Bryan Carter and Lowell

[boski]

Received a Court Summons from Northampton County Court filed bryan carter on behalf of lowell for an Overdraft debt £510 including solicitors court and today is the 18th day and I have 1 more day to respond. This debt I believe has been passed so many times. Problem is I actually don't live there now as i travel abroad a lot and my sister called them to say as much but still received the court letter albeit this was sent before my sister called. My sister doesn't want people coming round.
Anyway I think it is statute barred but I cannot confirm because i think the lat . How do I respond? I am worried that if i respond to say it is statute barred and i receive a reply from the court i may not be around to respond on time. I want to respond by telling them to send me documents to prove I owe this. What should i do?

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Bryan Carter and Lowell

Hi and welcome

Received a Court Summons from Northampton County Court filed bryan carter on behalf of lowell for an Overdraft debt £510 including solicitors court and today is the 18th day and I have 1 more day to respond. This debt I believe has been passed so many times.

You need to acknowledge service as soon as possible, stating your intention to defend in full. You can usually do so online using the P/W printed on the claim form. :typing:

Problem is I actually don't live there now as i travel abroad a lot and my sister called them to say as much but still received the court letter albeit this was sent before my sister called. My sister doesn't want people coming round.

You're lucky to have received it, otherwise it would be default judgment for the claimant. :juge:No-one is going to go round to your sister's house. The whole thing is done online and/or by post.

Anyway I think it is statute barred but I cannot confirm because i think the lat . How do I respond? I am worried that if i respond to say it is statute barred and i receive a reply from the court i may not be around to respond on time. I want to respond by telling them to send me documents to prove I owe this. What should i do?

You need to send a CPR 31.14 request for documents on their particulars of claim. As this is an overdraft, the wording is slightly different from the usual CPR 31.14 used for loans and credit cards. You'll find it here: http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/...682#post409682

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Bryan Carter and Lowell

Anyway I think it is statute barred but I cannot confirm because i think the lat . How do I respond? I am worried that if i respond to say it is statute barred and i receive a reply from the court i may not be around to respond on time. I want to respond by telling them to send me documents to prove I owe this. What should i do?

You may also want to send a Part 18 request for information to find out the date of last payment into the account, as below.

IN THE XXX county court

CLAIM NO:
BETWEEN:

XXXXXXXXXX

Claimant

and

XXXXXXXXXX

Defendant

PART 18 REQUEST FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

To: XXXXXXXXXX (claimant)

Please provide me with the following:

1. Statements of account showing the date of the last payment made into this current account.

TAKE NOTICE THAT YOU ARE REQUIRED TO ANSWER THE ABOVE REQUEST WITHIN 14 DAYS OF SERVICE OF THE SAME UPON YOU.

Yours sincerely,

XXXX

[boski]

Re: Bryan Carter and Lowell

You may also want to send a Part 18 request for information to find out the date of last payment into the account, as below.

Many thanks. I really appreciate this. Will update you. Is the claimant BC?

[boski]

Re: Bryan Carter and Lowell

You may also want to send a Part 18 request for information to find out the date of last payment into the account, as below.

Hi,
I did the AOS online this morning. Who do I send the documents to? The court? Or Lowells? Or BC?

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Bryan Carter and Lowell

Many thanks. I really appreciate this. Will update you. Is the claimant BC?

The claimant is Lowell, BC are the solicitors acting for them.

Hi,
I did the AOS online this morning. Who do I send the documents to? The court? Or Lowells? Or BC?

They should go to Bryan Carter. :thumb:

[boski]

Re: Bryan Carter and Lowell

Very many thanks.

[boski]

Re: Bryan Carter and Lowell

Hi, do I need to send a defence to the court before the 28 day time limit and if yes what defence? I am just sending out the request to BC today. 28 days will be May 17th.

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Bryan Carter and Lowell

Hi, do I need to send a defence to the court before the 28 day time limit

You have a total of 33 days from the date printed on the claim, the extra 5 days are allowed for service.

and if yes what defence?

Looking back, you seemed to think this could be SBd. If you use that as your defence, it would be up to the claimant to prove otherwise.

This can be a little trickier to establish with overdrafts, since the cause of action is from the date when the O/D is recalled by the bank rather than the last payment made into the account, however, it would be up to Lowell to disprove your arguments.

I am just sending out the request to BC today. 28 days will be May 17th.

You've left a bit late, since they have 7 days to comply with the CPR 31.14 request and 14 with the Part 18 request before you can ask them to agree to an extension, and that's a step to be taken before you can submit an unless order. You may have a bit more time depending on the date printed on the claim, as above, a total of 33 days.

From hundreds of threads here, BC never provide documents and most people end up either submitting an unless order (but see above), or a defence, often a holding defence, but in your case, you could go for a SBd defence. :thumb:

[boski]

Re: Bryan Carter and Lowell

Should I just go for a SBD defence straight to the court then and not bother about the CPR31.14 and Part 18 and wait for them to respond? I have not yet sent anything as I was waiting for you to respond . Also the service date was 15th of April. That will make it 5 days from now so maybe I should just go for SBD. if I did and they come back with proof that it may not be then can I still defend using the above

[boski]

Re: Bryan Carter and Lowell

Can I send the SBD to court online through the same channel used to submit AOS please

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Bryan Carter and Lowell

Should I just go for a SBD defence straight to the court then and not bother about the CPR31.14 and Part 18 and wait for them to respond? I have not yet sent anything as I was waiting for you to respond . Also the service date was 15th of April. That will make it 5 days from now so maybe I should just go for SBD. if I did and they come back with proof that it may not be then can I still defend using the above

As posted above, they would have to prove it isn't.

Can I send the SBD to court online through the same channel used to submit AOS please

You should be able to submit your defence electronically. :typing:

A typical SBd defence would be as below:

The claimant’s claim was issued on xx/xxxx/2014.

The Claimant's defendant contends that the Claimant's claim so issued is a claim in contract and is statute barred pursuant to the provisions of Section 5 of the Limitation Act 1980. If, which is denied, the claimant contends that the Defendant is in breach of the alleged contract, in excess of 6 years have elapsed since the date on which any cause of action for breach accrued for the benefit of the Claimant.

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

[boski]

Re: Bryan Carter and Lowell

So many thanks. Really appreciate this

[boski]

Re: Bryan Carter and Lowell

Hi, I sent the SBD defence and I have received a reply that the claimant wants to proceed. What is the next step? They have not sent any proof that it is not. Do I have to request for it and what format? Who do I request from BC or Lowell? And what are the time limits

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Bryan Carter and Lowell

Hi, I sent the SBD defence and I have received a reply that the claimant wants to proceed. What is the next step?

The case will be transferred to your local court and you will receive a directions questionnaire. Given the amount claimed, it will be allocated to small claims so this is the sort of thing you can expect: Form N180.

They have not sent any proof that it is not. Do I have to request for it and what format? Who do I request from BC or Lowell? And what are the time limits

They will have to show the court proof that the debt is not statute barred by producing evidence such as statements and other documents. You don't need to request proof.

As this is an overdraft, it can be a little tricky to establish the exact date when a debt becomes statute barred. Unlike credit cards and loans, you wouldn't have been expected to make regular monthly payments on a certain date, so it could take several months for the bank to decide that, in view of lack of funds paid into your current account, the overdraft should be recalled. With O/Ds, the clock starts ticking when the bank recalls the O/D rather than when money was last paid into the account. :clock:

With small balances like yours, it can take a long time for the bank to make that decision, and the balance will usually keep building up as the bank keeps adding charges to it. I've posted elsewhere what happened with my business account when I stopped using it for just over a year, it has no O/D facility but Barcraps kept adding on charges, causing the account to go into the red, leading to yet more charges. This went on for over a year, during which I made no payments into the account and the account ended up overdrawn by several hundred, yet the O/D was never recalled or defaulted. The account is still live and I still use it. If I had decided not to use it and hadn't had any money paid into the account, it could well have been two years before the O/D was recalled.