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  • #1

    CCJ help

    Hi, a friend received a CCJ claim form from Npower which he sent back with his budget, prepared by Stepchange and showing he could afford just nominal payments (£5) on a £572 debt.

    He did not receive a court date.

    Today he received a judgement dated 5th December. The debt is now £724.20 (including court costs) and it says they want £1013.45 per month!

    We are assuming a typo and they want £103.45 (one seventh of the debt).

    He cannot afford this and the 14 days to apply to vary the amount had already passed.

    Can he do anything? I wondered if the lack of notification of a court date and/or the incorrect amount on the paperwork might give him some leeway somehow?

    Thanks for any advice!
    Tags: act, advice, arrears, british, british gas, ccj, claim, con, consumer, consumer credit, consumer credit act, costs, court, credit, credit act, creditor, creditors, date, debt, debt management, debts, default, dmp, eon, fee, financial, gas, help, income, judgements, legal, lost, management, money, n244, npower, pay, payments, power, solicitors, stepchange, £50
  • #2
    Re: CCJ help

    You don't say where the form was returned or if there was any defence put forward.

    It appears from the posting that a Default Judgement was made which means there would be no day in court.

    Mistakes are made in typing out Judgements, and you can request changes, which may or may not be granted. What does StepChange advise?

    Comment

    • #3
      Re: CCJ help

      Hello, thanks for replying. No defence as he owes the money. Sent the income forms etc and offer of payment to the solicitors acting for npower as instructed. Can't speak to Stepchange until tomorrow. He has £35k of other debts and pays £160 a month on his DMP, so if they are suggesting over £100 a month on a £500 debt that seems unreasonable to me - only leaves £60 a month for all the other creditors.

      Comment

      • #4
        Re: CCJ help

        So yes, it does look like a Default Judgement. It seems the nasty solicitors did not consider the other debts, and just tried to get as much as they can. Basically they have done their job.

        You do not state why you did not respond within 14days, but often the court judgement fails to arrive within that period. So you could try to contest the payment structure based on the postal delay, and ask for a redetermination providing copies of your letters to the solicitors.

        Had you sent the forms to the court, the judge would have looked at the figures and may have provided you with a chance to argue the amount. Your friend now has a CCJ unless payment is made within a month, plus the possibility, though not probability of a Charging Order as the debt is now over £1000 if you have property.

        The other possibility is that you could contact the solicitors or Eon to argue the payment schedule.

        Comment

        • #5
          Re: CCJ help

          Hi, thanks for the reply. It arrived yesterday, so it was on the 15th day after judgement. We didn't send them to the court because we were told not to - the paperwork and Stepchange said it was to be sent to the solicitors. He can't pay so accepts the CCJ but not the monthly amount. The £1013 is a typo by the court, the debt is £724, so hopefully no chance of a charging order . How does it go about contesting please!

          Comment

          • #6
            Re: CCJ help

            Hi Tintingirl,
            I've moved your thread to the general legal section for more attention.
            I'll be back shortly to respond in more detail

            Elsa xx

            Comment

            • #7
              Re: CCJ help

              Hi,
              As this isn't a Consumer Credit Act regulated debt it is normal for the admission form to be sent back to the creditor. It looks as if possibly they didn't receive your friend's admission by the required date and entered a default judgment, in which case there wouldn't be a hearing. If they did receive it in time and didn't accept the offer, I believe what they should have done is sent it to the court for the judge to decide, possibly with a hearing.

              However, all is not lost. Forget Stepchange, if I was your friend I'd cut out the middleman and ring the court this morning, explaining what has happened and that the instalment amount is clearly wrong. Tell them you're on a debt management plan with Stepchange and had sent the creditor the Stepchange I&E which clearly showed you could only afford £5 per month. Ask them what do do to rectify this. You may need to send in an N244 form requesting a variation of instalments. There's normally a fee for this but this is waived in financial hardship.

              Let us know what the court says and we'll help from there.

              Another thing he could look into is applying for a grant from British Gas to pay off the arrears. They give grants regardless of who the supplier is. Take a look here: http://www.britishgasenergytrust.org.uk/

              Comment

              • #8
                Re: CCJ help

                Thank you Elsa, I will pass all that on and get him to call the courts. He's not the most organised of people (hence the debts) so may have left it late to send the info back to the creditors! Hopefully it can be sorted and he will learn from this. I'll let you know what happens.

                Comment

                • #9
                  Re: CCJ help

                  Good luck Tintingirl. He should be OK...instalments can be varied at any time along the way by application on the N244 form, providing the judge agrees, which he should as he's with Payplan

                  Elsa xx

                  Comment

                  • #10
                    Re: CCJ help

                    Thanks Elsa, he rang and was told to email, which he did with copies of all original documentation so fingers crossed....

                    Comment

                    • #11
                      Re: CCJ help

                      Thanks for stepping in Elsa.

                      Comment

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