When the court document arrives it will have a Form Number, keep a note of it. You MUST complete and return the summons by the date on the form. If you are a customer of DebtFC we will complete this for you.

You are the Defender and the creditor is the Pursuer.

If you agree that you owe the money but you can’t afford to pay in full, apply for a ‘Time to Pay Direction’ by filling in the enclosed form. You admit the debt and offer to pay by installments. Return the form to the court by the specified date.

It is also advisable to include a detailed breakdown of your income and expenditure, as the ‘Time to Pay Direction’ does not allow for a detailed budget to be presented, and also enclose a list of all your creditors. If you are a DebtFC customer we will enclose a detailed income and expenditure for you. If the payment is acceptable to the creditor the Sheriff will grant a decree by installments. If you stick to this agreement, your unsecured creditors cannot take further action. If you miss the deadline, you can still apply for a ‘Time to Pay Order’, but this will be after the Decree has been given.

If you want to dispute the claim you need to complete the ‘Deny the Claim – Intention to Appear’ part of the form – stating your reasons for the dispute – and return it to the court.

Follow the instructions on the form and if possible get some legal representation. You must attend the hearing even if you do have a representative.

This is not advisable. If you do not reply to the summons, the creditor will ask the court to make an order against you. As they do not have your personal details, it is DebtFC experience that the payment they will ask for is usually high.

The Sheriff may grant an Open Decree and set a payment higher than you can afford. At this stage it is important to negotiate directly with the creditor to set an arrangement you can afford each month.

If you do not return the summons or make payments as directed under the ‘Time to Pay Direction’, the creditor can take further enforcement action, by applying for a ‘Charge for Payment’ they can:

Apply for a Wage Arrestment to take payments direct from your salary before you get it. This obviously involves your employer

Apply to freeze your bank account.

Send Sheriffs Officer’s to ‘attach’ your goods outside your home e.g. car, garage or garden shed, or obtain an ‘exceptional attachment order’ which if granted by the Sheriff, would allow entry to your home to allow non-essential goods to be removed.

Or even make you bankrupt.

A creditor CANNOT take the above enforcement action without first obtaining a Decree.

All court action is noted by the Credit Reference Agencies and this will affect your ability to obtain future credit including mortgages.

More importantly, it may affect your employment – some professions will not employ people with adverse credit histories e.g. Accountancy, Law and Financial Services. Check with your union or Personnel / Human Resource department for the effect on your particular occupation

If your circumstances change, apply for a Time to Pay Order to ask the Court to consider reducing the payment. At this stage it is important to both inform and negotiate directly with the creditor

IT IS IMPORTANT THAT YOU DO NOT IGNORE COURT FORMS AND THAT YOU REPLY TO THE SUMMONS MAKING AN OFFER THAT YOU CAN AFFORD.

Please contact DebtFC on 0800 007 5307 or email info@debtfc.co.uk for free advice and help on all debt problems.