have just been to our allocation hearing between ourselves and the Halifax (never thought it would get to this!!!) and after the Halifax blurbing their stuff,I began my line of defence and listed all my discrepancies ( mig time barred/discrepancies in accounting/repairs/ missing document) all the things that people have helped me with over the past months (I am very grateful) However it basicaly came down to the judge ordered they kindly knock off £2,500 off what we owe !!!( a little under £38,000) basically said that it appeared we have no other lines of defence and made judgement in favour of the Halifax ( like we didn't see that coming!!!) I have to file a witness statement in 2 weeks and then appear again before the judge in 6 weeks.( as i also disputed other things and admitted nothing....However it now looks very grim.. has anyone some spirit lifting advice for a very depressed woman???????????????????

amanda B

-- amanda b (amandab1@blueyonder.co.uk), September 25, 2002

Answers

Rotters!

It's a little difficult to suggest what next! But there is always hope in relation to Courts.

-- Geoff Winters (Geoff-winters@supadooper.com), September 25, 2002.

seek legal advice asap try the mary ward legal centre in london they really helped me and i settled for less than 8% of their alleged figure.

-- (mariothegooner@hotmail.com), September 26, 2002.

Sorry to hear of your plight, Amanda. If you are going to be faced with such a huge payment demand you might find some good background info at National Debtline's site at http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/index.php3 esp. in the "Debt Advice" section on the left-hand-side menu. Contains some rather useful (some in adobe acrobat format) downloads in the form of faq's and advice leaflets (eg "interest after judgement". It also gives guidance on how to make affordable offers of payment to creditors).

Caveat: National Debtline are funded by the banks so think twice before "joining" their debt management programme; but the general advice on a whole range of debt-topics are recommended reading.

Darius

-- Darius de la Ronde (DARIUSici@aol.com), September 26, 2002.

The best advice for free! Get yourself a good solicitor and when you go to court again, let the solicitor speak for you. It need not cost a lot of money, but his/her advice will be invaluable.

Depending on your means, you may get this solicitor either free or near enough free. Don't try and do this alone against Halifax - if you cannot or will not see a solicitor, a friend who can help you can go to court with you and can, with your and the judge's agreement, speak for you.

You need to consider your options now, including the one of bankrupting yourself if that is against the option of paying for a considerable time something like £38000 Also, you need to see what Halifax will settle for - will they settle for less than the judgment?

-- David J. Button (davidjohnbutton@supanet.com), September 26, 2002.

Sorry to hear about your ordeal Amanda. I think that what it may come down to now is what are your means? If you are on a low income and Halifax can see that you have no way of paying this debt off quickly then they may choose to settle for a smaller lump sum payment.

It's interesting that they went to court knowing that you were contesting the MIG element of their claim. My friend settled for about 5% of her shortfall claim from the same lender and was also arguing that the MIG element was statute barred, but that was before the recent appeal court judgement became known. It may or may not be coincidental.

I think that if I were in your shoes and bearing in mind the attitude of the court, I would make a lump sum payment offer to the Halifax of 5% of the total they are claiming ie £1,900.

They may well reject this out of hand believing they can do much better. On the other hand they may well come back with a counter offer. In my friend's case it was a counter offer for about 50% of the claim initially, against her first proposal of about 4%. She replied increasing her offer to 5% and to our surprise they accepted.

It may be that there were factors about her case that made them wary of proceeding in the legal direction that don't apply in your situation so all the above may count for little if the Halifax are out for blood.

In my opinion the value of making an offer now is that they may still be a little unsure of the outcome and prefer to settle for some cash ahead of the next court hearing.

-- Gordon Bennet (arsenewhinger@hotmail.com), September 27, 2002.