Statute Barred debt

[collu]

Hi, a default judgement CCJ was recorded against me for £349 at an old address for a payday loan account I defaulted on in February 2010 – the judgement was dated September 2018. I applied for a set aside and the claimant agreed to consent to this. The set aside was granted on 2^nd January 2019.

I filed a defence of Statute Barred as I am sure I have made no payments or acknowledged this debt since early 2010. I received a directions questionnaire from the court for the new allocation.

The claimants solicitor have stated the claimant wishes to proceed with the claim and ticked yes to mediation by the small claims mediation service on their questionnaire.

I do not feel there is anything to mediate and am minded to tick no. I am however aware that the court likes to see some attempt to settle disputes before they reach a hearing and that I would leave myself open to costs being awarded against me in the unlikely event of the claim succeeding

My question is do I merely tick yes to mediation or do I send a letter to the claimant as below to cover myself over attempts at agreement pre-court – I would have to settle if they had such proof anyway but I cannot find any reference in my records nor do I remember doing any such thing.


Example letter:

Re xxxxxxx v xxxxxxxx

case: Exxxxxxxxx ,In the County Court at Leeds


Thank you for your service of the completed directions questionnaire in the above matter.


I enclose two copies of my completed questionnaire, one for yourself and one for your client.


I have ticked NO to the matter being referred to the Small Claims Mediation Service as I do not believe there is any room for mediation. The claim stands or falls on whether or not the alleged debt was statute barred at the commencement of your claim.


In the interests of not wasting the court's valuable time but in no way acknowledging the alleged debt I would be prepared to directly negotiate settlement of your claim if;


1. You provide me with a copy of the original agreement with money amounts and dates.

2. You supply me with the evidence you wish to rely on, satisfactorily verifiable by myself, in support of your contention the alleged debt was not statute barred at the commencement of your claim.

within the next twenty-one days.


I await your reply with interest.


A copy of this letter has been sent to the court with my completed directions questionnaire.


Yours


xxxxxxxxxx- Defendant



Thoughts please?

[MIKE770]

you are expected to mediate save as to court time, ? asked Ame to pop in here for you Amethyst

[Amethyst]

When was the original claim ( that led to the original default judgment) issued ? or what was the date of the default judgment ?

The court action stops the clock, so it needs to have been statute barred at the point the claim was issued. You have mentioned this in the mediation letter draft but just to check the dates

in support of your contention the alleged debt was not statute barred at the commencement of your claim.

I would have to settle if they had such proof anyway but I cannot find any reference in my records nor do I remember doing any such thing.

Have you mentioned that you simply do not recognise the debt etc in your set aside app / defence ?

Have you sent a CCA request ? ( if not then you should get one sent now just in case )

Sorry just need to know a bit more before saying if taking a strong stance against Mediation is a good idea. If there is any flakiness then it's better to just go with ticking Yes to Mediation and utilising the additional time before you reach a hearing to find out more information to strengthen your defence and/or negotiate settlement/write off etc .