Court claim form/Kearns solicitors

[Pezza54]

Please read Consumer Credit Act 2006, Default Under Regulated Agreements Explanatory Notes
28. Section 9
Last paragraph; The creditor must give the debtor a notice of sums in arrears at no more than 6 monthly intervals.
IMO If the creditor satisfies this clause of the 2006 Act they can add simple interest to the debt

[Pezza54]

There is an interesting article titled "Is the Court's 8% interest rate fair?" at www.samuels-solicitors.co.uk
This rate was established in the Judgements Act 1838 and is still used to calculate interest for claims on the small claims track

[atticus]

But Judges have been awarding interest at lower rates for years, recognising commercial reality. I thought the rate had been reduced recently, but may be wrong, asI can't find confirmation.

[Pezza54]

The statutory rate was set at 8% in 1993
In 1985 the rate went as high as 15%

[echat11]

Just to add to what Pezza and Atticus say, you don't need to focus on the interest etc now, you will have Mediation, you can send 'Without Prejudice - Save as to Costs' letters with Offers you wish to make etc when you have more information.

[johnjohnson]

Hello, I hope you are all keeping well. Thanks again for all the previous advice regarding this matter. I have another update-

I recieved the following from Kearns -

-------------------------------------------

We write with reference to the Credit Card agreement entered into with MBNA Ltd, which was assigned to LC Asset 2 S.a r.l. on **********************

You wrote to make a request for documents under the Civil Procedure Rules section 31.14. While that section does not apply to claims which have not yet been allocated to a track, we now enclose:
•
The Credit Agreement;
The Terms and Conditions;
The Credit Card Statements;
The Default Notice;
• The Termination Notice; and
The Notices of Assignment.

We have ensured that each document is attached at the point of dispatch. If any document has become detached during transit, please do contact our offices as soon as possible.

There are still settlement options open to you and if you would like to discuss this, please contact us on info@kearns.co.uk using your reference number as the subject, failing which the claim will continue at
Court.
----------------------------------

The Credit card agreement is dated mid 2016. There is no signature, there is a ticked box with the following written below -

I confirm that the tick in this box is a valid means of establishing the authenticity and integrity of my signature to this Credit Agreement. I understand that MBNA will hold this acceptance data on their files.

-------------------------------

I don't have the means to settle this debt, and very little (if any) disposable income. Any advice on how to proceed would be most apprieciated.

[echat11]

Hello, I hope you are all keeping well. Thanks again for all the previous advice regarding this matter. I have another update-

I recieved the following from Kearns -

-------------------------------------------

We write with reference to the Credit Card agreement entered into with MBNA Ltd, which was assigned to LC Asset 2 S.a r.l. on **********************

You wrote to make a request for documents under the Civil Procedure Rules section 31.14. While that section does not apply to claims which have not yet been allocated to a track, we now enclose:
•
The Credit Agreement;
The Terms and Conditions;
The Credit Card Statements;
The Default Notice;
• The Termination Notice; and
The Notices of Assignment.

We have ensured that each document is attached at the point of dispatch. If any document has become detached during transit, please do contact our offices as soon as possible.

There are still settlement options open to you and if you would like to discuss this, please contact us on info@kearns.co.uk using your reference number as the subject, failing which the claim will continue at
Court.
----------------------------------

The Credit card agreement is dated mid 2016. There is no signature, there is a ticked box with the following written below -

I confirm that the tick in this box is a valid means of establishing the authenticity and integrity of my signature to this Credit Agreement. I understand that MBNA will hold this acceptance data on their files.

-------------------------------

I don't have the means to settle this debt, and very little (if any) disposable income. Any advice on how to proceed would be most apprieciated.

Try not to worry, go through all the documentation they've sent look for anomalies.
What was the initial credit limit on the account? Did they offer credit without you asking for it?

[johnjohnson]

Thanks for your reply echat11.

I have looked through all the documentation, I can't see any anomalies.

They have only sent statements from August 2020 to August 2021 so I can't see what the initial credit limit was on the account, or if I was offered credit without asking for it.

I recieved more documentation from Kearns - seems to be the same as the documents they have sent allready-

-a copy of the original credit agreement
-a copy of the historic terms and conditions
-a copy of the current terms and conditions

This new correspondence includes a statement of account from Kearns as follows-

Current Balance: *****approx. £11,000******

The "current balance" is the principal claim amount. It is the total outstanding balance that is due and payable immediately.

The "current balance" does not allow for the interest stated upon the claim form and claimed under s69 County Courts Act 1984, nor does it allow for legal costs. Those are sums that may later be allowed by the Court at Judgment.

Interest will also be claimed at the statutory rate of 8% per annum until any County Court Judgment.

The outstanding balance is due and payable immediately. Payment can be sent direct to this office in the form of a cheque. Alternatively, you can contact us to discuss an alternative method of payment.

----------------------------------------------

It says that the current balance does not allow for the interest stated upon the claim form. However, in the particulars of claim it states that the amount owed to MBNA ( which is also the amount the debt was sold to Link for) is ****approx. £8,500***** , and ****approx £2,500***** is interest charged at 8% from 2021 to 2025.

It seems to me that they have added interest to the current balance?

Now that I have recieved the documents will the court action resume automatically - i.e do I have 14 days from now to file a defence?

Thanks again.

[echat11]

Thanks for your reply echat11.

I have looked through all the documentation, I can't see any anomalies.

They have only sent statements from August 2020 to August 2021 so I can't see what the initial credit limit was on the account, or if I was offered credit without asking for it.

I recieved more documentation from Kearns - seems to be the same as the documents they have sent allready-

-a copy of the original credit agreement
-a copy of the historic terms and conditions
-a copy of the current terms and conditions

This new correspondence includes a statement of account from Kearns as follows-

Current Balance: *****approx. £11,000******

The "current balance" is the principal claim amount. It is the total outstanding balance that is due and payable immediately.

The "current balance" does not allow for the interest stated upon the claim form and claimed under s69 County Courts Act 1984, nor does it allow for legal costs. Those are sums that may later be allowed by the Court at Judgment.

Interest will also be claimed at the statutory rate of 8% per annum until any County Court Judgment.

The outstanding balance is due and payable immediately. Payment can be sent direct to this office in the form of a cheque. Alternatively, you can contact us to discuss an alternative method of payment.

----------------------------------------------

It says that the current balance does not allow for the interest stated upon the claim form. However, in the particulars of claim it states that the amount owed to MBNA ( which is also the amount the debt was sold to Link for) is ****approx. £8,500***** , and ****approx £2,500***** is interest charged at 8% from 2021 to 2025.

It seems to me that they have added interest to the current balance?

Now that I have recieved the documents will the court action resume automatically - i.e do I have 14 days from now to file a defence?

Thanks again.

Yes, the following is an example defence, amend, copy and paste on this thread without personal details.

https://legalbeagles.info/library/gu...-court-claims/

[johnjohnson]

Good morning and Happy new year.

As Kearns have now sent the information I requested, and having looked through the defence example, I feel it might be best now to try to come to an arrangement with Kearns directly before the case goes to court.

Any advice on how to approach them would be gratefully recieved - i.e in post #20 of this thread it was mentioned Mediation and "'Without Prejudice - Save as to Costs' letters" in regards to the interest added to the balance etc.

Thankyou

[echat11]

Good morning and Happy new year.

As Kearns have now sent the information I requested, and having looked through the defence example, I feel it might be best now to try to come to an arrangement with Kearns directly before the case goes to court.

Any advice on how to approach them would be gratefully recieved - i.e in post #20 of this thread it was mentioned Mediation and "'Without Prejudice - Save as to Costs' letters" in regards to the interest added to the balance etc.

Thankyou

What other documents have they sent?

Have they sent the Default Notice?
Have they sent the Letter of Assignment?

Fill in an Income and Expenditure form, remember there is a 'Cost of Living' crisis, so if you are left with £1 each month
to pay the debt so, be it. So give yourself some 'leeway', don't over commit to pay more then you can.

https://nedcab.cabmoney.org.uk/

Update when you've done that.