The County Court is there to be fair to both sides and is on your side as much as the creditors. Don't be worried, if you have done everything you can to offer your creditors a repayment then the court will only ask you to pay what you can afford if you give them the correct information.

There's a big difference between a threat and the reality of going to court and having a CCJ awarding against you.

You should try the following:

1. In writing only - Deal with your creditors by letter only. If they call tell them that you don't want to discuss your fianancial affairs over the phone and would they please write to you, and you will do the same.
2. Don't ignore the problem - Reply to any letters you are sent. Receiving letters threatening court action is part of the debt collection system. You are less likely to end up in court if you are in communication with your creditors via letter than if you ignore them.
3. If court becomes a possibility - If you get a court summonse, deal with it immediately. Complete the forms you are sent, make an offer of an affordable regular repayment and explain your position fully.
4. Stay calm & logical - keep talking to your creditors or the courts via letter and seek help as soon as posssible.
5. Get help - There are debt solutions and organisation that want to help take this stress away.

Let us know how you get on and what decisions you make / take.

i need to know the answer to the above question please

Before a CCJ or County Court Judgement can be awarded a County Court Claim Form or Summons is issued to you. The claim form states how much you owe your creditor and asks for you to reply with written details of your financial circumstances using an Income and Expenditure Form. You will also be asked to put down an amount you can afford to repay. The form will help you work this out and is called a pro-rate payment.

Now send the Claim Form Back before the deadline! If you don’t, the court will decide how much you need to repay and you might not be able to afford it.

If your offer of payment is accepted the court will issue the County Court Judgement to you and tell you how much to pay, when to pay and who to pay. If it is not accepted then a CCJ will be issued and you’ll be asked to repay an amount set by the court regardless of whether you can afford it or not.

If this happens and you have been ordered to repay more than you can afford you can write to the court making a ‘redetermination of payment offer’. This must be done within 14 days of receiving the CCJ and you should include your income and expenditure statement. You’ll also need to quote your case number when writing your offer letter.

If you can’t pay the repayments set by the CCJ, your creditors have access to more severe ways or getting their money back that include bailiffs, contacting your employer to get payment paid directly from your wages (This is called an Attachment of Earnings), or even making a petition to the court for your Bankruptcy.

You should never let it go that far and we recommend you get specialist debt help from one of the companies and organisations on this website.