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10. What if my creditor is a local authority or HM Revenue & Customs?
This type of public creditor use a different route to pursue the money you owe them. Before taking any action they will serve you with a final notice. If you do nothing after receiving the final notice they can apply to the court for a summary warrant. A summary warrant is similar to a decree but there is no court hearing and you can not apply for a time to pay direction. A 10% surcharge is automatically added to the amount you owe when a summary warrant is granted.
Once a summary warrant has been issued, most public creditors will still allow you to negotiate to pay what you owe. If you do not pay, you may be served with a charge for payment ( see here) and then debt enforcement actions can be taken against you or a petition may be presented to make you bankrupt ( see here).
If you are served with a charge for payment to pay a local authority debt, you can apply to the court for a time to pay order. Time to pay is not available for debts due to HM Revenue & Customs. |
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