Mediation not completed but court date arranged

[RachLK7]

I'm desperate for help, I'm so poorly with a neurological disorder and the stress of court case is making me ill.

I have dealt with the claim myself using resources from this website & others. There has now been a court date set WITHOUT mediation going ahead even though myself & the Claimant agreed to this. Surely this is unfair? As there were thjngs I needed to discuss which could have avoided this going to court, time & money for all involved!

Basic info:-
*2 x debts for Very and Capital One on same claim from Lowells/Overdale Solicitors.
*I've only ever received reconstituted CCA for both claims not originals.

* they sent over 160 pages to me read through, which they are aware is so overwhelming as I've explained I'm very poorly alot of the time!

**the address on 1 of the accounts Lowells are claiming I owned (Capital One) I was not living at the address stated on the reconstituted CCA at the time the account was opened. I can prove this as have old tenancy agreement from landlord at the time with dates.

*Both myself and Claimant agreed to mediation but I have never been given the chance to do this, no phonecall, no contact regarding it, nothing..... At mediation stage I would simply have explained that their information is completely incorrect in the reconstituted CCA for Capital One and we could have avoided court for Very debt also

*as far as I know the reconstituted CCA for very is correct (I've honestly no idea they could write anything) but the details are correct - I was going to make them aware during mediation that I am willing to complete a budgeting form with them and agree to a token payment as I'm struggling badly for money at moment! (last thing I want is for the court to set an unreasonable amount that I need to pay each month)

I'm so angry It's been sent straight to court and I only received the letter last week and court is on 22nd - so feel this is totally unfair. I need to respond ASAP as I've been very poorly & think I've missed the deadline to respond.

They haven't followed process at all, I can't afford to request to have the claim stayed as I've been told by clerk at the court that it costs me money to do so!

If someone can please provide ANY advice I'd be extremely grateful. Im in tears today over it all and have no idea what to write in my witness statement or how to deal with the no mediation scenario!

Thanks in advance

What do you suggest I write in my witness statement? Or do in regards to this?

I'd be SO grateful for any help, it's keeping me awake at nights!

[R0b]

Hello

As you have a court date for the 22nd, I assume this is now your local court so I would suggest you get hold of a number for the court using https://www.gov.uk/find-court-tribunal and tell them that there has been a procedural error because the parties have agreed mediation but the court has failed to do this and instead issued a date for the hearing. Ask them to adjourn the hearing on the basis that mediation has not taken place and that should be the next step in accordance with the CPR.

It's likely they will need to say this has to be run by a judge to decide or legal officer so ask them to get that reviewed today and then follow up tomorrow. If that is not an option, then I can only suggest an application to the court and if you cannot afford it you might be entitled to a fee remission where you may not need to pay any fees. You can follow the questionnaire for that here and if you are eligible, you will be given a help with fees reference number you put at the top of your application and it will be processed that way.

As for your witness statement, that usually needs to be served 14 days in advance of the hearing so you would need to get a scurry on if the above fails. I'm afraid we can't tell you what to write because you are the one with all the facts and information and trying to copy another witness statement is dangerous because it needs to be in your own words and if you are not honest or put something in there that is not true, you open yourself up to being sanctioned which can include imprisonment, but only if Lowell chose to pursue that route which can be expensive and not always guaranteed. So it is unlikely, but still possible and you need to be aware of it.

It's very difficult for us to help you at very late stages in proceedings simply because there isn't enough time to do anything and you've committed yourself to what is contained in the defence. In hindsight, you should have posted on here and we could have helped/guided you along.

What's in the 160 pages of documents they have sent you?

Edit: It may be worth considering reaching out to Lowell to see if they will agree to settle this without the need for court proceedings, on the basis you are considered a vulnerable person. However, given we are at such late stages of proceedings I am not sure if they will agree to that but worth a try if all else fails.

[RachLK7]

Hi thanks SO much for response

Good news I have just rang my local court where I requested it to be sent and spoke to 2 really helpful ladies.

**They have advised me that 22nd June is NOT the hearing date, it is the submission date for the deadline of my witness statement and any evidence. It has been allocated to the small claims track though.

I have been advised to contact mediation service ASAP and make them aware that there has been no attempt to arrange mediation by the Claimant and this is unfair to me as I have a right to do so as both parties agreed to this.
She said a judge could look at this if a complaint was made as usually the Claimant will state they will arrange mediation for the, which obviously they have not done!

In the meantime they advised that I contact Lowells/Overdale solicitors to discuss directly why mediation had not taken place & if we can come to any other resolution just incase the mediation service can't fit us in in time as they are extremely busy!

The 160 pages they sent me was every single bit of information Lowells & Overdale Solicitors have on their system about me. I only requested info to help me assess the claim as on the original letter and particulars of the claim it was just basic info & amounts owed!

I request info such as CCA, default notice, Statements and other documents that would be useful to my defence!

Attempting to read through alll of the documents is overwhelming and I'm sure they are aware of this. it includes contact they have made with me and screenshots with between them and the original creditor requesting CCA & original documents shich from what I can see we're never received, hence the reconstituted CCA etc. There's also Call logs, including how many times they've contacted me etc which is excessive on some dates & for some reason they even have my mothers name down on invoices for very account which I'm absolutely baffled by! I did make them aware in 2018 I was being made redundant & needed either payment breaks or to pay less & nothing was agreed.
The amount I offered them wasn't enough apparently & due to the interest and missed payment charges being added I simply couldn't keep up with the monthly cost of paying them as I am no longer working due to longterm ill health!

***reading through the paper is when I noticed that the address stated on the CCA for the Capital One account is incorrect (I went through domestic abuse & I'm pretty sure it was my ex partner who opened the account under my parents address but using my details - genuinely I cannot remember as it was back on 2010 when it was first opened) its not statue barred yet

** the questions I have now ***
1. Do I contact Lowells or Overdale Solicitors? I'm unsure what to say or if I even make them aware that the address is incorrect for one of the claims?

2. IF mediation can take ASAP can it stop it from going to court?
I was going to offer a token payment once they send me budgeting forms for me to complete for the VERY account because as far as I can see all the info is correct even though they aren't the original documents.
Obviously at this stage I would have made them aware that the address for Capital One is completely incorrect & provide evidence regarding that!

3. I can't find any info or advice on requesting the claim to be stayed until mediation is completed. Is this still an option?

4. Is there any specific rule they must follow such as a specific section in CPR that must be followed to allow both parties the opportunity to mediation as agreed on DQ?

I've stopped panicking so much and greatly appreciate any help once again!

[RachLK7]

OMG what a disaster this is turning out to be!

So I've just called mediation to attempt to arrange mediation ASAP as advised by admin at the court today.

MCO details & the court have confirmed DQ was submitted on 13/04/21 & both parties agreed to mediation.
Pre allocation to mediation is listed but no other detials after that & as discussed no contact for mediation with myself!

*Mediation have now advised me today the case "is not suitable for mediation" - I've asked why & she can't provide me with an answer on this.

This is the same girl Faduma I spoke to last time who agreed to try find a suitable date but advised me that mediation can only take place on Fridays and they have limited dates & it must take place atleast 10 days before hearing date - which we do not have yet. So there is plenty time!

*Faduma at Mediation service has stated that she cannot arrange mediation without an order from the court? - but the admin staff at court are saying otherwise! *♀️

* I've rang the court back & they don't know why this is happening but I now have the court email address and have been advised to email the court ASAP requesting the claim to be stayed or put on pause until I find out WHY mediation isn't suitable and/or get to complete mediation. They did state this would need to be passed via a judge to agree on.

** any idea what section of CPR would my right to mediation be under? - can't find any info anywhere

Surely they can't just say NO not suitable for mediation when both parties have actually agreed to it?!

I mean I'm not educated to any legal standards whatsoever but I can see myself that is injust & unfair on my behalf & causing unnecessary stress.
Surely the whole point in offering mediation to people to avoid it from going to court, saving everyone time & money right?!

What an absolute shambles stressed all over again!!

Thanks again for ANY advice you may have!

[R0b]

Are you able to post up the latest order from the Court? If the court staff are saying that you have to submit your witness statement by 22nd June and is not the actual date of the hearing, then a hearing date may not have been given yet.

Only way for us to interpret the next stage of proceedings is for you to post up a copy of the order so we can what it says, just make sure to redact personal info.

I'll read the rest of your post in a bit when I have time.

[RachLK7]

This is their response to my request to set the claim aside even though I have simply stated its because I haven't been given the right to mediation as requested by both parties. I made than aware that it's unfair Lowells have legal representation and I don't therefore they must ensure that all parties are treat fairly and in this case I don't beleive I am being!

Apparently I needed to make an application to set aside the case and now I have until 4pm tomorrow to submit my witness statement! I'm so upset and angry, I'm in floods of tears again!

I really don't know what to say or do now

See below:-

Good Afternoon,

Your below e-mail has been viewed by a Judge and she has asked me to respond as follows.

“The court does not conduct proceedings by correspondence nor dose it give advice. Any party seeking a direction or order from the court must make an application supported by evidence, and pay any relevant fee. All correspondence with the court must comply with Rule 39.8 of the civil procedures Rules 1998 and, where such correspondence raises any substantive issue ,must be copied to all other parties and must state on its face it has been so copied. Any correspondence which does not comply with Rule 39.8 will be returned and not dealt with.”

Kind Regards

[R0b]

Unfortunately, the court is correct that the proper process is to submit an application and they're not prepared to deal with it informally so you have no other choice if that's what you wish to do.

I will say however, I think you have pinned your hopes on the mediation but a good percentage of these types of cases end up going to court anyway because neither party is willing to budge or they don't have the necessary documentation in front of them.

I don't know what more I can add other than to suggest writing a witness statement and filing it. There are plenty of witness statements on this forum that will likely cross over with your case so that's worth looking at as a starting point. Alternatively, as I said in a previous post, reach out to Lowell and see if they're willing to settle without going to court. T

Afraid he court process will continue with or without your witness statement unless it gets stopped either by settlement or if you ask the court to, which is by application.

[RachLK7]

Agreed I wish I had done if sooner I was scared to be honest as previous contact with Lowells has been horrific. They are very intimidating and shoot you down with any queries etc.
However I have had a full blown meltdown and contacted Overdale Solicitors. I've been on phone to them for over an hour, I've cried, I've discussed stuff, I've even laughed with them (over my Narcolepsy) and I have to be honest they've been amazingly helpful!

Genuinely I wish id done this months ago - they have advised me to still submit a witness statement but they have also requested me to send proof of my Neurological disorder to them today via email as I have suggested until I complete a budgeting plan I can offer £10 per month.

The most annoying part of all this is..... As I'm on the phone to Overdale discussing the debt (and I have mentioned the issue with both accounts being taken out at my parents address where I did not live at the time accounts were opened)

I only received an email from my previous landlord providing the dates from 2010 to 2013 - which would prove I wasn't at my parents address when the accounts were opened! However the VERY debt is definitely mine, I'm not 100% sure about the Capital One card tho and beleive it was my ex partner!

Typical but hey ho nevermind, atleast I tried!

I will try find a relevant witness statement now, no idea what to do and I'm SO stressed with it all as the claimants witness statement is about 20 pagesonh including examples of documents proving the debt & statement of accounts etc

Thank You very much for your advice Rob I greatly appreciate it.

Good thing out of all of this is that I know have the knowledge to deal with other debts I have & I know what to do before it gets to this stage all thanks to this forum & everyone's advice!