court proceedings!

[eddie.d]

Hello good people,i'm after some advice!
Right,i owe RBS 6,800 pounds,they have used Triton debt collectors to recover their money where they wouldn't accept anything less than 300 pound a month repayment which i couldn't afford.
The situation now is that i've received a letter from Triton's solcitors stating i've got 7 days to pay debt or court proceedings will take place.
What can i do/should i do now?
Have i got to get a solicitor?
What is the process from now?/time scale before court appearance? etc
Thankyou for any info.

[chris.g]

I'm no expert but I know it won't happen over night. It sounds like the bog standard threatening letter that are issued.
They firstly have to apply for a court hearing, you will be notified of date of hearing etc. You can contest the petition. If the CCJ is applied you get a I&E form so that the court can calculate the monthly amount. You don't need to get a solicitor.
Can I ask if you have a plan of action regarding your debt?

[chris.g]

You can also apply to have the hearing moved to a court near you if you want to attend which will probably delay it a bit longer.

[suzanne100268]

You can ring them and try and negotiate an informal payment arrangement. If they issue Court proceedings, the Court will send you a Claim Form with a Response Pack. In the Response Pack there will be an Admission Form. Assuming you admit the money is owed, you need to need to fill in the Admission Form with your income and expenditure and make an offer for payment in the box at the bottom of the form. Return this to the Court within 14 days of receiving the Claim Form. The Court will then send RBS the Admission asking if they want to accept your offer. If they do the Court will make a CCJ for instalments because you have admitted the debt. As long as you keep to the instalments, you;ll be fine.

You'll only have to go to Court if you dispute the debt or they don't accept your offer on admission.

[doesntstop]

If your creditor doesnt accept your offer then a determination will be made by court staff. For them to do this properly you need to ensure that you fill in the expenditure section in full. They will then send you a determination judgment stating how much you will need to pay your creditor. If you feel this is wrong and you can't pay the amount determined write to the court immediately and ask for a redetermination hearing. When you do this the matter should be automatically transferred to your local county court and it is in your best interests to attend the hearing. It sounds scarey but if you need to go you will find it is not as bad as you imagine. It is normally done in chambers (a room with a table) and it will just be you, a Judge and a representative for your creditor (if they bother to come). It gives you a chance to explain your situation fully and it is best if you can take as much paperwork with you to back up what you are saying. The courts know you can't get blood out of a stone and won't force you to pay a sum you can't afford so long as you make them aware of the full circumstances. However, if you have more expenditure than income then they will probably order that you pay the amount outstanding in full. You are then going to need some more individual help.

[eddie.d]

thankyou people for your time but did i read that last sentence correctly ie if i've got more going out than coming in they'll expect me to pay 6,800 in full,how can you possibly do that and in my case you can't what's the next scenario's for example can the courts order bailiffs to my home and take what they want which is the last thing you want people at my door!!!
cheers in advance for feedback

[doesntstop]

I am afraid you did read it right. The court will not make an order for you to pay by instalments if it knows you can't meet them, that wouldn't help you or your creditors. If your creditors had a judgment they could issue a warrant and bailiffs may call. You can apply to suspend the warrant and make an offer to pay by instalments but if your outgoings are more than your incomings then it is going to be a no goer again. All you would be doing is delaying things. If you expect to come in to some money soon then it may be worth it but if you aren't then all you are going to do is add court fees to your debt. You really need to get in touch with someone to give you personal advice.

With regards to the bailiffs calling, if it is county court bailiffs then they are pretty limited to what they can do and take. Although they may levy on small items when it comes to taking goods they have to decided whether they will actually get a sum for them that will cover their removal, storage and sale at auction. County Court bailiffs can not legally force their way in. If your car is on HP then it is safe, if it isn't then you may have a problem, but again a lot depends on what the bailiffs think it will be worth. All County Court bailiffs carry business cards, make sure you ask for one because some debt collectors get a bit carried away and call themselves County Court bailiffs.

Your creditors may transfer your judgment to the High Court and then apply for high court/certified bailiffs to visit. I don't know much about there working practises but they appear to be more "aggressive".

Can't express enough how much you need to get personal help

[eddie.d]

I'm not in that position where i've got more going out/coming in just surprised at what you said but looking at it logically i can see your/their point.
As it looks like i'll be going to court what would RBS be expecting me to pay a month on the 6,800 debt?
In other words what would be the minimum i could pay ie would they accept 100 a month?
thanks for your time.

[MelanieGiles]

I think that they would expect you to pay the maximum you could afford rather than the minimum - and no doubt you will have to put a statement of your income and expenditure into Court to allow the Judge to make an assessment.

[eddie.d]

I didn't word my post too well.What i meant to say was would they accept 100 pounds a month if that's what i could afford or would they still send the removal van round!!

[Viki.W]

Hey eddie, I think, as Melanie says, you would need to complete an income and expenditure so that the court could see how much you can afford to repay this, I wouldn't worry too much and if you are offering to pay something, the removal vans won't be round! Good luck. Viki X

[eddie.d]

thanks i hope you're right!
I reckon i could afford 100 a month just wanted to know that they'd accept that amount.

[MelanieGiles]

If that is all you can afford Eddie, that ought to be acceptable - as they will get very little for selling second hand domestic assets.

[eddie.d]

Thankyou,that's put my mind at rest.
Sorry to be a bore but what sort of timescale can i expect before i'm before the beak!to to speak.

[MelanieGiles]

It really depends upon the Court listing schedule, so I am unable to comment on that point.