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Debt Consolidation Launch

We are pleased to announce the arrival of our brand new website www.debtconsolidation.org.uk. The site provides all of the help and information that you should need.

Follow the link and have a look around the site, and please send me your feedback and tell me what you think.

If you are struggling with debts then please call Payplan on 0800 2802816.

Don’t forget you can also follow me on Facebook and Twitter.

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Bailiffs – who are they?

Following on from my previous blogs about Court Action with CCJ’s if you do not comply with the terms and keep up the payments then your creditor could seek to get a bailiff to recover goods from your home in order to sell and use to pay back what you owe them. From my past experience, working closely with clients, there is a lot of misunderstandings about them and what they can and can’t do.

What is a bailiff?

A bailiff is someone who is employed by the courts to take your possessions in order to sell them and give the money to your creditor to pay back the debt that you owe them. The court would only send the bailiff if you fail to maintain payments towards your CCJ.

There are four types on bailiffs:

-Private Bailiff self employed or employed by a private firm. Not all private bailiffs have to be certified.

-County Court Bailiff they work for the county court and they are responsible to the district judge of the local court and they are used if you have a CCJ.

-High Court Enforcement Officers they work for the High Court and deal with High Court orders. They also deal with some CCJ’s as long as they are over £600 and they must deal with ALL CCJ’s when they are over £5,000.

-Magistrates Court Bailiff work for the Magistrates Court and are responsible to the clerk of the court and they mainly deal with money owed in criminal offences.

What powers do they have?

In general you do not have to let the bailiffs in.  They are also not usually allowed to force their way into your home. However there are certain situations where they can force entry. These situations are:

-Bailiffs collecting unpaid fines they can force entry whether they have been in your home before or not. As a last resort they can break into your property.

-They have gained peaceful entry before if they have been in your property before by means of peaceful entry then they can then force entry upon their next visit if you do not allow them in.

-County Court bailiffs entering a commercial property they can only do this if there is no living accommodation attached. They need permission from the court to force entry into any commercial property.

-Bailiffs collecting income tax or VAT they must also have permission from the court and they can only do it if they failed in a previous attempt at peaceful entry.

Keeping the bailiffs out

In order to keep the bailiffs out, especially on their first visit:

-Don’t open your door to them, use the door chain if you have one

-Don’t leave your windows or doors open when you know they are coming.

-Alert family members that live with you so they don’t let them in, which would count as peaceful entry.

What happens when they gain peaceful entry?

If or when the bailiffs gain entry into your home they will then firstly search your home. They will then decide which goods they are going to take and sell (this is called seizing). And then finally they will impound the goods, this is the point in which they take the goods.

The bailiffs can only seize and impound goods to cover the debt and their fees and nothing more.

What can they take?

A bailiff can take any items that belong to the person who owes the money, even if they are jointly owned. They cannot take any items that belong to family members or your children. They cannot take any items such as clothing, bedding, household equipment or anything that you would need to satisfy a basic domestic need.

If you are struggling with debts then please call Payplan on 0800 2802816.

Don’t forget you can also follow me on Facebook and Twitter.

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Payplan on Rip Off Britain

Did you all see Rip Off Britain on BBC1 last night?

Payplan received a mention from Money Advisor Refat Nazdhar, who described us as one of the reputable free debt advice companies.

You can view the programme if you missed it by clicking here. Our mention is about 12 minutes in.

If you have any questions and would like free debt advice then please call us on 0800 2802816

Don’t forget you can also follow me on Facebook and Twitter.

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Court Action – Charging Orders

Following on from my other blogs, another option for your creditors after a CCJ is to apply a Charging Order against your property.

What is a Charging Order?

A Charging Order is where an unsecured creditor secures the amount owing to them on your property. This is done through the courts, just like with a CCJ.

Who is at risk?

Anyone who owns a property with unsecured debts who has previously defaulted on payments and had at least a CCJ issued against them. The property doesn’t have to be in your sole name, creditors can make a sole debt secured against a jointly owned property.

What happens with a Charging Order application?

After you break the terms of the CCJ your creditor will apply to the courts to turn the unsecured debt into a secured debt against the debtor’s property. Once the application has been made you will receive notification of this as well as a hearing date.

It is always in your best interest to attend the hearing so that you can plead your case to the judge. When you attend the hearing you will need to take with you the following: income and expenditure breakdown, list of all creditors and anything else that you feel will help your case. If the Charging Order is granted then you will be required to maintain monthly payments to the creditor or risk losing your house.

What if I am in negative equity?

It is very unlikely that a creditor would want to apply a charge to your property if there is not equity as there would be no gain for them. However if your property is in negative equity then they could still proceed to try and apply a charge. If you have proof that there is no equity in your property then you would provide this at your Charging Order hearing.

What happens if I don’t maintain payments?

If you do not maintain your payments towards your secured loan then your property is at risk of being repossessed.

How does this affect my partner?

If you jointly own the property with your partner or someone else, as mentioned earlier the creditor can still apply a charge to the property. If you fail to maintain the payments then your creditor can repossess the property. Once the property has been sold and the outstanding mortgage has been paid then the equity is split 50/50. Your 50% would go towards paying the secured loan and your partner would keep their 50%

If you are struggling with debts then please call Payplan on 0800 2802816.

Don’t forget you can also follow me on Facebook and Twitter.

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