account if I asked for a varied order? I don't have very good reason to get set aside. Judgement was 29 july. My main concern is if that I cannot pay what will they do as I wouldn't want it to affect my fostering. Thankyou for your help.

[FlamingParrot]

Re: ccj recieved

Thankyou for advice. I never received claimform but my son was moving out at the time so could be buried amongst his stuff. They won judgement on 29 july.

Only just out of time for redetermination. :ohwell:

I don't think I can have it set aside as I carnt really defend it apart from at the time I couldn't pay it. Would they still lower payments even though I get foster care allowance and would this be taken into consideration as earnings on form N245?

Foster carer's allowance would go under other income, however, if you are fostering children this would also be reflected in your expenditure, since you'd have to feed and clothe him/her/them, etc. so your family outgoings will be higher than if you didn't have foster kids in your care. :thumb:

[FlamingParrot]

Re: ccj recieved

The FC allowance cannot be counted as your income.

I'm afraid this isn't the case, it does count as income: http://www.nfa.co.uk/blog/do-foster-.../#.Vdc8FvlViko

Do Foster Care Payments Count as Income?

16/02/2015
When fostering a child, foster carers receive many different forms of support to help them take care of the children to the best of their ability. This includes financial support in the form of a fostering allowance that is paid weekly, and can vary according to different factors including the age and needs of the child, the number of children fostered, and the individual private fostering agency or local authority that the foster carer belongs to.

The purpose of a fostering allowance is to cover the costs of caring for foster children, from buying food and clothing to transporting them to school and entertaining them, and yes, the allowance is legally regarded as a form of income. When you register as a new foster carer you must also register with Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) as ‘self-employed’, and start keeping records of the children you foster, their ages and the dates that you began and ceased looking after them.

You will also have to complete a Self Assessment tax return each year to declare all of your income from fostering allowance. All self-employed people are registered for Class 2 National Insurance contributions, but don’t worry, as foster carers receive a tax allowance and additional tax relief which can mean you pay little tax on your foster care payments, or even none at all. It’s also important to remember that foster care payments will also not affect any social security benefits you currently receive.

[nemesis45]

Re: ccj recieved

My apologies I was told by a colleague who has been a foster carer that her FCA was not subject to tax.

nem

[BOBnancy1]

Re: ccj recieved

I only foster one child so don't have to pay tax because payment is lower. It says any payment made, pay to Bryan Carter solicitors, so would I get in touch with them or Lowell if I wanted to offer a lower payment? Would I be best just putting form n245 in? Thanks.

[Berniethebolt]

Re: ccj recieved

Remember that many of the allowances you get as a foster carer are for the child in care and therefore not strictly yours . I also know that foster carers do get payments that are taxable ( a close friend and her husband care for 3 children sp she does fall into the tax bracket) hwever she gets allowances for food, clothes, holidays non of which is her money but is to be spent on her charges

[nemesis45]

Re: ccj recieved

I only foster one child so don't have to pay tax because payment is lower. It says any payment made, pay to Bryan Carter solicitors, so would I get in touch with them or Lowell if I wanted to offer a lower payment? Would I be best just putting form n245 in? Thanks.

My thoughts would be to put it to Lowell directly Carter is just simply a waste of space, he's just acting as his clients collector and cannot make any decisions on varying payments he would have to refer it all back to his masters at Lowell.

nem