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hello everybody and thank you in advance for any help that you can give.
After Restons issued a claim for a disputed credit card debt I filed a defence. I have posted their reply below in the hope that someone can give me some advice on how to proceed, it is littered with quote3s about legislation and practice directions which make no sense to me. Thanks again, in advance
We note you have recently filed a defence to the court proceedings issued against you/
Firstly, the claim was issued via the county court business centre which is a procedure specifically provided for in the CPR. The procedure only allows a claimant to insert brief details of the claim and does not allow for the attachment of any enclosures. Paragraph 5.2A of Practice Direction 7E specifically states “The requirement in paragraph 7.3 of Practice Direction 16 for documents to be attached to the particulars of contract claims does not apply to claims started using an online claim form, unless the particulars of claim are served separately in accordance with paragraph 5.2 of this practice direction”
It is the claimant’s position that the particulars of the claim contain sufficient information for you to understand what the claim relates to, namely; the account number, when the account was opened, the original creditor, the current creditor and the outstanding balance. In any event, you have been provided with sufficient information as to the account which is subject to these proceedings throughout correspondence exchanged with this firm.
You allege that our client has failed to comply with Section 77(1)/Section 78 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 and therefore the account is unenforceable. We respectfully point out that Section 77(1) applies to fixed sum credit agreements, which this is not. As for Section 78(1) you have failed to clarify exactly how our client has failed to comply with your request. Please find enclosed a copy of our client’s compliance with your request and as such, the account is not unenforceable.
You will note that you were provided with a reconstituted copy of your credit agreement along with the terms and conditions embodied within the agreement, varied terms and conditions and a statement of account.
We therefore fail to see why you require a further copy of the agreement as per your CPR 31.14 request. Additionally, it is our understanding that a default notice was served prior to the account being assigned to the claimant. In any event, the claimant has a contractual right to terminate the credit agreement by serving a termination notice. Therefore, any argument about non-service of a valid default notice will not assist you in defending these proceedings.
You also allege that you did not receive a notice of assignment from the claimant. We enclose numerous items of correspondence issued to you by the claimant. These items of correspondence all contain relevant information required to be contained within a notice of assignment pursuant to section 136 of the Law of Property Act 1925. It is clear that you were made aware of who our client was well before this firm became instructed.
We find it somewhat surprising as to how you can deny receipt of documents e.g. notice of assignment when you deny the account is even yours. Additionally, you do not appear to have reported this account to the relevant authorities and we should query why, when you so heavily defend the claim against you.
In view of the information set out in this letter, we do not believe your defence has any real prospect of success and we will therefore recommend to our client that an application be made to strike out the defence and to enter a judgement against you for the full amount claimed, together with legal fees and cost. Should you wish to avoid these further costs being incurred then we invite you to withdraw your defence by completing the enclosed for within 14 days.
After Restons issued a claim for a disputed credit card debt I filed a defence. I have posted their reply below in the hope that someone can give me some advice on how to proceed, it is littered with quote3s about legislation and practice directions which make no sense to me. Thanks again, in advance
We note you have recently filed a defence to the court proceedings issued against you/
Firstly, the claim was issued via the county court business centre which is a procedure specifically provided for in the CPR. The procedure only allows a claimant to insert brief details of the claim and does not allow for the attachment of any enclosures. Paragraph 5.2A of Practice Direction 7E specifically states “The requirement in paragraph 7.3 of Practice Direction 16 for documents to be attached to the particulars of contract claims does not apply to claims started using an online claim form, unless the particulars of claim are served separately in accordance with paragraph 5.2 of this practice direction”
It is the claimant’s position that the particulars of the claim contain sufficient information for you to understand what the claim relates to, namely; the account number, when the account was opened, the original creditor, the current creditor and the outstanding balance. In any event, you have been provided with sufficient information as to the account which is subject to these proceedings throughout correspondence exchanged with this firm.
You allege that our client has failed to comply with Section 77(1)/Section 78 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 and therefore the account is unenforceable. We respectfully point out that Section 77(1) applies to fixed sum credit agreements, which this is not. As for Section 78(1) you have failed to clarify exactly how our client has failed to comply with your request. Please find enclosed a copy of our client’s compliance with your request and as such, the account is not unenforceable.
You will note that you were provided with a reconstituted copy of your credit agreement along with the terms and conditions embodied within the agreement, varied terms and conditions and a statement of account.
We therefore fail to see why you require a further copy of the agreement as per your CPR 31.14 request. Additionally, it is our understanding that a default notice was served prior to the account being assigned to the claimant. In any event, the claimant has a contractual right to terminate the credit agreement by serving a termination notice. Therefore, any argument about non-service of a valid default notice will not assist you in defending these proceedings.
You also allege that you did not receive a notice of assignment from the claimant. We enclose numerous items of correspondence issued to you by the claimant. These items of correspondence all contain relevant information required to be contained within a notice of assignment pursuant to section 136 of the Law of Property Act 1925. It is clear that you were made aware of who our client was well before this firm became instructed.
We find it somewhat surprising as to how you can deny receipt of documents e.g. notice of assignment when you deny the account is even yours. Additionally, you do not appear to have reported this account to the relevant authorities and we should query why, when you so heavily defend the claim against you.
In view of the information set out in this letter, we do not believe your defence has any real prospect of success and we will therefore recommend to our client that an application be made to strike out the defence and to enter a judgement against you for the full amount claimed, together with legal fees and cost. Should you wish to avoid these further costs being incurred then we invite you to withdraw your defence by completing the enclosed for within 14 days.
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