The claim explained

If your lender has asked us to start proceedings against you, this information will help you understand the process and what happens next.

1. There are steps that both you and your lender are expected to have followed before the start of a possession claim. This is known as a Pre-action protocol.

Your lender will complete a checklist to confirm that they have followed the protocol. 

2. We will issue a claim in the County Court. The court will write to tell you when a hearing will take place.

3. The Court will provide you with a Courtpack which will contain forms for you to complete and return.

4. A letter will be sent to the property address, and it will be addressed to ‘the occupiers’. This is to notify anybody living in the property that the proceedings have been issued and when they will be heard by the Court. This letter will be sent even if we know you are living in the property.

5. We will send a document to the court which will include up to date account information and evidence of your mortgage with your lender. This is called a Witness statement.

6. The hearing will take place at the County Court. We strongly recommend that you attend the hearing on the correct date and time. Many Courts will have a solicitor on duty or an agent from the Citizens Advice who may be available to give you advice.

7. At the hearing, the Judge will hear from you and our agent before making a decision. You will have the chance to explain why your mortgage is in arrears and what you plan to do to repay them.

8. Where an arrangement is made to clear your arrears over a period of time, the Judge will grant a suspended possession order. This means your lender cannot take any further action as long as you keep up with the agreed payments.

9. If no repayment plan has been agreed, your lender will request a possession order. This means the lender can take possession of your property.

10. A possession order will confirm a date for you to leave the property. Once this date passes your lender can apply to the Court for a bailiff’s appointment. You should contact your local authority to find out whether you will be eligible for local authority housing.

11. The bailiff will write to tell you when the eviction is going to take place. If your circumstance change and you are in a position to clear the arrears, you can contact your lender at any point until the property has been taken into possession.

12. On the date of the eviction, the locks will be changed and possession of the property handed over to the lender. You should ensure that before this date you have cleared your belongings from the property.

If your lender has asked us to start proceedings against you, this information will help you understand the process and what happens next.

1. Once we have been instructed by your lender to start proceedings against you, we will send a letter that informs you of this. The letter also contains details of who to contact in order to discuss your situation.

2. With this letter you will also receive a document titled ‘Notice to Quit’. This confirms that you are required to surrender the property. It also sets out the date to do this by in order to avoid a claim being issued against you. If you intend to surrender the property, please speak to your lender for details on how to do so.

3. There are steps that both you and your lender are expected to have followed before the start of a possession claim. This is known as a Pre-action protocol.

   Your lender will  confirm that they have followed the protocol when they file the evidence with the claim. 

4. We will issue a claim in the High Court and serve you with a document called an Originating Summons. This confirms that your lender is taking you to court.

5. We will send a document to the court which will include up to date account information and evidence of your mortgage with your lender. This is called a Grounding Affidavit.

6. When the court have set a hearing, we will serve you with a Notice of Appointment. This provides you with the date and time that your hearing will take place. In addition to the Notice of Appointment you will also receive the following:

   • A copy of the Grounding Affidavit that we have sent to the court.

   • An Affidavit which confirms that we have served you with the Originating Summons.

   • A Form 10a. This provides you with details of the court process.

7. A letter and a Form 10c will be sent to the property address, and it will be addressed to ‘the occupiers’. This Form will notify anybody living in the property that the proceedings have been issued and when they will be heard by the Court. This  will be sent even if we know you are living in the property.

8. The hearing will take place at the High Court in Belfast before a Judge called a Master. We strongly recommend that you attend the hearing on the correct date and time. There may be a representative from the Housing Rights at the hearing in person or online who may be available to give you advice.

9. At the hearing, the Master will hear from you and our representative before making a decision. You will have the chance to explain why your mortgage is in arrears and what you plan to do to clear them.

10. Where an arrangement is made to clear your arrears over a period of time, the Master will grant a suspended possession order. This means your lender cannot take any further action as long as you keep up with the agreed payments.

11. If no arrangement to clear the arrears has been agreed, your lender will request a possession order. This means the lender can then enforce that order to ultimately take possession of your property.

12. Once a possession order is granted it will be served on you and you will have a set period before the lender takes steps to seek an eviction. It is not too late to save your property at this stage. Speak to us about your situation. You should contact the Northern Ireland Housing Executive to find out whether you will be eligible for housing.

13. An application for eviction is made to the Enforcement of Judgements Office (EJO). The EJO will then contact you to make arrangement for you to leave your property. If you do not leave the property an eviction date will be scheduled.

If your lender has asked us to start proceedings against you, this information will help you understand the process and what happens next.

1. Once we have been instructed by your lender to start proceedings against you, we will send a letter that informs you of this. The letter also contains details of who to contact in order to discuss your situation.

2. There are steps that both you and your lender are expected to have followed before the start of a possession claim. This is known as a Pre-action protocol.

3. We will begin proceedings by serving you with a ‘Calling-up Notice’. This is a legal document which ends the mortgage agreement between you and your mortgage lender. The notice will ask that the entire mortgage balance be repaid within a period of two months. However, your mortgage lender will consider any offer of payment to address the arrears during this time.

4. Once the two months have passed, if the mortgage has not been repaid we will issue a default notice. This sets out the next steps that your mortgage lender may take.

• If you have come to an agreement with your lender to repay the arrears over a period of time, the letter will confirm the arrangement is in place and advise that no further action will be taken at this time.
• If no repayment plan has been agreed, the letter will explain that court action will be taken against you on expiry of the default notice. A default notice is valid for a period of 7 days.

5. To raise court action, a Summary Application is submitted to the Court. We will serve court papers upon you and this will include a court hearing date and time.

6. A letter will be sent to the property address, and it will be addressed to ‘the occupiers’. This is to notify anybody living in the property that the proceedings have been issued and when they will be heard by the Court. This letter will be sent even if we know you are living in the property.

7. The hearing will take place in the Sheriff Court. We strongly recommend that you attend the hearing on the correct date and time. Many Courts will have an in-court adviser or an agent from the Citizens Advice who may be available to give you advice.

8. At the hearing, the Sheriff will hear from you and our representative before making a decision. You will have the chance to explain why your mortgage is in arrears and what you plan to do to clear them.

9. If a repayment plan has been agreed with your lender, they will either continue to the hearing to ensure that payments have been maintained, or they will sist (freeze) the action. If the action is sisted and payments are defaulted on, your lender will recall action and a new hearing date will be set.

10. If no repayment plan has been agreed with your lender, they will request a Decree. This means the lender can take possession of your property.

11. Once a Decree is granted your mortgage lender may enforce the Decree. This will result in you being given an ejection date. This is the date by which you will need to leave the property. You should contact your local authority to find out whether you will be eligible for local authority housing.

12. On the date of the ejection, the locks will be changed and possession of the property handed over to the lender. You should ensure that before this date you have cleared your belongings from the property.

If your lender has asked us to start proceedings against you, this information will help you understand the process and what happens next.

1. We will issue a claim in the County Court who will write to you telling you when a hearing will take place.

2. The Court will provide you with a Courtpack which will contain forms for you to complete and return.

3. A letter will be sent to the property address, and it will be addressed to ‘the occupiers’. This is to notify anybody living in the property that the proceedings have been issued and when they will be heard by the Court. This letter will be sent even if we know you are living in the property.

4. We will send a document to the court which will include up to date account information and evidence of your mortgage with your lender. This is called a Witness statement.

5. The hearing will take place at the County Court. We strongly recommend that you attend the hearing on the correct date and time. Many Courts will have a solicitor on duty or an agent from the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) who may be available to give you advice.

6. At the hearing, the Judge will hear from you and our agent before making a decision. You will have the chance to explain why you have not paid the outstanding balance when your mortgage term ended. If repayment of the outstanding balance is beyond your means, then the judge will be asked to make an order for possession.

7. A possession order will confirm a date for you to leave the property. Once this date passes your lender can apply to the Court for a bailiff’s appointment. You should contact your local authority to find out whether you will be eligible for local authority housing.

8. The bailiff will write to tell you when the eviction is going to take place. If your circumstance change and you are in a position to pay the balance owed, you can contact your lender at any point until the property has been taken into possession.

9. On the date of the eviction, the locks will be changed and possession of the property handed over to the lender. You should ensure that before this date you have cleared your belongings from the property.

If your lender has asked us to start proceedings against you, this information will help you understand the process and what happens next.

1. Once we have been instructed by your lender to start proceedings against you, we will send a letter that informs you of this. The letter also contains details of who to contact in order to discuss your situation.

2. With this letter you will also receive a document titled ‘Notice to Quit’. This confirms that you are required to surrender the property. It also sets out the date to do this by in order to avoid a claim being issued against you. If you intend to surrender the property, please speak to your lender for details on how to do so.

3. We will issue a claim in the High Court and serve you with a document called an originating summons. This confirms that your lender is taking you to court.

4. We will send a document to the court which will include up to date account information and evidence of your mortgage with your lender. This is called a Grounding Affidavit.

5. When the court have set a hearing, we will serve you with a Notice of Appointment. This provides you with the date and time that your hearing will take place. In addition to the Notice of Appointment you will also receive the following:

• A copy of the Grounding Affidavit that we have sent to the court.
• A Form 10a. This provides you with details of the court process.

6. A letter will be sent to the property address, and it will be addressed to ‘the occupiers’. This is to notify anybody living in the property that the proceedings have been issued and when they will be heard by the Court. This letter will be sent even if we know you are living in the property.

7. The hearing will take place at the High Court in Belfast. We strongly recommend that you attend the hearing on the correct date and time. Many Courts will have a solicitor on duty or an agent from the Housing Rights Service who may be available to give you advice.

8. At the hearing, the Master will hear from you and our representative before making a decision. You will have the chance to explain why you have not paid the outstanding balance when your mortgage term ended. If repayment of the balance is beyond your means, then the Master will be asked to make an order for possession.

9. Once a possession order is granted it will be served on you and you will have a set period before the lender takes steps to seek an eviction. It is not too late to save your property at this stage. Speak to your lender about your situation. You should contact your local authority to find out whether you will be eligible for local authority housing.

10. An application for eviction is made to the Enforcement of Judgements Office (EJO). The EJO will then contact you to make arrangement for you to leave your property. If you do not leave the property an eviction date will be scheduled.

If your lender has asked us to start proceedings against you, this information will help you understand the process and what happens next.

1. Once we have been instructed by your lender to start proceedings against you, we will send a letter that informs you of this. The letter also contains details of who to contact in order to discuss your situation.

2. We will begin proceedings by serving you with a ‘Calling-up Notice’. This is a legal document which ends the mortgage agreement between you and your mortgage lender. The notice will ask that the entire mortgage balance be repaid within a period of two months. However, your mortgage lender will consider any offer of payment to address the arrears during this time.

3. Once the two months have passed, if the mortgage has not been repaid we will issue a default notice. This sets out the next steps that your mortgage lender may take.

4. To raise court action, a Summary Application is submitted to the Court. We will serve court papers upon you and this will include a court hearing date and time.

5. A letter will be sent to the property address, and it will be addressed to ‘the occupiers’. This is to notify anybody living in the property that the proceedings have been issued and when they will be heard by the Court. This letter will be sent even if we know you are living in the property.

6. The hearing will take place in the Sheriff Court. We strongly recommend that you attend the hearing on the correct date and time. Many Courts will have an in-court adviser or an agent from the Citizens Advice Bureau who may be available to give you advice.

7. At the hearing, the Sheriff will hear from you and our representative before making a decision. You will have the chance to explain why you have not paid the outstanding balance when your mortgage term ended. If repayment of the balance is beyond your means, the Sheriff will be asked to grant a Decree. This means the lender can take possession of your property.

8. Once a Decree is granted your mortgage lender may enforce the Decree. This will result in you being given a ejection date. This is the date by which you will need to leave the property. You should contact your local authority to find out whether you will be eligible for local authority housing.

9. On the date of the ejection, the locks will be changed and possession of the property handed over to the lender. You should ensure that before this date you have cleared your belongings from the property.