What is good advice?

[nemesis45]

I'm new here and apologise if this is in the wrong area.

Having been "around" for a while and been in Consumer Problems elsewhere I have found some very suspect advice being given on a daily basis (some here on LB may recognise the origins of such advice)

One of the most damaging pieces is the constant advice to Ignore a DCAs letters threatening "legal action" where a debtor has a clear and reasonable cause to contest the viability of the debt, e.g. the debt has been "paid off", the debt is not mine, the debt is statute barred etc.,

Where the DCA makes a statement that a claim will be issued within a set time scale and the alleged debtor claims to have one or more reasons given above stating that the debtor should " not enter into letter tennis" or other words to that effect and should wait" until a claim is made" is in my opinion very suspect advice.

Would it not be better (I've found it usually is) to write to the potential claimant inviting them to reconsider litigation because of one of the reason given above, thus in many cases avoiding the stress and anxiety of a claim pack coming through the letter box?

This approach can be used when a claim has been received thus saving court time, costs and the stress of a court hearing,

It Works!!

[Amethyst]

Re: What is good advice?

Completely agree with you.

[wales01man]

Re: What is good advice?

Advice is normally to ignore DCAs letters until the LBA arrives problem is many DCAs send endless letters threatening legal action and never do I have at least 20 of them over the past 5 years no court action to date.
Sometimes as we read on here they make false claims if people like me have nothing why should we try to negiotiate with these people who threaten all sorts and do not always follow through.
TBH you should be concentrating on getting DCAs and their Solicitors getting the correct proof of debt before any threats instead of us having judges ignoring CPR rules and allowing CCJs to be granted where no paperwork is produced.

Any advice given on LB should be used together with other available advice elsewhere if anyone wants a definitive answer pay for legal advice

[nemesis45]

Re: What is good advice?

Completely agree with you.

Thank you Amethyst,
I have often seen this advice give by people who have " created a speciality" for themselves on some forums, e.g. those who take a delight in "drafting defences" which are so generic in content that one can trace them to a specific individual on a specific site.

Many such defences have been noted in county court proceedings as being " easily downloaded from the internet".
The practice has also shown another serious defect, the hapless LIP is questioned by a district judge on " case law" quoted in the defence and the LIP clearly has little or no knowledge of the relevance to their case if any.
On ignoring debt collection letters there only one time I would suggest this and that is when a vague phishing letter is received.

[Amethyst]

Re: What is good advice?

Before a court claim is bought there are opportunities for potential claims to be dealt with, negotiated, disputed etc. A vast majority of people we see in our 'received a court claim' forum, have already passed those stages and already have court documents in front of them, and thus the game of chess ensues.

Before court papers if people post early enough we always recommend responding to serious / LBA letters - obvious phishing letters are ignored still.

Despite responding to LBA's with genuine enquiries or offers certain DCA's do continue to Court Action regardless as they are just going through the motions and aren't interested in anything other than a judgment, but that a response has been made to a LBA does assist further along the line if the case does get before a judge.

[nemesis45]

Re: What is good advice?

Advice is normally to ignore DCAs letters until the LBA arrives problem is many DCAs send endless letters threatening legal action and never do I have at least 20 of them over the past 5 years no court action to date.
Sometimes as we read on here they make false claims if people like me have nothing why should we try to negiotiate with these people who threaten all sorts and do not always follow through.
TBH you should be concentrating on getting DCAs and their Solicitors getting the correct proof of debt before any threats instead of us having judges ignoring CPR rules and allowing CCJs to be granted where no paperwork is produced.

Any advice given on LB should be used together with other available advice elsewhere if anyone wants a definitive answer pay for legal advice

I agree, what is also seen on regular basis is the use of CPR 31.14 on claims made via NHCCBC when it well known that documents cannot be attached to claims made via that court, such a request always elicits nothing more than a rebuttal.

[Amethyst]

Re: What is good advice?

I know, bit banana's, I do think it funny the DCA's complain about people sending them template letters, as they send generic templates in response, and often they contain rebuttals of things we haven't actually stated in the letter, and agree to an extension that hasn't been requested lol.

We do have template letters, although we try and use them more as guidance as a starting point for others to write letters, but more often than not they are sent AS IS.

In accordance with CPR 31.15(c) I undertake to be responsible for your reasonable copying costs incurred in complying with this CPR 31.14 request.

You should note that this claim has not yet been allocated to a specific track and the provisions of CPR 27(2) are of no effect. Had your claim not been issued through CCBC the Claimant would have been obliged to attach copies of the documentation upon which it relies to the Particulars of Claim. I , as Defendant, am entitled to see the documents on which the Claimant relies and which you will have to produce at trial. Disclosure at this stage will enable me to fully plead my case and further the Overriding Objective.

[nemesis45]

Re: What is good advice?

Before a court claim is bought there are opportunities for potential claims to be dealt with, negotiated, disputed etc. A vast majority of people we see in our 'received a court claim' forum, have already passed those stages and already have court documents in front of them, and thus the game of chess ensues.

Before court papers if people post early enough we always recommend responding to serious / LBA letters - obvious phishing letters are ignored still.

Despite responding to LBA's with genuine enquiries or offers certain DCA's do continue to Court Action regardless as they are just going through the motions and aren't interested in anything other than a judgment, but that a response has been made to a LBA does assist further along the line if the case does get before a judge.

It most certainly has some considerable effect if the LIP has made an attempt to minimise or eradicate the need for litigation.

There is the classic abuse if the court system by Brian Carter, where it is seen almost daily that the county court system is being used as first line in debt collection and the first sign of a defence cases are withdrawn/discontinued.
I often feel that if one wrote " I don't owe this" on the back of a seaside post card Carter would withdraw.

[Amethyst]

Re: What is good advice?

I often feel that if one wrote " I don't owe this" on the back of a seaside post card Carter would withdraw.

lol, maybe we'll have to try that.

[Amethyst]

Re: What is good advice?

Nemesis, I'm not sure that BC do drop it at the first sign of a defence. They seem to be more and more pushing people to within 7 days of a court date, I blame the changes to paying hearing fees, and the DCA knowing they can get a full refund up to seven days before a hearing. It is an utter abuse of process.

I know your original post is about PRE court and LBA's etc, but please have a read through some threads in http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/...oncluded-Cases as a third eye is always useful in reviewing the way we handle cases.

[nemesis45]

Re: What is good advice?

Nemesis, I'm not sure that BC do drop it at the first sign of a defence. They seem to be more and more pushing people to within 7 days of a court date, I blame the changes to paying hearing fees, and the DCA knowing they can get a full refund up to seven days before a hearing. It is an utter abuse of process.

I know your original post is about PRE court and LBA's etc, but please have a read through some threads in http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/...oncluded-Cases as a third eye is always useful in reviewing the way we handle cases.

I will take a look.

Nem

[nemesis45]

Re: What is good advice?

Just had quick look at a couple of those threads.

MKDP alias the Compello Group.

Over a long period of time the companies in this group have been seen to " reinvent" default dates when it acquires debts.
Even claiming that it can register a default at date it bought the debt.

Challenging this robustly when it occurs will often see the default date corrected and in fact that the debt is statute barred.

Any such challenge should be made directly to the CEO.