Help! County court business Centre claim from previous employer

[Sarahsmith]

Hi , long story short my ex employer let me go at the start of the year, the reasoning was the company couldn't afford to keep me on. At the end of the month they did not pay my final pay check. I chased several times with no luck. I submitted a claim to Acas and they failed to respond so I have now submitted an employment tribunals claim.

Last week I received a county court business centre letter from said company stating I owe them 5k for breach of contract for various petty reasons that are all untrue.

I have looked into this buisness county court and it seams to all be around debt. Unpaid loans/ parking ticket enforcements ect and nothing to do with employment cases.

So my questions are if anyone can help are:

Can the county court business centre come after me for such claim?
If so how is my previous employer able to sue me for breaching a contact that they terminated? And then using reasons that were never mentioned at any point during or post employment in said claim?

Any advice ?
iv tried to keep it short but happy to add further details if needed for clarification

[echat11]

Hi SarahSmith

Firstly, don't worry.

I assume you want to defend the claim.

If you allegedly owe them money they can make a claim.

The alleged debt should have been discussed with you in a meeting or by letter.

They should have followed CPR Rules in that they should have sent you a Letter Before Action (LBA), before they initiated legal proceedings.

a) What you need to do is Acknowledge Service of the Claim, this can be done online, that gives you an extra 14 days + 14 days (plus 5 days postal), 28 days to request information from them and file your defence with the Court.

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

b) Send them a CPR 31.14 request, they have to provide all the documents stated in their Particular of Claim. Make sure you get Proof of Postage.

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

c) If they owe you money, then you could Counter Claim in your defence.

You need to work out the date your defence needs to be lodged with the Court, note it your diary, don't forget.

ULA Can you please take a look.

[Sarahsmith]

Hi Echat11,

This is what I am confused about the link you posted was for a consumer credit agreement. There was no such thing only a contract of employment.

thanks

Sarah

[echat11]

Hi Echat11,

This is what I am confused about the link you posted was for a consumer credit agreement. There was no such thing only a contract of employment.

thanks

Sarah

My fault, just posted the wrong / the same link twice, I've changed them now.
Should make more sense now.

Did they send you a Letter Before Action, before you received the Court claim? This is very important.

What you need to do now is gather information for your defence.

[atticus]

The County Court is the means provided by the state to resolve disputes. Just because more of the cases in the County Court are of the kind you have identified, that does not mean that other types of case may not be brought.

So yes, if it believes that it has a claim against you, your former employer may pursue it in the County Court.

I suggest that you read up on the court process, starting with the guides on this site.

[Sarahsmith]

ECHAT11 thank you that makes more sense. I will have a read of both the documents

[Sarahsmith]

ATTICUS thank you for the clarification, I had looked online and couldn’t find anything similar to this so thought it best to ask the question myself.

[Sarahsmith]

ECHAT11, apologies I don’t know how to reply directly to posts, the was no letter before action.
the only reference I have to being sued is an email stating that if I continue to chase my payment of wages I would be sued. Then this court document

thanks

Sarah

[echat11]

ECHAT11, apologies I don’t know how to reply directly to posts, the was no letter before action.
the only reference I have to being sued is an email stating that if I continue to chase my payment of wages I would be sued. Then this court document

thanks

Sarah

Not exactly an LBA. Can you write out, what the email said word for word.