amigo ccj help

[wrongfriends]

Hi I am very sorry to be posting this question but a series of dumb decisions on my part and down right d*ck decisions on a not so very good "amigo's" part has bought me to this junction.

Long story short I agreed to be a guarantor for a friend's loan from a friendly loan shark. Why the hell, I hear you ask, well I have financed 2 of his cars in the past and loaned him some money he has always paid without fail, and I thought i was being a good friend.

Anyway he initially borrowed £2000, which he was paying back happily and so friendly loan company sent him a letter saying we are so impressed here's £7500 and again having no reason to think he would default otherwise, signed as guarantor.

Well he defaulted. I tried to cover a few months putting myself in the red at nearly £1500 but the truth is I have 2 young children under 5, my wife doesn't work I can't afford to be shelling out £300 extra a month, and the way he is now he can't afford them either.

I have been sent county claim papers which brings me to my question,
what happens now?
Am I going to be issued with what I think is a county court judgement?
How does this fair with my own borrowings, mobile phone, bills, credit card, personal bank account etc?
I do not have much in terms of possessions so what happens in terms of repossession to pay for the debt?
And will I be on "Can't pay we'll take it away"?

All help and advice sincerely appreciated, I haven't yet filled in the court form, although I do not dispute the amount being claimed, I do dispute having to pay it not being the one who benefited from, or do I have to suck it up and offer a payment plan?
Cheers all, and have a pleasant day

[Saleen836]

If you lose in court then yes a CCJ will be issued against you, if the full outstanding balance is repaid within 30 days the CCJ will be satisfied and not registered against you, if you can't repay the balance you can come to an agreement to repay it at x amount per month with no added interest but you will have a CCJ regsitered against you, this will remain on your credit file for 6 years and will affect you chances of any further credit applications/remortgaging etc but any credit you already have shouldn't be affected

[wrongfriends]

Saleen836 said:

If you lose in court then yes a CCJ will be issued against you, if the full outstanding balance is repaid within 30 days the CCJ will be satisfied and not registered against you, if you can't repay the balance you can come to an agreement to repay it at x amount per month with no added interest but you will have a CCJ regsitered against you, this will remain on your credit file for 6 years and will affect you chances of any further credit applications/remortgaging etc but any credit you already have shouldn't be affected

Thank you very much for the reply Saleen.
Would it be possible to say offer an amount to settle the debt but is not the full amount? For example say 50% considering the payments already made amount to around £3000?

[Magic919]

I’d be talking to them before it hits the Court and making a settlement offer.

[eliot]

what was the 7k spent on and can any of it be retrieved?

[Andy 308GTB]

Good Luck with this.
The loan company's offer of an additional £7,500, whilst I have no doubt is legal - even if unsolicited, is a nasty little twist. Despite your agreement to guarantee this amount too, would this give you any leverage?

[anonymous-user]

Andy 308GTB said:

Good Luck with this.
The loan company's offer of an additional £7,500, whilst I have no doubt is legal - even if unsolicited, is a nasty little twist. Despite your agreement to guarantee this amount too, would this give you any leverage?

They don't just offer 7.5k, the op would have had to sign a new guarantee form. Yes it is all well and good blaming the company but the friend is the crux. If it was me I would look to repay via loan agreement etc before the courts because unfortunately you are bang to rights.

[Andy 308GTB]

The Spruce goose said:

They don't just offer 7.5k, the op would have had to sign a new guarantee form. Yes it is all well and good blaming the company but the friend is the crux. If it was me I would look to repay via loan agreement etc before the courts because unfortunately you are bang to rights.

I think you are right. I just wondered whether the current mood (i.e. the Brighthouse backlash) could strengthen the OPs hand in such negotiations?

[anonymous-user]

Andy 308GTB said:

I think you are right. I just wondered whether the current mood (i.e. the Brighthouse backlash) could strengthen the OPs hand in such negotiations?

I know because I had a bad credit history and used one. Yes they kept offering more but like I said the guarantor is really the person taking the loan, it is sent to their bank. The debt is unavoidable but at least something can be worked out. I mean where is the friend in all this now?

[DuraAce]

eliot said:

what was the 7k spent on and can any of it be retrieved?

Indeed.

I'd be visiting your so called 'mate' (today!) and recovering stuff to sell to pay his debts!

Surely if he was any sort of friend he'd already have suggested this??

[James_B]

Andy 308GTB said:

I think you are right. I just wondered whether the current mood (i.e. the Brighthouse backlash) could strengthen the OPs hand in such negotiations?

How so? The company wants the money back that he’s said he’s good for,

Rather than trying to cast the wronged party as the villain, it’d be far better if he tries to negotiate a reduced payment while trying all routes to get money back from the friend.

[anonymous-user]

wrongfriends said:

And will I be on "Can't pay we'll take it away"?

Yes.

[AndStilliRise]

An unfortunate situation for all concerned. OP you maybe better calling the loan company and offering to be put on a payment plan. I can only stress that having a CCJ against you will not help your families future.

[anonymous-user]

If you can't afford to pay it, the court can/will raise an order to have a certain amount stopped at source from your pay and sent direct to the court and then you pay it off over years. Doesn't stop you having a CCJ sadly.

Amigo is a nice idea till it goes TU.

[chow pan toon]

AndStilliRise said:

An unfortunate situation for all concerned. OP you maybe better calling the loan company and offering to be put on a payment plan. I can only stress that having a CCJ against you will not help your families future.

Absolutely this. Unfortunately OP you need to deal with it as if it were your own debt (it is now), try to negotiate payments you can afford, avoid a CCJ if at all possible. Separately to this you need to look at clawing back whatever you can from your "friend". Expensive lesson though.


ETA 49.9% with a guarantor! Christ almighty, bloody sharks.

[anonymous-user]

chow pan toon said:

Absolutely this. Unfortunately OP you need to deal with it as if it were your own debt (it is now), try to negotiate payments you can afford, avoid a CCJ if at all possible. Separately to this you need to look at clawing back whatever you can from your "friend". Expensive lesson though.


ETA 49.9% with a guarantor! Christ almighty, bloody sharks.

How are they sharks, people that take the loans clearly know the risks, they offer a service no one is forcing people to take them up. They are high Apr because of situations like the opportunity described when the person at fault here is the friend not amigo.

[lukefreeman]

wrongfriends said:

Hi I am very sorry to be posting this question but a series of dumb decisions on my part and down right d*ck decisions on a not so very good "amigo's" part has bought me to this junction.

Long story short I agreed to be a guarantor for a friend's loan from a friendly loan shark. Why the hell, I hear you ask, well I have financed 2 of his cars in the past and loaned him some money he has always paid without fail, and I thought i was being a good friend.

Anyway he initially borrowed £2000, which he was paying back happily and so friendly loan company sent him a letter saying we are so impressed here's £7500 and again having no reason to think he would default otherwise, signed as guarantor.

Well he defaulted. I tried to cover a few months putting myself in the red at nearly £1500 but the truth is I have 2 young children under 5, my wife doesn't work I can't afford to be shelling out £300 extra a month, and the way he is now he can't afford them either.

I have been sent county claim papers which brings me to my question,
what happens now?
Am I going to be issued with what I think is a county court judgement?
How does this fair with my own borrowings, mobile phone, bills, credit card, personal bank account etc?
I do not have much in terms of possessions so what happens in terms of repossession to pay for the debt?
And will I be on "Can't pay we'll take it away"?

All help and advice sincerely appreciated, I haven't yet filled in the court form, although I do not dispute the amount being claimed, I do dispute having to pay it not being the one who benefited from, or do I have to suck it up and offer a payment plan?
Cheers all, and have a pleasant day

Apt name, OP.

[xjay1337]

They are sharks because they make it seem easy and friendly and that you too can get thousands of pounds easily even if you have a bad credit history (IE - you can't budget for st).

Questions to the OP

1) what did your friend spend the £7500 on?
2) have you spoken with the loan provider?
3) have you spoken with your friend??

Unfortunately as guarantor it us ultimately now your debt.

[superlightr]

be aware having a ccj is one of the main reasons we would decline to rent to a prospective tenant. So if you are renting you also really don't want a CCJ.


can you take a loan out to pay it? ps its not as silly as it sounds.

[DonkeyApple]

wrongfriends said:

Hi I am very sorry to be posting this question but a series of dumb decisions on my part and down right d*ck decisions on a not so very good "amigo's" part has bought me to this junction.

Long story short I agreed to be a guarantor for a friend's loan from a friendly loan shark. Why the hell, I hear you ask, well I have financed 2 of his cars in the past and loaned him some money he has always paid without fail, and I thought i was being a good friend.

Anyway he initially borrowed £2000, which he was paying back happily and so friendly loan company sent him a letter saying we are so impressed here's £7500 and again having no reason to think he would default otherwise, signed as guarantor.

Well he defaulted. I tried to cover a few months putting myself in the red at nearly £1500 but the truth is I have 2 young children under 5, my wife doesn't work I can't afford to be shelling out £300 extra a month, and the way he is now he can't afford them either.

I have been sent county claim papers which brings me to my question,
what happens now?
Am I going to be issued with what I think is a county court judgement?
How does this fair with my own borrowings, mobile phone, bills, credit card, personal bank account etc?
I do not have much in terms of possessions so what happens in terms of repossession to pay for the debt?
And will I be on "Can't pay we'll take it away"?

All help and advice sincerely appreciated, I haven't yet filled in the court form, although I do not dispute the amount being claimed, I do dispute having to pay it not being the one who benefited from, or do I have to suck it up and offer a payment plan?
Cheers all, and have a pleasant day

The loan shark in this scenario is you.

You have a legal obligation to repay a perfectly legal and sanctioned £7,500 loan that you approved and agreed to fully underwrite. That is the first aspect of the situation. You must settle that in the best way possible to protect yourself and your household.

The second issue is that you now have an illegal and unsanctioned loan out to your 'mate'. That is why you are now the loan shark. He owes you £7,500 but you have no legal framework or regulatory structure under which to force this debt to be settled. So, now you are a loan shark you probably need to ensure that your 'customer' settles his debt to you using the route that loan sharks do which is to strip his house of everything down to the walls and earth floors and make it clear that it is not in his interests or that of the NHS for him to go to the police. The slight problem is that not many humans are Hoogstratens.

In short, your post seems to give the impression that you are blaming the crappy but completely legal and licensed lender but until you recognise that this is an issue between you and your 'mate' and focus on that then you won't be getting anything back.