BW Legal / PRAC Financial Claim

[The Chode]

Received a claim? Yes
Issue Date: 01/08/2019
Have you Acknowledged the Claim?: Yes
Total Amount Claimed : £700
Claimant’s Name: PRAC Financial
Solicitors Firm: BW Legal
Original Creditor: Instant Cash Loans Ltd t/a Payday Express
Original Debt (eg. Credit card/Loan/Overdraft) : Loan

Particulars of Claim: ( Please type out in full excluding names/account numbers/exact amounts ):
The claimants claim is for the sum £xxx.xx being monies due from the defendant to the claimant under a loan agreement regulated by the consumer credit act 1974 between the defendant and Instant Cash Loans Ltd t/a Payday Express under account reference xxxxxxxx and assigned to the claimant on 09/12/2019, notice of which has been given to the defendant . The defendant failed to maintain the contractual payment under the terms of the agreement and a default notice has been served and not complied with. The claim also includes statutory interest pursuant to section 69 of the County Courts Act 1984 at a rate of 8.00% per annum (a daily rate of £x.xx) from the date of assignment of the agreement to 31/07/2019 being an amount of £xxx.xx.

Is the debt Statute Barred (have you had any contact with the creditor or claimant over the last 6 years?): I believe it might be
List any letters you have sent (eg: CCA/ CPR ): None

Any Other Information or Background Details:


I have a bit of a strange situation here. I have just returned from abroad only to find 3 letters from BW Legal and a Court claim form. I have never heard of this company nor the company they are representing (PRAC Financial).

As you can see from the above information, the claim was issued on 01/08/2019 - as I was out of the country I have been unable to acknowledge the claim (or respond to any of their letters) until today so I am not sure on my legal standing here. I wish to defend this as I believe the debt is statute barred.

As far as I remember, the last financial credit product I used / made payment to was at the end of 2012 / beginning of 2013. It might be close, but I believe this debt may be statute barred.

I spend a fair amount of time outside of the UK, so my mail is sent to my parents house. They claim to have obtained the account towards the end of 2016, I have had my details registered at my parents before this and have never received any correspondence from either PRAC financial or BW Legal. I have only had 3 letters and the court claim all within the last 2 months (whilst I was away).

Should I still produce my defence for this as I have only been able to acknowledge it now? I can prove I was not in the country during the dates of the court claim and letters as I have Entry & Exit stamps in my passport.

Lastly, one of the BW Legal letters says I can contact them up until 11th September (tomorrow).

Any ideas on how I should pursue this?

[jaguarsuk]

Your first course of action is to check whether a default judgement has been entered against you? Your deadline to acknowledge service was 20th August 2019, so I doubt they will not have applied for one, but you might be lucky.

Your next steps will be depending on whether summary judgement has been entered, so check that and let us know, then we'll advise accordingly.

[The Chode]

Your first course of action is to check whether a default judgement has been entered against you? Your deadline to acknowledge service was 20th August 2019, so I doubt they will not have applied for one, but you might be lucky.

Your next steps will be depending on whether summary judgement has been entered, so check that and let us know, then we'll advise accordingly.

How do I check if a default judgement is registered? I have signed up with credit karma & clear score to check my credit file however nothing is showing other than my 2 bank accounts at the moment - One of them says my report will be updated in 7 days, so perhaps it may show after this update?

I have acknowledged the claim online and written to BW Legal, as the last letter they sent gave me until today to "discuss options"

[jaguarsuk]

How do I check if a default judgement is registered? I have signed up with credit karma & clear score to check my credit file however nothing is showing other than my 2 bank accounts at the moment - One of them says my report will be updated in 7 days, so perhaps it may show after this update?

I have acknowledged the claim online and written to BW Legal, as the last letter they sent gave me until today to "discuss options"

Ring the court and ask them.

The fact you were able to acknowledged service suggests they have not applied for a default judgement. It's shame you have already written to them because you are going to have to get their agreement to a 28 day extension to the deadline to file your defence because even the 33 days an acknowledgement gets you have now expired.

You'll need to explain why you didn't get the claim form, where you were and that you couldn't have met the deadline, then include this as your final paragraph.

Please confirm your agreement to an extension of the time allowed for me to file my defence as allowed under CPR 15.5 so I may notify the court.

You'll also need to send them a CPR 31.14 Request for the documents mentioned in their particulars of claim, being copies of:

1. loan agreement regulated by the consumer credit act 1974 between the defendant and Instant Cash Loans Ltd t/a Payday Express under account reference xxxxxxxx
2. notice given to the defendant of assignment to the claimant on 09/12/2019
3. default notice

You'll also need to send a CCA Request to the claimant with a cheque or postal order marked "CCA 1974 STAT FEE ONLY." Enlose a copy of this request with the 31.14 letter to the solicitors.

Take copies of everything.

[The Chode]

Ring the court and ask them.

The fact you were able to acknowledged service suggests they have not applied for a default judgement. It's shame you have already written to them because you are going to have to get their agreement to a 28 day extension to the deadline to file your defence because even the 33 days an acknowledgement gets you have now expired.

You'll need to explain why you didn't get the claim form, where you were and that you couldn't have met the deadline, then include this as your final paragraph.



You'll also need to send them a CPR 31.14 Request for the documents mentioned in their particulars of claim, being copies of:

1. loan agreement regulated by the consumer credit act 1974 between the defendant and Instant Cash Loans Ltd t/a Payday Express under account reference xxxxxxxx
2. notice given to the defendant of assignment to the claimant on 09/12/2019
3. default notice

You'll also need to send a CCA Request to the claimant with a cheque or postal order marked "CCA 1974 STAT FEE ONLY." Enlose a copy of this request with the 31.14 letter to the solicitors.

Take copies of everything.

I have included parts of what you said in my letter to them.

I stated about why I didn't receive the claim form and stated I need time to file a defence. I also stated that I will be requesting CCA & CPR 31.14 documents.

The only thing missing from the letter was the paragraph you said to include at the end:

"Please confirm your agreement to an extension of the time allowed for me to file my defence as allowed under CPR 15.5 so I may notify the court."


Should I write again or would the information I have given them be sufficient ?

[jaguarsuk]

I have included parts of what you said in my letter to them.

I stated about why I didn't receive the claim form and stated I need time to file a defence. I also stated that I will be requesting CCA & CPR 31.14 documents.

The only thing missing from the letter was the paragraph you said to include at the end:

"Please confirm your agreement to an extension of the time allowed for me to file my defence as allowed under CPR 15.5 so I may notify the court."


Should I write again or would the information I have given them be sufficient ?

No that'll suffice, they should agree to extend and then you will need to send a copy of that to the court to allow them to adjust the deadline. Once they agree it's just a wait for the documents.

[The Chode]

No that'll suffice, they should agree to extend and then you will need to send a copy of that to the court to allow them to adjust the deadline. Once they agree it's just a wait for the documents.

Thanks for your help, I have some other questions too.


I decided to call them yesterday as the letter was sent close to their deadline of the 11th in their last letter to me. I explained the situation on the phone but received different conflicting information from them in regards to what I need to do.

• On here it says I should request the CCA from the Claimant (PRAC) but they told me I need to request it from them (BW Legal).
• The CPR 31.14 - is this request from BW Legal or the courts???
• Lastly - How do I request an extension? I know this might not happen as I was late with the acknowledgment. The paragraph you stated regarding CPR 15.5 sounds like I need them to agree, but they said to contact the court and that BW cannot do anything.

[jaguarsuk]

Thanks for your help, I have some other questions too.


I decided to call them yesterday as the letter was sent close to their deadline of the 11th in their last letter to me. I explained the situation on the phone but received different conflicting information from them in regards to what I need to do.

• On here it says I should request the CCA from the Claimant (PRAC) but they told me I need to request it from them (BW Legal).
• The CPR 31.14 - is this request from BW Legal or the courts???
• Lastly - How do I request an extension? I know this might not happen as I was late with the acknowledgment. The paragraph you stated regarding CPR 15.5 sounds like I need them to agree, but they said to contact the court and that BW cannot do anything.

Firstly don't phone them, what's written down can't lie.

You send the CCA to Prac with the £1 fee.

You send BW a 31.14 request and enclose a copy of the CCA request with it. The 31.14 letter is you requesting their solicitor to provide the documents they claim they have in their claim form.

If they agree to an extension you send a letter to the court with a copy of their letter consenting to it. If they do not you file the Example Defence with a few amendments to explain why you requested an extension and that they denied it.

[The Chode]

Firstly don't phone them, what's written down can't lie.

You send the CCA to Prac with the £1 fee.

You send BW a 31.14 request and enclose a copy of the CCA request with it. The 31.14 letter is you requesting their solicitor to provide the documents they claim they have in their claim form.

If they agree to an extension you send a letter to the court with a copy of their letter consenting to it. If they do not you file the Example Defence with a few amendments to explain why you requested an extension and that they denied it.

I have done what you said so far and sent the CCA & 31.14 requests to PRAC and BW respectively. I will wait for their replies. If I need further help I will post here again. Thanks for the quick help.

Just one more question - should I write to or call the court explaining my late filing? or should I leave it as everything looks fine using the online service at the moment

[jaguarsuk]

I would write to them explaining the reason and that you have written to the other side requesting them to agree to an extension, so will update them further once you receive a response.

It covers you then if BW try to pull a fast one and you have to make an application to set aside a default judgement.

[The Chode]

I would write to them explaining the reason and that you have written to the other side requesting them to agree to an extension, so will update them further once you receive a response.

It covers you then if BW try to pull a fast one and you have to make an application to set aside a default judgement.

Thanks for the help so far, I have now received the documents from PRAC financial and I am not sure how to continue with my defence as the copy of the default notice is a default notice issued by PRAC financial and not the original creditor.
It is my understanding that if the debt is statute barred then it is from the last payment or acknowledgement of the account OR the default notice (whichever is latest). Does the default notice from PRAC count or should it be from the original creditor? If it is supposed to be from the original creditor then should I file my defence as statute barred as the last acknowledgement of the account is prior to the court claim issue.

[jaguarsuk]

Thanks for the help so far, I have now received the documents from PRAC financial and I am not sure how to continue with my defence as the copy of the default notice is a default notice issued by PRAC financial and not the original creditor.
It is my understanding that if the debt is statute barred then it is from the last payment or acknowledgement of the account OR the default notice (whichever is latest). Does the default notice from PRAC count or should it be from the original creditor? If it is supposed to be from the original creditor then should I file my defence as statute barred as the last acknowledgement of the account is prior to the court claim issue.

Stat Barred is from the date of default or last payment which ever is the latter. The default notice should be from the original creditor.

Have they provided notice of assignment from the original creditor and the credit agreement?

You need to defend with as many points as possible, not just rely on one unless it's the only one you have.

[The Chode]

Stat Barred is from the date of default or last payment which ever is the latter. The default notice should be from the original creditor.

Have they provided notice of assignment from the original creditor and the credit agreement?

You need to defend with as many points as possible, not just rely on one unless it's the only one you have.

I have notice of Assignment & the CCA, but no default notice from the original creditor. The only anomaly I see on the CCA and NOA is the company name although they may have changed name in between. (CCA says Express finance t/a PD Express rather than Instant cash loans t/a PD Express)

[jaguarsuk]

That means there should be notice of assignment from one to the other, so you don't have all the notices of assignment. That wasn't name change it was two companies of similar names, so without a notice the latter was never assigned the debt and therefore couldn't assign it to Prac subsequently meaning they aren't the lawful owner of the debt, thus not legally able to bring the claim.

[The Chode]

That means there should be notice of assignment from one to the other, so you don't have all the notices of assignment. That wasn't name change it was two companies of similar names, so without a notice the latter was never assigned the debt and therefore couldn't assign it to Prac subsequently meaning they aren't the lawful owner of the debt, thus not legally able to bring the claim.

Can you just clarify that statement?

Are you saying there should be a notice of assignment from Express Finance Ltd to Instant Cash loans Ltd?