Received a claim form no particulars yet

[mrsm12]

Hi. I really hope someone will be able to help me. My other half received court claim through MCOL on the 30th July. The claimant is an individual from my husbands past who has been harassing us, and to be honest seems rather unbalanced. It states on the claim form that detailed particulars will be provided within 14 days after service of the claim form. We have not yet received anything else, and don't think we really expect to ray2:, as this seems to be the latest in a line of actions to try and provoke us.
My questions are, if we receive no particulars how do we go about getting this claim struck out? How long would we need to wait before we could take action of this sort?
Anybody else had a similar experience?
We are both so stressed about all this and wonder what's going to happen next!

[Amethyst]

Re: Received a claim form no particulars yet

Does it state anything else on the claim form and have you acknowledged receipt? (you need to else they may be able to get default judgment in around 5 days time) Just acknowledge with intend to defend in full and then possibly contact the court tmw and ask them if further particulars have been filed.

[mrsm12]

Re: Received a claim form no particulars yet

Hi Amethyst. Thanks! I don't want to be too specific on a public forum as am worried about claimant seeing. It says its about 'money lent over period of time inclusive of.......' then states they have' electronic screen prints of admission money is owed.' That he 'paid £xxx and then cut contact. I will provide the defendant with seperate detailed particulars within 14 days after service of the claim form.'
No, we haven't acknowledged yet! Thought we had to wait for particulars. I'll get that done straight away!
My husband did borrow money years ago when they were friends but money was paid back and everybody was happy. This seems to be just latest troublecausing to us and our families by this individual!

[Amethyst]

Re: Received a claim form no particulars yet

Approx how much - eg: under £10k or over?

[mrsm12]

Re: Received a claim form no particulars yet

A little over £1500.

[mrsm12]

Re: Received a claim form no particulars yet

We've been to speak to the police about this person, but they don't want to take it seriously as it has been insults but no actual threats and so there's been nothing logged. We've just ignored the behaviour, and now this.....

[Amethyst]

Re: Received a claim form no particulars yet

Okay, get the acknowledgement in and giev it a few days if nothing further appears (and check with the court that they haven't had anything) then I'm not sure you can just strike it out as there is a cause of action although a bit vague, however I believe you can write to the claimant and ask for them to either send you the detailed particulars or withdraw the claim.

[mrsm12]

Re: Received a claim form no particulars yet

Thanks Amethyst.
Will get the acknowledgement off tonight.
Not as easy as I was hoping then. Ok, if we (or the court ) haven't heard anything by next weds will send a letter to the claimant.
Thankyou so much, we didn't really know what to do. Have not been in this situation before, and doesn't help that claimant doesnt want to follow any rules! Will let you know how we get on.

[Amethyst]

Re: Received a claim form no particulars yet

Yep , give them 7 days to respond and keep it a very factual letter just to the point. If they don't you can then apply for a strike out, but that will cost you the application fee - either £50 without a hearing or £155 with a hearing and then have to get that back off the claimant, and theres the risk they'll just supply full particulars at that point.

Otherwise you can just put in a defence.

Do you have evidence of any of the original payments made to the claimant?

Electronic Screen Prints (lol) is probably emails, so check back through emails and see if there's any backing your side up.

[stevemLS]

Re: Received a claim form no particulars yet

Hi, acknowledgement of service need not be filed until 14 days after service of PoC, CPR 10.8. PoC MUST be served within 14 days of claim form CPR 7.4.

I think application can be made for strike out or at the very least an unless order.

[stevemLS]

Re: Received a claim form no particulars yet

Sorry, just read last one, def should get costs of application even if PoC served at last minute, they are in default of CPR obligations.

[Amethyst]

Re: Received a claim form no particulars yet

Ahh even if its further detailed particulars as opposed to the particulars? Good to know.

Guessing Day 14 is today if claim form is dated 30th July.

[stevemLS]

Re: Received a claim form no particulars yet

It was issued through MCOL (I didn't know you could do particulars to follow through them), received on 30th but don't they normally have a deemed date of service stamped on them?

And just double checked, it is definitely the first particulars where claim form states to follow, although it is CpR 10.3(1)(a) [pesky middle aged eyesight!]

[mrsm12]

Re: Received a claim form no particulars yet

Hi Guys,

Thanks so much for all the above!
Thought I'd give you all an update. Nobody seems to know what to do in our case, and court 'advisors' have also given us conflicting info!
The 14 days for serving the POC, or further POC? have now well and truly passed, and still nothing..
Have sent the below letter by email, and we are now waiting for a 'manager' to get back to us after looking into the 'legal issues' arising from this.
Sorry it's a bit long, but thought it may well be useful to anyone else who ends up in our position.
Will let you know the outcome when we hear further.

COURT REFERENCE: ----------

I am the defendant in this case and I am a litigant in person
I received a claim form through MONEY CLAIMS ONLINE with the date of issue as -------- which under the brief summary in the ‘particulars of claim’ box states ‘I will provide the defendant with separate detailed particulars within 14 days after service of the claim form’.

As you can appreciate it was upsetting to receive, especially since no pre-action procedure/conduct had been followed by the claimant. Therefore, to ensure my compliance with the rules and procedures of the court, I went about trying to find some legal advice and made a study into the rules and procedures.

This is what I learned with regards to the particulars of claim within the CIVIL PROCEDURE RULES, which are freely available on the MINISTRY OF JUSTICE website.

CPR 7-HOW TO START PROCEEDINGS-THE CLAIM FORM
Particulars of claim
7.4
(1) Particulars of claim must –
(a) be contained in or served with the claim form; or
(b) subject to paragraph (2) be served on the defendant by the claimant within 14 days after service of the claim form.

PRACTICE DIRECTION 7A
Particulars of claim

6.1 Where the claimant does not include the particulars of claim in the claim form, they may be served separately:
(1) either at the same time as the claim form, or
(2) within 14 days after service of the claim form provided that the service of the particulars of claim is within 4 months after the date of issue of the claim form²(or 6 months where the claim form is to be served out of the jurisdiction³).
PRACTICE DIRECTION 7E-MONEY CLAIMS ONLINE
5.2 Detailed particulars of claim must either be –
(1) included in the online claim form but must be limited in size to not more than 1080 characters (including spaces); or
(2) served and filed by the claimant separately from the claim form in accordance with paragraph 6 but the claimant must –
(a) state that detailed particulars of claim will follow; and
(b) include a brief summary of the claim,
in the online claim form in the section headed ‘particulars of claim’

Particulars of claim and certificate of service
6.1 Where the particulars of claim are served by the claimant separately from the claim form pursuant to paragraph 5.2(2), the claimant must –
(1) serve the particulars of claim in accordance with rule 7.4(1)(b); and
(2) file a certificate of service in form N215 at the County Court Business Centre within 14 days of service of the particulars of claim on the defendant.
PRACTICE DIRECTION 16 – STATEMENTS OF CASE

Particulars of claim

3.1 If practicable, the particulars of claim should be set out in the claim form.
3.2 Where the claimant does not include the particulars of claim in the claim form, particulars of claim may be served separately:
(1) either at the same time as the claim form, or
(2) within 14 days after service of the claim form¹provided that the service of the particulars of claim is not later than 4 months from the date of issue of the claim form²(or 6 months where the claim form is to be served out of the jurisdiction³).
3.3 If the particulars of claim are not included in or have not been served with the claim form, the claim form must also contain a statement that particulars of claim will follow⁴.

And this is what I learned regarding my filing an acknowledgement of service:

CPR 9 - RESPONDING TO PARTICULARS OF CLAIM – GENERAL
9.1 (1) This Part sets out how a defendant may respond to particulars of claim.
(2) Where the defendant receives a claim form which states that particulars of claim are to follow, he need not respond to the claim until the particulars of claim have been served on him.
Defence, admission or acknowledgment of service
9.2 When particulars of claim are served on a defendant, the defendant may –
(a) file or serve an admission in accordance with Part 14;
(b) file a defence in accordance with Part 15,
(or do both, if he admits only part of the claim); or
(c) file an acknowledgment of service in accordance with Part 10
CPR 10-ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF SERVICE
The period for filing an acknowledgment of service
10.3
(1) The general rule is that the period for filing an acknowledgment of service is –
(a) where the defendant is served with a claim form which states that particulars of claim are to follow, 14 days after service of the particulars of claim; and
(b) in any other case, 14 days after service of the claim form.


On the actual MCOL website gudance link I read this
HM COURTS AND TRIBUNALS SERVICE’SMoney Claim Online (MCOL) –
User Guide for Claimants

Serving Additional Particulars of Claim

If during step 5 of issuing the claim you state that you will serve additional Particulars of Claim, you must send the additional particulars to the defendant(s) within 14 days of your claim being issued. You should also send a covering letter to the defendant clearly advising that these are the extra particulars referred to in your claim form and quote the claim number.
You must file an ‘N215 Certificate of Service’ with the court within 14 days of the claim being issued. The certificate of service confirms to the court that you have sent the documents to the defendant. The certificate can be filed by post or preferably by email to mcolaos@hmcts.gsi.gov.uk. Please include the claim number in the subject line of the email. A blank N215 can be downloaded from www.justice.gov.uk/forms.

The second page of the N215 explains how to calculate the ‘date of service’. Please note if the date of service is different to that of the claim form, then you should consider the later date to be the date of service for the claim. For further information please see Civil Procedure Rule 7E.6 at: http://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/civil/rules/pd_part07e

On the MCOL website under FAQS I read this:

I do not have enough room for my particulars of claim – what can I do?

The particulars of claim included on the claim form may not exceed 1080 characters, on up to 24 lines. This includes the interest paragraph, if appropriate. You may serve additional particulars after issue. In order to do this, you must provide a copy of the additional particulars to the Defendant within 14 days of issuing the claim, and file an N215 Certificate of Service with the Court. The Defendant will have 14 days to reply from the date you serve the additional particulars to them. If the claim is transferred to a local court to proceed, you will be required to send the particulars to the court in accordance with the Civil Procedure Rules.

I contacted a member of the legal profession who confirmed all the above to me.
To make sure, (as serving the pariculars seperately is seemingly not of the norm), and also to check whether the court had received anything and I hadn’t, I contacted the court on Thursday 14^TH August at 3pm and spoke to -------.

I told ------ that I had not received the POC yet and when should I receive them? I was told the POC need to be with me 14 days after the date of service of the claim form which is 5 days after the date of issue-that being the 30^th July.

I asked ------- if anything had been filed with the court, and was told that nothing had been filed there as yet.

I asked ------- if I needed to file an acknowlegement of service. I was told not really, as the AOS is just to say what you are doing, but as I haven’t received the POC then I am unable to do this, all that would happen if I did file an AOS is that I will have an extension of 14 days.

I told ------ that MCOL states the Date of issue of the claim, but no Date of service, and asked if this meant that it wasn’t served until the POC arrived. ------ told me that the Date of service was 5 days after the Date of issue, but it doesn’t matter as I hadn’t received my POC and should wait for those if it states they are to follow.

I asked if there was anything else, and was told there was nothing she could think of and to wait till the POC come through. This conversation confirmed the CPR and other advice, and therefore I did nothing regarding this claim, either over the previous two weeks, or this weekend passed.


Today, Monday 18^th August, being the 14 day deadline, I rang the court again, (at around 2.50pm, as this is my working lunch break) to see if there had been any developments, as I am unable to make any kind of defence, with only a brief summary of the claim.

I made three separate phonecalls to three seperate advisors, as this was a confusing and troubling time.

The first call, at 2.50, I spoke to ------- I asked if anything had been filed at the court as yet and I was told nothing has, I then asked again if I need to file a acknowledge of service, it seems they were keen to do this. I asked when I would need to do this by and I was informed that it needed to be with them by 4pm today. I then explained that I have not received the POC and that the case wouldn’t be able to progress without them. I was informed that the POC did not have to be served, and that I have only to send the AOS, I questioned this and got no response.

I then made a second phonecall around 3 minutes later, and spoke to--------, who informed me of alot. First that I need to send in the AOS, as the court needs to know I have received the claim form. He also informed me that although I havent received the particulars I could defend on that basis, and when it comes to writing a defence I could add that into it. I was told that anything that wasn’t followed within the CPR guidelines I could also put in there. He also stated that in the space provided are the POC and that what would follow shortly are the addition POC. I explained that I had no way of responding as I had nothing in front of me, he then obligingly sent through all the details for me to send back the AOS.
The third phonecall reiterated the above advice to me.


I feel extremely disadvantaged with regards to any type of defence to this claim, as the information I have received today is that by being required to file an AOS, it therefore means that my defence time is gone, and I have had to file a 14 day extension. On top of which I have no adequate POC to form any kind of defence from!



My questions which need urgently answering in regard to these issues are these.

1) Did I need to file an AOS in my case?

-If not I request that it is retracted immediately on my behalf due to misinformation.

2) The claimant has clearly followed CPR PRACTICE DIRECTION 7E 5.2(2) and therefore is serving the particulars seperately. Would this not then constitute non-compliance, having received no particulars after the deadline?

- Due to the lack of particulars the claimant is in breach of CPR, what action will the court take, as the Claimants non-compliance with the rules is what iniated this sequence of events to begin with?

3)With regards to my defence, when do I now need to file my defence by?
-If the defence time has not yet started, due to receiving no POC, has filing an AOS just extended that defence time once it starts?



I look forward to the answers to my questions.



Yours Respectfully,