Adding to your defense

[charitynjw]

Re: Adding to your defense

As previously suggested, phone the court.
The priority should be to find out what is the current status of the claim.
The other stuff can be dealt with later.

[bobsfrancis]

Re: Adding to your defense

I phoned the court and found out that the DCA solicitors did not respond to the defence i submitted and therefore it has been stayed. Should I now ask the DCA solicitors to remove this county court action and discontinue their action? And also ask for the reasons why they did not enter their part of the claim in the court?

many thanks

Bobs [MENTION=5553]charitynjw[/MENTION] [MENTION=87380]Diana M[/MENTION]

[bobsfrancis]

Re: Adding to your defense

Hi charity,

I phoned the court and found out that the DCA solicitors did not respond to the defence i submitted on time and therefore it has been stayed. Should I now ask the DCA solicitors to remove this county court action and discontinue their action? And also ask for the reasons why they did not enter their part of the claim in the court? Or do i need to do anything else?

Many thanks

Bobs

@charitynjw @Diana M

[charitynjw]

Re: Adding to your defense

Tbh, I would echo @Diana M's posts (above).

To give a considered opinion on tactics going forward we really need a bit more info.

What is the claim for (credit card, loan etc), approx how much money is being claimed, what did the Particulars of Claim state & what did your submitted defence say in reply?

The problem with asking the Claimant to discontinue, or any move by you in that direction, you are putting up a big neon "look, I'm over here!" sign. Their response may well be governed in part by the above unanswered questions.

[bobsfrancis]

Re: Adding to your defense

Humble apologies Charity and Di,

I thought i had answered the questions from Di but i didn't respond to all of them. I will sort this out tonight and get them up asap.

Many thanks

Bobs

@charitynjw @Diana M

[Diana M]

Re: Adding to your defense

I phoned the court and found out that the DCA solicitors did not respond to the defence i submitted on time and therefore it has been stayed. Should I now ask the DCA solicitors to remove this county court action and discontinue their action? And also ask for the reasons why they did not enter their part of the claim in the court? @Diana M

The Claimant may have let the claim become stayed while they scurry around trying to source the documents or reconstitute them.

Don't count your chickens before they hatch that this is the end of the matter.

Answer my questions before you ask them any

Di

[bobsfrancis]

Re: Adding to your defense

Hi Di,

Must say i'm not counting my chickens before they hatch! Just trying to sort out this mess and under lots of stress.

here are more details and answers to your questions.

Without seeing the Particulars of Claim or the Defence exact wording it's not possible to give specific advice (the names aren't important).


Credit Card debt opened before 2002

Claim

1. The claimant’s claim is for the sum of £xxxx being monies due from the defendant to the claimant under a regulated agreement between the defendant and V BAnk (no xxxxx) and assigned to the claimant on 21/07/2016, 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 claims the sum of £xxxx

4. C has complied, as far as is necessary, with the pre-action conduct practice direction



My defence

My defence was that I didn’t receive notification from the original debt collecting agency that they had a new DCA solicitor working for them and that I was already in discussions with another one that they had asked me to work with.

I did not receive notice that a new DCA solicitor was apparently working on behalf of the original DCA company. I was instructed by the original DCA that they purchased this debt in 2016 and was asked to work with their DCA. I made a request for further information and details about the Debt from this DCA company. I received confirmation from the DCA that they would send documents to me but never received these documents.


1. What is the claim Issue Date? April 2017

2. What date did you file your Defence? Not sure but it was on time end of May

3. What date did you send the s 77-79 CCA Request and was it a formal request together with the £1 statutory fee? You've implied this was in May and possibly again in June. Yes in May 2017 to both the original DCA (Claimant) and the solicitor DCA but the solicitor DCA apparently didn’t receive it, and still awaiting response from the original DCA (Claimant). Therefore I sent the CCA request with postal Tracking to the solicitor DCA which they received in early June 2017. They have not provided CCA yet.

4. If you sent your CCA Request before you filed your Defence did you refer to that in your Defence (regardless of whether they say they received it or not if you have Proof of Postage then it will be deemed served)? Yes

5. Have you received a letter from the court acknowledging your Defence and telling you it had been served on the Claimant who has 28 days to inform the court if they intent to continue with the proceedings? If so what date was on that letter? Yes 2^nd week in June, 2017

6. If you haven't sent a CPR 31.14 Request you can do that now since the claim hasn't been allocated to any track (or has it?). You need to edit the forum template to remove reference to being unable to file your Defence since you already have filed your Defence. However in one post you say you haven't sent a CPR 31.14 Request yet in another you say your sent both "requests" (plural) so the positon is not clear. Apologies what I was trying to say was that I had sent requests to both DCA companies.

7. If the gist of your Defence was only about the confusion of which DCA was managing the account on behalf of the debt owner then you'll probably need to file an Amended Defence. The court will be deciding whether you owe the Claimant the money they are claiming or not. Pre Action protocol may become relevant but it's unlikely to defeat a money claim.

8. You say you've not received any documents from the Claimant or their solicitors. What documents have you requested apart from the credit agreement? Only the CCA.

9. If the claim is stayed (because the Claimant didn't inform the court of their intention to continue with the proceedings within the 28 day window) then you need to decide when to amend your Defence and what it would say either in the absence of documents being produced or when (if ever) they are produced. The claim is stayed because the DCA solicitor did not reply on time.

It's difficult to add anything else at this point without you providing further information.

Di



I hope this helps Di and Charity and that you may be able to give me some further suggestions.

Many thanks

Bobs


@charitynjw @Diana M

[bobsfrancis]

Re: Adding to your defense

Hi Di,

I've answered your questions and wondered if you had any suggestions of a way forward.

Many Thanks

Bobs

@Diana M

[bobsfrancis]

Re: Adding to your defense

Hi All,

Can anyone give me some advice on the next steps please?

Many thanks

Bobs

@charitynjw @Diana M

[Diana M]

Re: Adding to your defense

This claim is stayed isn't it?

Perhaps the question is do you (as Defendant) need to make the next move or does the Claimant?

It's about deciding whether to be proactive or reactive.

Di

[bobsfrancis]

Re: Adding to your defense

Hi Di,

Yes it is stayed. I feel i need to be proactive. There is no point waiting to see if someone else starts sending letters and harrassing me. I would rather face it out now and find out what's going on. I find it a bit strange that they don't want to take any further action and also that i still have not received the CCA documents that i requested.

Many thanks for your support but would appreciate all views on this matter.

Bobs

@charitynjw @Diana M

[bobsfrancis]

Re: Adding to your defense

Hi All,

Apologies for bumping this message and asking the same questions again. Trying to work out the best way forward for my current situation and would welcome your thoughts. Can’t stand around waiting for the next letter from a DCA company or court asking for money.

By being proactive and asking questions will this actually strengthen my case further if I was to be taken to court? Would this show that I was trying to resolve the situation but not actually getting any response from the claimant? The only response I have received recently from asking direct questions about this situation has been complete silence from the claimant and no CCA document and no further action will be taken against you by the DCA Solicitor.

Your views and experiences would be appreciated.

Many thanks in advance.

Bobs


@charitynjw @Diana M

[charitynjw]

Re: Adding to your defense

Hi Bobs

Without knowing your all the details of your particular situation it would not be wise to suggest a course of action.

However, a comparison may give you food for thought.
Many years ago a friend of mine had some problems with a credit card issuer.
The (alleged) resulting debt was subsequently sold (for peanuts) to a debt purchasing company, who of course wanted the full monty from my friend.
Eventually they tried scaring my friend via a County Court claim.
This was defended, & similar to yours, stayed.
By then, so much time had passed since the original (alleged) debt that it no longer appeared on any credit reference agency list.
And now the Claimant debt purchase company has a problem. They can't find the documentation to support their claim, and if they try to sell the alleged debt on, it will be statute barred, so worthless.
Meantime the stayed claim does not affect my friend in any way.
Why would he want to spend £255 to apply for it to be struck out? (Even the 'st.ay' is now close to it's 6th year anniversary).

[bobsfrancis]

Re: Adding to your defense

Hi All,

Anybody else have any views that may differ or have had any other friends or experiences that they want to share?

Many thanks

Bobs

[bobsfrancis]

Re: Adding to your defense

Hi All,

Seems like they have not forgotten! Surprise, surprise! Had a letter recently with the usual response of... We are not the claimant but we will ask for the documents that you requested bla bla bla...

Therefore folks i guess i now have to wait and see what they produce next.

Any advice would be gladly accepted.

Many Thanks

Bobs