Arrow/Vanquis Court Claim

[BrownBear]

Hi

I am hoping someone can help. I have received a claim form for an old Vanquis card debt with Arrow being the claimant.

The Particulars of Claim are as follows:

1. The claimants claim is for the sum of £2600 being monies due from the the defendant to the claimant under a regulated agreement between the defendant and Vanquis Bank Limited (agreement number quoted) and assigned to the claimant on 28/02/2012, notice of which has been provided to the defendant.
2. The defendant has failed to make payment in accordance with the terms of the agreement and a default notice has been served pursuant to the Consumer Credit Act 1974.
3.The claimant claim the sum of £2,600
4. C has complied, as far as necessary, with the pre-action conduct practice direction.

I don't recall ever having received a default notice. I may have got an assignment notice, but am not sure. I have only ever had the odd letter from arrow over the years, and certainly not been bombarded.

They did send a letter through quite recent that i thought was strange, saying that they hadn't sent us statements for years so here is one now type of thing. Thinking about it now, that must have been so they could make the claim?

I have attached that letter for someone who knows more to comment on.

I have been reading through the next steps and will start those.

But any other help and advice would be great. img006.pdf

[BrownBear]

Re: Arrow/Vanquis Court Claim

Sorry only attached part of the letter in last post. Here is the rest.

img004.pdf

[charitynjw]

Re: Arrow/Vanquis Court Claim

Hi Brown Bear & welcome to LB.

Yes to first steps; acknowledge with court, CCA request + £1 to Claimant, CPR 31.14 request to solicitors (no fee).
Keep copies & get proof of posting.

You say the alleged debt is old; when was the last time you paid into it or acknowledged it in writing?

[BrownBear]

Re: Arrow/Vanquis Court Claim

Hi Charitynjw

I am not sure of the last payment, they say the card was taken out in april 2009 and i expect i made payments for approx 12 to18 months after that date, until my OH lost their job.

[Linus]

Re: Arrow/Vanquis Court Claim

I have read somewhere I think that Vanquis default notices were not good so maybe you will not have realised what it was.

Reading some other posts on here, make sure you follow the timelines set down so even if you send a request for documents, if they dont reply still enter a defence.

[charitynjw]

Re: Arrow/Vanquis Court Claim

So it may be Statute-barred (over 6 years with no acknowledgement.....5 if you live in Scotland).

It would be worth carefully checking historic records; also maybe sending a SAR to Vanquis (which will cost a tenner).

[BrownBear]

Re: Arrow/Vanquis Court Claim

Thanks for advice so far.

Will certainly check dates of last payments etc.

The claimant states the amount owed, so can i ask for statements of credits and debits to the account as evidence of how they come to this figure?

[charitynjw]

Re: Arrow/Vanquis Court Claim

The claimant states the amount owed, so can i ask for statements of credits and debits to the account as evidence of how they come to this figure?

Personally, I don't think I would trust the Claimant as to the accuracy of the info (not that they're likely to supply the info anyway).
I would go to the horse's mouth (Vanquis) with a SAR (see previous post) & use that to uncover any ̷l̷i̷e̷s̷ mistakes in the Claimant's version.

[BrownBear]

Re: Arrow/Vanquis Court Claim

Thanks

Will SAR Vanquis as suggested and see what they come up with.

[BrownBear]

Re: Arrow/Vanquis Court Claim

Ok. Service acknowledged online, SAR sent to Vanquis, CCA request sent to claimant and CPR sent to claimants sols.

Anything else i need to do?
I have worked out when i need to have a defence in by - but will be out of the country for a couple of weeks immediately after this time is up. Does this put us at risk in anyway, and is there anything we can do to mitigate that risk?

[charitynjw]

Re: Arrow/Vanquis Court Claim

Ok. Service acknowledged online, SAR sent to Vanquis, CCA request sent to claimant and CPR sent to claimants sols.

Anything else i need to do?
You could chance it & send a Statute-barred letter to the solicitor, to see how they reply.
Or you can wait to see what the SAR shakes loose.........up to you, really.
I have worked out when i need to have a defence in by - but will be out of the country for a couple of weeks immediately after this time is up. Does this put us at risk in anyway, and is there anything we can do to mitigate that risk?
They might agree to an extension. (28 days per CPR request....if so, you will need to inform the court).
If not, file your defense just before the deadline (the substance of which is dependent on whether you receive any replies from your letters/requests).
Before you go on your hols, phone the court to make sure your defence has been received, & email them re your holiday dates (just in case).
If ok, the Claimant is normally given 28 days to reply to your defence.

####

[BrownBear]

Re: Arrow/Vanquis Court Claim

Had a letter from their Sols stating that they are contacting their client for the documents we requested.
They also say that they will not pursue a claim while they are waiting for the new docs. I take it we should take this with a pinch of salt, as they have not actually said the claim would be withdrawn.

We have also not had a reply to the CCA request.

Their sols never mentioned an extension of time.

Should we now look at lodging a defence? Is their any guidance on the best defence, under these circumstances?

[BrownBear]

Re: Arrow/Vanquis Court Claim

Anybody able to advise?

[JulieM]

Re: Arrow/Vanquis Court Claim

My understanding is that you must follow the timeline set by the court so yes a defence within 33 days from the date of claim.

There red are some sample defences in the green box at the top of this thread.

[MIKE770]

Re: Arrow/Vanquis Court Claim

ignore their reterick of not pursuing the claim, remember if they have issued N1 claim the court proceedings are the guidelines not some jumped up clerk who hopes to hoodwink you in to getting a judgment by default, these claimants have to abide by court procedures not what they try and convince you that they run the proceedings. follow instructions & time frames of the court p[process only