The fact that an account has defaulted is recorded on your credit file for six years, and will make it harder to obtain credit for that time. A credit agreement can only default once.

Creditors often talk about default notices in terms that make them sound like a serious threat. If you want to preserve a good credit rating they are a valid threat. But if you have a record of missed or late payments and are having trouble managing your debts, your credit rating will be affected already.

There are strict deadlines for the return of paperwork following county court action.

There will be an issue date shown on the claim form (N1) that is sent to you.

If the claim was issued from Northampton County Court Bulk Centre, the paperwork must be returned no more than nineteen days after the issue date.

For all other county courts, you have sixteen days from the issue date.

If a creditor has a charging order they can apply to the courts for an order of sale. An order of sale gives the creditor the right to sell you house. However, this is extremely rare and is only ever used as a last resort. A lot of charging orders are granted in the courts but only a tiny portion result in an order for sale. If you can make at least some payment and you are not ignoring your creditors, it is very unlikely this will happen.

If a creditor does apply for an order for sale, contact us for advice as this is a complex legal area and we recommend you not to deal with it on your own

Yes. As of November 2009, there is court fee of £190 and a bankruptcy fee of £415 for a creditor to issue bankruptcy proceedings. There will also be costs to pay for serving the statutory demand in person.