# Credit Card Debt & District Court Claim Notice



## mickeyg (25 Mar 2015)

My aunt is in a very bad way. She has a Credit Card bill of approx. €10k. with Bank of Ireland. Last month she proposed to the firm of solicitors acting for the bank and they accepted in writing  a repayment schedule of €150 per month which is all she can afford.
Now she has received a Claim Notice which appears to have been lodged in the Mayo District Court in February
She has not yet commenced the repayment of the €150 per month but she now wonders if  this agreement is superseded by this Court Claim.
She is extremely worried over this and I would like to advise her.


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## elcato (25 Mar 2015)

The letter was probably sent out before they had heard of the agreement. These guys don't think in sync. Firstly does your aunt own her own house. If she does they may try and get a charge put on the house which means if it was sold they would get a claim of the money owing.
My advice would be 
1) Tell your aunt not to worry. They can't get something she hasn't got and no judge will put her in jail for owing money.
2) Don't pay anything towards it even now. Turn up in court and tell them your story. The judge will most likely just adjourn generally and the process would be just wrapped up.
3) Do not bury your head in the sand, keep all records, don't deal with anyone verbally, written contact only. Bring all this to court and have her say.


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## mickeyg (25 Mar 2015)

Elcato, many thanks for your prompt reply. No, she does not own her own house. She is however "old school" and would not want to appear
in court or have to go through that process. Given that, should I advise her to just start paying the €150 per month and have the peace of mind
that she will not be involved in Court??


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## elcato (26 Mar 2015)

Tell her to make sure (in writing) that the debt is not accrueing interest anymore. At 150 a month it will take about 6 years to pay off. If she's happy with that then let her go ahead. Regarding the court procedings, I presume the letter is a threat of court rather than anything else. Debt collection companies do this just to frighten people rather than actually carry through with it. They have got their wish you see.


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## demoivre (26 Mar 2015)

elcato said:


> Tell her to make sure (in writing) that the debt is not accrueing interest anymore. At 150 a month it will take about 6 years to pay off. If she's happy with that then let her go ahead. Regarding the court procedings, I presume the letter is a threat of court rather than anything else. Debt collection companies do this just to frighten people rather than actually carry through with it. They have got their wish you see.



The OP's aunt *has received *a claim notice which is issued in the district court. If her aunt doesn't file an appearance within 28 days of receipt of the claim notice ( intention to defend the claim ) the bank is entitled to apply for a default judgement. The bank still has to get the aunt to pay up which usually involves the claimant going back to the district court and getting an installment order against the aunt. If you want to try and avoid a court appearance  offer what you can to the solicitor and see what they say. If you do have to appear in court to show your means, and what you can afford, no judge will make you pay what you can't afford .


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## Gerry Canning (26 Mar 2015)

MickeyG.
..............

Please ensure she can afford the 150. She is {old school} and I would hate if she withheld heating/food over this.

Suggest re-write to solicitors and ask for clarity.

She needs certainty.

Ensure all communications are in writing.
Ensure she is not too stressed over this.


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## mickeyg (26 Mar 2015)

Gerry Canning said:


> MickeyG.
> ..............
> 
> Please ensure she can afford the 150. She is {old school} and I would hate if she withheld heating/food over this.
> ...


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## mickeyg (26 Mar 2015)

Based on advice/suggestions received on this website I actually got her to write to the solicitors after she had got a letter agreeing the monthly repayments, requesting them to confirm that indeed the payments would go towards the Capital and not towards further Interest. There was no response to this request even though it was specifically requested "Please Confirm". The next correspondence she received was the Claim Notice via Registered Letter. It strikes me that the left hand does not know what the right hand is doing in the Solicitors and the victim of this stupidity is my 70 year old aunt!!!


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## Gerry Canning (26 Mar 2015)

mickeyg said:


> Based on advice/suggestions received on this website I actually got her to write to the solicitors after she had got a letter agreeing the monthly repayments, requesting them to confirm that indeed the payments would go towards the Capital and not towards further Interest. There was no response to this request even though it was specifically requested "Please Confirm". The next correspondence she received was the Claim Notice via Registered Letter. It strikes me that the left hand does not know what the right hand is doing in the Solicitors and the victim of this stupidity is my 70 year old aunt!!!


Mickeyg.
Not stupidity;
Your Aunt is just another number, it is incompetence and bad manners.
Suggest re-write to solicitors by reg mail,enclose copy of 1st note and  ask for response.
They agreed to the 150 , so enclose a 150 payment.ie she is showing cause.
If they come back and say interest is still being added you can re-review.
Please ensure (sorry for harping on) she can afford the 150.

Good Luck.


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## elcato (26 Mar 2015)

demoivre said:


> If her aunt doesn't file an appearance within 28 days of receipt of the claim notice ( intention to defend the claim ) the bank is entitled to apply for a default judgement. The bank still has to get the aunt to pay up which usually involves the claimant going back to the district court and getting an installment order against the aunt.


I'm slightly confused as to what a claim notice is as oppose a 'we are starting proceedings and have applied for a court date'. When you say 'doesn't file an appearance', do you mean she needs to turn up in court and state she is going to defend it ? As far as I can see she has no defence to actually not pay it because of something legal therefor there is no point in that as non-means to pay is not a defence as such. 
Getting back to OP, if the solicitors/debt collectors get the slightest whiff that you aunt is desperate to avoid court, they will use this as an instrument so make sure you do not sound too desperate. As Gerry says make sure she can afford the 150 and as demoivre stated no judge will make you pay what you can't afford.


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## demoivre (27 Mar 2015)

elcato said:


> I'm slightly confused as to what a claim notice is as oppose a 'we are starting proceedings and have applied for a court date'. When you say 'doesn't file an appearance', do you mean she needs to turn up in court and state she is going to defend it ? As far as I can see she has no defence to actually not pay it because of something legal therefor there is no point in that as non-means to pay is not a defence as such.
> Getting back to OP, if the solicitors/debt collectors get the slightest whiff that you aunt is desperate to avoid court, they will use this as an instrument so make sure you do not sound too desperate. As Gerry says make sure she can afford the 150 and as demoivre stated no judge will make you pay what you can't afford.



A claim notice is the first stage of the legal process to secure a judgement. If you want to defend the claim you must indicate that by " filing an appearance " with the court office. There is a standard form for this available at [broken link removed]. Trying to defend when you owe the money is pointless imo. If you don't file an appearance the claimant ,after 28 days of issuing the claim notice, can apply for summary judgement. The judgement gives legal recognition to the debt and then the claimant can go about enforcement eg  judgement mortgage or most likely go to the district court and get an installment order. In the OP's case I can't see enforcement proceedings taking place given that the bank's solicitor has accepted the payment of €150 per month !!


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## mickeyg (1 Apr 2015)

I would like to express my thanks specifically to the people who have responded to me here and more generally to the people who bother
to reply and offer advice on askaboutmoney. The real qualities of Irish people were not buried with the Tiger.
For us older folk it can be really scary to get or have a family member get a threatening letter from a credit card company/solicitor
when that is precisely the reason for the letter i.e. to provoke such a reaction. Thanks to Elcato, G Canning etc for bringing reality to bear and in particular reiterating that "you can't get blood out of a stone" and not to panic!!


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## Nwarner (17 Aug 2016)

Hello,
I know this is an old post, I am in a similar position and was interested to know the outcome of your aunts case. Did she end up in court? I received a Claim notice yesterday but am trying to figure out if it is genuine as I believe Belgard have before issued dud documents to scaremonger. I am hoping this might be the case.


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## demoivre (19 Aug 2016)

Nwarner said:


> Hello,
> I know this is an old post, I am in a similar position and was interested to know the outcome of your aunts case. Did she end up in court? I received a Claim notice yesterday but am trying to figure out if it is genuine as I believe Belgard have before issued dud documents to scaremonger. I am hoping this might be the case.



Unlikely IMO because if you intend to defend you would have to file an appearance with the district court clerk at the district court that issued the notice. Ring the district court that issued the notice and  voice your concerns.


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## vandriver (19 Aug 2016)

For the district court,you need to have got a registered letter.


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## Gangy2019 (16 Apr 2017)

I received a phone call that told me I was served a debt claims notice by ordinary post but did not receive anything what will my next step be
Any suggestions please


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