Just a quick question about a County Court claim by Lowell Solicitors

[Treebadger]

jaguarsuk Amethyst

I have just checked my dates on my court documents. The date on the Claim Form is 13th August so that means I have to reply by 13th Sept.

Please can anyone give me some guidance as to what to do next please? I need to post things tomorrow really to make sure I meet the deadline.

[Treebadger]

Please.... can anyone advise me, I need to file my defence and am not sure what to say?

[jaguarsuk]

jaguarsuk Amethyst

I have just checked my dates on my court documents. The date on the Claim Form is 13th August so that means I have to reply by 13th Sept.

Please can anyone give me some guidance as to what to do next please? I need to post things tomorrow really to make sure I meet the deadline.

Have you acknowledged service?

If you have your deadline is 4pm on Monday 16th September 2019.

If you have not, acknowledge service now.

You have until Monday, so don't need to be posting anything until Friday and you can email your defence to the court to ensure it arrives on time.

Start drafting from the Example Defence and when you have a first draft (with personal information removed) post a copy of it here for critique.

[Treebadger]

Have you acknowledged service?

If you have your deadline is 4pm on Monday 16th September 2019.

If you have not, acknowledge service now.

You have until Monday, so don't need to be posting anything until Friday and you can email your defence to the court to ensure it arrives on time.

Start drafting from the Example Defence and when you have a first draft (with personal information removed) post a copy of it here for critique.

Thanks jaguarsuk, apologies if I was sounding frantic! I will do exactly as you say and post my draft on here later.

I have indeed acknowledged service. I guess the deadline jumps forward a day as 33 days from court date is on a Sunday? That's a relief to have a bit more breathing room, thanks again for the reply.

[jaguarsuk]

Thanks jaguarsuk, apologies if I was sounding frantic! I will do exactly as you say and post my draft on here later. I have indeed acknowledged service. I guess the deadline jumps forward a day as 33 days from court date is on a Sunday? That's a relief to have a it more breathing room, thanks again for the reply.

Exaclty on weekends or public holidays it moves to 4pm the next business day.

[Treebadger]

jaguarsuk and Amethyst, I have attached a draft of my defence and have a few questions. defence draft.docx

No 7 says 'does not recall receiving notice of assignment' but they have now sent that to me. Should I delete that sentence?

No 8 states that I deny any default notice was served. I had a default on my credit file for 6 years 2006-2012, so presumably I would have been served a default notice. I do not actually remember receiving a default notice and don't have any paperwork from that far back. Should I remove this paragraph?

No 10 Should I add the text in red?

No.s 11&12, should I be referencing section 77 or 78 here please? Or do I leave it as '[77 or 78]?

Is it worth mentioning that I previously requested a copy of the agreement back in Jan 2018 and that request is also outstanding?

Sorry for all the questions!

[Treebadger]

Sorry, am getting anxious again. I realise that people on here help others for free and when they can and I appreciate that. I am autistic and things like this really twist my brain.

Can anyone please reply and tell me if the draft defence I have posted will be ok? Also, do I need to post hard copies to the court today or not? My deadline is 4pm on Monday.

jaguarsuk Amethyst

[jaguarsuk]

I won’t get a chance now until Monday (on my phone), but will look Monday.

Don’t be anxious you’ll have something to file by 4PM.

[Treebadger]

I won’t get a chance now until Monday (on my phone), but will look Monday.

Don’t be anxious you’ll have something to file by 4PM.

Thank you :-)

[jaguarsuk]

jaguarsuk and Amethyst, I have attached a draft of my defence and have a few questions. defence draft.docx

No 7 says 'does not recall receiving notice of assignment' but they have now sent that to me. Should I delete that sentence?

No 8 states that I deny any default notice was served. I had a default on my credit file for 6 years 2006-2012, so presumably I would have been served a default notice. I do not actually remember receiving a default notice and don't have any paperwork from that far back. Should I remove this paragraph?

No 10 Should I add the text in red?

No.s 11&12, should I be referencing section 77 or 78 here please? Or do I leave it as '[77 or 78]?

Is it worth mentioning that I previously requested a copy of the agreement back in Jan 2018 and that request is also outstanding?

Sorry for all the questions!

Yes delete 7, keep 8, yes add the red in 10, section 78 and yes definitely add your previously outstanding CCA request because they should have never filed this claim while it's outstanding.

[Treebadger]

jaguarsuk

Yes delete 7, keep 8, yes add the red in 10, section 78 and yes definitely add your previously outstanding CCA request because they should have never filed this claim while it's outstanding.

That's fantastic, thank you so much for replying so early in the day :-)

Should I email over a copy of the outstanding cca request letter and the claimant's reply with the defence?

What is the best time for me to file it online? Deadline is 4pm today but I have the school run to do and usually get home about 330pm. Should I just file it at about 2pm? (read somewhere that you should post it as late as possible - not sure why)

Hopefully those will be my last questions now!

[jaguarsuk]

jaguarsuk




That's fantastic, thank you so much for replying so early in the day :-)

Should I email over a copy of the outstanding cca request letter and the claimant's reply with the defence?

What is the best time for me to file it online? Deadline is 4pm today but I have the school run to do and usually get home about 330pm. Should I just file it at about 2pm? (read somewhere that you should post it as late as possible - not sure why)

Hopefully those will be my last questions now!

No, you add a copy of the outstanding request as an exhibit to your witness statement later in the process and then you'll send a copy of your witness statement plus all exhibits to the claimant. We're nowhere near sending them evidence yet.

Using the time given by the court to it's fullest is good advice, in other words not being too eager to move things along, if it suits your circumstances. It doesn't suit yours because they need to find documents before the hearing and so it's in your interest to move things along.

File it now no point waiting until later.

[Treebadger]

File it now no point waiting until later.

All done online. Thanks again for all the help jaguarsuk


Will come back on here to update as soon as I hear anything.

[Treebadger]

jaguarsuk Amethyst

As promised, I just wanted to update this.

I have now received a reply from Tesco Bank in response to my SAR request. Among other documents they have sent, it says this:

"Please find enclosed:

Original true copy of credit agreement"

They have also sent just the application form, not the CA. There is no copy of the CA at all.

They also say:

"Please note that we are unable to provide you with a copy of the default notice as this is not available on our records"

I have also received a letter from the court. It acknowledges receipt of my defence, a copy of which is being served on the claimant. The claimant has 28 days to respond or else the case will be stayed.


I will update again as and when I receive more info.

[jaguarsuk]

This is great news, if they cannot prove a default notice compliant with the CCA 1974 was served the claimant can't win their case. It would seem also they can't provide a legible copy of the credit agreement which also oursuant to CCA 1974 makes the debt unenforceable.