Court claim - Debt not on credit files

[lightanshade]

I have posted about this case elsewhere but wanted information on some specific points. I hope you can help.
Today is the last day to submit the defence. I have been waiting for a response from the claimant but received none in the limited time available.

I finally got round to checking Experian and Equifax. The debt is not listed on either but the company has recently listed another small debt they have bought up.
I don't recall receiving any default notice about this. Can I confidently say no default has been issued in view of nothing on the credit files?

The debt was sold on twice before being sold to the claimant. The particulars of claim don't list the original creditor or any of the subsequent owners of the debt, just the branding of the card (Debenhams). The company gives the date it was assigned the debt, but not the assignor, who isn't the original creditor.

Is it necessary for a default notice to be issued by the company who owned the debt when the breach of the agreement occurred? Can the claimant issue a default now? Do they have the power to do that?

By the way I made two payments earlier this year to try to avoid court action. Thank you.

[jaguarsuk]

I have posted about this case elsewhere but wanted information on some specific points. I hope you can help.
Today is the last day to submit the defence. I have been waiting for a response from the claimant but received none in the limited time available.

I finally got round to checking Experian and Equifax. The debt is not listed on either but the company has recently listed another small debt they have bought up.
I don't recall receiving any default notice about this. Can I confidently say no default has been issued in view of nothing on the credit files?

The debt was sold on twice before being sold to the claimant. The particulars of claim don't list the original creditor or any of the subsequent owners of the debt, just the branding of the card (Debenhams). The company gives the date it was assigned the debt, but not the assignor, who isn't the original creditor.

Is it necessary for a default notice to be issued by the company who owned the debt when the breach of the agreement occurred? Can the claimant issue a default now? Do they have the power to do that?

By the way I made two payments earlier this year to try to avoid court action. Thank you.

Okay, so what are you awaiting a response to? A CCA Request and/or 31.14 request?

The sample defence deals with the assignment notice issue as:

The Claimants statement of case states that the account was assigned from [Original Creditor] to [Claimant] on [Date]. The Defendant does not recall receiving notice of this assignment.

It can be amended to also contend that no Default Notice was sent.

The Defendant does not recall receiving notice of default from the original creditor.

You have until 4pm today to file, so probably best to answer my question before filing.

[lightanshade]

Thank you very much for replying to this. I haven't had any replies to either the CCA or the CPR 31.14. By the time I realised what I had to do I didn't have 12 working days for the CCA request. The letters were received on 06/04/18.

[jaguarsuk]

In that case you'll need to file the sample defence, including into it the default notice bit and if they come back with documents you can assess your position accordingly at the time.

When was the last payment made and what is the date of default (if known)?

[lightanshade]

I genuinely don't remember any default notice and the debt isn't on Experian or Equifax now. The POC don't mention default at all. They say instead that payments weren't made so the agreement was breached and then terminated.

I don't know if there was ever a default on Experian or Equifax but by the vague timings in my head it couldn't have happened long enough ago to drop off. The account went through 4 owners so that could be part of the confusion.

i made a payment in Jan and Feb this year to try to stop it going to court. Before that I hadn't paid for about 16 months. Thanks

[jaguarsuk]

I genuinely don't remember any default notice and the debt isn't on Experian or Equifax now. The POC don't mention default at all. They say instead that payments weren't made so the agreement was breached and then terminated.

I don't know if there was ever a default on Experian or Equifax but by the vague timings in my head it couldn't have happened long enough ago to drop off. The account went through 4 owners so that could be part of the confusion.

i made a payment in Jan and Feb this year to try to stop it going to court. Before that I hadn't paid for about 16 months. Thanks

Okay, so you can remove the statute barred part of the sample defence, the payment this year means that's not valid or relevant.

The fact it's been assigned 4 times is good for you, they need to prove you were notified each time and unless they already have that information then it's unlikely they'll get it. Assignment issues could be the route to success, but did you ask for Notice of assignment in the part 31.14 request?

[lightanshade]

I did ask for the assignment.

I haven't admitted or denied entering into a credit agreement. I just stuck with the line that there isn't enough information for me to assess my position and the original creditor hasn't even been identified.

Should I also admit that I have had requests for payment and I have made some payments?

Thanks

[jaguarsuk]

I did ask for the assignment.

I haven't admitted or denied entering into a credit agreement. I just stuck with the line that there isn't enough information for me to assess my position and the original creditor hasn't even been identified.

Should I also admit that I have had requests for payment and I have made some payments?

Thanks

I would just stick to the example defence, remove point 7 of it and you don't need to admit having made payments. If they assert that you made payments later you simply state the truth that you made them to delay any possible proceedings while you properly assessed your legal position.

If you are successful in having the claim dismissed, you'll write to them to demand repayment of the payments you made in Jan/Feb, but lets not get ahead of ourselves.

[lightanshade]

Thank you. You've been very helpful.

[jaguarsuk]

Thank you. You've been very helpful.

No problem, if you need more help as you go along then come back to this thread, best to keep things all in one place.

Good Luck.

[warwick65]

Hi Lightandshade

It is not exactly clear what the details of the claim are or indeed what it is for and you have not said when the account was claimed to have been defaulted. It is probably too late now but- if there had been a clear 6 year period between default and your payment earlier this year then the debt could be statute barred - once a debt os statute barred it can not be unbarred

I will try to see if I can look at your previous posts

[warwick65]

Hi

Just read your original thread and indeed you were making payments up until 2015/16 so SB is out of the question (unless there was a clear 6 month break in payments)

As said on the other thread they will need to prove the chain of assignments which might be problematic for them .

Much will depend on what you put in your defence

The DN should have been sent by the creditor at the time you defaulted

Should it get to court a tip from personal experience

If you did not receive a DN , it helps if you can give a brief explanation as to why you are sure you did not

For example - in my case I was able to say with certainty I had filed all correspondence from that time and did not receive a DN - if I had I would have a copy of it . Of course with me it also helped they couldn't produce a copy of it or indeed any amounts or dates allegedly on it.

Did you ever send SARs to either GE or Newday?

[lightanshade]

Sorry I didn't see your messages before I submitted my defence warwick65. I didn't SAR anyone. I didn't think it was relevant to me but I guess it would be useful to know what information the previous companies hold on me. Is that the reason for doing a SAR?

[warwick65]

Hi

I thought it might have been too late

Yes the SAR will let you know if what the claimant says matches up with what the original creditor says- now if they are different- well one of them must be wrong

As an example although it was not argued in court
In my case the SAR said the debt had been assigned on date xx and the claim said it had been assigned on date yy - there was a black hole in the middle so either the dates were wrong or it had been assigned to someone else in the middle in which there should have been proof.

Also the date of the DN did not match up with the date on the claim form