Judgement Order

[audcraft]

I recently won a civil claim in a county court for the sum of �10.000. The defendant has been ordered to pay the award before the 28th Nov 08. However he has written to me offering payment of instalements of �20.00 per month, relating he is unemployed and has no financial assets. I understand he has made an application to the court for them to consider this. Obviously if this were accepted it would take 50years to pay back the award with accrued interest
I understand a warrent of execution would be a possible route but because the debt is over �5000 I would have to seek a high court judgement . Due to the personal debt I have accrued as a result of the claiim I am not in a financial position to get into further debt. Can anyone advice me of my rights and the best way to proceed in this matter.

[Ethel]

Does he have any assets that are not jointly owned?

Does he have his own house, for example?

If he has nothing, it is totally pointless pursuing a warrant of execution/

If he does own his own house you could apply for a charging order, or force bankruptcy.

[audcraft]

Many thanks for your response. I am unclear about his financial assets but do know that he owns a property. However not sure whether it is in joint ownership with his wife.
Prior to the hearing he did work and I expect that he will return at some point. The problem is that he lives miles from where I live so should his circumstance change its unlikely I would find out

[Ethel]

As you have discovered, winning the case is the easy part - actually getting the money is something else entirely.

The average home does not have �10k worth of realisable assets unless all the furniture is antique and he drives a hugely expensive car - the carpets that cost �5k new aren't worth anything like that second hand, for example.

Get a charging order on the property at least - it won't get your money back today but is a reliable way of securing your debt against his house.

[audcraft]

Thanks again. Should the court decide that the amount he has offered is reasonable, do you know whether a property charge can run in conjunction or is it bascially one or the other. Also if he were to default on the payments is there any other avenues I can explore.

[Ethel]

As far as I am aware, you can have both in conjunction - the idea being the charge is removed when the debt is satisfied.

You could also petition for bankruptcy - read 'creditors petition' here:
http://www.debtadvicebureau.org.uk/bankruptcy/ petition.html

You seem to satisfy the criteria - an unsecured loan above �750 and the debtor appears unable to pay

[audcraft]

On the information you have given I think I will wait till I receive a copy of the formal application he has made to the courts and then try and make a decision from there.
If what you say is correct I think my best route would be to accept payments however small if this can run in hand with the property charge. ( My main concern is there is some suggestion of him moving abroad so at least if he did sell I would get my money back) Thanks again for your help

[themas]

You already have a County Court Judgement (CCJ), which he is trying to vary. This means that the CCJ specifies payments he cannot (or does not wish to) meet. I would guess it probably says the debt is to be paid forthwith.

If it does, or if he has defaulted on whatever payments it does specify (either by not paying at all, or by paying late) then you can apply to Court for a Charging Order. You can only do this if he has defaulted on the terms of the CCJ, so if you leave it till he succeeds in getting the terms varied you will not be able to do it.

So go ahead with it now.

You could petition for his bankruptcy, but it will probably cost you over �1000 to make him bankrupt and there is no point in it unless you know that his share of any equity in his house will be sufficient to pay off your debt. Also remember that the Official Receiver's costs have to come out of the bankrupt's assets before you get anything, and those costs can be many �000s.

[audcraft]

Thanks for your response
The current situation is that he has made an application to the court requesting he pays the judgement by instalements as he is alledging he is unable to pay the �10K before the 28th Nov. However because he has not completed the paperwork properly they have returned it to him requesting further information. Although he has written to me personally offering to pay �20.00 a month can I just clarify that what you are saying in theory he cant make that offer because this is the courts decision.
If that is the case how can I explore the route of bancrupcy without a formal offer being made via the courts. Given the time scale is it in my interest to write to the court and basically say I am not willing to accept instalement payments. The reality is I am now having to put my home up for sale as a result of the debts I have incurred as �10K was not the full extent of the debt as naively I never included all the costs as I was trying to play fair.

[themas]

From what you say, it seems that the Court set 28/11 as the date for him to pay the �10K. If so, he is not yet in default of the judgement & he is trying to get a Variation Order to pay �20 per month. If he gets it before 28/11 and then regularly makes the �20 payments each month on time he will not have defaulted and you could not get a charging order.

So yes, you should write to the Court (recorded delivery & keep a copy) objecting to his proposal to pay �20 per month. The Court will then decide whether to vary the order and if so how.

If it is not varied by 28/11 then you should go for a charging order immediately (Court office should be able to tell you the procedure) unless you want to make him bankrupt.

So far as bankruptcy is concerned I suggest you go here:

http://www.insolvency.gov.uk/bankruptcy/whatis bankruptcy.htm

This is the Insolvency Service's own site. There is an enquiry service phone number & e-mail address at the bottom of the page. This is a very helpful service and should be able to tell you how to go about making him bankrupt.

Please note that the site Ethel put in a link to says you could only bankrupt him if the debt is unsecured. If that is correct you could not bankrupt him if you had first got a charging order. I am not sure whether that is correct, and suggest you ask the enquiry service about it.