Court Claim from Arrow Global/Dryden Fairfax

[scottles38]

I would be grateful for some advice regarding a recent court claim I have received from Arrow (via Dryden Fairfax) concerning a very old MBNA debt they claim I owe. In the pre court process I sent them a letter stating I believed the debt is statute barred as I don't recall having any interaction with this debt for well over six years and I believe the debt was defaulted back in 2008. I attach a copy of the letter they sent in response to this which states they believe I made a payment in 2017 which would invalidate the 6 year statute barred defence, but they also say they can not provide the evidence of this or a copy of the agreement.

I am not currently able to obtain a statement from my bank from this period to prove or disprove this and intend to use the statute barred defence against the claim in my official response to the claim with the belief that they have to prove the payment occurred before obtaining a judgement. Please could you advise if this thinking is correct and the burden of proof is on them to disprove statute barred status and whether they will have to provide statements and proof of this payment prior to getting a court order. If they can prove this, will I still be able to settle this in full and avoid a CCJ on my record.

Many thanks for your help
Scott

[scottles38]

Adding details of the claim for completeness.

Received a claim? Yes
Issue Date: 26^th October 2022
Have you Acknowledged the Claim?: Yes online
Total Amount Claimed : GBP 4400( approximately please do NOT use EXACT figure given on the claim form, round up to next £100 or £1000)
Claimant’s Name: Arrow Global
Solicitors Firm: Drydensfairfax
Original Creditor: MBNA
Original Debt (eg. Credit card/Loan/Overdraft) : Credit Card
Particulars of Claim: relates to failed payments on mbna. A default notice was served on the defendant and has not been complied with. The balance owed was assigned from mbna to the claimant and the claimant has been notified of the assignment by letter

Is the debt Statute Barred (have you had any contact with the creditor or claimant over the last 6 years?): Not to my knowledge. Can not verify 100%
List any letters you have sent (eg: CCA/ CPR ): Letter sent stating its statute barred in response to pre court letter from Dryden Fairfax
Any Other Information or Background Details:

[scottles38]

Please could someone advise if it is ok to use all three sections as per below in a defence, or does the statute barred comment supersede all the other comments? I am in the process of writing my defence now, I believe debt to be statute barred but cant prove 100% as I am unable to get all of the statements from 2016 onwards at this time. Dryden have included no details of default date, assignment date or the transaction they are claiming I made in April 2017 and they have stated that the client is unable to provide these in the letter I have attached.

7.[The Defendant contends the alleged debt is statute barred by virtue of Section 5 of the Limitations Act 1980 in that no payment or acknowledgment has been made for over 6 years]

8.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.

9.It is denied that [Original Creditor] served any Default notice on the Defendant 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 the any Default notice relied upon complied with the requirements of s88(4A) Consumer Credit Act 1974 and that the notice was in the prescribed form as required by The Consumer Credit Enforcement Default and Termination Notice Regulations 1983


Many thanks for your help.