Reston Solicitors CPR 31.14

[lawyer123]

Hello All, I am new here and nice to meet you!

Firstly, if I can make a donation... please tell me how to do that.

I would appreciate some assistance regarding a claim I received from County Court Business Centre in Northampton. The claimant is Cabot Financial UK Ltd Vs Myself.

I wrote to Restons Solicitors who are representing Cabot and requested the CPR 31.14 as the claim says contract between Bank Of Scotland and Defendant.
This account with Bank of Scotland was in legal dispute since 2010, bank of scotland could not provide me with a valid credit agreement and BOS confirmed in writing that they cannot provide the agreement. Without advising me, they have sold the debt to Cabot and I never heard from Cabot or BOS of this sale. After nearly 5 years I receive this claim for just over £11,000.00

I sent two CPR 31.14 request to Restons Solicitors and they have written to me stating the following:
We would point out that the Claim was issued via the County Court Business Centre which is a procedure specifically provided for in the CPR. this procedure only allows a claimant to insert brief details of the claim and does not allow for the attachment of any enclosures. Paragrapgh 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 sorted using as online claim form, unless the particulars of claim are served separately in accordance with paragraph 5.2 of this practice direction.

I called the court and spoke to the lady and asked how could I defend a case without inspecting the documents of the claim, she agreed and wanted me to send the defence attaching copies of my CPR request to Restons solicitors. I have time till the 1st of November to file my defence as I wrote to the Court as well as Restons confirming that I would be contesting all of the claim. I have sent Restons the 3rd request under recorded delivery and allowed them 7 days for their reply before I file the defence.

Would greatly appreciate if any of you could give me some advise according to your legal expertise in this kind of matter.

Much appreciated.
Lawyer123 (I am not a lawyer, it is my screen name! )

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Reston Solicitors CPR 31.14

Hello All, I am new here and nice to meet you!

Firstly, if I can make a donation... please tell me how to do that.

Hi and welcome

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I would appreciate some assistance regarding a claim I received from County Court Business Centre in Northampton. The claimant is Cabot Financial UK Ltd Vs Myself.

I wrote to Restons Solicitors who are representing Cabot and requested the CPR 31.14 as the claim says contract between Bank Of Scotland and Defendant.
This account with Bank of Scotland was in legal dispute since 2010, bank of scotland could not provide me with a valid credit agreement and BOS confirmed in writing that they cannot provide the agreement. Without advising me, they have sold the debt to Cabot and I never heard from Cabot or BOS of this sale. After nearly 5 years I receive this claim for just over £11,000.00

What sort of credit product was this, was it a loan or a credit card? When did you last make a payment?

I sent two CPR 31.14 request to Restons Solicitors and they have written to me stating the following:

Is there any reason for having sent two?

We would point out that the Claim was issued via the County Court Business Centre which is a procedure specifically provided for in the CPR. this procedure only allows a claimant to insert brief details of the claim and does not allow for the attachment of any enclosures. Paragrapgh 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 sorted using as online claim form, unless the particulars of claim are served separately in accordance with paragraph 5.2 of this practice direction.

It's true that there is no requirement to attach documents to claims issued electronically, but the CPRs still apply to those claims, i.e. your right to request documents mentioned in the particulars of claim.

I called the court and spoke to the lady and asked how could I defend a case without inspecting the documents of the claim, she agreed and wanted me to send the defence attaching copies of my CPR request to Restons solicitors.

Bear in mind court staff are not meant to give advice, nor do they always give the right answers.

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Reston Solicitors CPR 31.14

I have time till the 1st of November to file my defence as I wrote to the Court as well as Restons confirming that I would be contesting all of the claim. I have sent Restons the 3rd request under recorded delivery and allowed them 7 days for their reply before I file the defence.

Would greatly appreciate if any of you could give me some advise according to your legal expertise in this kind of matter.

ONE CPR 31.14 request should be enough, if they don't respond, you can just chase it up by phone and say that you need the documents to prepare your defence and if they are not able to supply them in time, would they be so kind as to agree to a 28 day extension as allowed under CPR 15.5.

Agreement extending the period for filing a defence
15.5
(1) The defendant and the claimant may agree that the period for filing a defence specified in rule 15.4 shall be extended by up to 28 days.
(2) Where the defendant and the claimant agree to extend the period for filing a defence, the defendant must notify the court in writing.

If they don't agree or they agree and then they still don't come up with the goods when the 28 days are up, you have the option of either filing a generic defence based on not having the documents or enforcing your CPR request via an unless order. As your claim is over £10k, this option would still be available to you even after filing your defence.

To clarify, Part 31 of the CPR which is what we use to request documents, does not apply to the small claims track, and that is an excuse very often used by solicitors for non-compliance, however, with a claim over £10k, it will be allocated to the fast track where Part 31 still applies. You may want to remind Restons of that fact and say that if they don't respond, you will seek to enforce the CPR 31.14 request via an unless order. :thumb:

They are solicitors so they should be well acquainted with the process, they are just playing silly buggers. :mad2: :mad2:

Much appreciated.
Lawyer123 (I am not a lawyer, it is my screen name! )

Nor am I, so don't take this as legal advice.

[nemesis45]

Re: Reston Solicitors CPR 31.14

Hi Welcome to LB
I'll alert @Amethyst about donating.

What type of account was this, loan/ credit card/ current account/overdraft? The response to your questions will vary depending on this.
What the Solicitors have said it correct up to a point., CPR 31. 14 applies up
until the claim is allocated to the small claims track.

nem

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Reston Solicitors CPR 31.14

What type of account was this, loan/ credit card/ current account/overdraft? The response to your questions will vary depending on this.
What the Solicitors have said it correct up to a point., CPR 31. 14 applies up
until the claim is allocated to the small claims track.

This claim won't be allocated to the small claims track, on my post above I said it would still be possible to enforce the CPR 31.14 request via an unless order even after the defence has been filed precisely for that reason. As noted below, the claim is for £11,000 so it's likely to go to fast track where Part 31 still applies. :grin:

This account with Bank of Scotland was in legal dispute since 2010, bank of scotland could not provide me with a valid credit agreement and BOS confirmed in writing that they cannot provide the agreement. Without advising me, they have sold the debt to Cabot and I never heard from Cabot or BOS of this sale. After nearly 5 years I receive this claim for just over £11,000.00

[lawyer123]

Re: Reston Solicitors CPR 31.14

I sent two because they have not sent me the information I required to file the defence

[nemesis45]

Re: Reston Solicitors CPR 31.14

Can you please post up a suitably redacted copy of the N1 Claim Form it will assist in getting advice for you.


nem

[lawyer123]

Re: Reston Solicitors CPR 31.14

This was a credit card with BOS they wrote to me and advised that they could not provide the original executed credit agreement

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Reston Solicitors CPR 31.14

I sent two because they have not sent me the information I required to file the defence

I can see why you would do that, however, you don't need to send a third request, just chase up what you have already sent and ask them to agree to an extension to file your defence. If they do, you need to inform the court in writing. :ranger:

With regards to the CCA request, did you send a fresh one to Cabot upon receiving the claim?

It would also be useful if you could type up the particulars of the claim and tells us a bit more about the history of the account. :typing:

[nemesis45]

Re: Reston Solicitors CPR 31.14

Likely only not definitely to be allocated to SCT of Fast Track

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Reston Solicitors CPR 31.14

This was a credit card with BOS they wrote to me and advised that they could not provide the original executed credit agreement

When did you take out the card? Would it have been before April 2007?

Any idea how you got this card? Did you apply online? in branch? Over the phone? Responding to an advert?

[nemesis45]

Re: Reston Solicitors CPR 31.14

This was a credit card with BOS they wrote to me and advised that they could not provide the original executed credit agreement

Have you sent a CCA request to Cabot?

Cabot will have no information on disputes with the original creditor so a new CCA Request is in order.

nem

[lawyer123]

Re: Reston Solicitors CPR 31.14

Hi thanks for taking the trouble, I am attaching the N1 claim

[lawyer123]

Re: Reston Solicitors CPR 31.14

I sent a chase up letter today under recorded delivery and gave them 7 days for their reply, on my third letter I asked for the for following:
1) The assignment
2) The default notice
3) The termination notice
4) Statement of accounts
5) Any other documents mentioned in the particulars of the claim,

And stated that I am responsible for reasonable copying costs in complying with the CPR 31.14 request

- - - Updated - - -

Have you sent a CCA request to Cabot?

Cabot will have no information on disputes with the original creditor so a new CCA Request is in order.

nem

I sent a chase up letter today under recorded delivery and gave them 7 days for their reply, on my third letter I asked for the for following:
1) The assignment
2) The default notice
3) The termination notice
4) Statement of accounts
5) Any other documents mentioned in the particulars of the claim,

And stated that I am responsible for reasonable copying costs in complying with the CPR 31.14 request

- - - Updated - - -

It was taken in 2002

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Reston Solicitors CPR 31.14

Hi thanks for taking the trouble, I am attaching the N1 claim

Good grief! :eek2: The particulars of claim as as sparse as they can be! Hardly anything in there. :mmph:

As you probably know, in your CPR request you can only request documents mentioned on the particulars of claim, in this case it would be just the 'contract' and the notice of assignment, as they don't mention anything about a default notice. I don't know what you included in your request, however, if you were thinking of enforcing it via an unless order as mentioned above, it should really be restricted to those documents mentioned, otherwise they would just have an argument to get your application dismissed (if you were to submit one). :ohwell:

I also note the card was taken out in 2002, that's good news :clap2: because, with accounts opened before April 2007, the court is prevented from enforcing unless there was a properly executed agreement containing all the prescribed terms. :thumb: This argument is slightly different to them not supplying you with a copy of your agreement which is covered by s.78 of the CCA, in this case we're referring to what you actually signed (or not as the case may be) when you took out the card, hence my asking how you applied for it. In many cases people just completed a short questionnaire and then the terms were sent to them with the card carrier, rendering the account (provided it was from before April 2007), irredeemably unenforceable. It may be worth racking your brains even though it's been 13 years. :grin: