Court Action - Statute barred - Close to court date

**warwick65** · 15th February 2018, 20:43:PM

I am afraid 5 weeks from SB might as well be 6 years, it is not SB

How much is the claim for?

Have you received their WS and are they arguing the SB issue - with some proof

**jackmidnight** · 15th February 2018, 21:40:PM

Hi and thank you

It’s for £3800.
Yes I have received their WS and it contains one statement of a payment made Oct 2010. Originally my bank advised me this particular payment was last made in 2009 but since then (after I had filed my WS) I received info from stepchange that I had made final payment in October 2010.

I understand what you’ve said about Sb, I thought as much

**warwick65** · 15th February 2018, 21:49:PM

Has this claim been stayed for well over a a year? You might want to discuss this with a solicitor to see if there are any options left.
Diana M

Did you only plead SB?

If all else fails you might eantwto negotiate either a tomlin order or a full and final if you have the fundd

**warwick65** · 15th February 2018, 21:52:PM

One last question, when did you cancel your arrangement with step change

**jackmidnight** · 15th February 2018, 22:00:PM

So i cancelled my plan with stepchange on the 18th of October, the last payment was made to my creditors on the 19th, this showing on statements I presume by the 25th.

They filed the claim on Sept 16th 2016 so this is how they are claiming it is not statute barred. I’m sorry but I don’t understand what you mean by stayed for well over a year, all I know is the date the claim was issued by court and now it’s ended up with a court date of a couple of weeks away.

Yes I only pleaded statute barred in statement, I genuinely thought it was and thought the statement they produced was a one off odd payment from so where other than myself or third party representing me. I requested the court to find where the payment originated from as there was only BACS next to it.

I dont know what a Tomlin order is?

Am am I right that if it went to court and a ccj was issued they would give me the chance to pay it off within 28 days?

Thank you

**jackmidnight** · 16th February 2018, 10:54:AM

Any advice would be great please

**MIKE770** · 16th February 2018, 11:19:AM

Originally posted by jackmidnight View Post

Any advice would be great please

A Tomlin order is a court order in the English civil justice system under which a court action is stayed, on terms which have been agreed in advance between the parties and which are included in a schedule to the order. As such, it is a form of consent order.

**Amethyst** · 16th February 2018, 11:51:AM

Originally posted by jackmidnight View Post

So i cancelled my plan with stepchange on the 18th of October, the last payment was made to my creditors on the 19th, this showing on statements I presume by the 25th.

They filed the claim on Sept 16th 2016 so this is how they are claiming it is not statute barred. I’m sorry but I don’t understand what you mean by stayed for well over a year, all I know is the date the claim was issued by court and now it’s ended up with a court date of a couple of weeks away.

Yes I only pleaded statute barred in statement, I genuinely thought it was and thought the statement they produced was a one off odd payment from so where other than myself or third party representing me. I requested the court to find where the payment originated from as there was only BACS next to it.

I dont know what a Tomlin order is?

Am am I right that if it went to court and a ccj was issued they would give me the chance to pay it off within 28 days?

Thank you

Yes, if you receive a Judgment against you and pay it in full within 28 days the entry will be removed from the register.

A Tomlin order BEFORE the hearing would enable you, if the claimant agrees, to pay the debt in installments without the CCJ being awarded against you - however if you missed any installments agreed they could go back to court for judgment. If you completed the installments and paid the debt off the case would be closed and no CCJ awarded. Might be an option if you can't pay in a lump sum. Plus if you do negotiate before the hearing ( Without prejudice ) you may be able to get a little bit of a discount, BUT it would cost you an extra £100 to lodge the consent order with the court.

It has taken a long while to get to a court hearing - this is why Warwick was asking if the case had been on hold for a year or so, it is normally done and dusted with a hearing within 6 months from the claim being made.

Is the only issue you defended the case on the statute barred issue?

Does the claimant's witness statement state where the payment was from, or just BACS ? It does seem though that now you know the debt is not statute barred your defence has fallen away, if there was nothing else in your defence you may be best looking at settling.

On the plus side, if your DMP stopped making payments in October 2010, any debts that haven't already filed at court should be statute barred now.

**warwick65** · 16th February 2018, 12:39:PM

The reason I asked about it being stayed was these things usually progress relatively quickly but it is a bit clearer now that there have been directions and possible hearings

Stayed is when a hearing is put on hold, usually because the claimant has not progressed it, I think sometimes this is deliberate and sometimes it may be because your paperwork somehow got missed

Originally posted by Amethyst View Post

Yes, if you receive a Judgment against you and pay it in full within 28 days the entry will be removed from the register.

A Tomlin order BEFORE the hearing would enable you, if the claimant agrees, to pay the debt in installments without the CCJ being awarded against you - however if you missed any installments agreed they could go back to court for judgment. If you completed the installments and paid the debt off the case would be closed and no CCJ awarded. Might be an option if you can't pay in a lump sum. Plus if you do negotiate before the hearing ( Without prejudice ) you may be able to get a little bit of a discount, BUT it would cost you an extra £100 to lodge the consent order with the court.

Might not that depend on the wording of the consent order - so in some cases it can be done straight away and in other cases it has to go to a full hearing ?

**Amethyst** · 16th February 2018, 14:06:PM

It might, but generally if it's a settlement amount ( discounted ) they will include a bit that they can go direct to judgment but pick up the court process if they want to try for the full amount. It depends on the terms negotiated.

**Diana M** · 16th February 2018, 14:29:PM

Originally posted by jackmidnight View Post

I received a county court claim from Cohen - hoist portfolio, I have defended it genuinely thinking it was a statute barred debt . . . . .
The court date is in less than two weeks.

I feel I have two options:
1. I let it go to court and end up with the court issuing a ccj and pay it off in full - I am able to do this through borrowing from my parents - if I do this within the 28 days is this definetly something that wont be recorded on my credit history? - This is now really good so I have to avoid a ccj,

2. I send in an extra piece to add to my witness statement - i understand the judge may decide it can't be used - stating I was unaware of the information I have found out since filing my witness statement and would respectfully ask the judge to consider the fact that it was 5 weeks from being statute barred.

Consider whether there may be a third option.

When exactly is the court Hearing (what date) and how long is it listed for?

Who was the original creditor?

What was the account (credit card, loan, bank overdraft, catalogue account, utility bill, mobile phone contract)?

When was the account opened and how?

Have you been receiving annual Notice of Sums in Arrears (s86) since the account defaulted?

Just because the debt is not Statute Barred that doesn't necessarily mean it's enforceable in court. There are many ways to defeat a claim.

Send a s 77-79 CCA Request to Hoist with a copy to Howard Cohen asap.

I know nothing about the facts of this case (except that you believe it's not SB) so it's hard to advise what a Litigant in Person could do at such short notice. I know what a lawyer would do.

Incidentally Hoist are unlicensed.

Di

**MIKE770** · 16th February 2018, 14:36:PM

CCA Request Letter

**jackmidnight** · 16th February 2018, 18:29:PM

Originally posted by Amethyst View Post

Yes, if you receive a Judgment against you and pay it in full within 28 days the entry will be removed from the register.

A Tomlin order BEFORE the hearing would enable you, if the claimant agrees, to pay the debt in installments without the CCJ being awarded against you - however if you missed any installments agreed they could go back to court for judgment. If you completed the installments and paid the debt off the case would be closed and no CCJ awarded. Might be an option if you can't pay in a lump sum. Plus if you do negotiate before the hearing ( Without prejudice ) you may be able to get a little bit of a discount, BUT it would cost you an extra £100 to lodge the consent order with the court.

It has taken a long while to get to a court hearing - this is why Warwick was asking if the case had been on hold for a year or so, it is normally done and dusted with a hearing within 6 months from the claim being made.

Is the only issue you defended the case on the statute barred issue?

Does the claimant's witness statement state where the payment was from, or just BACS ? It does seem though that now you know the debt is not statute barred your defence has fallen away, if there was nothing else in your defence you may be best looking at settling.

On the plus side, if your DMP stopped making payments in October 2010, any debts that haven't already filed at court should be statute barred now.

Thank you for all this really useful information, I really appreciate it.

I see, with regards to the Tomlin order, the frustrating thing is with it all is that they produced a statement from 2010 of a bacs payment - there is nothing other the saying bacs and thank you , it does have a transaction number, the card was originally Tesco. It went back and forth from the court to them a fair bit as when they originally put the claim in they provided nothing except the claim. The court then ask for more information, they then only provided the credit agreement I had made in 2005. This showed nothing other than I agreed to it so the court asked again for further info, in between all this my defence was SB, after that they sent them statements, this only showed me paying until 2006, then the court asked again for further information and they produced a statement which showed a payment made in 2010. It was very drawn out and I was surprised at how long it has all gone on.

Yes, in my witness statement I raised the points above and also that the debt was statute barred, I had messages from my bank stating this, I also asked the court where the bacs payment had originated from as it did not state anywhere in the witness statement where the bacs came from, only that a payment had been made. I'm presuming by the time we go to court they will have found evidence of this?

Yes, on the plus side they would've all stopped at the same time so I now know this, however, I do still get the odd letter from some of the creditors, none have filed it with the court.

THank you

**jackmidnight** · 16th February 2018, 18:35:PM

Originally posted by Diana M View Post

Consider whether there may be a third option.

When exactly is the court Hearing (what date) and how long is it listed for?

Who was the original creditor?

What was the account (credit card, loan, bank overdraft, catalogue account, utility bill, mobile phone contract)?

When was the account opened and how?

Have you been receiving annual Notice of Sums in Arrears (s86) since the account defaulted?

Just because the debt is not Statute Barred that doesn't necessarily mean it's enforceable in court. There are many ways to defeat a claim.

Send a s 77-79 CCA Request to Hoist with a copy to Howard Cohen asap.

I know nothing about the facts of this case (except that you believe it's not SB) so it's hard to advise what a Litigant in Person could do at such short notice. I know what a lawyer would do.

Incidentally Hoist are unlicensed.

Di

Hi Di,

Thank you.
The court hearing is on the 27th of Feb.
Original creditor was Tesco and a credit card.
The account was opened in 2005 and they have sent me the original agreement.
Annual notice of sums in arrears? - possibly, they occasionally send me a letter but through robinson way then cohen/hoist I'm not sure if they are annual notices of sums in arrears though.
Would there be any point in sending the s 77-79 CCS if they have already included the original agreement in their witness statement?

Out of interest what would a lawyer do? - I don't have the funds to get one but I'm interested.

What does this mean that Hoist are unlicensed?

Thank you

Court Action - Statute barred - Close to court date