Instalment Order?

hardwood

Hi, imagine this hypothetical situation: I have a loan from the credit union and fell behind on the payments. Their solicitors start sending me letters saying I'm being brought to court so I get in touch with the credit union who ask me to pay back X amount per week and write a letter to the solicitors saying I agree to this amount. I write the letter and set up direct debit to pay back the amount. A couple of months later i get a solicitors letter saying

On foot of your letter of consent to the Instalment Order, an Instalment Order was made in your absence in the sum of...

It goes on to say

If you fail to make a payment due under this Instalment Order, a further summons may be issued against you to attend before the District Court, which may lead to your being arrested and imprisoned for a period of up to three months

(I especially don't like that last part about being arrested and imprisoned!)

This cover letter also contains a document from the District Court (this is the Instalment Order I presume) which says that I

attended for examination and failed to satisfy the Court that I was not able to pay the debt

I'm a bit surprised by this seeing as I never went to court!

So what's the story with this instalment order? I thought myself and the credit union had come to an amicable arrangement and I was paying the debt back. I never attended court nor agreed to an instalment order. I don't like the arrested and imprisoned bit hanging over my head, or the way the credit union sneakily kept going with court proceedings after us coming to an agreement. Can anything be done about it at this stage? Thanks in advance..

Peregrinus

hardwood wrote: »

Can anything be done about it at this stage? Thanks in advance..

Yes, you could appeal. You'd have to turn up at the Circuit Court hearing and say what happened (or, rather, what didn't happen). The Circuit Court would tear strips off the Credit Union's lawyers, set aside the order and either strike out the matter or remit the case to the District Court.

But the thing is, you would still owe the money. The CU might invite you to agree to a consent instalment order (properly, this time) and, if you didn't, take enforcement proceedings in which they wouild seek a non-consent order (which might be for immediate payment in full, not for instalments).

So appealing might buy you some time (and give you some satisfaction!), but it wouldn't necessarily improve your position in the long run.

hardwood

Thanks, paying them back isn't the problem, I've already agreed to an amount and set up a direct debit. It's this instalment order I have the problem with, I must double check the other letters they sent me and make sure I didn't agree to an instalment order. I'm pretty sure I didn't but at the time I had never heard of one so small chance I did.
I've just sent an email to the solicitors asking for a copy of my letter of consent.
How would I go about appealing this? Can it be done without a solicitor?

hardwood

Hi, I did explicitly state in writing that I agreed to an instalment order. I really want to appeal, how would one go about doing this? Thanks.

Peregrinus

It's very difficult to appeal an order to which you have consented. I wouldn't recommend trying to do it without a solicitor. You're going to have to argue something unusual, like that your consent was obtained by fraud, deceit or unconscionable behaviour (which is a very serious allegation to make against the Credit Union) or that circumstances have changed so radically since your consent was given that the matter really needs to be reopened. Courts really don't like the idea that they can't rely on your consent, once given, so they will not be all sympathetic to your appeal. I really think you need a lawyer to advise you if you have any chance of success, and to present any appeal for you.