Restons solicitors (dms) - next directory, county court claim form (help needed)

[Darter245]

Hi again and thanks Mike and Amethyst for responding.

I am going to put the following for my defence, would you be kind enough to have a look and see if you think it is acceptable or if anything needs to be tweaked?

In the Northampton County Court Business Centre

Claim No *********

Debt Managers (Services) LTD
Claimant
And

***************************
Defendant

DEFENCE

1. I received the claim ******** from Northampton County Court on 4th June 2018.

2. Each and every allegation in the Claimants statement of case is denied unless specifically admitted in this Defence.

3. This claim appears to be for a Catalogue Account agreement regulated under the Consumer Credit Act 1974.

4. It is (admitted/denied) that the Defendant has (previously) entered into an agreement with Next Directory for provision of credit.

5. The Claimants statement of case fails to give adequate information to enable me to properly assess my position with regards the claim.

6. The Claimants Particulars of Claim fail to state when the agreement was entered into.

7. The Claimants statement of case states that the account was assigned from Next Directory to Debt Managers (Services) Ltd on 9th July 2016. The Defendant does not recall receiving notice of this assignment.

8. It is denied that Next Directory served any Default Notice on the Default pursuant to s87 Consumer Credit Act 1974. The Claimant is required to prove that a compliant Default Notice was served upon the Defendant. The Claimant is required to prove that any Default Notice relied upon, complied with the requirements of s88(4A) Consumer Credit Act 1974 and that the notice was in the proscribed form as required by the Consumer Credit Enforcement Default and Termination Notice Regulations 1983.

9. On the 11th of June 2018 I sent a request for Inspection of documents mentioned in the Claimants statement of case under Civil Procedure Rule 31.14 to Restons Solicitors Ltd. I requested the Claimants provide copies of the Agreement, Default Notice and Notice of Assignment.

10. Restons Solicitors Ltd has not sent any of these documents to me.

11. On the 11th of June 2018 I sent a formal request for a copy of the original agreement to Debt Managers (Services) Ltd pursuant to section (77 or 78) of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 along with the statutory £1 fee.

12. The Claimant has failed to comply with (s77 (1) / s78 (1) Consumer Credit Act 1974 and by the virtue of (s77 (4) / s 78 (6) ) Consumer Credit Act 1974 cannot enforce the agreement.

13. I have asked the Claimant if we may agree to extend the time period allowed for filling of my defence pending receipt of documents (as allowed under CPR 15.5 to allow the Claimants documentation to evidence their claim, however they have failed to do so.

14. Under Civil Procedure Rule 16.5 (4) where the claim includes a money claim, a defendant shall be taken to require that any allegation relating to the amount of money claimed be proved unless he expressly admits the allegation. Therefore it is expected that the Claimant be required to prove the allegation that the money owed as claimed.

15. I request the court orders the Claimants to provide the necessary documentation in order for me to fully plead my case else the Claim should stand struck out.

16. In the event that the relevant documents are received from the Claimants I will then be in a position to amend my defence and would ask that the Claimants bear the costs of the amendment.

17. It is denied that the Claimant is entitled to the relief as claimed or at all.

Statement of Truth

The defendant believes that the facts stated in this Defence are true.

Signed *****************
Dated *******************


Point number 4 may sound like a silly question but am I admitting or denying the agreement?

Many thanks as always

Micky

[Darter245]

Bump

[Darter245]

Hi

Could someone be as kind to have a look at the defence I have put together and say if it looks OK to use? Also might sound like a daft question but am I admitting to having knowledge of the account or denying it?

Thanks

Micky

[Darter245]

BUMP!

[Darter245]

Hello anyone?

[Setmefree3]

jaguarsuk Is brilliant in assisting with such matters, I have tagged in.

[jaguarsuk]

Hi again and thanks Mike and Amethyst for responding.

I am going to put the following for my defence, would you be kind enough to have a look and see if you think it is acceptable or if anything needs to be tweaked?

In the Northampton County Court Business Centre

Claim No *********

Debt Managers (Services) LTD
Claimant
And

***************************
Defendant

DEFENCE

1. I received the claim ******** from Northampton County Court on 4th June 2018.

2. Each and every allegation in the Claimants statement of case is denied unless specifically admitted in this Defence.

3. This claim appears to be for a Catalogue Account agreement regulated under the Consumer Credit Act 1974.

4. It is (admitted/denied) that the Defendant has (previously) entered into an agreement with Next Directory for provision of credit.

5. The Claimants statement of case fails to give adequate information to enable me to properly assess my position with regards the claim.

6. The Claimants Particulars of Claim fail to state when the agreement was entered into.

7. The Claimants statement of case states that the account was assigned from Next Directory to Debt Managers (Services) Ltd on 9th July 2016. The Defendant does not recall receiving notice of this assignment.

8. It is denied that Next Directory served any Default Notice on the Default pursuant to s87 Consumer Credit Act 1974. The Claimant is required to prove that a compliant Default Notice was served upon the Defendant. The Claimant is required to prove that any Default Notice relied upon, complied with the requirements of s88(4A) Consumer Credit Act 1974 and that the notice was in the proscribed form as required by the Consumer Credit Enforcement Default and Termination Notice Regulations 1983.

9. On the 11th of June 2018 I sent a request for Inspection of documents mentioned in the Claimants statement of case under Civil Procedure Rule 31.14 to Restons Solicitors Ltd. I requested the Claimants provide copies of the Agreement, Default Notice and Notice of Assignment.

10. Restons Solicitors Ltd has not sent any of these documents to me.

11. On the 11th of June 2018 I sent a formal request for a copy of the original agreement to Debt Managers (Services) Ltd pursuant to section (77 or 78) of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 along with the statutory £1 fee.

12. The Claimant has failed to comply with (s77 (1) / s78 (1) Consumer Credit Act 1974 and by the virtue of (s77 (4) / s 78 (6) ) Consumer Credit Act 1974 cannot enforce the agreement.

13. I have asked the Claimant if we may agree to extend the time period allowed for filling of my defence pending receipt of documents (as allowed under CPR 15.5 to allow the Claimants documentation to evidence their claim, however they have failed to do so.

14. Under Civil Procedure Rule 16.5 (4) where the claim includes a money claim, a defendant shall be taken to require that any allegation relating to the amount of money claimed be proved unless he expressly admits the allegation. Therefore it is expected that the Claimant be required to prove the allegation that the money owed as claimed.

15. I request the court orders the Claimants to provide the necessary documentation in order for me to fully plead my case else the Claim should stand struck out.

16. In the event that the relevant documents are received from the Claimants I will then be in a position to amend my defence and would ask that the Claimants bear the costs of the amendment.

17. It is denied that the Claimant is entitled to the relief as claimed or at all.

Statement of Truth

The defendant believes that the facts stated in this Defence are true.

Signed *****************
Dated *******************


Point number 4 may sound like a silly question but am I admitting or denying the agreement?

Many thanks as always

Micky

Hi Micky I deny anything until they prove me wrong personally, so I'd deny and delete "(previously)" as that is redundant. Other than that all looks fine to me.

[Darter245]

Hi JAGUARSUK

Thanks for taking some time out of your day to have a look at my post. I was thinking the same, just wanted to clarify things before I pushed on with the defence.

Many thanks again.

Micky

[Darter245]

Evening

My Defence has been submitted and I have received confirmation of this from the County Court. A couple a days ago I had a letter turn up from Debt Managers (Services) Ltd in relation to my CCA request. They are asking for details of a previous address in regards to data protection before they can proceed with my request. Please see below;

What are peoples opinions regard their response? Do I ignore the letter or respond to it?

Many thanks

Micky

[jaguarsuk]

Evening

My Defence has been submitted and I have received confirmation of this from the County Court. A couple a days ago I had a letter turn up from Debt Managers (Services) Ltd in relation to my CCA request. They are asking for details of a previous address in regards to data protection before they can proceed with my request. Please see below;

What are peoples opinions regard their response? Do I ignore the letter or respond to it?

Many thanks

Micky

You could just respond with the post code as that's the easiest option and then they'll send you what they have if they have it.

Personally I would respond in the following way as it demonstrates to them you aren't a mug and know what you are doing in this claim, so if they're on a fishing trip might be inclined not to spend the hearing fee when it comes to that. They'll refer such a letter to Restons whom will advise them what you are saying is correct.

State that they have issued proceedings upon you in the county court business centre to your current address and that if they were not confident that you are the person whom they in dispute with, then that is an abuse of the court process and it will be duly brought to the attention of the court.

Secondly had they filed their claim in the county court instead of online it would have been incumbent upon them to provide that document at the point of filing regardless of them knowing if you could provide your previous address or not. You have also sent their solicitor a CPR 31.14 request for the CCA and it is their obligation under CPR Part 31 to provide it or else you consider this is unreasonable conduct pursuant to CPR 27.14 and will ask the court to consider it such at a hearing.

Thirdly having now filed a defence due to them failing to respond in the time allowed under the request the matter is due for allocation of track and you consider them failing to respond adequately as further unreasonable conduct pursuant to CPR 27.14.

Fourthly Directions questionnaires will be sent by the court shortly to enable allocation of track. Within that questionnaire the court will ask us both if we wish to engage in mediation to resolve the matter without need of a hearing, but one of the pre-requisites of this for a defendant is that they have all the information required to understand the Claimants claim.

I deny entering into any CCA and if you refuse to provide a copy of it then I will be unable to mediate due to your unreasonable conduct. That conduct will also be highlighted to the court pursuant to CPR 27.14.

Finally a CCA will be required to be disclosed to you regardless of Data Protection in the court proceedings as the court will direct disclosure of documents you rely upon along with Witness Statements, should they wait to do this until that point it will severely prejudice your ability to plead your case and that would be more unreasonable conduct pursuant to CPR 27.14 for the court to consider.

In summary should you now refuse to comply with my request dated X I confirm that at a hearing I will ask the court to consider an order for my cost of and occasioned in dealing with this matter against you.

If however you choose to withdraw from the claim at this stage I confirm I will not pursue you for my costs to date.

[Darter245]

We certainly can't have them thinking that I am a mug, the latter sounds by far the best way forward. I did think they were having a laugh by bringing the address and previous post code up as a problem for not providing the documents. It's just good to hear some valued advice on next steps. I don't think I would have wrote a letter in response quite as good as the points you have made. It all sounds very good and to the point as well. I will most certainly get that typed up, re-worded ever so slightly and fired off to them.

Many thanks for your time as always JAGUARSUK.

Micky

[Darter245]

.

Evening

I'll just start with a quick update, on the 2nd of July I received confirmation of receipt of my defence. Also yesterday I received a response from Next Directory regarding my subject access request. I will add some photos of what Next Directory have passed on to me and will ask a few questions after.

First of all as mentioned in earlier posts I have no recollection of signing anything or ever applying for a Next Directory account that's including an online application. The fact that all they have sent is a "Specimen Credit Agreement" and nothing with my signature or even my name typed anywhere does this mean they can't locate the signed document if they have one?

The other pages that I have included are pages of the account first opening then a few more pages of all transactions from account opening to the account defaulting etc. It starts with things like marketing contacts options updated then Indebtedness score of 301 and then high risk then following with things like cancel order and collect cash. Does this not appear as though I shouldn't have been given the account in the first place?

Lastly I asked Next Directory for Credit Agreements, Statements, History Notes, Statement of Account, Credit Reference Agencies searches etc and all other information they hold on myself relating to this account, do these few pages satisfy my request? To me it seems as though they haven't sent a lot or the correct stuff.

Thanks

Micky

[jaguarsuk]

Evening

I'll just start with a quick update, on the 2nd of July I received confirmation of receipt of my defence. Also yesterday I received a response from Next Directory regarding my subject access request. I will add some photos of what Next Directory have passed on to me and will ask a few questions after.

First of all as mentioned in earlier posts I have no recollection of signing anything or ever applying for a Next Directory account that's including an online application. The fact that all they have sent is a "Specimen Credit Agreement" and nothing with my signature or even my name typed anywhere does this mean they can't locate the signed document if they have one?

The other pages that I have included are pages of the account first opening then a few more pages of all transactions from account opening to the account defaulting etc. It starts with things like marketing contacts options updated then Indebtedness score of 301 and then high risk then following with things like cancel order and collect cash. Does this not appear as though I shouldn't have been given the account in the first place?

Lastly I asked Next Directory for Credit Agreements, Statements, History Notes, Statement of Account, Credit Reference Agencies searches etc and all other information they hold on myself relating to this account, do these few pages satisfy my request? To me it seems as though they haven't sent a lot or the correct stuff.

Thanks

Micky

You can enter into a agreement online without a signature, however I beleieve Next did not operate this way & Amethyst might be able to elaborate more, but I believe with the first order they sent an agreement to sign and return.

Well my first thought is how can this "specimen" be a reconstitution or true copy of the original when Seonna Anderson was only appointed to her post on 3rd February 2014? Her signature is obviously included to try to lend some credibility to the document. https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/c...70808/officers

The agreement displays no APR or Interest Rate.

The letter "We are preparing to sell your debt" is not a notice of assignment.

It's not a bad thing they haven't sent a lot as it means that the claimant can't get hold of what they need either.

[Amethyst]

Good spot Jags, however digging a little more, she did do the deputy CS / Finance director role from 2003 onwards so don't think that indicates on its own it's not the correct agreement - reading through the rest in any case xxx ( Obvs it's not signed but that really only matters if it is evidentially disputed )

[jaguarsuk]

Good spot Jags, however digging a little more, she did do the deputy CS / Finance director role from 2003 onwards so don't think that indicates on its own it's not the correct agreement - reading through the rest in any case xxx ( Obvs it's not signed but that really only matters if it is evidentially disputed )

She would sign on behalf of the post holder as deputy, so their name should be present with her signature or in her own title to be legal.

I have been trying to find an image of one from the time and can only find an illegible version, but there should be way more information based on the illegible version than is on that "specimen," the font on the illegible is this small and there's two full pages of it.

If this is what the Claimant produces then it needs to be very much disputed.