Affinity Water County Court Claim Form Received Today

[SammyC]

Dear Forum,


Please could someone give me some advice re: the above?

I have just received a claim form for an Affinity Water account from a property I moved out of in January 2020.

I have not yet acknowledged the claim, it is for around £1000. The claimant is Affinity Water, address for sending docs is Shakespeare Martineau LLP in Stratford-Upon-Avon, I assume this is their solicitor.

They are claiming for unpaid bills between November 2015 til November 2020 plus interest.

I don't believe I made any payments to them during this time but cannot be 100% sure. There is a possibility that I made a payment early in that time frame, but I don't think I did. I can't find evidence anywhere either way.

The questions someone may be able to help me with are:

1. Could this debt be statute barred if I have not conversed with them or made a payment within the dates they are claiming for?

2. During potentially defending the claim, am I entitled to request copy of their evidence which would prove or disprove whether or not I made any payments during this period?

3. Are there any negative consequences of defending the claim then being found 'guilty'?


I would also like to add that I moved out of the property in January 2020 yet they are claiming up until November 2020, well after I moved out.


Many thanks in advance.

[echat11]

a) The debt won't be statute barred.

b) Yes you should seek evidence regarding the claim they are making against you (b below).

c) No there aren't any consequences, it's not a criminal trial, so 'guilty' doesn't apply. It's a civil case. As you say you left January 2020, not November 2020, so on that basis alone the claim should be defended.

a) What you need to do is Acknowledge the claim online, that will give you an extra 14 days to work on you defence, so that 28 days in total, (plus 5 days postal).

https://legalbeagles.info/library/gu...ledge-a-claim/

b) Send Shakespeare Martineau LLP a CPR 31.14 Request, they have 14 days to provide documents they are relying to make the claim against you. Make sure you get Proof of Postage.

https://legalbeagles.info/library/gu...-of-documents/

c) Send Affinity Water a SAR, they have 30 days to provide all the details on the account. Make sure you get Proof of Postage.

https://legalbeagles.info/library/gu...ccess-request/

You could send your bank a SAR, if you believe that payments were made / double check.

Make sure you get your defence in on time, so 28 days from today, note it in your diary.

[SammyC]

Thanks very much, have acknowledged the claim online. Is it OK to email the two requests or should these be postal? And would they also need to be recorded delivery?

[echat11]

Thanks very much, have acknowledged the claim online. Is it OK to email the two requests or should these be postal? And would they also need to be recorded delivery?

As long as you have the correct email addresses, most companies have an automated response to acknowledge receipt.

[SammyC]

Lovely, thank you very much. Will get it sent off today either way.

[SammyC]

I am slightly confused about this section on the CPR template:

"NB: ONLY LIST HERE DOCUMENTS THAT ARE MENTIONED IN THE PARTICULARS OF CLAIM ON THE FRONT OF THE CLAIM FORM – eg. IF THEY DON’T MENTION ‘ DEFAULT NOTICE’ YOU CANNOT ASK FOR IT UNDER CPR 31.14, IF THEY MENTION CONTRACT rather than AGREEMENT – ask for the CONTRACT…IF IN DOUBT TYPE OUT THE PARTICULARS OF CLAIM AND ASK ON THE FORUM.( and remove this paragraph too!!!!)
for EXAMPLE

1. Agreement / Contract
2. Default Notice
3. Notice of Assignment"

There are no documents mentioned on the claim form, it just says they are claiming the sum for water charges. I've never made a contract or agreement with the company to my knowledge either.

[fryster]

I am slightly confused about this section on the CPR template:

"NB: ONLY LIST HERE DOCUMENTS THAT ARE MENTIONED IN THE PARTICULARS OF CLAIM ON THE FRONT OF THE CLAIM FORM – eg. IF THEY DON’T MENTION ‘ DEFAULT NOTICE’ YOU CANNOT ASK FOR IT UNDER CPR 31.14, IF THEY MENTION CONTRACT rather than AGREEMENT – ask for the CONTRACT…IF IN DOUBT TYPE OUT THE PARTICULARS OF CLAIM AND ASK ON THE FORUM.( and remove this paragraph too!!!!)
for EXAMPLE

1. Agreement / Contract
2. Default Notice
3. Notice of Assignment"

There are no documents mentioned on the claim form, it just says they are claiming the sum for water charges. I've never made a contract or agreement with the company to my knowledge either.

Following this as I've had a similar one through as well!

[echat11]

Can copy the Particulars of Claim word for word.

[SammyC]

Ok so I just ask for documents relating to the below?

The Claimant is a statutory water and sewerage undertaker pursuant to the Water Industry Act 1991 (the Act). The claimant claims the sum of £___ for unpaid water and/or sewerage services payable under s. 142-144 of the Act and the Claimants' Charges Scheme. The unpaid sum of £___ is for water and/or sewerage services provided to the Defendant(s) at ___________ during the supply period from ___ to ___. The claim and claims interest under section 69 of the County Courts Act 1984 at the rate of 8% a year from ___ to ___ of £___ and also interest at the same rate up to the date of judgement or earlier payment at a daily rate of £___. AND THE CLAIMANT CLAIMS (1) The principal sum of £___. (2) Interest under s.69 of the County Courts Act 1984 of £___ and (3) Continuing interest on (1) above from ____ to the date of judgement or earlier payment at a daily rate of ___.

[echat11]

See what they send.


Your name
Your address
Your postcode

Date

Claimants name
Claimants address
Claimants postcode

Dear Sirs,

Claim Number: XXXXXX

Request for documents mentioned in a statement of case under CPR 31.14

On xx/xx/xxxx I received a County Court claim from yourselves of which I have acknowledged receipt indicating my intention to defend in full.

To enable me to file my defence and/or counterclaim, I require inspection of documents you are relying on in your statement of case ahead of filing my defence.

In accordance with CPR 31.15(c) I undertake to be responsible for your reasonable copying costs incurred in complying with this CPR 31.14 request.

You should note that this claim has not yet been allocated to a specific track and the provisions of CPR 27(2) are of no effect. Had your claim not been issued through CCBC the Claimant would have been obliged to attach copies of the documentation upon which it relies to the Particulars of Claim.

I, as Defendant, am entitled to see the documents on which the Claimant relies and which you must produce at trial. Disclosure at this stage will enable me to fully plead my case and further the Overriding Objective.

You should ensure compliance with your CPR 31 duties and ensure that the document(s) I have requested are copied to and received by me within 7 days of receiving this letter.

If you require more time in which to comply with this request you must tell me in writing and 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.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely

Your Name

[SammyC]

Thank you very much, done.

Regarding the SAR request to Affinity, is there anything specific I should ask for? I have just asked for anything relating to my account at my previous address, is that OK?

[echat11]

Thank you very much, done.

Regarding the SAR request to Affinity, is there anything specific I should ask for? I have just asked for anything relating to my account at my previous address, is that OK?

That's fine, that will help you build your defence, when the data arrives, sift through it thoroughly, looking for anomalys that just don't add up.

[SammyC]

Two identical bundles arrived today, one I presume from Affinity the other from the solicitors.

There are transactions dated from 1996 to 2019 for my old property, I moved into my old property in 2003, it does state "Telephone Home Move" in the 2003 transactions so it looks as though the pre-2003 info for the previous occupant was left on by accident.

The info relating to my old address is basically one A4 page, with transactions on both sides. The back page is mainly several entries dated 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2014, all stating "Over Six Year Write Off". Then just a couple of entries referring to passing to debt collectors.

There is also a bundle relating to my current address, which is not in question, so not sure why that is there.

I can't make much sense of it to be honest!

To add to the confusion, the claim form states they are claiming for charges from 2015 up to the end of 2020, but I moved out of the address at the start of 2020.

[echat11]

Check the information thoroughly for the period November 2015 to November 2021. If no payments has been made or communications admitting the debt, then the debt is statute barred. That will be your defence.

Here is an example Defence, remove all reference to CCA 1974, amend it and post it up to be reviewed. Once reviewed a copy needs to be sent to the Court and Overdales. It can be done online.

https://legalbeagles.info/library/gu...-court-claims/

Don't leave it until the last minute.

[SammyC]

There are definitely no payments listed on the list of transactions and account history on the documentation they sent me. I am pretty sure there weren't any from memory too. Would they all have to be listed on this document they sent me?

Also, I have made payments in my new property but they are surely a new account and the debt from the old property appears to be completely separate.

They're not permitted to link he two accounts in some way are they? The claim form only states my old address with the dates of 2015- November 2020. I moved out of that address in January 2020.