advice needed please!

[shezza999]

New to here so will try to explain as good as I can.I received a letter the other day which was from Northampton courts headed judgment for claimant(in default).it states that I had not replied to the claim form and I must pay £1390 for debt and £172 costs at £50 a month to Bryan carter solicitors.it also states that if I ignore the order goods may be removed and sold,or other enforcement proceedings may be taken against me.unfortunately my situation is that I can't even afford to pay the £50 as my outgoings out weigh my incomings at the moment.and even if they did send enforcement officers to my house I have absolutely nothing of any value so they would be completely wasting there time.I have a car on finance which I'm thinking of giving back after I have paid half the the finance agreement which will obviously free up some money.I don't know what I should do next.the letter states the first instalment should reach the claimant by 15th January.there's no way I can pay it.I would greatly appreciate any advice of what I should do next..thanx

[nemesis45]

Re: advice needed please!

Good evening shezza,

Were you aware that a claim had been issued?

What was the debt that was being pursued!

I presume the claimant was Lowell?

nem

[shezza999]

Re: advice needed please!

You wouldn't believe this and neither will they but I wasn't aware a claim had been issued as I opened it after the judgment letter came..it had been pushed to the bottom of my post box (presumably by the free weekly paper thats rammed in there) I don't have a key for the box so I just pull the letters out of the slot..:-( the claimant is lowell as you say.

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Originally vanquis credit card debt.sorry

[nemesis45]

Re: advice needed please!

You wouldn't believe this and neither will they but I wasn't aware a claim had been issued as I opened it after the judgment letter came..it had been pushed to the bottom of my post box (presumably by the free weekly paper thats rammed in there) I don't have a key for the box so I just pull the letters out of the slot..:-( the claimant is lowell as you say.

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Originally vanquis credit card debt.sorry

Ok, am I to presume that you would be unable to consider applying for the judgement to be set aside?

Things to consider:

1. Could the debt have been statute barred before the claim was issued?
i.e. There has been no payments or written acknowledgments of the debt in 6 years prior to the issue of the claim.

2. Writing to Lowell with an I & E statement asking for the payments to be reduced to an affordable level.

3. Applying to the court for a variation of the judgement order.

Applications to the court of course carry fees.

nem

[shezza999]

Re: advice needed please!

Yes I would be unable to apply for the judgment to be set aside.the debt is about 2 years old so that rules out no.1...anything that involves fees is obviously a no no so that rules out no.3..so no.2 would be the best solution although I can't really afford to pay anything at the moment.have you any idea as to minimum payments they will accept until my financial situation gets better?

[nemesis45]

Re: advice needed please!

Yes I would be unable to apply for the judgment to be set aside.the debt is about 2 years old so that rules out no.1...anything that involves fees is obviously a no no so that rules out no.3..so no.2 would be the best solution although I can't really afford to pay anything at the moment.have you any idea as to minimum payments they will accept until my financial situation gets better?

Ok an accurate I & E statement and an offer of payment of as little of £1 per month to Lowell.
It's the old " they cannot get blood out of a stone" situation they cannot have that which you have
not! No realisable assets on which a bailiff can levy, what can they do.

Send a letter with the I & E statement to Andrew Bartle the COO of Lowell quote the claim
reference etc. I might be worth suggesting setting up a standing order for the minimum payment.

Pls. come back to me if you need help with a letter.

nem

[shezza999]

Re: advice needed please!

I would really appreciate your help with a letter.this is a first for me and I haven't really got a clue.

[seduraed]

Re: advice needed please!

Check to see if you qualify for fee remission.

[shezza999]

Re: advice needed please!

Can u pls explain what free remission is.and how I'd go about checking to see if I qualify.

[MIKE770]

Re: advice needed please!

if you are on certain benefits

ex160B court form from ministry court form google it

[Amethyst]

Re: advice needed please!

Or the form and a bit of info is here http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/...sion-Exemption

Guidance notes for EX160 fee remission applications
You may be eligible for a fee remission if you receive one of the benefits listed below
or if you have a low income. To apply for remission you will need to send a completed
EX160 form and supporting evidence with your N244 application. The EX160 form and
instructions on completing it are available as part of booklet EX160A, which can be
downloaded from the Court FormFinder at
http://www.justice.gov.uk/global/forms/hmcts/index.htm.

If you do not have internet access, please contact us and we will post you a booklet.
Please read the booklet carefully before completing the form. Ensure you
enclose all necessary evidence in support of your application for fee remission.
All evidence must be original, photocopies cannot be accepted. If you require
the evidence to be returned to you, please enclose a covering letter requesting
this. Incomplete / incorrectly completed forms or forms with incorrect or
missing evidence cannot be processed and will be returned to you.

If you are in receipt of benefits

You will need to provide evidence from the benefit provider that you are currently
receiving benefits. Any of the benefits below automatically entitles you to a full
remission:

 Income Support

 Income-Based Job Seeker’s Allowance

 Income-related Employment and Support Allowance

Your award letter(s) for any of the above three benefits must be dated within the last
calendar month.

 State Pension Guarantee Credit

 Working Tax Credit with no element of Child Tax Credit

Your evidence letter(s) for either of the above two benefits must be dated within the
last year and refer to the current financial year (April – March).

You must ensure that you enclose all the pages of your benefit award letter showing
your full name and address. The award letter must be original or your application
will be refused.

If you are not in receipt of any of the listed benefits but still cannot afford the fee
You may still be able to apply for help with the fee on the basis of low income. Please
see pages 7 to 14 of the EX160A booklet for more information. If you are living with a
partner, please ensure that you state both of your income and expenditure details
when completing the EX160.

[Amethyst]

Re: advice needed please!

New to here so will try to explain as good as I can.I received a letter the other day which was from Northampton courts headed judgment for claimant(in default).it states that I had not replied to the claim form and I must pay £1390 for debt and £172 costs at £50 a month to Bryan carter solicitors

You just received the judgment and you can apply for variation if you do it quickly - within 7 days it doesn't cost you - see http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/...judgment-order - it applies to judgments by installment where it isn't based on your submitted income and expenditure.#


If you are considering asking to set aside the judgment then you should have a read of http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/...lication-notes ( that's £155 or fee remission )

[shezza999]

Re: advice needed please!

Hello.thnx so much for your replies...I wouldn't qualify for the fee remission as I work full time.I pick up £1350 a month and have a 3 bed house to run in my own since me an my ex split about 4 months ago.I have a car on finance and and a couple of other debts I'm paying..there is nothing left once I've bought food,petrol etc...amethyst,a week has past so couldn't get variation.thnx anyway

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And I pay child maintenance sorry