Employers sometimes do a credit reference check on new employees, which shows up on your credit reference record as a sign that you are employed and may be able to pay. Also, where a lender does chase you, it is very much harder to prove how much a self-employed person earns. It’s even harder to use the lenders’ favourite trick for reclaiming money from repossessees who refuse to pay - an attachment of earnings order (or rather, the threat of it). This court order forces your employer to take a certain sum from your wages every month and pay it to the lender. But you can’t do that to people who are self employed. Instead, lenders who win a court case against self employed people ask for an oral examination.. This is another court hearing where the lender's lawyer questions you on your earnings in front of a judge. The judge then decides how much you should have to pay. But we've been told that none of them are allowed to make any notes during the hearing and that none of what you say in it can be cross-checked. It's just designed to intimidate you.
Some insolvency practitioners advise repossessees that if the lender takes you to court (which is unlikely in many circumstances) and if they win (which is also unlikely if you have any valid complaints about the way the lender handled any aspect of your repossession) and if they cannot find out who you work for, then just lie about your earnings, claim you are sick or unemployed. It's contempt of court to do this but it is, apparently, what some insolvency practitioners are successfully advising repossesees (and other debtors) to do. We pass this on for perspective not as a recommendation as it is clearly contempt of court.
| Home Page | Receive free news and updates |
| Tell a friend about this site | |
| © The Home Repossession Page 1997-1999 | |