Key Post Bank taking me to court over my credit card debt

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startagain

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Hi im looking for some advice, I am in court this thursday over a bank of ireland credit card (total of €3300) i owe the money and i am not disputing this. I have started a new job, started paying off other debts weekly and really want to get this settled, i just need to know will the banks solicitors agree to installments? i have offered weekly repayments in the past but they have refused (offered €20 a week while i was unemployed) or will they want the whole amount?

I have no assets, no savings and unless they give me time to save, can they demand full payment in court?
 
Re: Credit card debt in court on thursday

Yes, they can demand full payment. That does not mean they will get it (they might). Judges are often sympathetic to a defendant in difficulties who appears to be making an honest effort to deal with things. Lay your cards on the table, tell the judge what you can afford (be realistic) and the judge might go along with you. After all, what other arrangement could produce a better result for BOI?
 
Re: Credit card debt in court on thursday

thanks for the reply, i cant afford to pay it all back in one go but i want to honor it! i have a lot of other debts, should i show these in court too?
 
Re: Credit card debt in court on thursday

yes i'd bring along all evidence of your income and your outgoings.

as already said i dont think a judge is going to order you to pay the full amount when you dont have it.

Considering you were unemployed i think them refusing your 20 euro a week was very bad on there part, at least you were making the effort.
 
Re: Credit card debt in court on thursday

I think you should. If the judge does not know how much difficulty you are in, you might end up with an order to pay larger instalments than you can afford. Then if you fall behind, you could be back in court and get get a worse time.

Bring documents with you to show what your debts are. Bring proof of your income. Suggest a reasonable amount for your living expenses (reasonable both ways: not too big, and not too small either). Tell the judge that everything else is available to pay your debts. You will probably have a rough year or two, but you seem prepared for that.

Oh, and I forgot to say in my earlier post: good luck.
 
Re: Credit card debt in court on thursday

Thanks to all for the advice and the good luck =)

i will payslips/bank statements/a budget and proof of debts! so my fingers are crossed its not too big a repayment!
 
Re: Credit card debt in court on thursday

I'd also do an excel sheet of your income and payments so it's easier for the judge to see where your money is going, the fact that you were unemployed and offered to pay 20€ should be in your favour, make sure you bring proof of this. Best of luck.
 
Re: Credit card debt in court on thursday

Best of luck - let us knowhow you get on (will be invaluable for others in your situation reading here)
 
Re: Credit card debt in court on thursday

Hi

just to let you know that i agreed to consent to the judgement, so the judge asked how much the solicitors wanted a month as i was in no position to pay the full amount straight away and they said 500 a month!!!! i nearly fainted! the judge (and these are his words) said " to be honest, i think this is another case of a banks wishful thinking" then he asked me would i be able to manage 100 a month and i agreed so the credit card/solicitors accepted! :) im now counting down the days til i am debt free :)

thank you all for the advice and good wishes :)

If i can help anyone else in this position, (as i have more judegements to go) please PM me and i will share what i have learned so far!
 
Re: Credit card debt in court on thursday

That's good news. I hope you have now turned the corner, and things are going to be better from now on.

Thanks for the feedback. I was wondering how things went.
 
Re: Credit card debt in court on thursday

startagain said:
If i can help anyone else in this position, (as i have more judegements to go) please PM me and i will share what i have learned so far!
Click to expand...

That's really great that you came back to tell us how you got on because it can really help others in your situation.

Instead of sending you a pm can I ask the following did you have a solicitor in court with you or did you defend yourself. Did you find it a frightening or intimidating experience? Who has to pay the costs of the solicitor for the bank? Is your debt frozen at 3300. How much of the 3300 is interest do you know. Did the judge need to see your outgoings/bills etc. Were there many other cases like yours that day? These are just to give us an insight into what is really happening in relation to debt currently.

Well done on your result.
 
Re: Credit card debt in court on thursday

Yes a prime example of a bullying bank and good enough for them.
They should look at your circumstances, e,g. job loss etc, and negociate a repayment accordingly not drag you into court when you are trying to pay.

Im delighted for you!!!

Kind Regards
Caz
 
Re: Credit card debt in court on thursday

Well done startagain, very thoughtful of you to share this information as a lot of people will benefit from it. The very best going forward. LS.
 
Re: Credit card debt in court on thursday

Thanks all =)

to answer your very good questions:

No, i didnt have a solicitor as i couldn't afford one (being honest) so i was going solo, the eperience was a bit intimidating but the judge was very helpful, he asked did i have a solicitor or legal advise and i said no so he explained things to me, legal jargon and what it meant to "consent to judgement" so i was lucky in that respect. The interest was frozen when they closed/froze my accounts so it was stopped at €200 which is great! the total i have to pay (including their costs) is €3450.00!which is a lot less then what they were threatening me with in the original letters =)

Because i didnt enter a defence, the judge didnt ask to see my bills/outgoings but i told him i had them there and had worked out how much i could pay each week, he said that it was ok, he had decided on a settled amount.

He did give the bank a hard time which was making me laugh (on the inside of course!) i have a stay of 3 months so tried to contact the solicitors to begin payments but he was out of the office ( typical..when they are chasing you..they are there lol) so i will send a registered letter on monday! There was at least 10 cases but some didnt turn up for court (which is the worst thing you can do i have learned!) and a lot of the no shows where given no installment option, they had to pay up straight away so for anyone thinking of not turning up! dont do it..if i forgot to answer anything =) let me know

Thanks again for all your best wishes =)
 
Re: Credit card debt in court on thursday

Its nice to knowthat judges have a human face
 
Thanks for taking the time to come back, I have a few more quesitons if you don't mind. In the banks threatening letters to you how much were they claiming and what were the nature of the threats. What triggered the freezing of your account, I presume you were not making any payments? How long was the time period between them freezing your account and going to court.

I'm amazed you got away with such low costs for the bank. It looks like about 150€ Is this what the bank's solicitor asked for or what the judge decided. On that point did the bank have a solicitor or a barrister?

That's extremely good advice to people in debt that they should not bury their head in the sand but face up to their problems and go into court themselves. Your judge had a really humane attitude.
 
Hi StartAgain

This is a really great thread. It deserves a wider audience, so I have made it a Key Post.

Over the coming years, people will be asking questions about how they should deal with their debt, and they will be referred back to this thread.

Brendan
Administrator
 
dewdrop said:
Its nice to know that judges have a human face
Click to expand...

Bronte said:
Your judge had a really humane attitude.
Click to expand...

I don't think it's that unusual. It tends to be the barristers/solicitors, on behalf of their clients that come across all aggressive and hard nosed.

Most judges will consider the human aspect in cases like this - unreasonable and unrealistic demands seem to irritate them as much as the actual 'offences' as far as I can see.
 
To Bronte:
In the banks original threatening letters, they asked for the €3300 back and said if it was brought to court, then legal costs would be added on. They werent threatening letters as such, i was told that if i didnt pay the sum due within a certain amount of days that legal proceedings would begin, but i would get about 3 letters and anything up to 10 phone calls a week. They give you 21 days and then your accounts are closed, i think this is standard but when i went to lodge some money of the debt, the cashier told me my account was frozen so that they couldn't accept payment, it was closed for 6 months until i was taken to court so i hadn't made a payment in that long (but i used the time to clear off some smaller loans!)

The €150 was not what i was expecting, i thought it would be much higher! =)

Thanks again for asking important questions! i hope it helps someone and if ive forgotten anything, then feel free to ask =)
 
Startagain, do you recall how the 150 was arrived at, did the judge decide it or the people for the bank ask for this amount? Do you know if this was a solicitor or a barrister. I guess it's district court so it would be a solicitor (in general) but as it's a bank they may have a barrister on retainer. The reason I ask about the fee is that I'm sure the bank was paying more than 150 in fees as it would be very difficult to get any legal person to do a court appearance for this low amount. They might do it as they have say lots of business from the bank.

In relation to the freezing of your account, this was therefore helpful to you, no more interest added and it gave you a chance to catch up on other debt.

The only negative will be after you've sorted out all your debt is that you'll have a bad credit rating for a few years but I guess you can start again then. I assume you are young so this won't be such a big deal.

Caveat I've attended court hearings and not all judges are as nice as the one in court for the OP. But it's probably fair to say that if you go into court to defend youself and admit honestly how much you can pay that you will be treated well. The worst thing is not to show up in court.
 
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