Judgement for Claimant form received but no Claim issued

[issie]

Re: Judgement for Claimant form received but no Claim issued

Hi

Thanks for getting back to me so quickly!!

No, nothing at all!

Many thanks

[Amethyst]

Re: Judgement for Claimant form received but no Claim issued

Bit pants of them. You might get something from them between now and the hearing, so really, it's a case of wait and see for the moment. I can't see it's worth their while attending the hearing and not consenting to the set aside, it's only for £255 overall.

[Diana M]

Re: Judgement for Claimant form received but no Claim issued

The Claimant may file and serve a Witness Statement now that the Hearing has been listed.

Di

[issie]

Re: Judgement for Claimant form received but no Claim issued

Yes!! I don't think they have a any evidence to offer to prove the claim, but possibly they will try to put something together, they haven't supplied anything I have asked for so far. I don't owe anything to talk talk and have denied any knowedge of the debt, so it will be interesting to see what they send to support the claim, if anything. The Prove it letter from your site asks them for a heap of things! No response to this so far.

[issie]

Re: Judgement for Claimant form received but no Claim issued

Yes, I am expecting something, but will wait to see what they come up with.

The case is just annoying more than anything, I don't have any debt with Talk Talk and at the moment my focus is on winning my PIP Appeal. This is why I am so grateful to you all at Legal Beagles as your advice and support has taken away all of the stress of this case and allowed me to focus on my submission to my PIP Appeal.

Many thanks.

[issie]

Re: Judgement for Claimant form received but no Claim issued

Hi Amethyst

Just to let you know, I have had my hearing and the judgement was set aside with directions to provide my defence by 14th November 2017. The Judge was really annoyed with them as they haven't sent any information about the debt to either me or the court and so the court also doesn't know what the debt refers to, other than it is talk talk and only from the letter they sent me on the 9th August. I don't see what I can add to my draft defence as I have very scant if any information about where the alleged debt occured, why it occured, and how it has been accumulated (but of course they wont have this as it never existed). Also I have all my bank statements for the past 6 years, showing who my media providers were and payments made. There are no gaps in my payments and none to talk talk. The judge said that was good evidence on my part. But, I still can't prepare much of a defence without JC international providing details of the alledged debt as above. The prove it letter was ignored by them as stated in my draft defence. So should I just reiterate what was said in my draft defence and add that there is insufficient information to state my position regarding their claim.

Many thanks
issie

[jaguarsuk]

Re: Judgement for Claimant form received but no Claim issued

I think it would be a good idea to share your defence here (with personal info removed) and allow people to look. Essentially you need to be saying I don't recognise this, I have asked them to prove it, they haven't and I can't explain until they do. Make sure you add the paragraph:

Under Civil Procedure Rule 16.5 (4) where the claim includes a money claim, a Defendant shall be taken to require that any allegation relating to the amount of money claimed be proved unless he expressly admits the allegation. Therefore, it is expected that the Claimant be put to the strictest proof to prove the allegation that the money is owed as claimed.

[issie]

Re: Judgement for Claimant form received but no Claim issued

Hi Jaguarsuk

Okay! Do you mean my final defence, not my draft one? I have copied and pasted my draft defence anyway. The judge said in her reason for setting aside that the evidence must persuade her that any decision she makes to set aside must consider whether I have any chance of success of winning. She said that based on the fact they had supplied neither the court nor myself any information about the debt, that she believed that I did have this chance to succeed with my case (she probably put that a bit better than I have stated).

I am intending to send my defence by recorded delivery after the 7th November to both parties as I am busy putting together my submission for my PIP appeal so prioritising that this week. I will draft it to send by the 6th November, and copy and paste it for comments (very grateful for any input here). In the meantime, here is my draft defence that the judge referred to. I think given what you have said above, I just need to tweak this?

Draft Defence

The Claim is denied.
I am unaware of what debt the claimant refers to.

Following recent letters received at my present address from the claimant’s solicitors, xxxxxxx, I have requested information on xxxxxxx pertaining to the claimant’s claim. The claimant has failed to respond to give me any information.
The claimant has not served a Notice of Assignment pursuant to the law of property act 1925 and the claimant is put to strict proof as to:

1. show how the Defendant entered into an agreement with the Claimant; and
   
2. show how the Claimant has calculated the amount claimed; and
   
3. show how the Claimant has the legal right, either under statute or equity to issue a claim.

As per Civil Procedure Rule 16.5(4) it is expected that the Claimant prove the allegation that the money is owed.
It is denied that the claimant is entitled to the relief claimed or any relief.

I believe the facts stated in this Defence are true.


Signed __________________________

Dated: __________________________

Actually, Amethyst can take the credit for this draft defence not me!

Many Thanks

Issie

[jaguarsuk]

Re: Judgement for Claimant form received but no Claim issued

Try this to start and then @Amethyst can tweak

1. The Defendant denies that he is liable to the Claimant either as alleged in the Particulars of Claim or at all. Save where otherwise admitted, each and every allegation in the Particulars of Claim is denied.

2. Following recent letters received at my present address from the claimant’s solicitors, xxxxxxx, I have requested information on xxxxxxx pertaining to the claimant’s claim. The claimant has failed to respond to give me any information.

3. The claimant has not served a Notice of Assignment pursuant to the law of property act 1925 and under Civil Procedure Rule 16.5 (4) where the claim includes a money claim, a Defendant shall be taken to require that any allegation relating to the amount of money claimed be proved unless he expressly admits the allegation.

4. Therefore, it is expected that the Claimant be put to the strictest proof to prove the allegation that the money is owed as claimed and to:

i. show how the Defendant entered into an agreement with the Claimant; and
ii. show how the Claimant has calculated the amount claimed; and
iii. show how the Claimant has the legal right, either under statute or equity to issue a claim.

5. If further documents and/or clarification of their case is received by the Defendant from the Claimant, the Defendant may be in a position to properly asses his position and amend his defence accordingly. The Defendant asks the Claimant be ordered to bear the cost of any amendment to the defence.

6. For the reasons stated in this Defence, it is denied that the Claimant is entitled to the recovery of the sum of £XX.XX or any sum of monies from the Defendant and it is denied that the Claimant is entitled to the relief claimed or any relief.

7. The Defendant respectfully requests that this claim be ordered struck out or dismissed on the grounds that the Claimant has failed to substantiate the allegations in their statement of case. As such and in accordance with CPR Part 24.2(a)(i) the Defendant belives that the Claimant has no real prospect of succeeding on the claim.

8. The Defendant also respectfully requests sanctions be imposed against the Claimant under CPR Part 27.14 due to their unreasonable conduct thus far resulting in costs being awarded to the Defendant against the Claimant.

I believe the facts stated in this Defence are true.

[Amethyst]

Re: Judgement for Claimant form received but no Claim issued

As you deny ever having has an account with Talk Talk in the first place I would include that in the defence, it's strong and will back up your ' no documents' issue.

I don't owe Talk Talk any money. In 2012 they tried to set me up with broadband, but I lived rurally and I didn't receive it so I cancelled it and they agreed that was okay. Although 7 days had passed since my order, they agreed there would be no cancellation charge. However, I received a letter a month later asking for this cancellation charge. I telephoned them at the time of receiving this and they said to ignore it. I heard nothing else until 2 weeks ago from Moriarty Law

So tweaking what Jag's has given you - completely up to you if you want to go into the background at this point, it could wait for the witness statement if it got that far, but I think demonstrating there actually is a bonafide issue as well as moriarty etc being utter crap and not providing any documentation so I reckon it will get rid of the claim quicker.

------------------------------------

1. The Defendant denies that he is liable to the Claimant either as alleged in the Particulars of Claim or at all. Save where otherwise admitted, each and every allegation in the Particulars of Claim is denied.

2. The Claim appears to be for an alleged contract for services between the Defendant and 'Talk Talk'.

3. The Defendant has had previous dealings with 'Talk Talk' however there is no debt owed to the company, and therefore no debt owed to any alleged assignee. The claim is denied in full.

4: In 2012 the Defendant engaged 'Talk Talk' to provide Broadband services at his home address. 'Talk Talk' were unable to provide the services due to the rural location of the address and the service was cancelled.

5: 'Talk Talk' waived any cancellation / service charges due to their inability to perform under the contract.

6: The last contact the Defendant had with 'Talk Talk' was in 2012 when they confirmed no charge had been applied and the contract was cancelled.

7: The Defendant had no further contact with 'Talk Talk' until receipt of a letter from the Claimant's Solicitors received in July 2017.

8: Upon receipt of this letter the Defendant responded to the Claimant's Solicitors in writing requesting more information pertaining to their claim. The Claimant has failed to respond to this letter.

9: The next communication received regarding the matter was receipt of the County Court Judgment in Default. The claim had been issued to a previous address despite the Claimant having previously ( see Paragraph 8) written to the Defendant and his current address.

10: Following a request to the Claimant for information and for them to consent to set aside the Judgment, which the Claimant failed to respond to, the Defendant applied to set-aside this Judgment.

11. The application succeeded at a hearing with the Court setting aside the judgment.

12: The Claimant continues to fail to provide any information relating to their claim despite further requests for information being made.

13. Therefore, it is expected that the Claimant be put to the strictest proof to prove the allegation that the money is owed as claimed and to:

i. show how the Defendant entered into an agreement with the Claimant; and
ii. show how the Claimant has calculated the amount claimed; and
iii. show how the Claimant has the legal right, either under statute or equity to issue a claim.

14: Neither the Claimant nor 'Talk Talk' have served a Notice of Assignment pursuant to the law of property act 1925 and under Civil Procedure Rule 16.5 (4) where the claim includes a money claim, a Defendant shall be taken to require that any allegation relating to the amount of money claimed be proved unless he expressly admits the allegation.

15: Neither the Claimant, nor 'Talk Talk' have served any Default notice on the Defendant pursuant to s87 Consumer Credit Act 1974. The Claimant is required to prove that a compliant Default Notice was served upon the Defendant.

16. If further documents and/or clarification of their case is received by the Defendant from the Claimant, the Defendant may be in a position to properly asses his position and amend his defence accordingly. The Defendant asks the Claimant be ordered to bear the cost of any amendment to the defence.

17. For the reasons stated in this Defence, it is denied that the Claimant is entitled to the recovery of the sum of £XX.XX or any sum of monies from the Defendant and it is denied that the Claimant is entitled to the relief claimed or any relief.

18. The Defendant respectfully requests that this claim be ordered struck out or dismissed on the grounds that the Claimant has failed to substantiate the allegations in their statement of case. As such and in accordance with CPR Part 24.2(a)(i) the Defendant belives that the Claimant has no real prospect of succeeding on the claim.

19. The Defendant also respectfully requests sanctions be imposed against the Claimant under CPR Part 27.14 due to their unreasonable conduct thus far resulting in costs being awarded to the Defendant against the Claimant.

I believe the facts stated in this Defence are true.

[issie]

Re: Judgement for Claimant form received but no Claim issued

This looks great!! Thank you! Just paragraph 8 - I was exempted from paying costs and the judge struck this out due to my current situation (I applied for waver of the fee when sending the application off. However, and the judge made written notes, I explained that the claimant's behaviour had exacerbated my ill health due to their unreasonable behaviour, so I don't know if I could alter paragraph 8 to reflect that?

Many thanks for your help!!

[issie]

Re: Judgement for Claimant form received but no Claim issued

Hi Amethyst

I just realised this was your post! not Jag's! Thanks to both, so in terms of your amendments, para 19 instead of para 8, can this reflect the exacerbation of my ill health!!

I will leave the background until I have received their witness statement, as I have to this point denied any dealings at all with Talk Talk, my bank statements for the past 6 years and email correspondence re contracts with other media providers, shows no gap in supplies by these companies (BT, Virgin Media and Sky) but if anything should emerge (which it won't unless they make it up) I have no need to mention the background! What do you think? There are no payments or any financial transactions to Talk Talk, no contract etc. They have nothing and that is why they have been unable to supply anything. The Judge was visibly very annoyed to say the least with them. As she said there is a more than good chance of me succeeding with this!

Many thanks!!

[Amethyst]

Re: Judgement for Claimant form received but no Claim issued

Okay that's absolutely fine, my only concern is that IF a contract turned up ( which is admittedly unlikely ) you're then switching from saying 'know nothing about it' to ' ahh yes I did have a contract but ............' But sounds like the Judge is already on your side with the claimants not providing documents at all - and your evidence backs you up completely.... tbh I wouldn't be that suprised if they discontinued soon as they receive a defence so probably not worth complicating things then.

To the same end, I'd stick with the basic costs in para 8 ( 19 ).

Do add in the Default Notice paragraph though.

[issie]

Re: Judgement for Claimant form received but no Claim issued

Also, at paragraph 9, when I got into the hearing, the judge said that the court had confirmed that the judgement had been issued in March 2017 at my current address (not the information given to me by the court and Moriarty). I strongly denied this and she said that on balance although she could not say for sure that I did not receive it, she was accepting that I hadn't. I definitely didn't and I am sure they are trained to detect if the truth is being stretched. What I didn't say at the hearing, because I forgot, was that Moriarty did not deny in my telephone conversation to them that this was the case and would not tell me when the judgement had been issued. So, apart from being confused that I was told one thing and the judge another by the court, I have tweaked paragraph 9, do you think this is okay or should I word it differently!

9: The next communication received regarding the matter was receipt of the County Court Judgment in Default. According to court records, it appeared that the claim had been issued to a previous address despite the Claimant having previously (see Paragraph 8) written to the Defendant at her current address. However, notwithstanding this, at a set aside hearing on xxxxxxxx, it appears that the claim was issued to my current address in March 2017, however it is strongly denied that this was received by me at my current address. Additionally, on telephoning the claimant's solicitors on receipt of the judgement in default, they did not deny that it had gone to my previous address and were not forthcoming with any information at all about the alledged debt to Talk Talk.

[issie]

Re: Judgement for Claimant form received but no Claim issued

Okay Thanks!

I have sent another message re para 9, she was very much on my side! I didn't have a contract with Talk Talk in that I never signed anything electronically or otherwise, so unless they forge my signature, they wont have anything. Also, I always ask media providers to confirm everthing by email, Talk Talk refused to do this (it was call centre, possibly in India and the lady I spoke to said they would pass my request for email confirmation of everything, including my conversation with them that I would not be charged a cancellation fee to the relevant department, and they would arrange for an email to be sent to me, off course this did not transpire) At the same time they have nothing in writing from me and if they sent the transcripts of conversations this would prove beyond doubt that any contract that did exist was cancelled without charge. I keep good records and always for 6 years, so I will have evidence re bank statements and my telephone call to moriarty and the court from my landline bill - these calls appear as I said. I think they will just discontinue, but if not, I have a good case. In the end I just told the truth at the hearing, I don't know what the alledged debt is for, as I have no information, other than it was for Talk Talk and this doesn't appear on the Judgement by Default document.

Also, with the Consumer Credit Act apply to Talk Talk, I know it doesn't apply to mobile phone companies!