HFC / Restons Claims £6k against me :( Won (in a way)

[Amethyst]

Re: HFC / Restons Claims £6k against me Won (in a way)

bumpety bump - no reply from Restons regarding the letter I send them. I told the solicitor to confirm they were actioning my request before 6th September - but they havent replied.....?!?!?!?!?!?

CAN I SEND A PART 18 REQUEST - I ONLY HAVE ABOUT 10 DAYS BEFORE I NEED TO FILE MY DEFENCE


I assume I can ask for a stay until the hand over the information.....payments are still going through to Restons through CCCS.

Anyone got a legal argument for my defence why they should not have issued the claim in the first place?

[Amethyst]

Re: HFC / Restons Claims £6k against me Won (in a way)

heres my defence - can someone have a look for me please.

DEFENCE

1.Save as is specifically admitted in this Defence – the Defendant denies each and every allegation set out in the particulars of Claim.

• It is admitted that the Defendant has an Affinity Loan Account with the Claimant numbered 00000xxxxxx

• It is admitted that the Defendant has an outstanding balance on the account to the value of £xxxx.xx, as detailed in the particulars of claim.

• The Defendant contests the amount of £1009.93, the ‘Collection Charge’ as entered in the particulars of claim by the Claimant.

• The Collection charge is a disproportionate penalty and therefore unenforceable as it is contrary to common law.

• Further, as a disproportionate penalty, it is invalid under the Unfair (Contracts) Terms Act 1977 s.4 and under the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 Para 8. and sch.2(1)(e).

• In the event the Collection Charge is not a disproportionate penalty then it is unreasonable within the meaning of the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 s.15.

• The Defendant has repeatedly asked the Claimant to give a breakdown of this charge in order to justify the amount but they have declined to do so.

• The Defendant has offered a reduced monthly payment, through the Consumer Credit Counselling Service, to the Claimant for repayment of this account. This offer was made to the Claimant on 22nd June 2006. This proposal included a full financial statement with regards the Defendant.

• The amount being paid to the Defendant each calendar month is £66.36.
  The first payment was made on 18th August 2006 and received by the Claimant on the 25th August 2006.

• The account was transferred to Restons Solicitors by the Claimant on the 10th August 2006.

• The Defendant contacted Restons Solicitors on the 14th August 2006 to discuss the repayment proposal. Restons Solicitors agreed to contact the Consumer Credit Counselling service to arrange the new payment instructions. The Consumer Credit Counselling Service have not received any communication from Restons Solicitors.

• The proposal for repayment was sent to Restons Solicitors by Consumer Credit Counselling Service on 14th August 2006.

• A breakdown of the Collection Charge applied by the Claimant was requested from Restons Solicitors. This request was refused and no breakdown has been received by the Defendant.

• A letter requesting information from the Claimant was sent to Restons Solicitors by Royal Mail Special Delivery on 30th August 2006. A copy of this letter will be presented to the court. A reply to this letter has not been received.

• No admissions are made as to the amounts claimed by the Claimants, and the Claimant is put to strict proof of the same.

[Amethyst]

Re: HFC / Restons Claims £6k against me Won (in a way)

Right heres the part 18 request which I am sending prior to the AQs being submitted;

Quote:
Northampton County Court – claim No. xxxxxxxx

HFC Bank Vs xxxxxxxxxxxx

24 September 2006

PRELIMINARY REQUEST FOR FURTHER INFORMATION OR CLARIFICATION- Civil Procedure Rules Part 18

1: In your claim you state "the claimant claims payment of the overdue balance due from the Defendant under a contract dated on or about xx/08/2004 in the sum of £7xxx.xx."

2: Please provide the following particulars in support of your claim:

2.1 In relation to ‘the overdue balance’
a) the full statement of the account including interest charged
b) penalty charges applied, and reasons for the same
c) and payments made to the account.

2.2 Please provide a full breakdown of the Collection Charge applied to the account, the terms of contract under which this was applied to the account, and the calculations used to arrive at the figure charged.

3: Please provide a true signed copy of the original credit agreement.

4: A copy of the full original contract signed at the inception of the loan;



5: Copies of correspondance received from and sent to the Consumer Credit Counselling service regarding this account.

Will send this tmw by special Delivery if its okay.


In the AQ I intend to ask the allocation to be on the small claims track, and to be held at my local court, as I am an litigant in person etc etc.



Any comments appreciated

(Quite enjoying this )

[Amethyst]

Re: HFC / Restons Claims £6k against me Won (in a way)

another thing - in my covering letter for this part 18 I will put it without prejudice - that won't cover the actual part 18 will it ?

I was thinking I could set out again my offer of payment to them of the amount which I am not disputing (which will be the same as that already agreed to by them via the CCCS DMP )

Is this wise or shall I just keep an offer and the part 18 seperate ? Or not bother with the offer as this has been done in the partial admission ?

[Amethyst]

Re: HFC / Restons Claims £6k against me Won (in a way)

Quote:
Originally Posted by MCOL
A claim was issued against you on 23 August 2006.

Your Acknowledgment of Service was received by the Court and processed on 30 August 2006.

Your Part Admission was received by the Court and processed on 14 September 2006.


SO what happens now ? Never been a defendant before Do I get an allocation questionnaire (if so when ?)

By my calcs my defence had to be in by 25 September (which it was) shouldnt I have heard by now ???

[Amethyst]

Re: HFC / Restons Claims £6k against me Won (in a way)

you are right lula, I'll call northampton in the morning. Yes - they couldnt even be bothered to fill in an N1 from preferring to use MCOL.... bah !

So if my defence was due in on the 25th - the Aq would be due in around the 10th October..............bett er get a move on. I will ask for the claim to be allocated to small claims (as the disputed amount is under 5k), but also ask for disclosure of thier calculations.

hmmmmmmmmm weird doing it this way round.

[Amethyst]

Re: HFC / Restons Claims £6k against me Won (in a way)

havent heard anything from HFC, restons solicitors whatsoever since receiving the court claim. Havent heard from the court at all since submitting my partial admission and defence.

Spoke to CCCS today and they have agreed to produce relevant evidence to support the fact a lower payment schedule was agreed before the default and collection charge were added to the account - so thats good news....I think.

I assume the AQ is the same as the N149 / N150 so I can start working out what to put in it. Should be interesting - also be interesting to see where they initially allocate the claim to - should be local to me being a litigant in person as opposed to a international company.....shouldnt it ?

[Amethyst]

Re: HFC / Restons Claims £6k against me Won (in a way)

right - I have now sent a letter to the solicitors reiterating my current proposal to pay the loan amount for them to accept before/without judgement if they exclude court fees and the stupid extortinate collection charge....

Also asked them to send me a copy of the letter that had been sent to the court which has made the judge look at the claim prior to allocation.

It would be suspected they have asked for my defence to be struck out as my defence embarrassed them and they are after a summary judgement.

We shall see

Oh yes - I am calling the court tomorrow to ask them for a copy of the letter....

should be fun

[Amethyst]

Re: HFC / Restons Claims £6k against me Won (in a way)

well I'm stumped now

I sent the part 18 request on 28th September by first class. The previous request for information was sent on 25th August. Both contained a request for the solicitors to confirm receipt of the letter by return and I haven't heard a sausage.

Now it appears that the solicitors have written to the court to ask them to strike out my defence and ask for summary judgement - they have not sent a copy of the letter to me. I have again written to them and ask that they send a copy of this to me.

The court say they cannot as the documents are with the district judge.

So what on earth do I do now ????

[Amethyst]

Re: HFC / Restons Claims £6k against me Won (in a way)

Okay have still heard NOTHING from the solicitors despite two letters and a Part 18 request for information (which has been copied to the court)

Shall I give them a call ? (well get OH to as its in his name - so probably not a great idea)

How do I go about getting the PART 18 request ordered by the court - at a guess the N244 seems the most likely option.

Should I send a CCA request with £1 direct to HFC Bank for the original agreement ? actually YES I will do that today.

What are the likely consequences of asking for an order to comply with the PART 18 request ? (pasted up this thread a bit)

Still no allocation questionnaire either - so I havent been able to request it goes into small claims / be transferred to my local court either.

Could do with some knowledgeable input ?

[Amethyst]

Re: HFC / Restons Claims £6k against me Won (in a way)

Oh damn and blast - I thought I had done as I copied the part 18 format fron the CPR rules.....then I sent a covering letter with it an havent put a flipping date on that either...it was dated 28th Sept, but I didnt put a response required by date on it.

although there is this bit Quote:
Sub-paragraph (1) above only applies if at least 14 days have passed since the Request was served and the time stated in it for a response has expired
I didnt read the part 18 request for order bit of the CPR only the part `18 initial request
this is the bit I have gone a missed Quote:
e) state the date by which the first party expects a response to the Request.
I could so kick myself I'll send another



I called the court today and they sent it for referral on 22nd Sept and it is with the judge still....they have asked HFC's letter to be sent to me when it comes back.

Thanks for you input Peter -0 much appreciated


Actually I am lost as to why on earth they are not contacting me at all..... absolutely nothing.

[Amethyst]

Re: HFC / Restons Claims £6k against me Won (in a way)

oh forgot I havent posted another letter I sent to the solicitors too, and sent a copy to the court;

Quote:
5th October


I am writing regarding the above claim.

I have filed a defence in this case and before the hearing is allocated I wish to make one final attempt at settling this out of court .

I propose the following settlement outside of Judgement;

To continue with current payments of £66.36 per month through the Consumer Credit Counselling Service (client reference xxxxxx) and ask if your clients are agreeable to removing the Collection Charge and excluding court fees and costs.

The court has informed me that you have written to the courts regarding my defence. I must inform you that service was not successful for my copy of the letter and as I have not received a copy, I formally request my copy of the said letter is resent.

Yours sincerely

[Amethyst]

Re: HFC / Restons Claims £6k against me Won (in a way)

When I spoke to them this morning she couldnt see any notes on the claim screen at all and said all paperwork was with the judge since 22nd Sept for referral.

The original lady I spoke to said the same and explained that it would be with the judge for referral only if the claimant doesnt agree with the defence.

I can't find any protocols regarding this .....

[Amethyst]

Re: HFC / Restons Claims £6k against me Won (in a way)

GOOD NEWS peeps - I think


Upon sitting at Northmapton county court on reading papers filed

it is ordered that:-

1 the judgement entered against the defendant on 27th october for payment of 6058.41 and 410 costs payable forthwith

2 The claimant may apply for a charging order at once

3 Apart from a charging order all other execution is stayed so long as the defendant pays 66.30 month

4 Any party affected by this order may apply within 7 days after service of it to vary amend or set aside


sooooo....I won in getting the collection charge of £1009.93 removed ! and carry on my payments at the same rate I was already paying.



Not sure about this bit tho

NOTE: If the claimant is entitled to add interest to the debt it is possible that the interest will be more than the installment in paragraph 3


they didnt include s.69 or anything in the claim form and the amount 6058.41 already includes interest as would have been paid had the loan continued on track.

[Amethyst]

Re: HFC / Restons Claims £6k against me Won (in a way)

Thanks Lula, I am pleased. I'm paying back what I actually owe

I have to swallow the costs bit and the charging order if they go for one, but it could have been a lot worse.

I'm writing to the solicitors today to get a breakdown of the account to make sure the payments I have been making over the last 3 months get taken off of this amount.


Gaou, let me know hows it is going with yours....