Service of Civil Bill

If you do nothing now they will get their judgement. If you have no defence let them get it now as it mininises the costs.

Later on they will summons you to the District Court for an examination of your means.

Tessi said:

I I am not defending the claim as I owe the money and don't deny it.

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Ok in plain english - If you are not defending the claim then you should not be entering an appearance . You should write to the Solicitor for the Plaintiff and try to come to an arrangement for payment.

As pointed out, if you enter an appearance you will be then asked for your Defence - which you state yourself you don't have, In that case of you entering an appearance but no defence, judgment will be obtained anyway "in default of Defence".

The only way there will be a court hearing in front of a judge is if you actually have a valid defence - otherwise there is no need for the judge to hear the case as there is no dispute.

Hope that is clear. By the way, if you get in touch with the Solicitor asap, they may agree to holding off obtaining the Judgement if you commit to a payment arrangement.

I wouldn't count on them holding off.

It is all well and good telling people to pay up and make arrangements but often people are unable to and they must rely on the courts to decide what they can pay.

Joe Q Public said:

I wouldn't count on them holding off.

It is all well and good telling people to pay up and make arrangements but often people are unable to and they must rely on the courts to decide what they can pay.

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Well it won't hurt to ask anyway - if the amount is on the smaller end of the scale then they might. She won't know until she asks.

If people are unable to pay then thats fair enough but the first step is engaging with the creditor to make them aware of this and provide evidence through paperwork etc - after that, if the creditor wants to waste more time and money pursuing it through the courts then thats their choice. But the debtor has a responsibilty to engage with the lender that's all.

In my experience the banks especially will bull on regardless and secure a judgement.

if the creditor wants to waste more time and money pursuing it through the courts then thats their choice.

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Of course. I have seen many cases where the banks have ignored any offers made by a debtor and went to court seeking instalment orders only to have their applications shot down by the judge. Some judges are losing patience with banks because of this.

Thanks guys for all your advice. I will post the result to let others know what they may expect or what they can do.