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Hi everyone 
Thanks for having me on the forum; I've registered today after seeing the support and advice offered within this community relating to issues around payday loan debt and CCJs. Until now, I had felt confident dealing with this issue alone going by advice I've seen given to others within the forum, and from more generic advice seen on other related websites, however I now feel that the process hasn't quite gone the way it should have and therefore I'm hoping someone here could please help me as I've now received a claim form from the County Court.
I received a Letter of Claim in early August from TM Legal Services saying I owed £900 for payday loan debt with GAIN Credit t/a Lending Stream as the original creditor. Upon checking my credit report, the date of the loan in question is showing as around May 2018. I replied to the Letter of Claim within the 30 day time limit and ticked the box on the reply form which said I don't know if I owe the debt, and I also said I needed more documents or information and requested the original contract and all other documents such as notice of assignment etc.
Of course, I thought this would mean that they would issue the documents for me to review before taking me to court, but I received a letter from court on Wednesday with a claim form to return within 14 days, saying I may be ordered with a CCJ to repay over £1,000 to TM Legal (time-wise, it looks as though they've issued it a week after they would have received my reply form requesting more information).
Looking back, I'm now worried because I wrote the words 'original contract' and 'all of the below listed information' instead of 'credit agreement' in the box which says I require further documents, maybe this is why they've gone ahead and issued a claim without sending me the original credit agreement, because I've created a loophole for them by not writing the exact words? I did receive an email from them a few days later which was along the lines of, 'you've requested more information, your loan was £800 with Lending Stream, this should be enough info for you, now pay us or we'll take you to court'.
Something that further complicates (or helps?) matters for me is that, upon researching how to respond to a letter of claim, I learned that many people who were given loans by Lending Stream around 2018 are entitled to compensation due to lack of affordability checks and irresponsible lending and so I have gone through Sanderson Drake to complain and request compensation on my behalf for all loans taken out with them (I had 3 loans from 2018 with LS). I want to feed this into my defence form but am not sure the best way to do it because it can take at least 8 weeks to know what will happen with that complaint. (I know they take a fee of any cash settlement and don't really mind, it's more because I don't have much spare time and wanted it more for my defence and to give me a little extra to help pay the debt if the court orders me to do so).
Anyway - basically, I need to respond to this court form within 14 days and am very worried about the stress of the claim process and also the impending possibility of having to find £1,000 within 1 month or be marked with a CCJ for 6 years (if the claim doesn't go in my favour). I think I've given a fairly thorough overview of my situation and thank you for bearing with me and reading - please let me know if it would be useful for me to provide any further information that could help you to give me advice!
But yeah - what on earth shall I write on this bloody defence form, guys?!
Thanks again,
Spell Singer
Thanks for having me on the forum; I've registered today after seeing the support and advice offered within this community relating to issues around payday loan debt and CCJs. Until now, I had felt confident dealing with this issue alone going by advice I've seen given to others within the forum, and from more generic advice seen on other related websites, however I now feel that the process hasn't quite gone the way it should have and therefore I'm hoping someone here could please help me as I've now received a claim form from the County Court.
I received a Letter of Claim in early August from TM Legal Services saying I owed £900 for payday loan debt with GAIN Credit t/a Lending Stream as the original creditor. Upon checking my credit report, the date of the loan in question is showing as around May 2018. I replied to the Letter of Claim within the 30 day time limit and ticked the box on the reply form which said I don't know if I owe the debt, and I also said I needed more documents or information and requested the original contract and all other documents such as notice of assignment etc.
Of course, I thought this would mean that they would issue the documents for me to review before taking me to court, but I received a letter from court on Wednesday with a claim form to return within 14 days, saying I may be ordered with a CCJ to repay over £1,000 to TM Legal (time-wise, it looks as though they've issued it a week after they would have received my reply form requesting more information).
Looking back, I'm now worried because I wrote the words 'original contract' and 'all of the below listed information' instead of 'credit agreement' in the box which says I require further documents, maybe this is why they've gone ahead and issued a claim without sending me the original credit agreement, because I've created a loophole for them by not writing the exact words? I did receive an email from them a few days later which was along the lines of, 'you've requested more information, your loan was £800 with Lending Stream, this should be enough info for you, now pay us or we'll take you to court'.
Something that further complicates (or helps?) matters for me is that, upon researching how to respond to a letter of claim, I learned that many people who were given loans by Lending Stream around 2018 are entitled to compensation due to lack of affordability checks and irresponsible lending and so I have gone through Sanderson Drake to complain and request compensation on my behalf for all loans taken out with them (I had 3 loans from 2018 with LS). I want to feed this into my defence form but am not sure the best way to do it because it can take at least 8 weeks to know what will happen with that complaint. (I know they take a fee of any cash settlement and don't really mind, it's more because I don't have much spare time and wanted it more for my defence and to give me a little extra to help pay the debt if the court orders me to do so).
Anyway - basically, I need to respond to this court form within 14 days and am very worried about the stress of the claim process and also the impending possibility of having to find £1,000 within 1 month or be marked with a CCJ for 6 years (if the claim doesn't go in my favour). I think I've given a fairly thorough overview of my situation and thank you for bearing with me and reading - please let me know if it would be useful for me to provide any further information that could help you to give me advice!
But yeah - what on earth shall I write on this bloody defence form, guys?!
Thanks again,
Spell Singer
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