Have I run out of time???

[DreamX]

Hi there,


I wonder if you can provide some advice..

I received a court claim from Mortimer Clarke Dated 21 JULY 2022 which I responded to in the form of acknowledgement of service. However I ended up having an emergency operation on my arm and was unable to use it for a number of weeks. With everything that happened it got left until now and I hadn't realised I had so little time left!

How long (if any) time do I have left? I haven't sent any cpr requests etc yet? Is it possible to request an extension?

Please let me know as soon as you can.


Thanks,

Gemma

[R0b]

Hello

Assuming the claim has been issued by Money Claims Online, the claim form is deemed served 5 days after the date of the claim form. You then have 14 days to acknowledge the claim or file a defence. If you acknowledge, you get another 14 days to file a defence. By my calculations, you should have filed a defence by 9th August.

If you log into MCOL you can see the history of the claim and it should tell you if the defendant has requested default judgment and on what date. If there is nothing in there, you might be lucky and Mortimer Clarke may not have acted yet but that could be very soon if not already.

If you can, acknowledge the claim ASAP and that should give you at least until tomorrow to officially file a defence by 4pm. You could take a risk and allow yourself an extra day or two to prepare something robust if possible as it takes a couple of days for the court to action something and as long as your defence is filed before the default judgment is granted, you should be fine. I say fine because the rules have recently changed meaning that if you are late filing a defence but as long as you file it before the default judgment is granted, the court should not give judgment. But the court doesn't always do this and if they do give judgment, you would need to make an application to set aside the judgment at your expense, albeit you should have a pretty good chance of success and getting your costs back.

Do you even know what grounds you might even file a defence?

[DreamX]

Hi Rob,

Thanks for the quick reply...

Just to clarify I sent my acknowledgement of service on 3rd August, so going off your information of 28 + 5 days would that give me until tomorrow to file a defence?

My grounds of defense were going to be not receiving the relevant documents listed in the particulars of the claim but I don't see how I can use this defense as I've not sent the usual CPR, SAR etc requests yet! (I do have these prepared and ready to post)

What would you advise at this point?

Thanks

[R0b]

Yes tomorrow would make it your last day to file.

Without seeing the particulars of claim it's difficult to say what kind of defence you can make. I suspect the particulars of claim are the usual standard that MC and other claimants issue but can you post them up word for word so we can what it is they are saying.

[DreamX]

Yes tomorrow would make it your last day to file.

Without seeing the particulars of claim it's difficult to say what kind of defence you can make. I suspect the particulars of claim are the usual standard that MC and other claimants issue but can you post them up word for word so we can what it is they are saying.

Ok no problem...the particulars of the claim state:

" By an agreement between JD Williams LTD & Re Fashion World & the defendant dated 27/06/2018 ('the agreement') JD Williams LTD & Re Fashion World agreed to issue the defendant with a credit account. The defendant failed to make the minimum payments due. The agreement was terminated following the service of a default notice. The agreement was assigned to the claimant.

The claimant therefore claims 1. 1026.46 2. Costs"

That is word for word.

Thanks!

[R0b]

So it's pretty standard. I'm not going to ask you whether you think you are liable to pay this debt because these types of companies do trawl forums like these and use your posts against you if they find out who you are.

I wouldn't bother with the CPR request as they almost always never comply with it unless your prepared to take them to court and request an order for them to hand the evidence over. Send the SAR requests to both the Claimant and JD Williams for copies of all information they hold about you, including a screenshot or printout of your account history. Also make sure to send the CCA request tomorrow as a priority and make sure to get a proof of postage or send recorded delivery if you must and don't lose it.

As for your defence, I can only make general comments:

- Make reference to a CCA request being made (no need to mention date at this stage) but maybe state that the claimant has until X date to provide true copies of the agreements together with an explanation as to how the true copies were reconstituted and who reconstituted them, otherwise they cannot enforce the claim.

- Deny that a default notice was served and the fact the claimant has failed to mention the date of default. Claimant is required to prove that the default notice was correctly and validly served on you.

- Same applies to the assignment notice. Dent receiving it and point out no date of assignment was given so they are required to prove that the assignment was in fact served on you otherwise the claimant has no legal standing to bring the claim and should be dismissed.

You can use the example defence on here as a starting point to set out your defence and add anything else in that you think is relevant as to why you do not owe the debt.

Court deadline is 4pm but if you miss that deadline it is assumed that the defence is received on the next working day, however you probably have the rest of tomorrow to get it right and make any tweaks to your defence for the reasons I gave in an earlier post, but ideally you should submit before if you can. Just don't rush it for the sake of it otherwise it won't make you look good and may come across as a desperate, last ditch defence.

[echat11]

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

[DreamX]

Hi there,

I've sent my defence through now...There wasn't time to post it up here before I sent it and it may not be adequate but I've done my best with the little time I had.

Hopefully it's enough!

Thanks again!

[DreamX]

Hi again,

I have an update...

It's a bit of an odd one...they've accidently taken my statutory £1 payment as a part payment off the account, and they want to refund it back to me. Secondly they've said they don't have the documents and requested I allow an extension. The letters better explain it so I've attached them here:

[echat11]

Hi again,

I have an update...

It's a bit of an odd one...they've accidently taken my statutory £1 payment as a part payment off the account, and they want to refund it back to me. Secondly they've said they don't have the documents and requested I allow an extension. The letters better explain it so I've attached them here:

O.K., the £1 isn't a issue, just provide the requested information if you need the £1 as a matter of 'urgency'.

Write back allowing a 28 day extension for them to provide the requested documents. Make sure you get Proof of Postage.

Email the Court stating that you've given the Claimant an extension of 28 days to provide the requested documentation. In the subject line write : Claim Ref: XXXXXXX - XXXXXXXX v XXXXXXXXX.