Claim Form - Identity Theft - UPDATE WITH DEFENCE

[ThisStinks]

Hello all,

So glad to have found you after searching for answers all morning. First, the technical points:

Received a claim? Yes
Issue Date: 26 Feb 2020
Have you Acknowledged the Claim?: Yes, submitted online 28 Feb 2020 (AOS with intent to defend)
Total Amount Claimed : £3k
Claimant’s Name: PRAC Financial
Solicitors Firm: BW Legal
Original Creditor: Loans 2 Go
Original Debt: £750
Is the debt Statute Barred: No

I received a letter dated 21 Feb 2020 from BW Legal that, after my raising of a dispute for identity theft, they had determined the debt was legitimate.

Today, 28 Feb 2020 I received a Claim Form dated 26 Feb 2020. I went online to Money Line and submitted an Acknowledgement of Service with intent to defend the entire amount.

This was a Payday loan taken out in my name, which I never authorised. All of the details provided to obtain the loan are mine, with the exception of the bank account the creditor paid the loan disbursement into. The sort code and account number do not, and never have had, my name attached to them. I cannot see whose account this is as, obviously, a bank would not provide those details. They will, however, provide a letter stating that I am not on the account in question (and never have been).

I filed an Action Fraud alert on 09 January 2020 for identity theft.

Is there a template for a defence when it is a case of identity theft and the loan went into a stranger's account?

In your opinion, do I have a strong defence with the loan payment being dispersed into someone else's account?

[ThisStinks]

UPDATE: I sought the assistance of a legal specialist in small claims issues who drafted a response for me. Again, this was the defence submitted for a case of identity theft where all of the details provided to obtain a loan were my own, with the exception of the bank account the loan was dispersed to, which was not mine (and belonged to a person unknown to me).

1. The Defendant denies that the Claimant is entitled to relief in the sum claimed, or at all, for the reasons stated below.

2. The Defendant denies ever having entered into a loan agreement with the Claimant, or with [name of lender], in the sum or dates stated in the Particulars of Claim, or at all.

3. The Defendant is of the reasonable belief that his personal details have been obtained by a person or persons unknown, for the purpose of fraudulently obtaining the benefit of the alleged loan.

4. The Defendant has reported the incident as a case of Identity Theft, to Action Fraud, under report reference number [Action Fraud report no.], on [Date of report].

5. The Defendant’s only bank accounts are held with [Name of bank], a current and savings account, for which the Defendant has statements available for the past [No. of years] years. These statements show that no funds were received from the alleged lenderduring that period.

6. Both the Claimant, and their legal representatives [Name of Claimant's rep.], were informed of these facts by the Defendant in the pre-action stages of this matter, in [Date Claimant was notified the debt was fraudulently obtained]. [Claimant or Claimant's rep.] sent a letter to the Defendant, dated [Date], in which they state that the Defendant was contacted about the loan, and a repayment plan, in [Date]. They also state that the Defendant made payments towards the loan, which is denied. The Defendant has no knowledge of any such contact, and any funds transferred by the original creditor to a bank account, were not transferred to the Defendant’s account.

7. Further and in the alternative, even if such a debt existed (which is denied), it is denied that there was any proper assignment of the agreement to the Claimant as pleaded in the particulars of claim, or at all. Any such assignment must comply with Section 136 of the Law of Property Act 1925, for which there must exist a Deed of Assignment, signed and witnessed by both assignor and assignee. The Claimant is put to strict proof that such a document exists, or ever existed. In the absence of proof of legal assignment, the Claimant has no locus standi to litigate in this matter.

8. In summary it is the Defendant’s position that this entire claim is based upon the fraudulent actions of a third party whose identity is unknown to the Defendant, and who has deceived the original creditor. The Court is invited to dismiss this claim in its entirety should the matter proceed to trial, and to award the Defendant’s witness costs for attendance at Court, pursuant to CPR 27.14.

[jaguarsuk]

Get the bank letter stating the beneficiary account does not belong to you, this can be submitted with your witness statement if it gets that far along with the statements of your actual bank account from the time of the loan.

[ThisStinks]

Get the bank letter stating the beneficiary account does not belong to you, this can be submitted with your witness statement if it gets that far along with the statements of your actual bank account from the time of the loan.

jaguarsuk*Thanks for the reply, I appreciate it. I'm trying to find similar threads with PRAC/BW Legal regarding identity theft to get an idea of how frequently they back off with cases like this. They've been incredibly insistent that the debt is mine despite it never being disbursed to me or into an account that bears my name.

I'm in a bit of a pickle as I have recently started a job with the Supreme Court and am undergoing SC clearance. Needless to say, I'm crapping my pants right now. Up to this point, does the defence miss anything I should have included (not that I can do much about it now)?

[MIKE770]

as 3 above

[pt2537]

Seems to me theres another point to consider here. The payments the Claimant claims were made. Id say get your bank statements together if you dont have them alreayd and make a written request to the Claimant for clarification as to what account the payments were made from. If they tell porkies you can prove by producing statements, if they say an account that isnt yours it gives you additional ammo to fire

[ThisStinks]

pt2537*jaguarsuk*, much appreciated.* Today I received confirmation for the submission of my defence from the court, and also a letter from BW Legal with the details of the loan disbursement. It shows:

Sort Code: XX XX XX (there's a real sort code that is not mine and I do not recognise)
Account Number: XXXXXXXX (again, an actual account number that is not mine and I do not recognise)
Name of Account Holder: XXXX (here is shows my surname only, but no given name)
Registered for Online Banking: N/A
Bank Vision Requirement: No Check

I responded with the following:*

I am in receipt of your letter dated 28 February 2020 with the details of the account disbursement of the loan for the aforementioned reference number was allegedly paid in to. I maintain that this is not my bank account, does not have my name on it, and never has belonged to me.

This matter has been addressed in my submitted defence, case number XXXXXXXX, that you have brought forward as a small claim.

___


The letter from the court says a copy of my defence is being served on the claimant, that the claimant may try to contact me to resolve informally, and if it is not resolved informally the claimant has 28-days the notify the court that they wish to proceed.

Let's see what happens next.

[jaguarsuk]

pt2537jaguarsuk, much appreciated. Today I received confirmation for the submission of my defence from the court, and also a letter from BW Legal with the details of the loan disbursement. It shows:

Sort Code: XX XX XX (there's a real sort code that is not mine and I do not recognise)
Account Number: XXXXXXXX (again, an actual account number that is not mine and I do not recognise)
Name of Account Holder: XXXX (here is shows my surname only, but no given name)
Registered for Online Banking: N/A
Bank Vision Requirement: No Check

I responded with the following:

I am in receipt of your letter dated 28 February 2020 with the details of the account disbursement of the loan for the aforementioned reference number was allegedly paid in to. I maintain that this is not my bank account, does not have my name on it, and never has belonged to me.

This matter has been addressed in my submitted defence, case number XXXXXXXX, that you have brought forward as a small claim.

___


The letter from the court says a copy of my defence is being served on the claimant, that the claimant may try to contact me to resolve informally, and if it is not resolved informally the claimant has 28-days the notify the court that they wish to proceed.

Let's see what happens next.

As Paul says above, you should question them how the alleged repayments were made and if the method was BACS that they should request from their bank details of the payer account for those payments and provide them to you.

If it was by card then they should treat you request as a subject access request under the Data Protection Act 2018 and provide within one calendar month the recordings of the calls when the repayment was made by card.

If it was cheque that they should request a copy of the cheque from their bank.

Don't be fobbed off, every bank keeps a record of every transaction for six years from the date of it and images of cheques for the same length of time from the date of it.

[ThisStinks]

As Paul says above, you should question them how the alleged repayments were made and if the method was BACS that they should request from their bank details of the payer account for those payments and provide them to you.

If it was by card then they should treat you request as a subject access request under the Data Protection Act 2018 and provide within one calendar month the recordings of the calls when the repayment was made by card.

If it was cheque that they should request a copy of the cheque from their bank.

Don't be fobbed off, every bank keeps a record of every transaction for six years from the date of it and images of cheques for the same length of time from the date of it.

jaguarsuk*pt2537*Excellent and much appreciated advise.*

[ThisStinks]

jaguarsukpt2537

BW Legal has not yet responded to the defense, or anything else for that matter.
What happens if they do not reply?
Is there any action the claimant is required to make when the defense is submitted?


This is my timeline to date:

Your acknowledgment of service was received on 28/02/2020 at 12:05:18

Your defence was submitted on 02/03/2020 at 08:34:12

Your defence was received on 02/03/2020 at 12:05:29

[ThisStinks]

jaguarsuk*pt2537*

Another update as I wade through this BW Legal/PRAC claim.

My goodness, do they ever lay it on thick with heavy handed letters about how much more will be owed to them when my "unsustainable defence" loses in court and how I should withdraw my defence and negotiate a settlement with them directly. Yeah...no.

They are also stating that to validate a fraud claim I must "provide bank statements for the above bank account, covering the period of 29/12/18 - 31/12/18" -- the above bank account being someone else's whom I do not know, for bank statements I will not have since the original creditor paid the loan into a bank account that is not mine. Good effort on their part though. Nice try.

I sent back the Small Claims Directions Questionnaire to the court today, with a copy sent to BW Legal. I ticked 'no' for mediation.


This is now my timeline to date:

Claim Form filed by claimant on 26/02/2020

Acknowledgment of Service was entered online with a notification it was received on 28/02/2020 at 12:05:18

Defence was submitted on 02/03/2020 at 08:34:12, with notification that defence was received on 02/03/2020 at 12:05:29

Notice of Proposed Allocation to the Small Claims Track dated 21/04/2020 received by post on 04/05/2020 (Royal Mail, bless them, have become painfully slow with delivery)

Directions Questionnaire returned by post with a 'no' to mediation, agreement that small claims track is appropriate, local hearing venue noted, no expert advise, 1 witness (myself), and an all clear for dates within the next 6 months sent on 07/05/2020.

[jaguarsuk]

You really should have ticked yes for mediation, it would have failed when you advised the mediator that they hadn't provided you all the necessary information to mediate and it would have made you look much better as you're supposed to do everything to try to settle the claim without need of a hearing possible.*

It's done now, but just a bit of advice if you ever find yourself either defending or indeed making a claim.

[ThisStinks]

[QUOTE=ThisStinks;n1524224]jaguarsukpt2537 jaguarsuk

I wonder why my solicitor recommended otherwise, then. Makes me a bit nervous. He said that there is nothing to mediate as it is a case with allegations of fraud (something about not being suitable for ADR?) and that the multiple attempts made prior to resolve the issue would be enough to constitute reasonable conduct. Is he wrong?

[jaguarsuk]

[QUOTE=ThisStinks;n1524974]

jaguarsukpt2537 jaguarsuk

I wonder why my solicitor recommended otherwise, then. Makes me a bit nervous. He said that there is nothing to mediate as it is a case with allegations of fraud (something about not being suitable for ADR?) and that the multiple attempts made prior to resolve the issue would be enough to constitute reasonable conduct. Is he wrong?

No he isn't wrong in what he's saying and I doubt it'll have consequences, it just shows you've done everything you can to be reasonable. Don't worry about it, it's unlikely to even come up in the hearing.