Howard Cohen extension letter about CPR 31.14

[bendjango]

Hello , I recieved a letter today from Howard Cohen Solicitors about an alleged debt I owe to a credit card, I sent them a letter asking for evidence in their claim made under a CPR 31.14, today they sent me a letter saying
''We aknowledge receipt of your letter made under CPR 31.14 for documentation mentioned in our particulars of claim.. We are currently in the process of retrieving the documennts requested. Therefore, please accept this letter as our agreement to a general;extension of time. Once we have provided you with the documentation requested we will grant a further 14 days for you to respond to the claim form as you feel appropriate.''
Please help what do I do now and how do I respond to this letter

[pt2537]

Hello , I recieved a letter today from Howard Cohen Solicitors about an alleged debt I owe to a credit card, I sent them a letter asking for evidence in their claim made under a CPR 31.14, today they sent me a letter saying
''We aknowledge receipt of your letter made under CPR 31.14 for documentation mentioned in our particulars of claim.. We are currently in the process of retrieving the documennts requested. Therefore, please accept this letter as our agreement to a general;extension of time. Once we have provided you with the documentation requested we will grant a further 14 days for you to respond to the claim form as you feel appropriate.''
Please help what do I do now and how do I respond to this letter

Has a Court claim been issued? If so, then you have some difficulties, CPR 15.5 allows you to agree up to 28 days extra for filing your defence, but you cannot agree beyond that without the Courts permission, so if they want an open ended case they will need to look at getting a consent order in place adjourning the claim generally or a longer stay say for 3 monts, if thats what you wany

[bendjango]

Hi thanks for your reply,* yes I had a court claim which I sent my defence back online, I stated that I would be defending and had requested more info via a CPR31.14, the letter above was the responce.. I have not answered the above yet..what should I do and where does it go from here.?

[pt2537]

Hi thanks for your reply, yes I had a court claim which I sent my defence back online, I stated that I would be defending and had requested more info via a CPR31.14, the letter above was the responce.. I have not answered the above yet..what should I do and where does it go from here.?

Sorry am i right in thinking your defence was that you will defend later? I dont think that will be very helpful to you , when you file your defence you need to do so setting out the grounds for defending the claim. If you simply say i need documents that isnt a defence, certainly not what the CPR requires.

[bendjango]

I wrote this in the defence on 28/2/2020*I do not have any evidence or knowledge that I owe this money and
if so I beleive it to be statute barred. I have made a formal
request for a copy of the credit agreement relating to this claim,
pursuant to the Consumer Credit Act 1974 and sent to Hoist Finance
UK holdings so I can defend this claim.

[pt2537]

I wrote this in the defence on 28/2/2020I do not have any evidence or knowledge that I owe this money and
if so I beleive it to be statute barred. I have made a formal
request for a copy of the credit agreement relating to this claim,
pursuant to the Consumer Credit Act 1974 and sent to Hoist Finance
UK holdings so I can defend this claim.

I do think you will have some issues here.

The Rules state quite clearly what should be in a Defence

Content of defence

16.5

(1) In his defence, the defendant must state –

(a) which of the allegations in the particulars of claim he denies;

(b) which allegations he is unable to admit or deny, but which he requires the claimant to prove; and

(c) which allegations he admits.

(2) Where the defendant denies an allegation –

(a) he must state his reasons for doing so; and

(b) if he intends to put forward a different version of events from that given by the claimant, he must state his own version.

(3) A defendant who –

(a) fails to deal with an allegation; but

(b) has set out in his defence the nature of his case in relation to the issue to which that allegation is relevant,

shall be taken to require that allegation to be proved.

(4) Where the claim includes a money claim, a defendant shall be taken to require that any allegation relating to the amount of money claimed be proved unless he expressly admits the allegation.

(5) Subject to paragraphs (3) and (4), a defendant who fails to deal with an allegation shall be taken to admit that allegation.

(6) If the defendant disputes the claimant’s statement of value under rule 16.3 he must –

(a) state why he disputes it; and

(b) if he is able, give his own statement of the value of the claim.

(7) If the defendant is defending in a representative capacity, he must state what that capacity is.

(8) If the defendant has not filed an acknowledgment of service under Part 10, the defendant must give an address for service.

(Part 22 requires a defence to be verified by a statement of truth)

(Rule 6.23 makes provision in relation to addresses for service.)

[bendjango]

Hi Thanks , so where do I go from here, what happens next. They have not sent me any documants* as requested . I have not had a court date as yet.is there a time limit for them to send me the documents from the date of the claim?....

[bendjango]

Can I change the defence now or is it to late.

[bendjango]

This is the original letter I sent to them
Dear Sirs,

Claim Number-----

Request for documents mentioned in a statement of case under --------

On 27/02/2020 I received a County Court claim from yourselves of which I have acknowledged receipt indicating my intention to defend in full.

To enable me to file my defence and/or counterclaim, I require inspection of documents you mention in your statement of case ahead of filing my defence.

1. Credit Agreement Ref: -------------------------




2. Default Notice for the sum of £2281.72 ss.87(1) and 88 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974




3. Assignment of the debt to Hoist Finance UK Holdings Limited


4. Formal Demand



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 must produce at trial. Disclosure at this stage will enable me to fully plead my case and further the Overriding Objective.

You should ensure compliance with your CPR 31 duties and ensure that the document(s) I have requested are copied to and received by me within 7 days of receiving this letter.

If you require more time in which to comply with this request you must tell me in writing and confirm your agreement to an extension of the time allowed for me to file my defence as allowed under CPR 15.5 so I may notify the court.

For your information and records I enclose a copy of the formal request for a copy of the credit agreement relating to this claim, pursuant to the Consumer Credit Act 1974, which has been posted to your client with the statutory fee of £1 today, 09/02/2019.

I look forward to hearing from you.











*

[bendjango]

Hello, I have now had notice of proposed allocation to the smalls claims track, neither Cohens or Hoist have sent me any documentation from my*CPR 31.14 request..Please can you tell what happens next, what should I do?.
Thanks