**WON** Received Claim from Quickly Finance T/A Fast Track Reclaim

[SeaEmSee]

1. The Defendant received the claim MXXXXX1 from the County Court Money Claims Centre on 8^th January 2024 and acknowledged the same day via email to ccmcc-filing@justice.gov.uk .

1. The claim is denied in full.

1. The Claimant is seeking to recover £1100.29 from the Defendant because it states that it “represented the defendant in the successful recovery of a tax refund from HMRC".
   1. The Claimant did NOT represent the Defendant in any successful claims with HMRC, as The Defendant has been registered for Self-Assessment since 2016 and has been submitting their own tax returns annually, since 2016/17.
   2. HMRC confirmed that the claim received from the Claimant was a bare nomination for the tax year 2017/18 and that there was no deed of assignment in place.

1. The Claimant states the Defendant engaged and authorised the Claimant to deal with a tax refund claim on their behalf in accordance with the terms and conditions of service.

1. The tax refund that the Claimant approached the Defendant about in August 2021 via a targeted marketing email, was specific to a PPI claim in 2017 which the Claimant was successful in claiming for the Defendant and referenced a specific tax refund amount of £108.51 that the Defendant may have been able to claim back from the aforementioned PPI payout.
2. A copy of terms and conditions of service, which the Defendant allegedly signed in 2021, were not provided to the Defendant at any point before an invoice was received in September 2023.
3. A signed copy of the terms and conditions of service was not sent to the Defendant after the alleged engagement and authorisation by the Defendant of the Claimant and the Defendant never received any form of update to the tax refund claim in question after October 2021.

1. The Claimant states that the Claimant duly provided its services to the Defendant in accordance with its terms and conditions of service and that the Claimant’s services were concluded on 11/09/2023 when, as a result of the benefit of the Claimant’s services, HMRC made a settlement offer to the Defendant.

1. The “Settlement Offer” referred to in the Claimants Particulars of Claim, related solely to the Defendants 2022/23 annual Tax Return, which the Defendant submitted via their own Government Gateway login in July 2023. The Claimant did not represent the Defendant in this particular “settlement”, and neither was the “Settlement” as a result of any benefit of any “service” the Claimant claims to have provided, rather it was the usual, annual Tax Return that the Defendant has been filing annually, themselves, since 2016/17.
2. HMRC confirmed that an R40 was submitted to them by the Claimant on 1^st September 2021, but that it was rejected as the Defendant was already in Self-Assessment and an overpayment relief claim would’ve been needed. This was never received and as the 2017/18 tax year is now out of date, all claims are invalid. Therefore, the claim that the Claimant states they represented the Defendant for, was unsuccessful.
3. In accordance with the Claimants Terms and Conditions of Service, as referred to throughout the Claimants PoC, clause 2.1, states “no fees will be charged to [the Defendant] in respect of an unsuccessful claim”
4. HMRC also confirmed to the Claimant in the same communication letter that No refund has been issued to [the Defendant] for the 2017/18 tax year and that the amount the Claimant was pursuing [the Defendant] for is a refund for 2022/23, not the 2017/18 tax year that the Claimant claimed for.
5. A full copy of this letter addressed to the Claimant and dated 5th October 2023 can be provided

1. In their apparent representation of the Defendant, the Claimant sent one letter in 2021 which was the initial submission of the claim and which included a 64-8 form and the R40. They did not have the Defendants approval for any blanket assignment and in fact, transposed a signature on to a 64-8 and R40 form and sent them to HMRC without The Defendants knowledge or informed consent to do so.

1. The Claimant’s duly provided services extended to a further follow up / chase letter 9 months later, dated 11th May 2022 referencing the original claim submitted in August 2021
2. The Claimant then sent a final follow up / chase letter dated 12th June 2023, which specifically referred to the original claim, as the Claimant quoted within this letter: “As per our records, the tax claim was submitted to HMRC on 27/08/2021 11:22:28, and we have not received any correspondence regarding its progress or status since then….” Further proof that the services the Claimant states they duly provided to the Defendant was not for the Defendants 2022/23 annual tax return.

1. Within the Claimants Terms and Conditions of Service, there is no clause that states full representation across all HMRC matters, nor that they will be acting as a permanent agent for the Defendant across all HMRC matters. The Terms and Conditions of Service that they provided the Defendant, which the Defendant allegedly signed on 25^th August 2021, are markedly different to the ones that were transposed into the Letter before Action as so mentioned in the Claimants Particulars of Claim, in so far as a completely new clause had been entered.

1. Accordingly, it is denied that the Claimant is entitled to any relief as claimed.

[SeaEmSee]

Quick Question - Claimant has not responded to the CPR request or even acknowledged it - they sent me an email on 10th Jan saying they'd received confirmation of the service of docs, threatened with CCJ's and all manner of other orders and penalties should I not respond, so I replied to that email confirming I had received and immediately filed acknowledgement of service and also my intention to CPR. Sent the same day and heard nothing back, it's been 8 days - do I just crack on as normal and file the defence statement or do I add in this defence statement that Claimant didn't respond to Defendants CPR Request of 10th Jan 2024? - or is that a witness statement thing?

[echat11]

a) Claimant has not responded to the CPR request or even acknowledged it

You can't control what they do, as long as you sent a CPR request and have evidence i.e. Proof of Postage.

b) they sent me an email on 10th Jan saying they'd received confirmation of the service of docs, threatened with CCJ's and all manner of other orders and penalties should I not respond, so I replied to that email confirming I had received and immediately filed acknowledgement of service and also my intention to CPR.

That's just standard stuff they send out.

c) Sent the same day and heard nothing back, it's been 8 days - do I just crack on as normal and file the defence statement or do I add in this defence statement that Claimant didn't respond to Defendants CPR Request of 10th Jan 2024? - or is that a witness statement thing?

If you followed the Example Defence, you would have an answer on that question.

What is the date on the claim form?

[EXC]

Quick Question - Claimant has not responded to the CPR request or even acknowledged it - they sent me an email on 10th Jan saying they'd received confirmation of the service of docs, threatened with CCJ's and all manner of other orders and penalties should I not respond, so I replied to that email confirming I had received and immediately filed acknowledgement of service and also my intention to CPR. Sent the same day and heard nothing back, it's been 8 days - do I just crack on as normal and file the defence statement or do I add in this defence statement that Claimant didn't respond to Defendants CPR Request of 10th Jan 2024? - or is that a witness statement thing?

I'm not quite sure from your post if you've reminded them of the CPR and I'm not sure when you have to file your defence by.

But if you've still got a few days to file your defence, send them an email telling them to respond to it immediately, reminding them that they are in breach of their obligations to the Civil Procedure Rules. If they don't respond in good time then you deffo need to include that in your defence as it's relevant to your ability to be able to defend the claim, so put in all the dates etc.

[echat11]

You need to add the following to your Defence (numbered) :-

10) On the [Date] The Defendant sent a request for inspection of documents mentioned in the claimant’s statement of case under Civil Procedure Rule 31.14 to [Claimant’s Solicitor]. I requested the Claimant provide copies of the [Agreement, Default Notice and Notice of Assignment].

11) [Claimant’s Solicitor] has not sent any of these documents to the Defendant.

The issue date is Issued 03/01/24 so look to file your Defence on the 28th January.

[SeaEmSee]

Hi all. Just wanted to take the time to update you and also to pass on my heartfelt thanks

i have just received an email from JJL saying that „the claimant has taken the commercial decision to pursue this case no longer“. I filed my defence statement last week.

so. In essence. THANK YOU SO MUCH to EXC and echat11 for your advice, patience and understanding. I will make a contribution to this site so you can continue to fight the good fight for us mere mortals who fall foul of cowboy businesses such as this one.

I think I may sleep tonight!

[EXC]

Hi all. Just wanted to take the time to update you and also to pass on my heartfelt thanks

i have just received an email from JJL saying that „the claimant has taken the commercial decision to pursue this case no longer“. I filed my defence statement last week.

so. In essence. THANK YOU SO MUCH to EXC and echat11 for your advice, patience and understanding. I will make a contribution to this site so you can continue to fight the good fight for us mere mortals who fall foul of cowboy businesses such as this one.

I think I may sleep tonight!

I'm really pleased for you - but ask them to provide you with the notice of discontinuance that they have to file with the court, if they haven't sent it to you already.

There are two lessons learned here.

The first is that, as I suspected, Fast Track Reclaim and their associated cowboy outfit that call themselves 'solicitors' (Joseph James Law) had no intention of following through with the case in the knowledge that it would be destined to fail when scrutinised by a judge and instead thought that they could frighten you into settling.

The second is that it demonstrates that standing firm and not allowing yourself to be bullied into submission is the right & proper thing to do.

Well done and enjoy your kip.

[Thread title amended accordingly]

[echat11]

Well done, great result. Good to know you'll have 'a spring in your step.'