Court Proceedings - Debt Management Guide

If you have failed to pay our debts you may receive a summons or a writ (depending on what part of the United Kingdom you live in). This guide will tell you what will happen after you receive one.

The summons or writ will have some forms attached. It is essential that you send these back completed as soon as possible because if you do not the judgement is more likely to go against you and if you send them off promptly you are less likely to have to go to court. The forms will ask if you agree or disagree with the claims against you and how much you can pay each month.

If the creditor accepts your offer on these forms you will get a CCJ telling you to pay off your debt at the rate you offered.

In the case that the creditor disagrees with what you have put on the forms you will end up in court. If you are been sued for less than £1000 the hearing will be held in private. In court there will probably only be a representative from the creditor and a judge, court officer or sheriff (depending on where you live in the United Kingdom). You can take someone with you to speak about your good character and speak on your behalf such as a friend, a relative or an advice worker.

An agreement will be reached and a court order will be drawn up. You must keep to this order once it has been set. The good news is that the interest on the money is usually frozen so you do not end up paying more interest. The bad news is if you have a court order against you it is harder to get credit.

If the court tells you to pay more than you offered you can ask for a hearing to explain your situation in more detail. You will have fourteen days to ask for this.

You cannot be sent to prison for debts that you cannot pay and even if you can pay them, you cannot be sent to prison unless they are debts such as taxes or maintenance.

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