Advice on next step to take

[help_2015]

Hello all,

 

Friend of mine had a debt of a personal amount of £5400 outstanding that went to the Sheriffs Office.

Its a long story but to cut it short her bank account was hacked and the bank agreed to settle the amount this week.

 

So she is now in a position to pay the money back

 

So here is the advice needed,

the claimant has asked for a copy of her bank statement as proof she has the money which she is not comfortable with doing

- are they entitled to ask for that

- and they are also asking for compensation for the timeframe taken,

she is happy to do this but she has found out over £2000 has been added on in charges and interest since it was passed on

 

She is therefore unsure whether to write to the Sheriffs Office and ask them to write the charges off - or a large proportion or whether she writes to the creditor.

 

The creditor has asked her to pay the £5400 to the Sherriffs Office now and the compensation to her but I have said not to as she will still have the charges to pay that way.

 

I have told her to not do anything until you have something in writing

 

Should she write to both the creditor and Sherrifs Office and what should she say?

 

Forgot to add she has been signed off for the majority of the time and the Sheriffs Office have her medical documentation and in fairness to them have not been coming to the house etc but think its all interest charges on the whole

[lookinforinfo]

I would not bother sending proof that the money is in the account since the proof will arrive shortly in the shape of a cheque.

 

As for compensation I would say that as the claimant has called in HCEOs and having to pay them around £2000 in fees to them is punishment enough. Although

it is up to your friend to make that decision.

 

If your friend is certain that the debt is £5400 then send a cheque for that amount direct to the claimant. Then write to the Sheriffs office advising them that

you have paid the claimant and now want to pay them their fees. You therefore require an itemised account detailing every fee, when it was incurred and what

it was for. Once that is done the correct amount will be paid. [When you get their costs post it up here so that it can be checked to ensure that their are no

doubtful items included.

I would suggest that this is done quickly as the bailiffs may pay another visit at any time which may incur further costs.

[help_2015]

Ok thanks

 

So she should not pay the sheriffs office but the claimant direct? I was under the impression that once you were with the baliffs you had to deal only with them

 

Do you think there is any chance of them reducing the fees or is that a non starter?

[Fair-Parking]

The simplest and most solid answer I can give to anybody demanding to see the bank statement of another is 'Not without a court order'.

[citizenB]

Are you in Scotland ?

[help_2015]

Are you in Scotland ?

 

Hiya no in England

[citizenB]

[ploddertom]

Depending on the circumstance surrounding this I think you have a chance of overturning everything. The Sheriff's Office are only carrying the instructions given to them and have done no wrong. It does appear as if the Claimant may have been rather hasty in running to Court first. If you can explain how this arose you may be able to apply for Set Aside. I.m pushed for time at present but will be back later.

[help_2015]

Hiya

 

she had been given the money by the claimant to pay for a service ( but she was a friend )

 

 

2 weeks later her account got hacked and she lost her savings + her current account money,

it went back and forth from the bank and lasted well over 18 months

 

 

she finally got the bank to agree to return the money+ compensation - as the person was caught and charged

 

She had always said she would pay it back as soon as the bank had been sorted

 

The stress of the above ( she already suffered from depression ) let her to be signed off and she lost her job

 

As I say its really what the best route for her to go down now is really as dont want her to pay the claimant and then be chased by the baliffs still

[HCEOs]

The issue with paying the claimant direct is that they will be contracted to pass any monies received to the HCEO or they will be billed for the fees.

 

If the HCEO has visited then technically the fees are due and payable.

 

Either way, it would be prudent to sort this out before any further fees are added by additional visits.

[ploddertom]

I had the impression this was more recent than 18 months ago so not really sure if Set Aside would work.

 

As for paying the Claimant direct - it appears they know the score and if they accept payment then they also know they become responsible for the fees of the HCEO. As for compensation then tell them to do one, you only have to pay the sum that is on the CCJ, if they want more then tell them to take you back to Court. When was the CCJ awarded and what is the date the Judgment was transferred to the High Court?

 

In the meantime I will ask someone else for an opinion on whether it is worth applying to have the Judgment Set Aside.

[Bailiff Advice]

I am very confused about the mention of 'compensation'. The creditor has issued a summons and judgment has been obtained. The legal position is that the CREDITOR is entitled to only receive the amount of the court order plus interest. Compensation is neither due or payable.

[HCEOs]

I think by 'compensation' the OP probably means interest.

[help_2015]

Hiya all,

 

After 3 letters and many emails she has finally over a month later got a breakdown of costs

 

Debt £5,000.00

 

Cost £120.00

 

Credit: £300.00

 

Execution Cost: £60.00

 

Interest : £1,113.44

 

Total Client: £5,993.44

 

*Compliance Stage Fee £75.00

 

*HCE Enforcement Stage 1 Fee £481.00

 

*HCE Enforcement Stage 2 Fee £495.00

 

Total Fees: £1,051.00

 

Vat on Fees: £210.20

 

Total Fees + Vat: £1,261.20

 

Grand Total: £7,254.64

 

To clarify on the claimant "compensation" the claimant has been asking her to pay the debt total to the baliffs and then compensation to her but obviously this is a no go as she will be chased for the fees

 

Do the fees above look fair or can they be argued?

[mikeymack2002]

Don't forget you can make a full and final offer to clear this debt, even if it has been to Court, I will try to gig this out shortly for you

[ploddertom]

Before commenting on the fees can we go back to the original cause of this. You say it was because of fraud on an account with the bank - who was the cause of the fraud? You say the bank have refunded the monies defrauded - is this because of a chargeback or similar to recover the monies? If the bank are at fault have they admitted any liability & are they aware of all the added charges?

 

As for the fees they seem to be correct.

[help_2015]

Hiya,

 

thanks for getting back to me,

 

The account was hacked and originally bank refused to refund it but after a lengthy process they agreed and refunded ( mainly after police had similar reports which linked to hers ) + compensation which covers fees etc

 

What is a full and final payment offer? I have not heard of that before

[ploddertom]

 

What is a full and final payment offer? I have not heard of that before

 

 

I would very much doubt that full and final payment is relevant here as there is no negotiation. The real sad side to this is because of the length taken you are saddled with a bad credit history. I doubt very much whether your claimant would be cooperative as all they seem to want is their money back + compensation - which of course they cannot demand as in my mind that is akin to blackmail.