Court Claim Received - Please Help

[Teddy C]

Hi Everyone

This is my first post but I have been reading the forum for the past few weeks and have been very impressed with the advice and support given to other people so I hope someone can help me.

Yesterday (18/11/14) I received a court claim form from County Court Business Centre dated 13/11/14, details as below;

Claimant - Arrow Global
Solicitor - Dryden Fairfax
Defendant - Me!
Claimed - £2999 plus costs total £3184
Relating to an MBNA credit Card

Background info;

Between 2006-2008 me and my wife lived beyond our means on credit cards and loans although the repayments were manageable. In 2009 we had our daughter and due to my wife only working part time we could no longer keep up the repayments. I started a DMP in 2010 but after only a few months of that I couldn't even keep up those. In the past 4/5 years we have swopped jobs and moved home quite a few times and the last time I think I paid anything to any creditor would have been July / August 2010.

I really did just bury my head in the sand. I expect I owe around £20k in total but so far this is the only creditor who has gone to court. I am now in a position to start making repayments as my salary has gone up but is it too late. I need to point out that I did have an MBNA credit card but I cant be sure anymore how much I owed when I stop paying. These debts seem to move around between companies and it gets very confusing. I work in finance so the last thing I need is an attachment to earnings as not only would it be very embarrassing, it could lead to me losing my job and then I would be back to square one again.

I would like some advice on what to do next.
Should I complete the claim form with all my details offering an amount to pay per month?
Should I follow the advice on here about acknowledging the debt and requesting a CCA (whatever step is next)?
Should I contact the solicitor dealing with it and see if they will accept a repayment plan now without going to court?

Thanks in advance for any help.

Teddy C

[Amethyst]

Re: Court Claim Received - Please Help

Hi Teddy and welcome to LB xx


Working in Finance I think it is imperative you don't get a CCJ against you so keep that at the forefront of your mind. However I do think you can go some way towards defending this before making an offer. You can ask the claimants for more information before entering into any negotiations, as if they don't have the paperwork the negotiation will be more weighted in your favour, if they do, then you have lost nothing then so long as your offer isnt too low, they shold be agreeable to a Tomlin order to keep it out of court (basically means you will pay installments or a full and final settlement on the debt and they don't enter a judgment against you)

If you would rather just get it out of your hair then have a chat with Drydens about negotiating (without prejudice) - as the claimant (Arrow) probably paid something like 10-20% for the debt you COULD get away with a 50% reduction plus the costs to settle it in one hit now if you can.... however if it's tighter financially than that and if you want to check it out a bit and see if they have a decent case I would go the send a CCA and CPR request route and play it by ear as to what comes back.



So couple things to think about, have a read of some other Drydens MBNA cases to see how they go and give you an idea of timescales etc.

Sharon
xx

[Kafka]

Re: Court Claim Received - Please Help

Can you type up the Particulars of Claim as they appear on the form please?

[Teddy C]

Re: Court Claim Received - Please Help

Hi Teddy and welcome to LB xx


Working in Finance I think it is imperative you don't get a CCJ against you so keep that at the forefront of your mind. However I do think you can go some way towards defending this before making an offer. You can ask the claimants for more information before entering into any negotiations, as if they don't have the paperwork the negotiation will be more weighted in your favour, if they do, then you have lost nothing then so long as your offer isnt too low, they shold be agreeable to a Tomlin order to keep it out of court (basically means you will pay installments or a full and final settlement on the debt and they don't enter a judgment against you)

If you would rather just get it out of your hair then have a chat with Drydens about negotiating (without prejudice) - as the claimant (Arrow) probably paid something like 10-20% for the debt you COULD get away with a 50% reduction plus the costs to settle it in one hit now if you can.... however if it's tighter financially than that and if you want to check it out a bit and see if they have a decent case I would go the send a CCA and CPR request route and play it by ear as to what comes back.



So couple things to think about, have a read of some other Drydens MBNA cases to see how they go and give you an idea of timescales etc.

Sharon
xx

Thanks for the quick reply Sharon.

In your experience if I send a CCA and CPR request how often do they just go away? Also if I was to call Dryden direct and agree an instalment plan out of court, can I be sure the case would be removed and not still go to court?

[Amethyst]

Re: Court Claim Received - Please Help

They don't just 'go away' I'm afraid, they will take it up to the hearing and try and get judgment without providing you with the documents (they fail). They usually will reply saying they will ask the original creditor for the documents. I'd say they come up with enforceable documents probably 40% ish of the time and those cases then arrange to settle.

If you did agree an installment plan out of court you could ask them to do it under a consent / Tomlin order. The only way they will remove it completely from court (discontinue /withdraw) is if you organise a full and final settlement, then the consent order would agree for them to withdraw once the agreed amount is paid. On installments the court claim is kept on hold in the court system as their security for if you stop payments they can just go and get judgment and follow it through to enforcement.

We really wouldn't push you into court on an offchance or a whim unless you were extremely determined to fight and our track record across the forum shows there are not many cases which have actually gone to court and lost.

[Teddy C]

Re: Court Claim Received - Please Help

Can you type up the Particulars of Claim as they appear on the form please?

Hi Kafka

Please see below;

1. The claim is for the sum of £2999.00 in respect of monies owing by the defendant on a credit agreement held by the defendant with MBNA under account number xxxxxxxxxxxxxx upon which the defendant failed to maintain payments.

2. A default notice was served upon the defendant and has not been complied with.

3. By virtue of a sale agreement between MBNA and the claimant, the claim vested in the claimant who has a genuine commercial interest. The defendant has been notified of the assignment by letter.

Contact drydenfairfax solicitors on 0113 823 3309

[Amethyst]

Re: Court Claim Received - Please Help

Did you receive the default notice and notice of assignment as far as you recall ?

[Teddy C]

Re: Court Claim Received - Please Help

Did you receive the default notice and notice of assignment as far as you recall ?

I couldn't say. It's very likely but stupidly I have thrown away a lot of debt chasing letters.

[Amethyst]

Re: Court Claim Received - Please Help

Okay, don't worry, most people do.... do you recognise Arrow Global as someone you have had letters from before?

[Teddy C]

Re: Court Claim Received - Please Help

Okay, don't worry, most people do.... do you recognise Arrow Global as someone you have had letters from before?

Yes definitely and also Dryden Fairfax solicitors.

[Kafka]

Re: Court Claim Received - Please Help

The POC didn't tell me what I expected LOL

I wanted to know how old this account is. Can you remember the year it was taken out as that isn't stated in the POC as it usually is?

[Kafka]

Re: Court Claim Received - Please Help

....

[Teddy C]

Re: Court Claim Received - Please Help

The POC didn't tell me what I expected LOL

I wanted to know how old this account is. Can you remember the year it was taken out as that isn't stated in the POC as it usually is?

I don't unfortunately, I would guess sometime in 2009. If it is important I can have a look through my garage when I get home because I might have old statements?

[Kafka]

Re: Court Claim Received - Please Help

If its that recent then we know where we are. Basically, the older the agreement is, the less likely they are to be able to find a copy of it. The law also changed in April 2007 and for agreements after that date its harder to challenge them.

[Amethyst]

Re: Court Claim Received - Please Help

MBNA, likely taken out 2007-2009 - defaulted 2009-2010 - paid under DMP for a while - and Arrow Global with Drydens - sadly I don't think you are going to be able to defend it on technical aspects ( we can do the letters and it might be they don't have the agreement, just no way to know for sure at this stage.

Standard first steps on receipt of one of these claims are here -> http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/...it-Court-Claim

Any idea if you had PPI on the card ? Won't be a massive amount if you did I suspect so probably not worth taking into consideration all that much.

Okay. ONLY my thoughts, based on what I know about your circumstances .....

I think phone up Drydens and tell them you've just received the claim and are preparing a CCA and CPR request to get the original agreement, assignment and default notice, details of charges on the card account and PPI details, but if you could have a without prejudice conversation please, then we could save a whole heap of effort if we sort out a settlement for say 50% of the claim plus your costs as detailed on the claim ? payable over XX months - ( work out what your budget is and reduce it by 10% as a starting point) on the grounds you put a consent order in place so you have the security of the claim in court until settlement is made, but you don't have a judgment unless I fail to pay.

Don't mention working in finance and needing to avoid a CCJ


Budget wise - try and work out all the debts that are lurking in the background and if you did the same with each of them, how much pro rata each would get (like in your DMP ) - that should help you work out whats a sustainable amount to offer - obviously you're flexible as others haven't come out of the woodwork, but no point offering everything spare to one creditor for another to pop up in a couple months and not be in a position to offer anything.