What happens if taken to court

If you have creditors in the EU they might be able to take you to court. It depends on where you are. Get legal advice if you have creditors in the EU. Find free or affordable legal help. Your creditor has to send you the right documents before taking you to court. When you borrowed the money you should have been asked to sign an agreement which says what you and your creditor agree to. If your agreement is covered by the Consumer Credit Act, your creditor must follow all 3 steps of the process before taking you to court for debt.

Check your credit agreement to find out what your creditor has to send you. You should contact your nearest Citizens Advice. The default notice includes details of what payments you missed and how long you have to pay. Your creditor has to give you at least 2 weeks. After 2 weeks they can send you a letter of claim. The default notice also includes a fact sheet from the Financial Conduct Authority which explains your rights. This gives you 30 days to reply.

You should always check they documents are genuine. The form name should be at the top and the form number in the bottom right corner.

Cancelling a claim can be complicated - you contact your nearest Citizens Advice for help. You should check if you have to pay the debt before responding to your creditor. If you only agree to part of the debt, reply to your creditor in writing. You should say why you only agree to part of the debt. You can use the budgeting tool on the National Debtline website to work out how much you can afford and create your statement.

Find out more about making a plan to pay your debts. If the claim was made using an online service you can respond to the claim on GOV.

The N9A: Admission specified amount form has a tick box where you can say if you agree you owe part or all of the debt. You can make an offer to pay in box If you only agree to part of the debt, send both forms back to the court. This means that you do not have to go to jail, but you have to report to a probation officer and do other things in your community.

The probation officer's job is to make sure you follow the judge's orders. For example, you might be required to stay home at night, and your probation officer will check to make sure you are there. Your probation officer can help you make a plan to help you follow the judge's orders. If the judge sends you to jail, the police will usually take you to one of the NWT's correctional centres.

A case manager will be assigned to you and will help you work out problems at home. Sometimes you may want to show a person you hurt that you are sorry. Remember that they need to be safe - sometimes it's best to leave the person alone. The judge may also have ordered you to stay away. Talk to your case manager about your options and how you can make better choices in the future. If you are in government housing, you have to let your local Housing Organization know what happened. They will hold the unit for you for up to three months, but if you are going to be in jail for longer you will need to re-apply when you get out.

If you can't do your job because you are in jail or because of something the judge ordered, you will need to be honest about that. Wherever you wait, you should listen carefully for either your name or for your case to be called.

You may be waiting to give evidence for most of the day. You should not talk to anyone, especially other witnesses, about the evidence you will be giving before you go into the witness box. If you have made a written statement and would like to see a copy before you give evidence, ask the person who asked you to come to court, to give you a copy.

You can find information about the range of services that witnesses of crime can get at The Witness Charter. We will not reply to your feedback. Don't include any personal or financial information, for example National Insurance, credit card numbers, or phone numbers.

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