Lifting of stay

[Pragroup123]

Hi, I have a debt that was being dealt with by Cabot Financial which originally had a claim served back in Jan 2022 but when I log back onto MCOL it shows (in order):
Your defence was received on 14/03/2022 at xxxx

Case Stay Lifted on 11/07/2024

Case Stayed on 11/07/2024

Case Stayed Errored Off on 16/04/2025

Your claim was transferred to local court on 16/04/2025
I never received any correspondence about the stay and it’s weird that is shows it being lifted before being stayed. However, can they just reopen it again after so long? I don’t know why the stay was put in place last year given the claim was from 2022 and in that time, I made no payments. All I did was request all the documents. Surely it should have been stayed much sooner.

They did provide all the documents I requested, in fact, I was forwarded every bit of paperwork they had for the account, including every statement and letter, along with the agreement, default notice etc.

I was paying Cabot for a different debt but lost my job recently and missed two payments. I believe this is why they’ve not pursued this case again (payments weren’t made towards this debt).

After receiving the documents, I proposed a payment plan and submitted my financial statement but it was refused. They basically wanted payments which were totally unaffordable so I didn’t pay anything and it’s been left since last year.

It just seems so unfair to issue a claim in 2022 and over 3 years later, now decide to proceed. The only correspondence I’ve had is a letter this week from the court to say it is being transferred to my local court. I’m assuming further letters will now come.

Please help. This is causing me so much stress as I thought this was over given how long it had rumbled on. I’m currently out of work and applying like mad for work, so this couldn’t have come at a worse time.

Thank you.

[Pezza54]

When a claim is stayed either party cam make an application to lift the stay using form n244 and paying the court fee
The claimant may have made an application to CNBC to lift the stay and CNBC has transferred the claim to a county court for an application hearing

If the above is correct, you should receive notice from the county court of the date and time for the hearing. You should write your witness statement opposing the lifting of the stay.

A poster recently successfully opposed the lifting of a stay at a hearing after filing and serving a comprehensive witness statement. The witness statement was posted on the forum

You should phone the CNBC next week to find out the latest position on the claim

[Pezza54]

The poster was beaglepup and the thread was started on 19 April 2023 under the forum "Court Claims and Issues", "Received a Court Claim"

KANGA86 also posted their witness statement that included a section opposing the lifting of a stay in post 84 of their thread started on 4 July 2024 under the "Welcome" forum

[Pragroup123]

Hi,

I have received a hearing date from my local court, although this doesn’t say what it’s for (I.e whether it’s an application to lift the stay or if that has already been done). If the case has been allocated to the small claims track, should the claimant still have notified me of their application to lift the stay? According to the claim online, the stay was already lifted but I’ve received nothing to confirm this and nothing prior to doing it, to give me a chance to defend it.

I am going to prepare my defence on the basis of the original CCJ application having been made years ago, with it being stayed due to taking so long to provide the requested documents and then a further year to proceed any further. I emailed them to advise I was struggling with my mental health last year and off work and as part of that, offered a payment plan with my income and outgoings listed. This was refused with them writing back to say they needed it to proceed to judgement to secure the debt and then they would negotiate but my offer was refused. I offered a full and final settlement which was also refused, with them asking for about 75% of the debt. This was all over a year ago and despite saying they wanted to secure the debt and go back to court, it has taken this long to actually get a hearing. Could they argue that the court has delayed this in some way or is it reasonable to expect this could have been heard far sooner?

Once I’ve prepared my defence (not knowing what this hearing is actually for), do I need to email this to the claimant and/or court before the hearing?

Can anyone advise what I’m likely to come up against in Court? I’ve been sent a list of fees that the claimant is adding if I lose the case (about 2.5k) so I really need this to go my way. To say I’m terrified though is an understatement and I have no idea at all what I should expect.

Thanks in advance.

[Pragroup123]

Sorry I should have also asked if I’m doing a defence statement, is there any time limit for when it needs to be served on the claimant and/or court? There’s literally nothing on the court letter, other than stating there is a hearing at xxx court and the date/time.

Thank you

[Pragroup123]

Sorry to bombard with information but I’ve just been through my paperwork and found some court documents which I hadn’t fully understood at the time but now after reading more about court proceedings, I realise that I missed and was important. It says the hearing is for judgment after a stay was lifted (definitely no notice given of this or opportunity to defend - I don’t know if this is relevant). The docs said that they provided the relevant paperwork I requested about 18 months after starting the claim (don’t know if this timing is relevant) and that I have made no attempt to resolve since then so have no prospect of defending. This is untrue as I have emails to say I made a f&f offer which was refused and a repayment proposal with income/outgoings which was also refused. I had advised at the time that I was suffering with my mental health and on medication and off work. They said they would only negotiate after it went to court to secure their position. Yet it has taken another 18 months to set this hearing (there were some delays with them referring it back to court, the claimant serving a defence etc - I don’t know if this is relevant).

Re-reading this document I’ve found, it says that if I want to rely on written evidence that I should have submitted no later than 7 days before the hearing but it’s on Monday so I’ve missed this. Does that mean I can’t have a defence or refer to their emails where I attempted to resolve the debt? I’m feeling way out of my depth now but cannot afford for this to go their way.

For information, I am struggling again with my mental health and currently signed off work due to the stress of this again. I can’t sleep with worry and the thought of going to court is making me really unwell. I feel so stupid for missing this line about the serving of evidence but they sent so much paperwork and I didn’t understand what this was, never having been through it before.

Any help at all would be massively appreciated.

[Pragroup123]

Pezza54 Hi, I was just wondering as you’d responded to my previous messages, if you’d be able to offer me any assistance or guidance please. I’m having a pretty bad day with my mental health and having this looming over me is really not helping. Thanks so much in advance.

[Pezza54]

Sorry I have my own emergency and don't have time to advise at present

[Pragroup123]

Is anyone else able to help me urgently before court on Monday?

I’m defending my case and the lifting of the stay due to the time it has taken to get it this far. The documents requested were all sent over about 18 months ago and the delay has impacted my mental health. However, as the documents are compliant, is this delay allowed? I don’t want to look an idiot in court if they say that the debt is enforceable that I shouldn’t be defending it. I don’t know what the law says on this. I’ve read about the Premier League case but it mentions the test including whether a judgement has prospect of being successful (or something like that) and as the documents sent we’re okay, I don’t know what this would be.

If it is enforceable, I can still only offer the amount I offered several times by letter and they refused. If they accept this, should I have done something different to get them to accept earlier so I wouldn’t have to pay court costs as these are thousands. Finally, if they find in the claimants favour, does this mean I will get a CCJ?

Any help really would be appreciated as I don’t know what I’m doing and I’m really panicking now.

Thank you

[Pragroup123]

echat11 Hi, I just wondered if you’d be able to offer me any advice on the above please? I’m in court on Monday so I’m up against it and I’m really struggling. If you can’t help, do you know anyone else who may be able to cast an eye over this please? Thank you.

[echat11]

echat11 Hi, I just wondered if you’d be able to offer me any advice on the above please? I’m in court on Monday so I’m up against it and I’m really struggling. If you can’t help, do you know anyone else who may be able to cast an eye over this please? Thank you.

Do you know what the Hearing is for?

[Pragroup123]

I’ve called the court and it’s for lifting the stay and summary judgement. They said the claimant doesn’t think I’ve got any prospect of challenging the claim so they want to proceed.

My issues are that I can file a defence for the length of time the case has been stayed but as all the other documents are complaint (despite they’ll issuing them 18 months after I first received court papers and it’s been another 18 months from that to set a hearing date) I don’t know if I have anything to challenge and I don’t want to look stupid and like I don’t know what I’m doing (I don’t).

Presumably, if they win, I have to pay the debt plus all the costs and can only offer an amount in repayment which they previously refused, so it would seem you have to pay thousands and go to court to potentially get them to accept repayment. Obviously I don’t want to pay anything if I can help it but worse case scenario.

Mortimer Clarke’s stance is that they have provided me with everything I asked for and it doesn’t matter how long it took. They said the docs are complaint and summary judgment will be requested.

Thank you

[Pragroup123]

Sorry I meant compliant, not complaint.

[echat11]

a) Once I’ve prepared my defence (not knowing what this hearing is actually for), do I need to email this to the claimant and/or court before the hearing?

Email it to both, but also take copies with you to the Court, as soon as you get there hand a copy to the Usher for the Judge, also find their solicitor hand them a copy. Take a copy for yourself.

b) Re-reading this document I’ve found, it says that if I want to rely on written evidence that I should have submitted no later than 7 days before the hearing but it’s on Monday so I’ve missed this. Does that mean I can’t have a defence or refer to their emails where I attempted to resolve the debt? I’m feeling way out of my depth now but cannot afford for this to go their way.

As above.

c) Your strongest argument is that they have taken too long to lift the 'stay'.

You can make a solid case against the stay not being lifted, but not if you approach it as you have your recent posts, Just a load of facts all over the place.

d) In post no (3) Pezza states the following:-

'The poster was beaglepup and the thread was started on 19 April 2023 under the forum "Court Claims and Issues", "Received a Court Claim"

KANGA86 also posted their witness statement that included a section opposing the lifting of a stay in post 84 of their thread started on 4 July 2024 under the "Welcome" forum'

That will help you start your Defence, then you can go on to the 'other' points.

Then everything else you want to add i.e. health, settlement offers etc. You paragraphs for each point, numbers points, add page numbers.

[dinky201]

I give you some key points from what happened to me when I got a bad judge. Look at Cabots witness statement, they'll make out you didn't respond been unresponsive etc..misleading the court. Look at dates in there statement and counter this