These are collection letters that creditors use when payments on your accounts are not up to date (meaning – are not according to the credit agreement you made with them), and are sent out as part of their typical collection procedure. Click here to view some example letters you may receive from creditors, and information on what to do with them.

Being told that you’re going to have door step collectors at your door can be a scary prospect. The first thing to do, however, is not panic. Just because your creditor tells you you’re going to have door step collectors at your house doesn’t necessarily mean that it’ll happen.

If they do show up at your door, then politely inform them that you’re talking with PayPlan and that they should refer your case back to their head office. A bailiff can only come to your home to collect debts after you have defaulted on payments to a County Court Judgement (CCJ) or if you have missed Council Tax payments.

If your creditor contacts you letting you know that they’re filing for court action, then please contact your case officer as soon as you can. We’ll help to guide you through the process, and can also assist you in completing the relevant forms if you wish. It’s usually possible to continue making the same level of payment without enforcement action being taken against you, so don’t panic!

A Statutory Demand is a formal written request for money to be paid. These can be served against you without any court involvement, but this doesn’t mean you definitely have to pay. You can apply to have the Statutory Demand set aside if you dispute the debt, with the result of this being that the bankruptcy court will then halt the bankruptcy process.

If you’re employed and failing to make payments on a County Court Judgment (CCJ) then your creditor can apply to have a judgement paid directly from your wages – this is what’s known as an Attachment of Earnings. The good news, however, is that our legal team can help.

The court will issue you with form N56, which requests your employer details and other work information. You should complete sections 1, 2 and 3, and sign section 12 before sending it to our legal document handling team by first-class recorded delivery. The earlier we receive this form, the more chance we have of being able to meet the eight-day deadline (we cannot be held responsible if we are not given sufficient time to submit the paperwork to the courts).

Our legal document handling team will complete the form for you, but in box 10 they will complete the amount being paid through the DMP as the amount offered each month, and then tick the box requesting a suspension of the attachment. The request for the suspension must be a valid one e.g. it may jeopardize your employment. If the attachment of earnings is suspended and you then miss a payment, however, it will be implemented immediately.

If a creditor is granted a CCJ against you, then they can apply for your debt charged to your property. It’s likely that an interim charging order might be granted against you to stop you from selling your property. In the event that a final charging order is granted against you, any proceeds you receive from selling your house must be used to pay your creditor back. The creditor filing for the charging order must notify any other creditors you have of their action.

A charging order doesn’t mean that you’ll definitely have to sell your home, though. You can apply to have the charging order set aside if you wish, and you also may be able to attach conditions to the charging order that mean you don’t have to sell your home straight away e.g. your property can’t be sold whilst you have children living with you.

Unfortunately we can’t represent clients in court. While we cannot provide you with legal services, we can assist with completing certain legal paperwork. If you require legal representation and can’t afford to pay a solicitor, some Citizen Advice Bureaus have a legal representative that can be there to assist you.