Have you just received a Count Court Claim form, and don’t know what to do?

Here is a County Court Claim Form from MBNA Europe Bank Ltd, via their solicitors Optima Legal Services Ltd.

In this particular case we are responding to the claim with the intention of getting the debt of £9409 to be paid in monthly instalments of £19 per month.

The response form has been completed with one copy sent to the courts and the second copy sent to the claimant. It is always worth including a copy of your Income and Expenditure, as this gives the courts additional evidence and shows that you are doing something about your debts.

If this is agreed by the courts then payments of £19 per month will be a good result. If it is rejected there is still another avenue that can be pursued through the courts in order to get the payments down to a manageable monthly amount.

Responding to the CCJ

You need to respond to the CCJ immediately, as you only have 14 days from date of service. On the response form Court Form N9a, you will have an opportunity to request monthly payments. The relevant forms for responding should have been included with the original CCJ.

Quite often the courts do rule in favour of the defendant, if they show that they are making an effort to reduce the debts.

In this particular case, this was the right thing to do, as making monthly payments of £19 stops further action and stops all the calls and letters.

If you have received a County Court Claim Form, discuss it with someone who knows your affairs. This way you can be sure that you are responding to the claim in the correct manner.

Not responding does not mean that it will go away! It does mean though it can produce a new set of problems for you down the road.

Some of these problems I will be writing about in future blogs. If you have missed the 14 day deadline, you can use Court Form n245 to pay in instalments.