Reston false claim to having obtained a CCJ

[Pwt50]

Hi, long story short, I have been defending a court claim by cabot/Reston against myself and my partner for an alleged. Loan agreement, I sent off all the relevant requests for paperwork etc however I made the mistake of only replying to the claim in my name and not the one in my partner's name also, believing that as there was only one claim number only one defendant need reply, some months later having received no replies to my request under Cpr, my partner received a letter from Restons stating that as she had not replied to the claim they had applied for a default judgment, some weeks later they further wrote that they had received the judgment from the court and that the full amount was now payable upon receiving this information my partner entered into a payment arrangement with Restons, having not received confirmation of the judgment some weeks later we contacted the court and Registry trust only to find that no such judgement exists we then filed a defence and wrote to Restons requesting clarification of why they claimed that they had a judgment that they clearly did not have they. Did not explain why but insisted that the defence was withdrawn questioning why someone would enter into a payment arrangement if they did not owe the money yesterday we received a redacted default notice and screenshot of the alleged account from the files of the OC further requests to withdraw the defence or face having it struck out. Any advice on how to proceed from here would be greatly appreciated

[warwick65]

Re: Reston false claim to having obtained a CCJ

Hi
Restons are in my opinion the most duplicitous firm of litigation solicitors I have seen on these forums. They will attempt to twist anything.

It is not exactly clear what stage you are at

can i just ask a few questions

Was the loan in sole or joint names?

How much, roughly was the claim for- basically I am thinking hundreds , 0-5000, 5-10,000. over 10,000 over 25000

Was this a secured or unsecured loan

If the loan was in joint names, it is possible two claims may have been issued , possibly with two claim numbers

A bit more info is needed I think [MENTION=6]Amethyst[/MENTION] [MENTION=87380]Diana M[/MENTION] [MENTION=551]pt2537[/MENTION] [MENTION=5553]charitynjw[/MENTION]

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When you say redacted default notice- what was redacted?
I would question why any of it was redacted if it was your DN= could it just be a DN they found in a pile of papers in the office ?

[Pwt50]

Re: Reston false claim to having obtained a CCJ

Hi thanks for the reply, it was an unsecured loan in joint names but only had one claim number the default notice had all personal details redacted. The amount claimed is approx 4.5k,there were 2 claim forms issued but both had the same claim number.

[Diana M]

Re: Reston false claim to having obtained a CCJ

If the loan was in joint names then the Claimant would issue two claim forms with the same claim number but there would be a 1st Defendant and 2nd Defendant named on each.

When that happens each Defendant must file their own Acknowledgement of Service and Defence etc. They are treated as separate entities. In some cases they may have different legal arguments to plead etc.

What appears to have happened in this situation is you followed legal procedure but your partner didn't so they received a Default Judgment and entered into a voluntary (?) repayment plan with Restons on behalf of the Judgment Creditor.

Or did they?

Can you explain exactly what you discovered when you contacted the court because you've implied that may not have been the case despite the correspondence from Restons.

Was your partner aware of the claim (it would have been sent in a separate envelope)? If they weren't aware then she may be able to argue it wasn't served on her but that's a long shot.

Di

[Pwt50]

Re: Reston false claim to having obtained a CCJ

Hi, we both received a claim forms in our relevant names but both had the same claim number I mistakenly believed that only one defendant needed to respond as there was only one claim number, I filed Aos, CPR, CCA etc, but my partner did not, I then sent various letters back and forth to restons having not received any requested documents, my partner then received a letter from restons stating that as she had not filed an Aos/defence they had applied for a default judgment, some weeks later they wrote to say they had now received the judgment from the court and invited her to make an offer of repayment, having not received a copy of the judgment from the court we checked on registry trust and no judgment was registered we then contacted the court to find out about the status of the claim and again was told that no judgement was made and was advised to file a defence as soon as possible, I wrote to Restons asking why they accepted a repayment agreement when they knew that the claim was being defended and why they claimed to have obtained a judgment when they hadn't, they gave no explanation save to say that unless we withdrew our defence they would apply to have it struck out

[Amethyst]

Re: Reston false claim to having obtained a CCJ

Have you kept those letters which said there was a judgment ?

[Diana M]

Re: Reston false claim to having obtained a CCJ

Thanks for the clarification.

So as I understand it there is no Default Judgment against your partner. If they haven't done it already then they must file the AOS online and file and serve a Defence asap to protect their legal position.

Your Defence cannot be accepted as their Defence. They must do their own.

I would also suggest that they send a s 77-79 CCA Request to the Claimant (who is it?) and a CPR 31.14 Request to Restons solicitors.

Keep both files separate from now on since what happens to you and what happens to them will be treated separately in legal terms.

Send a Subject Access Request to the original creditor to get the full history of the account.

I'm guessing Restons wrote to you (only) asking you to withdraw your Defence and set up a payment plan. You've not done that so your Defence still stands.

Or have I misunderstood and you have set up a payment plan and NOT filed your Defence? If the latter then do that pronto!

Di

[Pwt50]

Re: Reston false claim to having obtained a CCJ

Hi, on my side of the case I've done everything one would expect, defence cpr, CCA, etc I did receive a letter from Restons asking me to withdraw my defence or face it being struck out. On my partners side, she has now filed a defence, she has set up a repayment plan but this was done when Restons wrote claiming to have obtained a default judgment, had we known that this was untrue we would not have entered into the plan, my thoughts now is how to proceed against Restons for the misleading information they provided

[Diana M]

Re: Reston false claim to having obtained a CCJ

on my side of the case I've done everything one would expect, defence cpr, CCA, etc I did receive a letter from Restons asking me to withdraw my defence or face it being struck out. On my partners side, she has now filed a defence, she has set up a repayment plan but this was done when Restons wrote claiming to have obtained a default judgment, had we known that this was untrue we would not have entered into the plan, my thoughts now is how to proceed against Restons for the misleading information they provided

You can deal with Restons' conduct issue later in the proceedings if necessary - perhaps in her Witness Statement.

I can't advise on whether your partner should cease the payment plan without seeing the papers and knowing all the facts.

What I will say is that it's common for DJs to draw the conclusion that if you are paying the debt then you are admitting you owe the money claimed.

The important thing is you have both filed a Defence and I think you're saying that your partner has also sent a CCA and CPR 31.14 Request.

The next step should be a Directions Questionnaire sent to each of you by the court. If that hasn't happened after 28 days after the Defence was filed then check with the court to see if the claim is currently stayed (a pause button on the proceedings).

Once that's been established then suggestions can be made on your and her next step depending on what's being claimed and why.

Di

[Pwt50]

Re: Reston false claim to having obtained a CCJ

Thanks Di, in their most recent letter addressed to the both of us they included some documents which they claim supports their right to pursue the debt, and invited us to withdraw our defence or they would lift the stay on proceedings and apply to have the defence struck out, so it's possible that at the moment the claim is stayed

[Diana M]

Re: Reston false claim to having obtained a CCJ

Thanks Di, in their most recent letter addressed to the both of us they included some documents which they claim supports their right to pursue the debt, and invited us to withdraw our defence or they would lift the stay on proceedings and apply to have the defence struck out, so it's possible that at the moment the claim is stayed

Did Restons send that letter addressed to both of you or did they send a separate letter to each of you?

As explained you may be partners in real life but you're separate people in these proceedings.

What you/your partner have received is a standard letter from Restons.

They may claim they have produced documents to prove their claim but that doesn't mean they have produced compliant documents and/or all the documents they need.

Check with the court that the claim is stayed so you'll have breathing to analyse your situation and decide what you should do next (if anything).

Was there a deadline to respond to Restons letter(s)?

Di

[Pwt50]

Re: Reston false claim to having obtained a CCJ

Just checked on MCOL for the claim in my name and the last activity showing was to my defence filed in February, it doesn't state that there is a stay on proceedings, the letter received this week from Restons was 1 letter addressed to the both of us not individual letters in separate envelopes, with a 14 day deadline to respond/withdraw the defence and included an admission forms to complete and return

[Diana M]

Re: Reston false claim to having obtained a CCJ

You will only be able to access your account not your partner's account on MCOL (unless she has given you her password).

So your Defence was filed in February but when was her Defence filed?

Di

[Pwt50]

Re: Reston false claim to having obtained a CCJ

Her defence was filed on the 16th may 2017,which was the same day as the registry trust search showed no judgement entered

[Amethyst]

Re: Reston false claim to having obtained a CCJ

some weeks later they wrote to say they had now received the judgment from the court and invited her to make an offer of repayment

Have you kept those letters which said there was a judgment ?

Seeing the letters might help clarify if there was a misunderstanding, or blatant untruths from Restons, and thus whether you could look at any action/complaint.