Hi All
Around 2010/11 I was in heaps of debt, various cc, loans etc, totalling c £30k. I took some great advice from this site, worked hard, and managed to settle everything. Finally debt free by summer of 2016, credit score still not great, but heading in the right direction.
And now I receive a letter from Mortimer Clarke (Cabot):
‘As you are aware a County Court Judgement has been entered against you under Claim Number QWERTY123 and we ask you to pay the outstanding sum of £2244 direct to this office within 14 days.’
The letter encloses an income and expenditure form with a view to arranging a monthly payment, but goes on to say:
‘…our client may be willing to accept a reduced amount for a lump sum payment to settle the debt’.
First I’ve heard of it, and I’m gutted, thought all this nonsense was behind me.
I’ve established that the CCJ was issued at Northampton and has subsequently been transferred to my local court. All paperwork was sent to an old address, which is why I knew nothing about it. All of this happened just over 3 years ago, and I’m just finding out about it now. And strangely, it doesn’t appear on my credit file?
As I thought I was debt free, my circumstances allowed me to become a student, so I’m currently studying full-time, with negligible income (averaging about £200 pm).
Seems to me I have 2 choices (unless any of you can suggest a third way?)
1. Offer about £20 pm, which they are unlikely to accept, as it would run for 9 years.
2. Offer a lump sum, I think I could scrape together £600 - £700, but again this probably wouldn’t be enough.
All I know about the CCJ is what the lady at Northampton told me:
That it has been transferred to my local court (don’t know when),
That the payment terms were ‘Forthwith’ and,
That the claim said it was in respect of a CC agreement ‘entered into on or about 19/05/2004’. (Is it suspicious that the date of the agreement isn’t precise? Suggests to me that they don’t have a copy of it).
In the scheme of things, the debt isn’t that big (given my situation 7-8 years ago), but this is hanging heavier than those bigger debts ever did, because my circumstances are different now, and I have no real income to work with.
I really don’t know which way to turn with this. Would be so grateful for your thoughts.
Cheers
Scarboro