Reeston Solicitor - Received court papers

[Ryan1]

Dear All

I hope you can help me and thank you in advance.

i have received court papers for a CCJ from Northampton court for the sum of 1k. (Arrow finance)

I have no recollection of the debt and have rang them multiple times to ask for a copy of the agreement- if it is mine then I realise it is my duty to pay.

The debt is from shop direct and from 2011 when I was 17 years old. However they have a different date of birth from mine - varying by a year.

I am not making excuses but I had a very difficult period during my under 18's and I made mistakes - this may have been one but I have worked very hard and I am back on track and working hard in a low paid job.

should I try and borrow the money and just pay this? I do not want a CCJ as I have no family support, am young and I have to privately rent. I have acknowledged the claim to hopefully given me additional 14 days but can not eat or sleep I am so worried. When I ring them they won't speak to me as my date of birth doesn't match records held by them and ignore my emails.

any advice you can give I would be very grateful. The debt is now 5 years old. Aside from this I have no credit file at all excpect a few car insurance searches.

kind regards

Ryan

[Ryan1]

Re: Reeston Solicitor - Received court papers

Can anyone help please?

[Amethyst]

Re: Reeston Solicitor - Received court papers

Hi Ryan Apolgies your post got missed yesterday - just having a read xx

[Amethyst]

Re: Reeston Solicitor - Received court papers

This variation on the DOB - would that make you 18 when you opened the account ? ( and did you put that as your DOB when you opened the account so that you could have it, or is that something they have done ?) Were you working when you were 17 ? Do you have any recollection of what details you entered ? ( not that it should matter it should have jumped out that you were underage when they credit checked you )

Stop trying to ring/email them, they don't care, Restons are appalling at responding to people generally - and you really should not let this get you down. It is a process, and you are just a number to them, and don't worry, no one will judge you here, and we'll help all we can xxx

I personally hate Shop Direct. They are horrendous at giving credit to people who really can't afford it then suckering them in with increases in credit limits when they are only making the minimum payments. Irresponsible lending ( irresponsible borrowing too but it's just too sodding easy!) I've been there too.

I would follow the First Steps to begin with, get the CCA and CPR letters sent off ( all detailed in that post ) - just keep them basic. I would also, if at all possible, send a Subject Access Request to Shop Direct ( SAR (Subject access request) ) This could be very useful later showing the lack of checks or that they knew you were under 18. It will also get the transaction lists and show any interest/charges applied which can be defended.

Can you tell us the date the claim was issued please, and type out the particulars of claim from the front of the form.

Oh and you have 33 days from the date of issue to file your defence ( not just 14 days from when you acknowledged)

[Ryan1]

Re: Reeston Solicitor - Received court papers

Thank you for replying, my age at account opening was 17 when I was in full time education. You are right they are not responding to me at all. Should I defend do you think or try and pay it. Thank you again it is really worrying me. The claim date is 27th June. I really don't know if this is s mistake I have made and feel very ashamed incase it is and am just desperate to sort it and if I have done wrong I will pay for it but really can't remember this one and can't face going to court think it would set me back but if I borrow the money is going to be at a terrible interest rate. Thanks again

[Amethyst]

Re: Reeston Solicitor - Received court papers

You won't be borrowing to pay this off. Frying pan / fire etc ..... If all the documentation stacks up there is always the possibility of negotiating settlement by instalment without the ccj being applied - let's see how we go

Take a breath and have a look at the letters - the cpr and cca letters need to go off. You have to the 27th July to make any decision with whether to defend or not. Take a little time to have a read through some other people's cases, particularly in the concluded cases section. The claimants have to jump through some hoops to get anywhere with their claim - and with what you have said about not recalling the account I would definitely send the subject access request in to shop direct.

Have you been getting letters about this over the years at all ?

[Ryan1]

Re: Reeston Solicitor - Received court papers

Thank you will send letters off, they have been sending letters but I have not been home for several years so only just come to my attention when I returned unfortunately and when it has got to this stage. If I defend do I have to go to court? Really grateful of your help

[Amethyst]

Re: Reeston Solicitor - Received court papers

You don't have to go to court, mainly because it is unlikely to get to that stage, as there's quite a lot of stages in between now and a court date, and they could discontinue or you can negotiate to settle the debt at any point between times, and if you chose not to settle you could have your case heard on paper by the Judge. It would be recommended to attend a hearing of course, and it might actually be an interesting experience for you - I understand it is scary, but it is seriously no worse than going to the Dentist ( though I suppose that depends how you feel about Dentists )

Firstly you need to find out if they are legally entitled to claim the debt from you, hence the CCA, CPR and SAR letters.

You mentioned earlier that the DOB was wrong by a year - is that to make you a year older ? or is it just completely incorrect so it could be a case of ID fraud or mistaken ID ?

As you were under 18 when you opened the account the agreement may be invalid, so that can form part of your defence. They'd have to show they reasonably believed you to be over 18 - and possibly fibbing on the application ( adjusting DOB ) might cover that. Also what you would have to pay would depend on what the goods were, if they were 'necessities' ( like clothing) you may be liable for the actual cost of the goods - but the interest/charges ie credit agreement element of the debt would be invalid. So a few defences to investigate after you've gathered the documents.

Just tell us everything you do and anything you hear from the claimant, solicitors or the court and people here will help guide you through the process..

[Ryan1]

Re: Reeston Solicitor - Received court papers

Thank you very much. Will update once letters sent, really am grateful for your time