I have outstanding debts of £62000 with 9 creditors, all unsecured, which I have been paying at a rate of £360 a month for 18 months on a DMP via the CCCS. All my creditors have been pretty helpful until now, but 4 months ago the Halifax told me it is now policy that after 12 months they will now start charging interest again and then default the debt after 3 months and hand it to a debt collection agency. Fair enough, but I have read a worrying case of an unnamed bank applying for a CCJ on a debt with a view to obtaining a charge on a debtors property claiming they have not made efforts to repay the debt, as it has been increasing due to the interest being unfrozen after the initial 12 months of the DMP, and the agreed payments not being enough to continue to bring the balance down.It is now 4 months since the Halifax informed me of this, and my monthly payments to them via CCCS of £46 are being negated by the £82 a month interest, but what worries me is they have not sent me a default notice yet, and I dont know if this is their practice to let the debt grow to an extent to present to a court that sufficient effort has not been made to meet the debt.Can they gain a charge on my property even though this is an unsecured debt which I am trying my best to meet via the CCCS?

Hi --- As the Halifax had already agreed to a DMP arrangement that you were adhering to, they would get little or no co-operation or success on application to a judge for a charge order to be placed against your property......even though any creditor can apply for a CO they have to show that all reasonable steps have been taken in sticking to pre-existing agreed plans.

They may even be contravening the agreed banking codes of practice, perhaps a complaint to the FOS may help should this turn into a sinister effort to apply for a CO to be placed. Or it could simply be a perfectly innocent way of passing the troublesome debt onto their smaller debt collectors and get it out of their own system......possibly policy of their's. ?

Article of interest below.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7365786.stm

To add ....a charging order cannot force the sale of your house without a long winded complicated process, but it can guarantee that the creditor is paid out of the eventual sale proceeds when the house is sold voluntarily by you, the Solicitor then becomes duty bound to re-pay the charging order in the same way as a secured loan against your property.

Thank you very much for your informative reply. I feel a bit more at ease now.

Hi --- You're welcome....What is the opinion of the CCCS who have negotiated the existing DMP over this matter. ?

They say that the Halifax in particular are becoming ever more aggressive in chasing debtors, but not to worry if it gets passed to an agency as they will transfer payments to them. I do not however know if the amount transfered is a final amount or whether they too will charge interest on the balance. Any thoughts greatly appreciated.