Need Help county court claim

[rughead121]

Hello and thanks for reading.

I have received a claim form from Bryan Carter for an old debt that is at least 11 years old.
I have not made a payment or acknowledged this debt since 2002.

About 8 months ago I sent a 'prove it' letter. and the sent me a huge print out that showed no payments ever made since 2002. They also sent the original agreement with Capital One.
I then sent a letter saying the debt was Statute Barred and heard nothing else for a few months but the standard threat-o-gram letters started again last month which I just filed in the log burner.

Now today I have received a county court claim for 1693.94. Not bad for an original debt of just over £200

I have put the particulars of claim below, exactly as it is written.

One more thing, I never did get a Notice of assignment - ever.

I really need some help here, how should I respond? Be gentle with me ~ never done this before.

Particulars of Claim
THIS CLAIM IS FOR 1001.80 THE AMOUNT DUE UNDER AN AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE ORIGINAL CREDITOR AND THE DEFENDANT TO PROVIDE FINANCE AND/OR SERVICES AND/OR GOODS.

THIS DEBT WAS ASSIGNED TO/PURCHASED BY Lowell Portfolio 1 Ltd
ON 19/01/2007 AND NOTICE SERVED PURSUANT TO THE LAW OF PROPERTY ACT 1925

PARTICULARS
Re Capital One
A/C No 5460************



AND THE CLAIMANT CLAIMS 1001.80

THE CLAIMANT ALSO CLAIMS INTEREST PURSUANT TOS69 COUNTY COURT ACT 1984 FROM 19.01.2007 TO DATE AT 8% PER ANNUM AMOUNTING TO 537.14

[TUTTSI]

Re: Need Help county court claim

I will alert someone with good experience to help you.... although this does look like statue barred debt from 2002 and no acknowledgement from you since then.

[MIKE770]

Re: Need Help county court claim

FP should be around later on!

[littlebert8]

Re: Need Help county court claim

I would probably acknowledge service as it gives you further time to prepare a defence, even though it should be fairly simple to plead and you could probably do this through MCOL too. The burden of proof falls on the claimant so theres no need to send copies of documents or such like

You just need to state that the cause of action - typically when the agreement was terminated, if not before - occurred more than 6 years ago and there has been no payment or other acknowledgement since. The relevant statute is section 5 of the Limitation Act 1980.

It will have been terminated before being sold to Lowell, so its almost certain to be more than six years from the cause of action.

One word of caution though - I would be very careful to double check that there has been no payment or other correspondence that could be construed as an acknowledgement of the debt.

Looks like you have a very strong defence, so I wouldn't worry. Hopefully a really well drafted defence will cause Lowell to think again, but they are nothing if not persistent so you should be prepared for them not to give up easily.

[rughead121]

Re: Need Help county court claim

Hi Guys,

Bit more advice needed.

I sent a CPR31 request to Bryan Carter and got a reply stating that they did not need to comply with CPR31 as the case will probably be assigned to the small claims track.

So am I right that until I submit a defence the case is trackless and CPR31 does, in fact apply.

If so can you have a look at my response letter to see if it's ok

Bryan Carter Solicitors LLP
11 De Havilland Drive
Weybridge
Surrey
KT13 0YP
Your ref: LOW/XXXXXXXX

21^st October 2013


Dear Sir,

Re: Lowell Portfolio 1 Ltd v Mr Rug Head Case No: XXXXXXXX
CPR 31.14 Request

Further to your letter dated 18^th October 2013 claiming that part 31 of the Civil procedure Rules do not apply.
I must admit I am somewhat bemused by your response. The rules are quite clear in regards to CPR and its Practice Directions on how parties must conduct themselves in civil disputes. A cards on the table approach would be more beneficial to all concerned and your response is considered as frustrating the case. The claim as yet to be allocated and therefore trackless and thus my request is a genuine request to discover further details pertaining to your claim not merely to base a defence upon.
Please note that if you should fail to comply with this request by 28^th October 2013 I will make an application to the court for an order that the proceedings be struck out or stayed for non-compliance and a summary costs order.

I do hope this will not be necessary and look forward to hearing from you.

Yours faithfully

[MIKE770]

Re: Need Help county court claim

Thing is part 31 they are correct it seems so a Part 18 would be needed, check on court site, also you get to the stage of disclosures then you will list the disclosurs required but only those named in form N1 POC, chance anything else. need to look at small claims procedures which clarifys do & dont!s, sure others will advise a lot more.

Paul does a good blog on items such as this.

[mystery1]

Re: Need Help county court claim

Technically without a track so it does apply. However many judges might take Carters view and tell you to go away.

A cpr 31.14 template explains the rules and thoughts behind that.

This is why it is best to get the documents using the pre action protocols when you get a letter before action.

M1

[Amethyst]

Re: Need Help county court claim

Have you entered a defence? From what you have said it should be quite straight forwards. (Just my opinion) The onus is then on the claimant to show the debt is not statute barred.



1 The Claimant's claim was issued on (date).

2 The Defendant contends that the Claimant's claim is statute barred pursuant to the provisions of section 5 of the Limitation Act 1980.

3 The Claimant's claim to be entitled to payment of £x or any other sum, or relief of any kind is denied.

I BELIEVE THAT THE CONTENTS OF THIS DEFENCE ARE TRUE.

[rughead121]

Re: Need Help county court claim

Technically without a track so it does apply. However many judges might take Carters view and tell you to go away.

A cpr 31.14 template explains the rules and thoughts behind that.

This is why it is best to get the documents using the pre action protocols when you get a letter before action.

M1

So is it worth sending or not?

They didn't send a LBA and they have stated that they will ask Lowells for the documents I have requested. How can they sign a statement of truth if they don't have the documents

[rughead121]

Re: Need Help county court claim

Have you entered a defence? From what you have said it should be quite straight forwards. (Just my opinion) The onus is then on the claimant to show the debt is not statute barred.



1 The Claimant's claim was issued on (date).

2 The Defendant contends that the Claimant's claim is statute barred pursuant to the provisions of section 5 of the Limitation Act 1980.

3 The Claimant's claim to be entitled to payment of £x or any other sum, or relief of any kind is denied.

I BELIEVE THAT THE CONTENTS OF THIS DEFENCE ARE TRUE.

I have not entered a defence yet but I wanted to make sure they have not invented a payment. The amount claimed is the same as the default amount (less interest etc) so I just wanted to make sure they don't try anything iffy

[mystery1]

Re: Need Help county court claim

So is it worth sending or not?

They didn't send a LBA and they have stated that they will ask Lowells for the documents I have requested. How can they sign a statement of truth if they don't have the documents

It depends on how much a defence you can mount without it. If you can then do so. To get a judge to order disclosure for a claim that will go small claims could be more hassle than it's worth. If you are desperate for the info then go for it. Losing attracts costs though.

It could also be Carter testing the water to see how serious and clued up you are.

M1

[littlebert8]

Re: Need Help county court claim

Come to think of it, the particulars of claim provide all the evidence needed to prove it is statute barred:

1. The claimant's claim is for a simple contract subject to to s.5 of the Limitation Act 1980
2. The claimant claims to have been assigned the balance of the account on 19/01/2007, therefore the cause of action accrued 6 years or more before the date of the claim.
3. The claimant claims the sum of xxxxx, this being the same as the balance they state was assigned on 19/01/2007. Therefore no payments have been made on account since assignment.
4. The defendant denies making any payment to the claimant or any other acknowledgement of this debt.
5. Consequently, the claim is 'statute barred' under s.5 of the Limitation Act 1980 and the claimant is not entitled to payment of the amount claimed or any other relief

You might want to mention your letter advising them that the debt was statute barred and that they didn't send a a letter before action. Might be seen as unreasonable behaviour

[rughead121]

Re: Need Help county court claim

Hi Guys, Thanks for the answers.

I have another question for you.

I have submitted my defence using MCOL. Do I need to send a copy to the claimant's solicitor?

[littlebert8]

Re: Need Help county court claim

No, I believe the court needs send a sealed copy to the claimant.

[rughead121]

Re: Need Help county court claim

Hi guys,

Just a quick update.

I have received a letter today from HMCS with one line

This case has been discontinued/written off.

So has the claimant filed a notice of discontinuation? shouldn't they send me a copy as well?

Can I now claim costs back if they have discontinued and how do I do that?

Sorry if all this sounds dumb but I haven't done this before and I probably wouldn't have defended this without the help of people here