Received a court summons in the post this morning

[SlightlyConcerned]

Re: Received a court summons in the post this morning

Thanks for clearing that up Mr Parrot. Still not heard anything back from the solicitors so will give it till tomorrow and if I've still not heard anything will call them. What would I do if they don't grant it or fob me off by saying we'll be in touch? Time is starting to get on a bit now and want to be as fully armed as possible.

Thanks

SC

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Received a court summons in the post this morning

Thanks for clearing that up Mr Parrot.

Actually, it's Miss Parrot.

Still not heard anything back from the solicitors so will give it till tomorrow and if I've still not heard anything will call them. What would I do if they don't grant it or fob me off by saying we'll be in touch? Time is starting to get on a bit now and want to be as fully armed as possible.

If you don't get written confirmation (letter or email) that they've agreed to an extension, you need to file a defence before your deadline, otherwise they could request default judgment. :scared:

Without any documents, you'd be looking at submitting a generic defence such as this one: http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/...t-Court-Claims

[SlightlyConcerned]

Re: Received a court summons in the post this morning

Actually, it's Miss Parrot.

I stand corrected, thankyou very much Miss Parrot

I'll get that amended for my particulars and ready for Friday. Is there anything in there that doesn't apply? Having a look through it looks spot on.

Thanks again

SC

Edit: Could i mention in there about it possibly being sb'd?

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Received a court summons in the post this morning

I stand corrected, thankyou very much Miss Parrot

I'll get that amended for my particulars and ready for Friday. Is there anything in there that doesn't apply? Having a look through it looks spot on.

You need to go through it and check the bits about s.77 or s.78 - s.77 is for loans and s.78 for credit cards so you need to delete the section that's not applicable. Also the items about NoA and DN, if you have received it/them or received a DN but was non-compliant, those bits need to be modified.

You may want to post it up before you submit it. :typing:

Edit: Could i mention in there about it possibly being sb'd?

You can't say it's 'possibly' SBd, you need to make an assertion. This is an example defence that combines both the generic no documents received arguments as well as the debt being SBd: http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/...011#post494011

[SlightlyConcerned]

Re: Received a court summons in the post this morning

Your friendly internet board stalker again

Done some editing on the defence statement (left a few bits blank but will fill those in when I submit it). This is as it stands:

1: I received the claim [Claim Number] from the [Name of Court - often Northampton or Salford] County Court on [Date you received the claim]

2: Each and every allegation in the Claimants statement of case is denied unless specifically admitted in this Defence.

3: This claim is for a Loan agreement regulated under the Consumer Credit Act 1974.

4: The Claimants statement of case fails to give adequate information to enable me to properly assess my position with regards the claim.

[5. The particulars of claim fail to state when the agreement was entered into.] 17/012008?

6. The Claimants statement of case states that the account was assigned from HSBC to 1^st Credit Finance Ltd on 30/04/2014. The Defendant does not recall receiving notice of this assignment.

7. It is denied that HSBC served any Default notice on the Defendant pursuant to s87 Consumer Credit Act 1974. The Claimant is required to prove that a compliant Default Notice was served upon the Defendant.

8: On the 01/06/2015 I sent a request for inspection of documents mentioned in the claimant’s statement of case under Civil Procedure Rule 31.14 to Lester Aldridge LLP. I requested the Claimant provide copies of the Agreement, Default Notice and Notice of Assignment.

9. Lester Aldridge LLP has not sent any of these documents to me.

10. On the 01/06/2015 I sent a formal request for a copy of the original agreement to 1^st Credit Finance Ltd pursuant to section 77 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 along with the statutory £1 fee.

11. The Claimant has failed to comply with s77 (1) Consumer Credit Act 1974 and by virtue of s77 (4) Consumer Credit Act 1974 cannot enforce the agreement.

12: I have asked the Claimant if we may agree to extend the time period allowed for filing of my defence pending receipt of documents (as allowed under CPR 15.5), but they have not responded.


13. Under Civil Procedure Rule 16.5 (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. Therefore it is expected that the Claimant be required to prove the allegation that the money is owed as claimed.

14. I request the court orders the Claimants to provide the necessary documentation in order for me to fully plead my case else the Claim should stand struck out.

15. In the event that the relevant documents are received from the Claimants I will then be in a position to amend my defence, and would ask that the Claimants bear the costs of the amendment.

16. It is denied that the Claimant is entitled to the relief as claimed or at all.

Statement of Truth

The Defendant believes that the facts stated in this Defence are true.



Signed …………………………………………

Dated .................................................. ....

How does that look? What do you think about number 5?

Thanks again,

SC

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Received a court summons in the post this morning

As I mentioned previously, the example defence is just that, an example, and it has to be adapted to suit. In many cases the particulars of claim won't mention when the account was opened which is why paragraph 5 is there, however, if they did give you a date, then it should be removed altogether.

Points 6 & 7, again, if you did receive a NoA and/or a DN you may not want to say you didn't. Or you may have received a DN but it wasn't compliant, i.e. not enough time to pay or asking for the full amount. Any idea whether you received any of these?

[SlightlyConcerned]

Re: Received a court summons in the post this morning

As I mentioned previously, the example defence is just that, an example, and it has to be adapted to suit. In many cases the particulars of claim won't mention when the account was opened which is why paragraph 5 is there, however, if they did give you a date, then it should be removed altogether.

Points 6 & 7, again, if you did receive a NoA and/or a DN you may not want to say you didn't. Or you may have received a DN but it wasn't compliant, i.e. not enough time to pay or asking for the full amount. Any idea whether you received any of these?

I don't recall receiving these tbh. I'll remove paragraph 5 and re-number. Apart from that, does it look ok?

Thanks

SC

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Received a court summons in the post this morning

I don't recall receiving these tbh. I'll remove paragraph 5 and re-number. Apart from that, does it look ok?

Thanks

SC

Yes, looks fine. :thumb:

[SlightlyConcerned]

Re: Received a court summons in the post this morning

Good afternoon everyone,

Just a little update for you. I submitted my defence on 29/6/15 and got the acknowledgement from the court on 3/7/15. This afternoon I received a Notice of change of Legal Representative, looks like 1st credit's legal department has taken over from Lester Aldridge, they also say they have requested information from HSBC and are required to notify the court on or before 29/7/15 of their intention to proceed.

Why have they changed their legal representative?

Thnaks all

SC

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Received a court summons in the post this morning

Hard to guess why they would have changed their legal representation, it's an internal decision, possibly of a commercial nature, that may well have nothing to do with this claim as such.

Did they just say that they are required to notify the court of their intention to proceed by that date and not that they actually intend to proceed? That's interesting...

[nemesis45]

Re: Received a court summons in the post this morning

Good afternoon everyone,

Just a little update for you. I submitted my defence on 29/6/15 and got the acknowledgement from the court on 3/7/15. This afternoon I received a Notice of change of Legal Representative, looks like 1st credit's legal department has taken over from Lester Aldridge, they also say they have requested information from HSBC and are required to notify the court on or before 29/7/15 of their intention to proceed.

Why have they changed their legal representative?

Thnaks all

SC

Hi it's a common occurrence with 1st Credit they seem to get the " hard work " done by a solicitor and then take the claim back for their " litigation" paralegal to pursue, cheaper I suspect.

nem

[SlightlyConcerned]

Re: Received a court summons in the post this morning

Hard to guess why they would have changed their legal representation, it's an internal decision, possibly of a commercial nature, that may well have nothing to do with this claim as such.

Did they just say that they are required to notify the court of their intention to proceed by that date and not that they actually intend to proceed? That's interesting...

That's correct, the last paragraph of the letter reads "Please note that were are required to notify the Court on or before 29/7/15 of our intention to proceed. We shall contact you in this respect."

It seems strange that they still haven't managed to supply the requested documention to date and in the letter they again say they've requested it from HSBC. I'm of the opinion that if they were going have got it they'd have it by now.

SC

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Received a court summons in the post this morning

That's correct, the last paragraph of the letter reads "Please note that were are required to notify the Court on or before 29/7/15 of our intention to proceed. We shall contact you in this respect."

It seems strange that they still haven't managed to supply the requested documention to date and in the letter they again say they've requested it from HSBC. I'm of the opinion that if they were going have got it they'd have it by now.

Perhaps they are still debating whether they should proceed or not, :decision: depending on whether HSBC can supply them with anything before the deadline. Having sold the account, they probably won't go out of their way to retrieve anything. ray:

[nemesis45]

Re: Received a court summons in the post this morning

It's been a common situation over the years with first credit to take claims back for the in house team to deal with I would not read too much into this.

nem

[SlightlyConcerned]

Re: Received a court summons in the post this morning

Good morning everyone,

Well, Wednesday was the deadline and sure enough received 2 letters. One was was 1st credit saying that they'd advised the court of their intentions to proceed. The 2nd was from the court and included a Notice of Proposed Allocation to the Small Claims Track, with a questionaire I need to fill in and return (to both the court and 1st credit). The claim form looks simple enough to fill in but whats the deal with mediation? Just seems like a waste of time is all I'm thinking but happy to jump through their hoops. How can I find out where my local county court hearing centre is?

As usual, thanks everyone.

SC