The first step to take is to talk to our helpful Litigation Customer Consultants. We can discuss the best way forward for you and tailor a solution to help your situation. Simply Get In Touch.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
This page provides answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about our services. If your query is not addressed here, please contact us and we'll be happy to assist you.
I have received a debt recovery letter from you
I have received a debt recovery letter from you
A Letter before Claim is a letter warning you that court proceedings will be issued in the absence of a response.
If you have received a Letter before Claim, then please contact us, to tell us about your financial circumstances and let us know if you are able to make an offer of payment, based on what you can afford to pay.
If you are experiencing difficulties, or don’t think that you can pay anything towards the debt, then please do still contact us, so that we can understand your position and help you get free money advice.
If you do not contact us, then court proceedings will be issued against you, to ask the court to grant a County Court Judgment for the outstanding debt together with court fees and fixed solicitors’ costs.
A County Court Judgment is a court order requiring you to pay the debt.
Once a creditor has obtained a County Court Judgment, the debt becomes a Judgment debt and will usually include costs and court fees.
A County Court Judgment may affect a person’s credit rating as the information appears on their credit file. This may make it difficult for them to obtain further credit.
The court will have sent you a response pack explaining how you can respond to the claim, and the timelines involved.
You should read this carefully. You can ask the court to allow you to pay the debt by instalments over a period of time, which would, if agreed by the court, result in a Judgment by instalments. You can defend the claim or part of it.
If you do not respond to the claim, we will ask the court to grant a County Court Judgment against you.
If you are unsure how to complete the response pack, you should seek independent advice. A guide to completing the forms can be found here: https://www.stepchange.org/debt-info/ccj/court-claim-form-process.aspx
If you pay the Judgment debt within one month of the date of the Judgment, then you can avoid the Judgment showing on your credit file.
If you want to do this, you should contact us to discuss payment.
Once a County Court Judgment has been obtained by a creditor, further court action can be brought to enforce the judgment debt. The enforcement action could include an application for:
An Attachment of Earnings Order: the court considers a customer’s income and expenditure information and orders that a regular amount should be taken directly from the customer’s wages to pay towards the judgment debt. This means that the employer is informed of the debt, and is responsible for ensuring that the correct sum is sent to the court each month.
A Charging Order: the creditor asks the court to make an order that the Judgment debt is secured against the customer’s property. This means that when the property is sold or remortgaged, the debt should be paid directly from the proceeds of the sale.
A Warrant of Control: a County Court bailiff is instructed to attend the customer’s property to establish contact with them, and in the absence of a reasonable repayment arrangement, may seize goods to be auctioned to pay towards the judgment debt. We want to avoid enforcement action.
Please contact us to discuss your circumstances, so that we can work with you to achieve the right solution.
If you are in any doubt as to your legal position you should obtain independent legal advice.
Our clients would much rather resolve matters with you without going to court. But if court action becomes necessary, our clients will seek to recover costs and fees from you. When a claim is issued at court, a court fee is payable. Our clients will usually ask you to pay this court fee. The amount of the court fee will vary depending on the balance. Our clients will also usually include a claim for fixed solicitors’ costs. The amount of these costs will vary depending on the balance.
The court fees and fixed costs which relate to the issue of claim and obtaining a County Court Judgment (“CCJ”) are set out below. There are also costs and fees relating to applications to enforce Judgments.
The right to claim court fees and solicitors’ costs is contained in the Civil Procedure Rules.
|
CLAIM ISSUE:COURT FEE ADDED TO BALANCE |
|
|
Claim amount |
Court Fee |
|
Up to £300 |
£35 |
|
£300.01 to £500 |
£50 |
|
£500.01 to £1,000 |
£70 |
|
£1,000.01 to £1,500 |
£80 |
|
£1,500.01 to £3,000 |
£115 |
|
£3,000.01 to £5,000 |
£205 |
|
£5,000.01 to £10,000 |
£455 |
|
£10,000.01 to £100,000* |
5% of the claim |
|
SOLICITORS' FIXED COSTS ADDED TO BALANCE |
||
|
Claim amount |
Issue stage |
Enter CCJ stage |
|
£25 to £500 |
£50 |
£22 |
|
£500 to £1,000 |
£70 |
£22 |
|
£1,000 to £5,000 |
£80 |
£22 |
|
Over £5,000 |
£100 |
£30 |
Some of our clients may include a claim for statutory interest at 8% when court proceedings are issued. This interest is claimed under section 69 of the County Courts Act 1984. If you contact us before proceedings are issued, you could avoid a court claim and so avoid statutory interest being added to your debt.
Paying Mortimer Clarke Solicitors
Some of our clients may be willing to reduce the amount you owe and apply a discount to outstanding balance.
There are two options:
Please contact us so that we can understand your situation and agree on a solution that suits you and which you can afford.
Most people choose to pay by hassle free payment methods like Direct Debit, Standing Order or card payments. All of these can be found and more on our Make A Payment page.
If you make a payment arrangement over the phone, then our Litigation Customer Consultants will ensure we set up your plan with your preferred payment method.
Direct Debit is a reliable, regular payment method that ensures that your plan will not fail as long as funds are available, thus giving you peace of mind that your payments will be made on time.It also means that you will be protected by the Direct Debit Guarantee offered by participating banks and building societies and that you will be given advance notice of the collection amounts and dates.
Yes – we make sure that your card details are safeguarded and encrypted, and only used with your permission.
To successfully manage your account all you need to do is keep us up to date of any changes. If you are struggling with any payments then you must contact us, ideally before the payment is missed. If you do this we can help you.
If you stop making payments and do not tell us, then we can not help you. We will therefore write to you and ask you to contact us. If you do not then we may be instructed to take legal action against you. The best solution at all times is to keep us up to date with your current situation.
To talk to us follow the links in our Get In Touch page, or if you'd prefer not to talk on the phone then make a payment via 'Make a Payment' section on this website.
My Account
We aim to talk to you and will try hard to do that.
If you do not contact us then we may be instructed to pursue legal action against you. It is always advisable to talk to us early and find a solution that suits you.
Many people are not in a position to pay their account at this time. It is important that you still contact us so we can understand this and we can direct you organisations that can offer you free financial advice or guidance.
If you are receiving calls from us, it’s because we’re trying to contact you about an account we have been instructed on. We are a firm of solicitors and act for debt purchasers and lenders. If we are calling you, it will be about a debt owed to one of our clients. Please do answer the phone when we call or contact us via our Get In Touch page.
If you are working with a Debt Management Company then please give them a copy of our letter and call us with their reference number. We will put your account on hold whilst we wait for them to contact us and we can arrange for them to redirect your payments to your account.
If you would like to nominate an individual or an organisation to be able to discuss your account with us on your behalf, then we are more than happy to do this. You can do this over the phone or by completing our Authority Form.
Please note that for protection of your personal data we are required to obtain some information from you regarding your nominated third party, which may include some or all of the following: name, address, relationship, telephone number, email address.
Please click here to see our Complaints Procedure.
If you don’t think you owe the debt, please contact us via email on info@mortimerclarke.co.uk or speak to one of our Litigation Customer Consultants on 0333 121 4454.
We will happily provide you with more information about the background to the debt and try and resolve your queries. If you decide to raise a dispute, we would aim to resolve this within 16 weeks. However, we aim to complete our investigations and provide a disputes final response letter by week 12, or sooner where possible. We may need to request documents from our client or the original creditor, which could take some time. We would keep you updated on this.
If your debt is payable under a County Court Judgment, then this has already been decided by the court and we would suggest you seek independent legal advice.
Two factor authentication
We take security seriously. To make sure we protect your digital account, we've introduced two-factor authentication.
This feature adds another layer of security to your personal data. It works alongside your email address and password to help keep your details safe as well as ensure only you can access your account.
Two factor authentication will link your phone number or email address to your account. After linking your number, the website will ask for a verification code every time you sign in to your account. This verification code is sent straight to your phone or email.
The first time you log in to the website, you will see the "Introducing Two Factor Authentication" screen which asks you to enter a phone number.
After entering your phone number, you will be sent a message with your verification code.
If you do not have a phone number or you would prefer to use your email address for two factor authentication, click 'I do not have access to a phone'. This will send you the verification code through to your registered email address.
The message will say:
" Your passcode is XXXXXX "
Your phone number can be a mobile number or a landline number. If you enter a mobile number, you will receive a text message. If you enter a landline number, you will receive a voice message over the phone.
Tip: We recommend keeping pen and paper handy if you link your account to a landline number.
Once you have received your verification code, you should enter the six digit number into the "Activation code" box.
If you’re using a device that you personally use and trust, click the ‘Trust this device’ checkbox. By doing this, the next time you access your dashboard on this device, we won’t ask you to verify your details again.