Application for more time to file a defence?

[kornishkat]

Hello, I'm new to the forum and I've joined because I'm trying to help a friend out with a Summons he received from Restons for an amount owed to MBNA but assigned to Arrow and I need some further advice.

If a County Court Summons was issued on the 11th of December, I calculate that the time limits start from the 16th of December meaning that (as an acknowledgement of service was filed within the time period), the last date a defence can be filed is tomorrow. Unfortunately, no response has been received from Restons or Arrow to the CPR 31.14 request. Is there a way that an application can be made to the Court for a longer time to submit a defence? Further information that may be useful - the CPR 31.14 was only signed for as received on 5th of January 2016 so the 7 days doesn't actually run out until tomorrow. Is there anything at all that can be done or is it the defendant's own fault because the CPR wasn't sent in good enough time?

Any help will be amazing. TIA.

K

[nemesis45]

Re: Application for more time to file a defence?

Hi,
Your friend will need to contact Restons and ask for a 28 day extension at the stage use the phone.
If Restons don't agree, then a short defence with non compliance is needed,
Has Arrow responded to a CCA request assuming one was sent?

It would be best if your friend posted the whole matter here it is difficult to respond full on so
little information.

nem

[Stu]

Re: Application for more time to file a defence?

Did you send a CCA request to Arrow global..?

[kornishkat]

Re: Application for more time to file a defence?

Thank you for the responses.

His first thought was to send a CCA but then decided from researching on the internet, that once a summons was issued he should only do a CPR request asking for a copy of the original agreement, the deed of assignment and the default notice. He thought that a CCA request would be asking for the same document as the original agreement asked for within the CPR 31.14 request.

The summons states:

The Claimant claims payment of the overdue balance due from the Defendant(s) under a contract between the Defendant(s) and MBNA dated on or about Dec 08 2004 and assigned to the Claimant on Jun 27 2008.

[nemesis45]

Re: Application for more time to file a defence?

Thank you for the responses.

His first thought was to send a CCA but then decided from researching on the internet, that once a summons was issued he should only do a CPR request asking for a copy of the original agreement, the deed of assignment and the default notice. He thought that a CCA request would be asking for the same document as the original agreement asked for within the CPR 31.14 request.

The summons states:

The Claimant claims payment of the overdue balance due from the Defendant(s) under a contract between the Defendant(s) and MBNA dated on or about Dec 08 2004 and assigned to the Claimant on Jun 27 2008.

I don't know where that nonsense comes from but it's Wrong, get CCA request away asap.
Failure to comply with a CCA request renders the debt unenforceable until the agreement is
supplied.

CPR 31.14 applies to small claims only until the claim is allocated to the SC track.
Unless you are in Scotland what you have is a County Court Claim not a summons.

nem

[kornishkat]

Re: Application for more time to file a defence?

Oh okay. So he shouldn't have done the CPR request, I think he was going on the basis that they hadn't supplied him with any of the items listed in the POC and that he was asking for a copy of the original agreement in his letter. He read lots of different things online and the CCA always seems to have been advised before proceedings are issued, as a non legal person, it is all very confusing and scary, sorry. It looks like his misunderstanding means he has messed up big time as there's no way he can get a CCA request to Arrow and give them time to respond before his defence is due so I suppose the best thing for him to do is to offer to pay whatever he can afford towards the debt? The claim is for £2,617.20 but there is no way he will be able to raise that by tomorrow. If he can manage get a loan from somewhere or offers to pay them a sum every week by tomorrow, will they still get a judgement against him?

Thanks again, your help is very much appreciated..

[Stu]

Re: Application for more time to file a defence?

You have 14 days to respond to the claim and once you have that rises to 28 days, you can ask for a further extension if its needed Ie, no response to the CPR request ....

[nemesis45]

Re: Application for more time to file a defence?

Oh okay. So he shouldn't have done the CPR request, I think he was going on the basis that they hadn't supplied him with any of the items listed in the POC and that he was asking for a copy of the original agreement in his letter. He read lots of different things online and the CCA always seems to have been advised before proceedings are issued, as a non legal person, it is all very confusing and scary, sorry. It looks like his misunderstanding means he has messed up big time as there's no way he can get a CCA request to Arrow and give them time to respond before his defence is due so I suppose the best thing for him to do is to offer to pay whatever he can afford towards the debt? The claim is for £2,617.20 but there is no way he will be able to raise that by tomorrow. If he can manage get a loan from somewhere or offers to pay them a sum every week by tomorrow, will they still get a judgement against him?

Thanks again, your help is very much appreciated..

Both requests CCA and CPR31 .14 should be done as soon as the service of the claim has been acknowledged.
No mess up as long as a CCA request is gone now.

There's a template in the forum library for, this £ 1 statutory fee payable use a Postal Order endorsed
" for statutory fee only". the claimant has 12 + 2 working days to comply. use signed for post and check
delivery date the timescale starts then.

It matters only that the CCA request is done asap, the defence can be a short non compliance one.

nem


PLEASE give us some history of the debt/account.

[nemesis45]

Re: Application for more time to file a defence?

I've been reading this over again, please confirm the following urgently.

1, The debt was assigned to the claimant in June 2008, correct?

2. Have any payments to any party been made in the last 6 years.

nem

[kornishkat]

Re: Application for more time to file a defence?

The debt is owed by my ex partner, he owed money on a credit card, I think it may have been Goldfish (in his sole name) but he lost his job and shortly afterwards we separated. I agreed with his creditor to pay a small amount a week to get them to stop the threatening phone calls and letters and I kept up the payments until (I think) Nov 2011, they started to ask for more money which I couldn't afford and I stopped paying and referred them back to him (I was single and had sole custody of our 4 children and was self employed and not in a position to continue the payments or meet the demands for higher ones). I understand he has received a few letters telling him he could pay a reduced sum to discharge the debt, I think it may have been 75% of the total amount but he didn't have the money. The debt has been passed to various debt collection agencies, now ending up with Arrow, I think it may have been with them before but was then passed to a different agency then back to them. Arrow said they would send someone around to collect money from him but no one ever turned up. He then received this claim form and he completed the acknowledgement of service online.

[nemesis45]

Re: Application for more time to file a defence?

The debt is owed by my ex partner, he owed money on a credit card, I think it may have been Goldfish (in his sole name) but he lost his job and shortly afterwards we separated. I agreed with his creditor to pay a small amount a week to get them to stop the threatening phone calls and letters and I kept up the payments until (I think) Nov 2011, they started to ask for more money which I couldn't afford and I stopped paying and referred them back to him (I was single and had sole custody of our 4 children and was self employed and not in a position to continue the payments or meet the demands for higher ones). I understand he has received a few letters telling him he could pay a reduced sum to discharge the debt, I think it may have been 75% of the total amount but he didn't have the money. The debt has been passed to various debt collection agencies, now ending up with Arrow, I think it may have been with them before but was then passed to a different agency then back to them. Arrow said they would send someone around to collect money from him but no one ever turned up. He then received this claim form and he completed the acknowledgement of service online.

OK I thought there was a possibility that the debt was statute barred, unfortunately that's no so due to they payments.

So do the CCA request today if possible.
Phone Restons before close of business and ask for an extension as documents have not been received.

I suspect that with any luck with an agreement this old getting a copy is going to be difficult.

I Restons won't agree tag me [MENTION=55034]nemesis45[/MENTION] and we can enter a defence to gain a bit more time.

Trying here to prevent a judgement by default.

nem

[kornishkat]

Re: Application for more time to file a defence?

Quick update, my ex has been trying to speak to someone at Restons but doesn't seem to be having any joy with Restons. The Court have confirmed that he has until 4pm tomorrow to file a defence, he still hasn't received anything from Arrow or Restons. The CCA letter has been printed offto send 'signed for' with a cheque for the fee. Assuming nothing arrives in the post tomorrow, a defence should be filed to prevent a judgement by default as you state above [MENTION=55034]nemesis45[/MENTION]?

Sorry for taking so long to update, I'm in work 7am, until 7pm and had to wait for a quick break to be able to access the internet.

[Amethyst]

Re: Application for more time to file a defence?

Yes it should, there's an easy to follow draft here - > http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/...t-Court-Claims

[kornishkat]

Re: Application for more time to file a defence?

I have an update on this case. The defence was filed on 13/01/16 and received on 14/01/16, the case was transferred to the local court on 01/02/16. Restons notified that they were no longer acting for Arrow in a letter dated 22 January enclosing form N434. Arrow sent a letter dated 03/02/16 enclosing change of solicitor and stating:

"We note that your defence is based on the grounds that you have not been provided with documents and do not recall receiving the notice of assignment,

We can confirm that the claim is in relation to a MBNA Credit Card taken out on the 08/12/2004. Pursuant to the account information the last payment received on the account was for £2.42 and was sent on 20/12/2011 to our collections partner Westcot.

Arrow Global acquired the account on 27/06/2008 and notice of assignment was sent to you on or about 01/08/2008 pursuant to the Law of Property Act 1925.

We hope that this information helps you to identify the account and look forward to receiving notice that your defence has been withdrawn. Should you wish to discuss the matter further, or believe that you still have an outstanding query, please contact us at your earliest opportunity in a bit to resolve this matter amicably and save recourse to further legal action and costs"

Form N180 has been received, I assume it's best to agree to mediation? Is it okay to complete a PDF version and email to the court and Arrow or better to post. Also, the Defendant had made any payments on the debt for much longer than they are claiming. He had stopped paying in around 2008 before he moved out, I then started making small payments just to stop them from harassing me as myself and the children still lived at the address after he had left. Is this relevant. They have still not responded to the CPR and CCA requests, no documents have been provided. Should the Defendant be doing anything further like sending further copies of the request for documents and insisting they provide them or should he just complete the N180 and wait for a court date?

Thanks again for the help.

[nemesis45]

Re: Application for more time to file a defence?

I have an update on this case. The defence was filed on 13/01/16 and received on 14/01/16, the case was transferred to the local court on 01/02/16. Restons notified that they were no longer acting for Arrow in a letter dated 22 January enclosing form N434. Arrow sent a letter dated 03/02/16 enclosing change of solicitor and stating:

"We note that your defence is based on the grounds that you have not been provided with documents and do not recall receiving the notice of assignment,

We can confirm that the claim is in relation to a MBNA Credit Card taken out on the 08/12/2004. Pursuant to the account information the last payment received on the account was for £2.42 and was sent on 20/12/2011 to our collections partner Westcot.

Arrow Global acquired the account on 27/06/2008 and notice of assignment was sent to you on or about 01/08/2008 pursuant to the Law of Property Act 1925.

We hope that this information helps you to identify the account and look forward to receiving notice that your defence has been withdrawn. Should you wish to discuss the matter further, or believe that you still have an outstanding query, please contact us at your earliest opportunity in a bit to resolve this matter amicably and save recourse to further legal action and costs"

Form N180 has been received, I assume it's best to agree to mediation? Is it okay to complete a PDF version and email to the court and Arrow or better to post. Also, the Defendant had made any payments on the debt for much longer than they are claiming. He had stopped paying in around 2008 before he moved out, I then started making small payments just to stop them from harassing me as myself and the children still lived at the address after he had left. Is this relevant. They have still not responded to the CPR and CCA requests, no documents have been provided. Should the Defendant be doing anything further like sending further copies of the request for documents and insisting they provide them or should he just complete the N180 and wait for a court date?

Thanks again for the help.

Good morning,

I presume this is now in the hands of Arrows " specialist litigation team"?

Yes agree to mediation. Complete N180 and send 1 copy to Arrow and 1 to the court.
e=mail to court fine. Use signed for post to AG then check delivery date and signature.

I would also send Arrow something along the lines of:

Sir / Madam,

Ref: Claim No. ..........................:

Your letter dated......................:

Having received your letter dated.............. and noting its contents please take note of the following points.

1. I will not withdraw my defence.

2. Arrow Global has not complied with my request for a copy of the agreement relevant to this alleged debt and is therefore unable to enforce the alleged debt.

3. As it is now clear that Arrow Global is not in possession of the documents to carry this claim forward to trial a I suggest that Arrow Global now discontinues this claim in the interests of saving costs and court time.

Please find here with a copy of my Directions Questionnaire which has been filed with the court.

I know look forward to receiving your confirmation that the claim has been discontinued.

Yours etc.

Amend as you see fit ( if you decide to use it)

nem