Sending letters to a P.O box?

[Turtletom]

Hi received a letter from Overdale Solicitors a week before Christmas regarding 3 debts (Vanquis, Capital one & Studio)
I acknowledged it and have printed the CPR 34.14 to send to overdales but notice their address is a PO Box.

I have also got a CCA to send to lowells (the debt collectors) which has a normal address so a signed or tracked service will be fine.

Also do I just add a quid in the envelopes or do i ask the post office for a postal order of a £1?

Cheers guys and girls

[R0b]

Hi,

Are you suggesting that Overdales have provided on the claim form a PO Box for their address for receiving notices and documents? If that's the case then they are in breach of the Civil Procedure Rules. You must provide an address where you reside or carry on business and the courts have confirmed that a PO Box does not comply with that rule as you cannot reside or carry on business out of a PO Box.

The two cases below confirm this although the second decision confirms that you cannot use an email address for service for the same reasons. First decision was a county court decision by HHJ Matthews but the second decision was also heard by HHJ Matthews in the High Court and he reaffirmed his County Court decision which is binding on County Courts.

https://www.bailii.org/cgi-bin/forma...h+v+marston%22)

https://www.bailii.org/cgi-bin/forma...h+v+marston%22)

Some options available to you:

1. Write to Overdales and point out that their PO Box address does not comply with the rules and therefore they should immediately notify the court of a change of address whilst in the meantime they should provide a proper address for service of the defence and other documents - mention the two court cases above that support this position. If they fail to do that then you should consider making an application to strike out the claim, and you can make that threat in your correspondence to them.

In the meantime, Overdales is a limited company known as Overdales Legal Limited and they have a registered address below taken from Companies House. You can suggest to Overdales this is the address they agree to use for service of the documents and then once confirmed, send your CPR 31.14 request there but don't expect much of a response.

https://find-and-update.company-info...mpany/07407310

As for the CCA request, you can send that to the PO box as this is outside the Civil Procedure Rules. Common practice is to send a postal order rather than a coin.

[Turtletom]

Thankyou Rob for replying.

this is the address on the letter:

https://ibb.co/Rc3F8LV

[R0b]

Yeah that is definitely an error and defective claim form.

What I have suggested above still stands, but it's your claim and your choice as to what you want to do.

[Turtletom]

Thankyou again. Is it worth ringing the court and telling them that this is defective?

Regarding overdales I will contact them and request the change, would this be best over email so there is a trace of emails?

[Turtletom]

I rung the court and spoke to someone who was as useful as a chocolate teapot. When mentioned the P.O Box address she advised that it was okie and if it wasnt okie they wouldn't have let the form go through.

overdales said that is the correct address and if i dont want to send to that address to send documents direct to the court but if they don't receive them they will go ahead with a ccj

Is there a letter template I can use regarding striking it off?

[Turtletom]

Dear whom it may concern,

I am writing this email today after writing out a request for the original agreements to be sent to myself so I can build a defense.

I have noticed that the address to send documents to is a PO Box. This is a breach of the Civil Procedure Rules. You must provide an address where you reside or carry on business and the courts have confirmed that a PO Box does not comply with that rule as you cannot reside or carry on business out of a PO Box. This is also further backed up by the following court cases:

1 - https://www.bailii.org/cgi-bin/forma...h+v+marston%22

2 - https://www.bailii.org/cgi-bin/forma...h+v+marston%22

With that being said I am requesting you contact the courts and change the addresss and in the meantime provide myself with an address that can be used for the service of defense and other documents.

If this is not done promptly I shall be requesting the courts to strike this off.

Yours faithfully

[R0b]

I cobbled together a quick example of how you may want to respond assuming the time limits given allow you to still file a defence . Now an application to strike out would cost you £275 so that's something you should take into account but if you were successful in your application, you would get that back.

You could alternatively write directly to the court copying in Overdales and using the example below but tweaking it slightly and asking for the court to put this in front of a judge to review, but they may ask you to make an application because the starting position is that if you want the court to do something, you need to make an application.

There is also the issue of time and if you go down this path you could cause yourself delays which may prompt the claimant to seek a default judgment if you fail to file a defence on time. In that case you would be forced to make an application to set aside anyway.

I leave it up to you to choose how you want to run this.

Dear Sir or Madam,

I am in receipt of a claim form on behalf of your client (see attached) and I note that the address for service of documents lists a PO box address. The use of a PO box does not comply with the Civil Procedure Rules, namely CPR 6.23 which states:

(1) A party to proceedings must give an address at which that party may be served with documents relating to those proceedings. The address must include a full postcode or its equivalent in any EEA state (if applicable) unless the court orders otherwise.

(2) Except where any other rule or practice direction makes different provision, a party's address for service must be

(a) the business address either within the United Kingdom or any other EEA state of a solicitor acting for the party to be served

There is authority confirming that a PO box address is not an address that can be used for service because a PO box cannot be an address where you or your client carries on business for the purposes of the CPR. This position was confirmed in Smith v Marston Holdings Ltd [2020] EW Misc 23 (CC) by HHJ Matthews and further reaffirmed by HHJ Matthews (sitting as a High Court Judge) in Axnoller Events Limited v Brake and another [2022] EWHC 1162 (Ch).

I telephoned you on [XX/XX/XXXX] to explain this but you did not accept what I was suggesting and instead claimed that a PO box was a valid address for service. In light of the above authorities, it is clear that it is not the case and the claim form as it currently stands, is defective. I would invite you to reconsider your position and immediately provide me with a valid business address to which I can serve my defence and other documents to. In addition, you will be required notify the court of a change of address in accordance with CPR 6.24.

If I do not hear from you by 4pm on [7 days from date of this letter/email] complying with the above request, then I will assume that your position remains the same and in that case it will be my intention to make an application to the court to strike out your client's claim on the basis of your wilful refusal to rectify your and your client's procedural irregularities. Costs will be sought with respect to the application fee as well as incidental costs at the usual litigant in person rate of £19 per hour.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Faithfully,

[Your name]

[Turtletom]

Hi Rob, hope you are well.

apologies for the delay, I have being waiting to hear back from either the court or Overdale Solicitors.
I have today received the following reply from Overdales:

"We confirm receipt of your email dated 11 January 2024 and we apologise for the delay in responding, this is due to the high volume of inbound emails we are receiving.

We note your comments regarding our PO Box and please note, you are able to return your Claim form to the address provided on the Claim form.

The Claim form has been served via the Court to your address, we are bulk litigators with the Civil National Business Centre (CNBC) therefore, the Courts are satisfied with our details and the Claim is not defective. Alternatively, you can return this to the Court and they will forward this to us.

Please note, our Client does not accept the fees outlined in your email.

We now require you to respond to the Claim form, as failure to do so may result in a County Court Judgment (CCJ) in Default being entered against you with further costs incurred.

Should you wish to dispute this matter further, independent legal advice is available."

With this reply, I am unsure what the next step would be in this case, any advice would be really appreciated

[R0b]

Think the next step is pretty simple.

Either you follow through with an application to the court (a) to strike out the claim for non-compliance, (b) alternatively, an order that the defendant provide a valid address for service and (c) an extension of time to file a defence once that valid address has been provided. Alternatively you proceed as normal sending your defence and letters and documents to an invalid address for service and hope everything turns out fine but you can't have your cake and eat it by complaining at a later date if something doesn't go your way.

In my opinion, there is no explanation why the PO box is considered a valid address for service. All they have done is said that the court has accepted the address provided to them but the court staff are not legal advisors nor are they obligated to reject an invalid address - they are unlikely to know the rules on service since it is not their job to and they are not legally trained. Only a judge can decided what is right or not.

The reference to them being a bulk processor of claims is irrelevant and a red herring and has nothing to do with the civil procedure rules. The two cases I mentioned above makes it abundantly clear a PO box is not a valid address for service and is a legally binding precedent. As far as I can tell, Overdales are entirely useless and haven't got a clue about the rules despite being regular litigators. Call their bluff or don't, decision is up to you.