GE Money Mortgage and repossession

[The Analyst]

GE Money Home Lending

 

This is a long one but please read to the end; all will become clear.

In 1998 my wife and I were involved in a serious road accident up in Scotland. Although I came out of it relatively unscathed my wife suffered serious leg injuries.

As a consequence we started a compensation claim against the Frenchman who caused the accident.

The Court Writ submitted in 2001 stated that the compensation claimed would be a minimum of £250,000 plus 8% interest per year until the completion of the claim.

As time has passed my wife’s injuries have been getting steadily worse. She now suffers from chronic Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, severe depression, osteoarthritis of her right hip and ankle and back spasms.

At the time of the accident she was a highly paid teacher in a Secondary School receiving extra management points on her salary.

Unfortunately, as time has passed, the mental and physical injuries have meant that she had to take early retirement due to ill health in 2005. She now only receives a basic pension.

My salary was reduced last year due to a Local Government Job Evaluation exercise.

Whilst my wife was still at work and receiving her full salary, and my pay was still pre-job evaluation, we took out a second mortgage with GE Money Home Lending.

Now, because of the massive salary reductions, we are in negative income every month.

And, yes, you’ve guessed it, GE Money are taking us to court for our house because we are now three months in arrears.

All our other creditors have been very supportive and have reduced our monthly payments to a manageable amount on condition that when the compensation claim is finalised we settle all accounts in full.

They all agreed to this because we sent them letters and other documentation from our Solicitor detailing the claim plus a copy of the original Court Writ.

As for GE Money we also sent them the same documents, fully expecting them to also reduce the payments for the next few months, after which we would settle in full.

But no, they have totally ignored all the paperwork we submitted to them and are going ahead anyway, even though they would be getting full settlement within a matter of months; they’ve also rejected our offer to pay £125 per month until then.

The compensation claim will be before a Scottish Court within the next few months after nearly ten years of medical and psychological reports. We expect the final amount to be in the region of £500,000 once loss of earnings and pension are added.

 

Any suggestions as to how we should proceed up to and at the repossession court hearing? Would what we have already done regarding documentation and offer of payment meet the ‘Overriding Objectives’ of the Civil Procedure Rules.

Etc.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

The Analyst

[Ell-enn]

Hi there and welcome.

 

This must be a very distressing and worrying time for you. However, you have come to the right place for information and support.

 

If you cannot reach an agreement with GE Money to reduce your payments pending the outcome of your claim, you will get the opportunity to state your case should they actually take you to court. I would also advise that you make regular payments of what you have offered, this will stand you in good stead and prove you are making an effort to pay.

 

Should you receive court papers for possession you will get all the help you need on here to guide you through the process.

 

Have you sent them (GE) copies of any documentation to back up your situation regarding the expected claim settlement.

 

I had a case recently which went to court and the person concerned was awaiting receipt of proceeds from an endowment policy - and gave all supporting paperwork to the court. The judge was very understanding and allowed time for the money to come through, the mortgage company were not granted possession.

 

Try not to worry too much, I know it's difficult - but as I said, you will get lots of support on here. Please keep us posted on how things are progressing.

 

Kind Regards,

 

Ell-enn

[Goldlady]

Hateful company - they tried to take our house two years ago. Only saved it because we borrowed money from friends and family. I am sure you will be OK at the repossession hearing - in fact I suspect the judge will be very scathing with them about their actions when you have kept them fully informed.

 

I would suggest that the worst that can happen (well if the Scottish courts use the same procedures) is that the judge might give them a suspended possession order valid until you receive your money.

 

Best of luck.

[The Analyst]

Ladies,

Thank you for your replies and advice.

To answer a couple of your points:

We have sent, to GE Money, letters from our Solicitor who is dealing with the compensation claim. These letters state that he is dealing with our case, that the compensation will be 'substantial', and that he is pushing the other side for a settlement. We also included the Court Writ submitted to the Scottish Court in 2001 which states the value of the claim at that time (£250,000 plus interest). As the claim has progressed loss of earnings and pension plus future medical expenses have been added; this has doubled the original value of the claim since 2001.

As the accident occured in Scotland it is the Scottish Court and our Solicitor in Glasgow who will deal with the claim; we actually live in East Yorkshire.

Have just received a letter from Yorkshire Bank who provide our other mortgage and to whom we are also in arrears to nearly double that of GE Money. They have accepted our offer to pay £125 per month until the claim is finalised, based on the same paperwork provided to GE Money.

 

***STOP PRESS!***

 

The wife's just rung me and told me that the court papers have arrived. We're due in court on 27th November.

 

Should I now start another thread elsewhere on the forum (I'm new to this)?

 

The Analyst.

[The Analyst]

Copied from Welcome page

 

GE Money Home Lending

 

This is a long one but please read to the end; all will become clear.

In 1998 my wife and I were involved in a serious road accident up in Scotland. Although I came out of it relatively unscathed my wife suffered serious leg injuries.

As a consequence we started a compensation claim against the Frenchman who caused the accident.

The Court Writ submitted in 2001 stated that the compensation claimed would be a minimum of £250,000 plus 8% interest per year until the completion of the claim.

As time has passed my wife’s injuries have been getting steadily worse. She now suffers from chronic Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, severe depression, osteoarthritis of her right hip and ankle, and back spasms.

At the time of the accident she was a highly paid teacher in a Secondary School receiving extra management points on her salary.

Unfortunately, as time has passed, the mental and physical injuries have meant that she had to take early retirement due to ill health in 2005. She now only receives a basic pension.

My salary was reduced last year due to a Local Government Job Evaluation exercise.

Whilst my wife was still at work and receiving her full salary, and my pay was still pre-job evaluation, we took out a second mortgage with GE Money Home Lending.

Now, because of the massive salary reductions, we are in negative income every month.

And, yes, you’ve guessed it, GE Money are taking us to court for our house because we are now three months in arrears.

All our other creditors have been very supportive and have reduced our monthly payments to a manageable amount on condition that when the compensation claim is finalised we settle all accounts in full.

They all agreed to this because we sent them letters and other documentation from our Solicitor detailing the claim plus a copy of the original Court Writ.

As for GE Money we also sent them the same documents, fully expecting them to also reduce the payments for the next few months, after which we would settle in full.

But no, they have totally ignored all the paperwork we submitted to them and are going ahead anyway, even though they would be getting full settlement within a matter of months; they’ve also rejected our offer to pay £125 per month until then.

The compensation claim will be before a Scottish Court within the next few months after nearly ten years of medical and psychological reports. We expect the final amount to be in the region of £500,000 once loss of earnings and pension are added.

 

Any suggestions as to how we should proceed up to and at the repossession court hearing? Would what we have already done regarding documentation and offer of payment meet the ‘Overriding Objectives’ of the Civil Procedure Rules.

Etc.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

Have just received a letter from Yorkshire Bank who provide our other mortgage and to whom we are also in arrears to nearly double that of GE Money. They have accepted our offer to pay £125 per month until the claim is finalised, based on the same paperwork provided to GE Money.

 

***STOP PRESS!***

 

The wife's just rung me and told me that the court papers have arrived. We're due in court on 27th November.

[tonycee]

Hello.

Im really sorry to hear about your circumstances, and hope things are settled very soon.

Firstly i would like to say, try not to worry.

I know this is easy to say, but you have so much going for you.

My own experiences of the court system is that the judges are very approachable, very level headed, down to earth people.

All your other creditors accepting reduced payments, will go in your favour in court.

I suspect the judge will suspend any repossession order for a period of time, subject to the outcome of your claim.

As you are in negative income, dont offer GE anymore than you can genuinely afford.

If you offer £ 50 p/m untill further notice, the judge will probably make an order accordingly.

If you then fail to pay what the court orders, THEN you need to start worrying.

Im sure this will cost you a bit in terms of fees, lit costs, interest etc.

But you WILL be ok if you stick to any agreement.

 

Good luck and keep us updated.

 

And regards to you both.

[Ell-enn]

Hi there, sorry for delay in replying I have been having internet problems for a day or so - but sorted now.

 

First of all, don't panic. There is a long way to go before 27th November and you have plenty of time to get your defence right. You will need to fill in the defence form which comes with the claim for possession. Before you do anything with it - have a read through it and on a separate notepad, write what you propose to answer for each section, then review it a few times - this will give you a chance to review your answers and make sure you get it right.

 

When you are ready to fill in the last section which asks you to give any explanation of how you came to be in arrears, let me know and I'll "walk" you through this part. You will need copies of all correspondence you have sent to GE Money (letter from solicitor etc), details of payments you have made etc, but we'll get to that later.

 

If you have any questions at all, please post and I will answer as soon as I can. As I said, please try not to panic - you need to stay positive, the fact that your other mortgage company has accepted your circumstances and payment offer is good news.

 

Kind Regards.

 

Ell-enn

[tomterm8]

Can I suggest talking to the national debt line?

[Ell-enn]

Good idea Tomterm8.

[The Analyst]

Ell-enn & tomterm8

Thanks for your recent replies. I'm taking tomorrow (24th) off work so that I can start on the court paperwork. I've already done a rough copy of the income and expenditure section; once I'm happy with that I'll be starting on the last section - El-enn, can you 'walk' me through it, please, a you offered to do? I've got all the relevant paperwork together.

I'm also going to call the National Debt Line as suggested.

 

regards,

 

The Analyst

[zootscoot]

Threads merged and moved to the mortgage foum

[Ell-enn]

Hi there, just letting you know that I've read your post. I was out this evening so haven't been able to be online.

 

I will post on this thread in the morning and we can put together the last part of the form.

 

Stay positive.

 

Kind Regards

 

Ell-enn

[skyrider]

Can I suggest 3 things:

 

1 you speak to Shelter who have been very helpful to me and may well assist you in court

 

2 surely if the 1st lender is happy their position may be prejudiced by the 2nd lender?

 

3 depending on the value of your mortgage if you can keep up with the ongoing payments you may be able to use the following case law to help you along the way (Shelter should be quite familar with what counts) you should aslo work out how much equity is in the property to provide a level of comfort fot the DJ whne making his decision

 

The Law, Case Law and Precedents in this matter & Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) Statement of Practice:

Section 36 of the Administration of Justice Act 1970 - Under section 36 of the 1970 Act, the court may adjourn the proceedings, stay or suspend execution of the judgment or order or postpone the date for delivery of possession of the property. This protection is conditional upon the court considering that the mortgagor will be able to pay any sums due within a reasonable period of time.

 

Section 8(1) Administration of Justice Act 1973 was introduced to succeed where Section 36 had failed, limiting sums to be repaid to only such amounts as the borrower would have been expected to be required to pay if there had been no such provision for earlier repayment i.e. only those payments of interest which were in arrears, not the whole mortgage. Section 36 and 8 operated in unison as the legislators had intended. It became the practice in ordinary cases to allow up to 2 years if it appeared that the borrower was likely to be able to clear the arrears in that time.

 

Cheltenham & Gloucester Plc ("C&G")–v- Norgan [5.12.95][1996 1 ALL ER 44 (CA)], following rather protracted proceedings, the borrower was granted a period of 4 years to discharge the arrears. C&G appealed.

The Court of Appeal decided that what is or is not a reasonable period must be determined by reference to the circumstances of the individual case. The decision stressed the duty of the court to take all circumstances into account and highlighted the unfettered discretion vested in the court under s 36, which allegedly accorded with the policy behind the legislation.

In fact, the Court of Appeal judgment appeared to go even further. It stated that "one begins with a powerful presumption of fact in favour of the period for the mortgage being the reasonable period".

[Ell-enn]

Hi there, have a read of this and let me know how it fits with your circumstances:

 

Below the line is the suggested text for the court form. Read through it (amend where necessary) and gather together the documents you need for each Blue Section.

 

On the top left hand corner of each of the Appendices you need to write your name and Court Case Number.

 

On the top right hand corner of each of the Appendices you need to write the number of the Appendix ( i.e Appendix 1, Appendix 2 etc. ) If any of the appendices are more than one page then those pages keep the same number.

 

Once you have assembled everything in order take two sets of photocopies. Obviously you will send the original forms to the court, but keep 2 copies for yourself. Take both copies to court with you, one for yourself and one in case the judge hasn’t got everything (not unheard of!!).

 

______________________________________________________________________________

 

 

I would respectfully ask the Court to consider the following:

 

In 1998 my wife and I were involved in a serious road accident in Scotland. Although I came out of it relatively unscathed my wife suffered serious leg injuries.

As a consequence we started a compensation claim against the Frenchman who caused the accident.

 

The Court Writ submitted in 2001 (affixed: Appendix 1) stated that the compensation claimed would be a minimum of £250,000 plus 8% interest per year until the completion of the claim.

 

As time has passed my wife’s injuries have been getting steadily worse. She now suffers from chronic Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, severe depression, osteoarthritis of her right hip and ankle and back spasms.

 

At the time of the accident she was a highly paid teacher in a Secondary School receiving extra management points on her salary.Unfortunately, as time has passed, the mental and physical injuries have meant that she had to take early retirement due to ill health in 2005. She now only receives a basic pension. My salary was reduced last year due to a Local Government Job Evaluation exercise.

 

Whilst my wife was still at work and receiving her full salary, and my pay was still pre-job evaluation, we took out a second mortgage with GE Money Home Lending.Now, because of the massive salary reductions, we are in negative income every month.

 

GE Money are therefore taking us to court because we are now three months in arrears. All our other creditors have been very supportive and have reduced our monthly payments to a manageable amount on condition that when the compensation claim is finalised we settle all accounts in full. (Affixed: Appendices 2 etc)

 

They all agreed to this because we sent them letters and other documentation from our Solicitor (Affixed: Appendix ?) detailing the claim plus a copy of the original Court Writ.

 

We also sent GE Money the same documents, (affixed: Appendix ? copy of your letter to GE Money asking for this) asking them to also reduce the payments for the next few months, after which we would settle in full. To date, they have totally ignored all the paperwork we submitted to them and are going ahead anyway, even though they would be getting full settlement within a matter of months; they’ve also rejected our offer to pay £125 per month until then. (Affixed: Appendix ? Their rejection letter).

 

We have made payments of £xxxx (Affixed: Appendix ? proof of payments.)

 

The current value of our property is £XXXXX and the equity is £XXXXX.

 

 

The compensation claim will be before a Scottish Court within the next few months after nearly ten years of medical and psychological reports. We expect the final amount to be in the region of £500,000 once loss of earnings and pension are added.

 

Therefore, based on the above facts, I respectfully ask the Court not to grant possession.

 

 

 

Affixed: Appendices 1 to ?

[The Analyst]

I'd also like to include, if you think I should, a copy of a report by my wife's Consultant Psychologist in which he states:

"...I was, and am worried, that she is at risk of breakdown and also at risk of ending her life in desperation.....with the threat of repossession looming in the background."

I'd really like the DJ to realise the seriousness of her mental health and how repossession could dramatically affect her wellbeing.

I've asked our Solicitor dealing with the compensation to write a letter to the court to update the DJ on the current state of play with the claim. That may not arrive in time for when I send the papers back but should this be mentioned on the form - that it will be provided at the hearing?

The form only has a relatively small section for writing the notes; are we allowed to continue on a separate sheet of paper?

 

It's also just occurred to me that GE money have not, in fact, rejected the offer of £125 in writing. First, I sent them a letter asking to make reduced payments, they then sent me a I&E form to complete on which I stated I could pay £125 per month. The written reply to this was that they were taking us to court - no actual rejection of the £125 per month. They appear to have ignored the I&E form completely. I've paid £125 anyway, with another payment to follow at the end of this month.

 

The Analyst

[tomterm8]

Hi, TheAnalyst, you should definatly include that in the response.

 

P.S. they have rejected the offer, if they hadn't you wouldn't be going to court:(

 

personally, I might be inclined towards publicity, such as watchdog. it can be amazing what a hundred printed leaflets and a placard in front of a major banks headquarters can do:) Especially if you are on the phone to the local papers;) And if they know you just bought a share in their company, and intend to go to to the AGM:)

[Ell-enn]

Tomterm8 is right - if you have that report then you should include it and give it an appendix number.

 

Yes you are allowed to continue on another sheet - make sure you put your name and claim number on the sheetm and put "continued" at the bottom of the form.

 

Also you can fax a copy of the solicitor's letter to the court before the hearing and they will insert it into the pack for the judge (but obviously take 2 copies with you to court in case!).

 

Let me know when you've got it all together and we'll have another look.

 

Stay positive

 

Kind Regards

 

Ell-enn

[The Analyst]

Just been on t'phone with National Debtline. Spoke to a nice chap called James. Went through the story with him and he, basically, came up with the same scenario; at worst we should get a SPO.

He suggested that I should write a letter of complaint to GE Money stating how all our other creditors, including our other mortgage provider, have agreed to reduced payments based on the outcome of the compensation claim; that they are being unreasonable and are not working within the Banking Code which states they should be sympathetic and helpful.

 

The Analyst

[Ell-enn]

Hi there, I too am confident you will get an SPO. Do you have a copy of the I&E you sent to GE? if so, I would affix that and appendix reference it too, together with the letter from GE following that to show that they have ignored your offer. Any documents you want the judge to see to help with your case should be incorporated into the "bundle" and referenced in the text.

 

Try not to worry too much (I know it's difficult), you have a lot going for your case - much more than some people facing a repossession hearing.

 

Take your time in compiling your documents, it will be worth it.

 

Kind Regards

Ell-enn

If I have been of help please feel free to tip my scales

[Bona]

Hi there

just to say everything is on your side stay calm the court will be on your side firstley you need to get all the relevant information together you need to do an income reciept and expenditure schedule you need a letter stateing that any compensation recieve will cover any arrears no court will take your house if they can see that you will recieve monay within a reasonable period of time I have been through this take each step at a time dont rush look at what you can pay ge money can you pay the interest on the loan get everything in writing you will need it as evidence later if you make an offer to GE money and they refuse and the court award the same or less the court can order coats against ge money in my experience the problems come when these ba*******ds put on thier costs which hyp up what you owe you ar not on your own

Take care

Bona

[The Analyst]

Thank you all for your help so far.

Another couple of questions:

1)As my wife also needs to complete her defence form do we need to duplicate everything that I've put together for mine or can we just send one 'bundle' and refer to it on her form? The only difference between the forms would be the financial section.

2) National Debtline said I should send a letter of complaint to GE Money stating they are breaching the Banking Code. But aren't mortgages not covered by the Code?

 

The Analyst

[Bona]

I asume it is the same action but to you both joinly all you need to do is everything once but signed by you both if it is two seperate actions you need two replies

Bona

[Ell-enn]

If you have two separate sets of court forms (one in each name) you need to fill in both. Just amend the defence text to reflect her telling the story instead of yourself - and obviously any monetary differenced.

 

Kind Regards

 

Ell-enn

[Bona]

I bow to your better Judgement but once it is past the defence stage we have only ever put in one set of documents and both signed this and we have neve had aproblem even in the High Court

[Ell-enn]

Bona, I'm more than happy to be corrected if I'm wrong - that's how we all learn, but I've always understood that if there are separate court papers issued for each of the parties then both sets need to be filled in. However if you have experience of them being done differently with no repercussions then I'll leave it up to the OP to decide which way to do it.