Account was standard with a debit card and no overdraft. Not aware that the debit card was linked to the cheque in any way.

£350

Are the bank going to give us statements same day given that they forcibly closed the account? Any thoughts on a defence as we need to submit something even if we liaise with Hoist about a settlement?

Hoist

No, all they sent was terms and conditions and notice of assignment. Should I ask for bank statements?

So bank's can create unauthorised overdrafts if they feel like it? I thought they needed the customer's consent to make it binding? Do you think it would be a good idea to contact the claimant and offer £10 per month or even a lump sum? How much are they likely to accept as a one off payment? 50-60%?

Just wanted to provide an update and get some further advice. The arrears were repaid in Aug 2013 and we are up to date with payments - over the last 36 months about half of our payments have been on time, one time we were 10 days late (Aug 2015) and the rest have been one day late (only found out that bank transfers need to be paid before 6.30pm to clear same day). From Jan to Jul 2016 we were on time every month and due to late payment from a client, our end of August payment was paid on 2nd Sept. Question - can/should we apply to have the outright repossession order lifted? Can they still enforce it with no arrears? If we apply to have it set aside, could the lender decide to enforce anyway? Thanks, D

Name of the Claimant ? HOIST PORTFOLIO HOLDINGS 2 LTD Date of issue – 26 APR 2016 (ACKNOWLEDGED 09 MAY 2016, DEFENDED 24 MAY 2016) What is the claim for – THIS CLAIM IS FOR THE SUM OF £349.99 IN RESPECT OF MONIES OWING PURSUANT TO AN OVERDRAFT FACILITY UNDER BANK ACCOUNT NUMBER XXXXXXXX THE DEBT WAS LEGALLY ASSIGNED TO MKDP LLP (EX HSBC) TO THE CLAIMANT AND NOTICE HAS BEEN SERVED. THE DEFENDANT FAILED TO REPAY OVERDRAWN SUMS OWING UNDER THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF THE BANK ACCOUNT. THE CLAIMANT CLAIMS 1. THE SUM OF £349.99 2. INTEREST PURSUANT TO S69 OF THE COUNTY COURT ACT 1984 AT A RATE OF 8% FROM 01/12/2012 TO THE DATE HEREOF 1243 IS THE SUM OF £102.01 3. FUTURE ACCRUING INTEREST AT THE DAILY RATE OF £.09 4. COSTS What is the value of the claim? £565.14 Is the claim for a current account (Overdraft) or credit/loan account or mobile phone account? OVERDRAFT When did you enter into the original agreement before or after 2007? BANK ACCOUNT WAS OPENED AROUND 2010 BUT NO OVERDRAFT FACILITY WAS EVER AGREED. Has the claim been issued by the original creditor or was the account assigned and it is the Debt purchaser who has issued the claim. ASSIGNED AS PER LETTER DATED 01 DEC 2013 Were you aware the account had been assigned – did you receive a Notice of Assignment? DON'T THINK SO BUT RECEIVED ONE FROM CLAIMANT RECENTLY AS PART OF RESPONSE TO SUBJECT ACCESS REQUEST. Did you receive a Default Notice from the original creditor? NO DEFAULT OR TERMINATION NOTICE (NO FORMAL OVERDRAFT ARRANGEMENT WAS EVER SET UP, SO THEY COULDN'T REALLY TERMINATE IT! Have you been receiving statutory notices headed “Notice of Default sums” – at least once a year ? NO Why did you cease payments? LIKE I SAID, A CHEQUE WAS PAID WITH INSUFFICIENT FUNDS IN THE ACCOUNT, THUS CREATING AN UNAUTHORISED OVERDRAFT - NO PAYMENTS MADE BY US. What was the date of your last payment? SEE ABOVE Was there a dispute with the original creditor that remains unresolved? NO Did you communicate any financial problems to the original creditor and make any attempt to enter into a debt management plan? NO

Thanks - and send to the claimant only or post here as well?

Background - about 4 years ago we wrote a cheque but there were insufficient funds in our account. Rather than bouncing it, HSBC paid it and this put us into overdraft for £350. Long story short, they have been chasing this through various debt collectors and the debt was sold to Hoist, who have issued a claim against us. We filed a defence, which was that we don't have enough info to confirm or deny the debt and that we had sent a Subject Access Request to the creditor. They responded with a notice of assignment and copy of the terms and conditions. We decided against mediation so the matter got allocated to a small claims court. We then received a CJR065C from the court saying: "Unless the Defendant files and serves a detailed defence complying with CPR 16.5 by 28/09/16 the Defence shall stand struck out without further order and the Claimant be entitled to enter judgement forthwith". we are trying to put together a defence and also see if we can negotiate with the claimant at this late stage. The terms and conditions we were sent state, under the heading When payments will and will not be made by us that payments will be made if there are funds in the account or if an overdraft is in place (there was no overdraft agreed at the time). It doesn't say anything about making payments when there are insufficient funds or no overdraft in place! We also haven't received an overdraft termination notice because no overdraft existed (until HSBC created one to make this payment). Something doesn't seem right here - any advice appreciated!

Allocation Q/A has been submitted and she has been offered a mediation appointment. Defence was submitted before but with no counter claim. So we need to complete N244 to counter-claim? No specific contract was signed between my wife and the other lady - curtain makers tend to do it by word of mouth i.e. my wife showed her what she wanted, the other lady ignored it and did what she thought was best!

My wife runs a soft furnishings company and sub-contracts work out - she gave a job to a particular curtain-maker who made a mess of a pair of blinds and curtains. Because my wife had to fit both 48 hours later, she had to fix the curtains, order new fabric for the blinds and work through the night to to meet the deadline with her client. My wife then sent an email to the curtain-maker telling her that the work was faulty and that she had to fix the curtains, buy new fabric and re-make the blinds. My wife also said that once she had calculated what it had cost her, she would deduct this from the bill and pay the curtain-maker the balance. My wife got a missed call a few days later and nothing else - until she got a claim through the post. My wife defended it but decided not to counter-claim, even though it cost her twice as much to resolve the issue - new fabric, travel, lost sales, working through the night, etc. We have now completed the allocation questionnaire and my wife has made an offer of 50% as full and final settlement. The curtain-maker hasn't responded yet so we need to know: 1. Can we make a counter-claim, having already filed a defence? If so, how and how much? 2. Can this woman make a claim with no real attempt to resolve beforehand? 3. This woman has been slurring my wife's name and one of her other suppliers has told her he can't work with her because of a "conflict of interest". Some help appreciated, thanks D

I have been working as a self-employed mortgage broker until I resigned in July 2015. I signed a service contract with the company and commission was to be paid at the end of each month on a 50% split basis i.e. I get 50% of the commission for all business I write. Business has been very slow and in August 2014, the company incorporated under an umbrella company who took on most of our compliance. The director told me that the commission split would change to 35% for the first £3,000 of business written and 65% thereafter. This was apparently done to reward hitting higher targets. This was never confirmed in writing, only verbally. I left in July and got a commission statement at the end of July, although no commission was due. The contract says we will continue to receive commission for 3 months after we leave, so I expect a commission statement at the end of August, but nothing! No commission, no statement - I have chased it 4 times and still nothing! It turns out another colleague who left in July is having the same problem, so after making contact with 3 others who left in the last year, it appears this is a common theme! I have asked the umbrella company to provide me with a list of all commissions due for business I have written and dates it was paid to the original company so that I can piece together exactly what is due. I would like advice on several areas here, as I believe I am owed £4k-£6k: 1. Should I send a subject access request to both companies to get the info? 2. Should I report this to the FCA because this is a regulated company and the guy that runs it is supposedly "fit and proper"? 3. As it appears there has been a deliberate attempt to defraud employees over an extended period of time, what other legal options do I have. Many thanks, D

So I need to ask them for payment details for the first payment as they haven't given me their bank details yet? Then submit N245 - will the court want to see proof of income as I am self-employed and figures are as accurate as they can be without end of year accounts. Presumably Evershed will apply for a charging order whether we agree a payment plan or not? Will the judge still rubber stamp a N245 if he asked us to liaise with the claimant to agree a payment plan? I'm happy to and would prefer to increase payments to get the debt paid of as soon as possible, but would prefer 12 monthly reviews - should I suggest that or just proceed as you suggest?

Got a response from NatWest - happy with the £200 per month but want to put a charge on the property as well. They also want to review payments every 6 months rather than every 12. We managed to agree that the charge wouldn't be enforced unless payments are missed, but I am concerned about reviewing every 6 months - they have said non-disclosure of budget will result in enforcement of the charge but what if they think we can afford more and we think we can't. It's a grey area I would rather get cleared up. Any thoughts?

That makes sense, thanks. Will submit it and see what happens...

Thanks. Should I include the budget at this stage? If they say no, I want to be able to increase the offer slightly and wouldn't be able to do this once the budget has been given?

Hi Andy, just spoke to Eversheds and they suggested I get the payment proposal over ASAP. Could you check/amend below before I send it: Mr and Mrs DPAC - payment proposal Our proposal is a monthly payment of £200.00, to be reviewed every 12 months, subject to income and expenditure. NO charging order is to be placed on the property as long as the payment plan remains up to date. Budget Expenditure Mortgage Utilities Tax Insurances Council tax Phone/broad Mobiles Other creditors Children/leisure Food Petrol Total: Income Mr Dpac Mrs Dpac Tax credits Child benefits Surplus: £200+ Additional comments Our expectation is that Mr Dpac's income will increase over the 12 months, so would expect payments to increase year or year accordingly. We would be happy to sign an agreement, similar to a Tomlin Order Schedule, on the basis we have proposed above. We understand that if we fail to adhere to the terms of the agreement, NatWest will apply for a charging order against our property.

ok will do. Are they likely to apply for a charge in the meantime?

PS. Were told by the court that if Eversheds apply for a CO before a payment plan is approved, the judge would grant it!

Hi Andy, I really do appreciate your help. I have been out of my mind with worry about the potential of losing my property so it is reassuring to hear that this shouldn't happen as long as monthly payments are honoured. It was a forthwith judgement, but presumably there is an expectation from the judge to sort out a payment plan? My thoughts are along the lines you have suggested, which is something like a Tomlin Order where we make monthly payments, reviewed every 12 months and approved by the court. I am hoping to hear back from Eversheds today and will ask if we can set a monthly payment with NO charging order and ask the court to approve it. Does this sounds like a good idea? Just want to check your comment above about Eversheds that they are reputable and WOULD honour an agreement - you meant WOULD and not WOULD NOT?

Hi Andy, thanks for the above. The main debt was a loan so presumably default notices would come into play, although I take your point about a week defence. We also discussed the Tomlin Order at £30k with charge and agreed that it was worth taking it for trial. Obviously I need to move forward, so will submit N245 for variation. The only thing that has stopped me is that when I phoned the court to clarify what the judge said, he specifically said to contact the claimant to hammer something out before doing anything else. Would the court view it negatively if I submit the N245 before contacting the claimant (I have my budget ready and have emailed them to find out when they are available to talk, hopefully later today), will the judge see that negatively or should I take the view that Eversheds can't be trusted and it needs to go straight to court.

I just want to say thanks for all the help so far and give an update on what happened last week when we were issued with a CCJ. There are many different views that have been given to us and its hard to know with any certainty what is true and what isn't. We were under the impression that if a the same claim is reissued it would be struck out - apparently not. We were also under the impression that if a discontinued claim was reissued it would be struck out - apparently not. Multiple claims against the same person - apparently this is also ok. Reissued default notices - also ok. Apparently they can be issued as many times as the claimant likes. Incorrect monthly payment stated on the credit agreement - also ok. Attempting to charge VAT on top of costs - disallowed by the judge, but no sanction against the claimant for trying it on. We quoted sufficient CPR and sample cases to back up our argument but still the judge wouldn't have it. Now we find ourselves with a forthwith judgement. The judge has said to hammer something out with the claimant in the form of a payment before submitting an N245. I don't trust Eversheds to play fair and although I`m told they wouldn't enforce a charging order. My income is on the up so I could offer £200-£300 per month, is this enough to fend off a charging order/order for sale? I'm very confused at the moment because what I though was true appears not to be and still not sure whether to send in n245 or try to negotiate with Eversheds as the judge directed.

Eversheds have already told me before the trial that they would seek a charging order - does that judge decide what amount is acceptable or can they challenge it?

Realistically £100 per month is the max we can do. does the claimant have to accept it or can they challenge it?