debt recovery

[shabill]

can anyone give any advice on an outstanding debt of £8,000 which is paid to the company monthly, there has never been a default on the account although the payments have not been increased for 6 months.
as i am unable to increase them they are now threatening to apply to the court for a charging order.
can this be done if my payments are regular and am just financially unable to increase them at present?

[tonywiltshire]

As you probably know a Charging order is not the end of the world it is a court order that secures the amount owed, against the client’s interest usually in a property, in which case an entry is made on the Land register to this effect.
A Charging order can only be made if judgment has been entered and the client has defaulted even by only one payment, the effect of a charging order is to turn an unsecured debt into a secured one. The second stage of a charging order is for the creditor to obtain a final charging order. A charging order is not an order for sale, which presumably you would wish to avoid.
If they proceed apply to have the matter heard in your local county Court and be prepared to show the District judge you are paying the maximum you are able and that it is reasonable.

[bednobs]

i'm a bit confused by your question. You presumably have a credit agreement with this company and if you are paying it as agreed why would they even consider a charging order especially if the account is up to date? what is the nature of the company and the debt?

[factor-fiction]

I interpreted that shabill has been paying something but less than the originally agreed amount

[chrissa1]

Were you allowed to pay a smaller sum for 6 months on the understanding that you would increase after this time?

[bednobs]

but he has said he's never defaulted - paying less than the agfreed amount is defaulting surely?

[shabill]

many thanks for your reply tonywiltshire i am aware of most of what you have said.However if they are receiving a regular monthly payment of which was agreed by both sides albeit for 6 months then how can they be allowed to apply for a charging order.i get the feeling they are just saying this because i have refused to increase my payments. i also noted that you have said this can only happen if the client has defaulted on their payments.

[shabill]

hi bednobs yes that is what i would like to know!!!
yes i am paying an agreed amount each month, it was for a 6 month period which is now up, i can not afford to increase the payments but i have not refused to stop paying.i have continued with the original payment, never defaulted.
so i think because they can not get any more monies they have gone to the next level.

[factor-fiction]

I'm still not clear.

[shabill]

hi factor30, yes i am paying an agreed monthly payment, however 6 months is now up and they are asking for an increase, fair comment the agreed amount was only for 6 months. however i can not afford to increase the payments so have continued as before, never defaulted, but they are now talking about a charging order.

[shabill]

hi chrissa1 yes we agrees an amount for 6 months which is now up, i can not at present afford to increase the payments, i am however continuing with the original payments and have never defaulted.

[factor-fiction]

So you had a reduced repayment for 6 months and now they want to increase it back to what it should be.
They may prefer to get something regularly so write and offer again to continue your current amount explaining your position

[shabill]

bednobs do you think paying less is defaulting? i would of thought as long as you acknowledge the debt and pay then you are doing the correct thing.

[shabill]

hi factor30, yes an agrees amount was set up for 6 months, they have been told i can not increase at present but they are not happy and have said they will apply for a charging order!!!

[Mamyalynne]

If the terms of the agreement were such that after 6 months an increase would apply they are abiding by that agreement,. However I would contact them to explain your inability to increase and ask that they let you continue on your original payment amounts, until such time that you can afford to pay more.

[factor-fiction]

Was it car loan?

[tonywiltshire]

There may be a bit of sabre-rattling going on, unfortunately some District Judges regard a charging order as reasonable especially in cases of nominal offers or where it will take many years to clear the debt. If judgement has been entered a redetermination may be necessary to demonstrate your offer is reasonable. If judgement has not been entered a charging order cannot be made.
Write to your creditor and explain why you are unable to pay more, give them a simple breakdown of income & expenditure, this effort will be helpful if the matter goes to court.

[factor-fiction]

I'm still not clear- were you initially paying more than you pay now then a reduction was agreed for 6 months

[bednobs]

blimey, this is like trying to get blood from a stone. If you don't tell all in the question, how do you expect to get useful answers i wonder? Anyway, yes, i would consider paying less than the agreed amount a default. or we could all have £15000 mortgages and pay £1 on them and consider our obligations met because we were still paying something. They agreed to lower payments for a while, now they don't want higher payments, they just want the agreed amount. once you get outside of the 6 month period they agreed to, if there is no more agreements made, you are defaulting by not paying the amount and they can take you to court

[bednobs]

factor, the way i read it, the payments were, say £100 pm. Shabill found himself unable to pay this amount, so the company agreed to, say, £50pm for a period of 6 months. Now the six months are up, and they want £100 pm again

[factor-fiction]

I'm assuming that's the position but the OP doesn't seem to want to clarify it