Help! Court Claim from Howard Cohen on behalf of GE Money

[Melly-m00]

I've had a Topshop store card for a number of years and it is now in arrears.

 

I neglected to pay for a number of months and now I have received a 'NOTICE OF ASSIGNMENT' letter stating that a claim has been submitted to the County Court for issue.

 

I have also received a blue N1 CPC Claim form and a response pack containing ?Admission Form N9A, Defence and Counterclaim Form N9B and Acknowledgement of Service.

 

Does this mean I *am* going to court? Would it be silly to just admit the charges within the credit limit of £150 (the amount they are asking for is £285.75 but that's including court fees and stuff). I know I must have paid them WELL over what the credit limit is in the past, but with all the late fees and charges it's gone right back up again.

 

I don't know where to go from here, would anyone be able to advise?

[42man]

Hi Melly...what do the particulars of claim say ?

[Melly-m00]

do you mean the letter or the stuff on the form?

[Melly-m00]

Ooh sorry, just found it:

 

The Claimant's claim is for the sum of 220.75 being monies due from the Defendant to the Claimant under a regulated credit agreement between the Defendant and GE Capital Bank Limited under ref xxxxxxx and assigned to the Claimant on 8th October 2008 notice of which has been given to the Defendant.

 

The Defendant has failed to make payment un accordance with the terms of the agreement and a default notice has been served upon Defendant pursuant to Section 87(1) of the Consumer Credit Act 1974.

 

Pursuant to clause 7 of the agreement, the Claimant also claims contracual interest as a rate of 26.478% per annum from the date of these proceedings to the date of judgement, or sooner payment, accruing at a daily rate of 0.22.

 

Sorry for any typos!

[42man]

OK....you have 14 days from the date of the claim to acknowledge it then you have a further 14 days to submit a defence...I presume you want to defend it...then send this gem off to Howard Cohen ASAP by recorded delivery

 

Dear Sir,

 

Re: (Claimant's name) v (Your name) Case No:

 

CPR 31.14 Request

 

On (date) I received the Claim Form in this case issued by you out of the (Name) County Court.

 

I confirm having returned my acknowledgement of service to the court in which I indicate my intention to contest all of your claim.

 

Please treat this letter as my request made under CPR 31.14 for the disclosure and the production of a verified and legible copy of [each of the following / the] document(s) mentioned in your Particulars of Claim:

1 the agreement. You will appreciate that in an ordinary case and by reason of the provisions of CPR PD 16 para 7.3, where a claim is based upon a written agreement, a copy of the contract or documents constituting the agreement should be attached to or served with the particulars of claim and the original(s) should be available at the hearing. Further, that any general conditions incorporated in the contract should also be attached.

 

2 the assignment

 

3 the default notice

 

Your client should ensure compliance with its CPR 31 duties and ensure that the documents I have requested are copied to and received by me within 7 days of receiving this letter. Your CPR 31 duties extend to making a reasonable and proportionate search for the originals of the documents I have requested, the better for you to be able to verify the document's authenticity and to provide me with a legible copy. Further, where I have requested a copy of a document, the original of which is now in the possession of another person, you will have a right to possession of that document if you have mentioned it in your case. You must take immediate steps to recover and preserve it for the purpose of this case.

 

Where I have mentioned a document and there is in your possession more than one version of that same document owing to a modification, obliteration or other marking or feature, each version will be a separate document and you must provide a copy of each version of it to me. Your obligations extend to making a reasonable and proportionate search for any version(s) to include an obligation to recover and preserve such version(s) which are now in the possession of a third party.

 

In accordance with CPR 31.15© I undertake to be responsible for your reasonable copying costs incurred in complying with this CPR 31.14 request.

 

If you require more time in which to comply with this request you must tell me in writing. You must tell me before the time for compliance with this request has expired. In telling me you require more time you must tell me what steps you have taken and propose to take in order to comply with this request and also state a date by when you will comply with this request. In addition your statement must be accompanied with a statement that you agree to an extension of the time for me to file my defence. Your extension of time must be not less than 14 days from the date when you say you will have complied with my request and you must state the new date for filing my defence.

 

If you are unable to comply with this request and believe that you will never be able to comply with this request you must tell me in writing.

Please note that if you should fail to comply with this request, fail to request more time or fail to agree to an extension of time for the filing of my defence, I will make an application to the court for an order that the proceedings be struck out or stayed for non-compliance and a summary costs order.

 

I do hope this will not be necessary and look forward to hearing from you.

 

yours faithfully

 

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

 

The defence if they don't send anything is this....

 

1 The Defendant denies ever having been indebted to MBNA Europe Bank Limited (MBNA) and denies credit has ever been advanced to him/her by MBNA.

 

2 The Defendant repeats paragraph 1 of his/her Defence and denies a debt was and/or was capable of assignment by MBNA to the Claimant.

 

3 The Claimant's claim to be entitled to £3877.96 for debt, to statutory interest or to any monetary or other relief of any kind is denied.

 

I BELIEVE THE FACTS SET OUT IN THIS DEFENCE ARE TRUE

 

Signed:

 

Dated:

 

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

 

You might like to have a read of this too - http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/legal-issues/159445-getting-them-reveal-their.html

[Melly-m00]

Hmmm... that's interesting. Should I be defending it though? I'm not sure if I have anything to defend!!

 

Thank you for your response though, it is much appreciated!

[Melly-m00]

Also, it appears I only have a few days left :/ I picked up this letter from my Dad's house where I get my mail sent while at uni

[surfaceagentx20]

Lweft to file an Acknowledgement or a Defence? When did the Claim Form arrive?

 

Which court issued it?

 

Do you have a copy of the default notice (DN) they say was served under section 87(1)? If so, can I suggest you post a copy of it to this thread after deleting any stuff which might identify you? In deleting stuff, don't damage the original notice.

 

If you do not have a copy of the DN, send the letter 42man mentioned in his post above to the Claimant or the Claimant's solicitor if the Claimant acts by solicitor. Send it as soon as you can.

 

x20

[Aristoc]

Hi, I am melly-m00's boyfriend [Edit: I cant believe I wrote girlfriend in the original post - what the hell goes through my mind??] , and she asked me if i could ask a few questions about this on her behalf. Here goes...

 

The issue date is the 27th of October, which leaves until a week on Monday to submit acknowledgment of service (!!), though i understand this can be done online?

 

It is due to be heard in the Northhampton CCBC. We live in Liverpool. I understand that we can request that the case be moved to Liverpool... does this buy more time on the case?

 

I do not believe we have the default notice at hand, and we can certainly send the letter outlined above... however I am curious as to how successful that defense usually is in court. Can anyone elaborate on this at all?

 

If we do choose do defend, would melly-m00 have to appear in court? If that is the case, can she have someone attend with her and help to speak on her behalf at all?

 

If we defend and lose will we be in a worse off position than if we filled out the admission form and requested a monthly payment schedule?

 

I think that'll do for now... thanks for the help guys, once again this site is a life saver.

 

John

[Aristoc]

bump

[creditcardmug]

You wont have to go to northampton, its just used as a bulk clearing centre.

 

If after you have filed your defence the other side decides to continue the case will be automatically be transferred to your local court.

 

Yes you can ask the court for permission for someone else to speak (in the unlikely event it ever gets as far as a hearing)

[Aristoc]

Thats interesting. So these things do not typically make it to hearing? What is the usual course of action after filing a defense?

 

John

[creditcardmug]

Well when you file a defence the court sends a copy to the other side,they then have 28 days to decide whether to continue in the light of your defence.

 

If they indicate they wish to continue, the court will send out a form called Allocation Questionaire which both sides have to complete and file at court(they have to pay to file theirs you dont) a further 28 days is given for this process. also at this stage the case is transferred to your local court.

 

If/when the other side file their AQ, the court will make an order for directions on case management.

 

BTW if it goes on past this stage the other side have to pay yet again for a hearing.

 

Hope this gives you an insight into the wonderful world of county court claims

 

Regards CCM

[Melly-m00]

Hi all. Thanks for the help so far. I'm pretty sure I have to file my acknowledgement of service tomorrow, but i'm still unsure whether or not to submit the admission slip. If i choose not to, can I later submit the admission instead of the defense?

 

Also, if i defend, and it goes to court, and I lose i'll get a CCJ right? If i fill out the admission slip am i right in thinking that wont happen?

 

Any more advice on this would be greatly appreciated!

[creditcardmug]

Hi, you can file the acknowledgment online using the password on the front of the claim.

 

I suggest you tick defend all, and print off the receipt.

 

If you defend , and lose, you get a ccj.

 

if you admit you still get a ccj.

 

If you defend and win they lose end of.

 

Hope that helps

[Josie8]

Hi, you can file the acknowledgment online using the password on the front of the claim.

 

I suggest you tick defend all, and print off the receipt.

 

If you defend , and lose, you get a ccj.

 

if you admit you still get a ccj.

 

If you defend and win they lose end of.

 

Hope that helps

 

 

Yes put them to proof that they have a compliant CCA & default notice

[Aristoc]

Right so it will still go through the court judgement then even if we fill out the admission?

 

I guess we really need to defend then. We'll fill out the aknowledgement online first thing in the morning.

 

Cheers all... will post back here for more advice regarding the defense soon

 

John

[Aristoc]

...I also just want to ask the following.

 

The account in question is made up almost entirely of late payment charges etc, and we believe we have enough statements to prove this, and that an amount exceeding the credit limit has been paid back over the last two years despite the current balance (composed of charges).

 

Is this enough to defend based on unlawful bank charges?

 

Also, this saturday is the deadline, so we will be submitting AoS online first thing in the morning. I am quite worried about the whole thing and I was hoping for some confirmation that we would definitely incur a CCJ if we admit. (This seems quite obvious to me, but for some reason my mind is refusing to accept it without further verification - I have tried to search the forums but to no avail. That's not to say I am undermining anyone in this thread at all, i'm just filled with panic right now, lol.)

 

Thanks again guys, you've really helped.

 

John

[Aristoc]

Ok, today is defense day. So far they have not replied to my CPR request and have breached the 7 day period given in the CPR.

 

We're ready to submit are defense. Am i right to assume that it should be as follows... (where obviously the details of the amounts and creditor are changed)

 

1 The Defendant denies ever having been indebted to MBNA Europe Bank Limited (MBNA) and denies credit has ever been advanced to him/her by MBNA.

 

2 The Defendant repeats paragraph 1 of his/her Defence and denies a debt was and/or was capable of assignment by MBNA to the Claimant.

 

3 The Claimant's claim to be entitled to £3877.96 for debt, to statutory interest or to any monetary or other relief of any kind is denied.

 

I BELIEVE THE FACTS SET OUT IN THIS DEFENCE ARE TRUE

 

Signed:

 

Dated:

 

As per the post above?

 

Any idea what is likely to happen then? How long are they given to decide whether or not to proceed?

 

Cheers all

 

John

[creditcardmug]

Sorry to state the obvious but you will need to amend/edit that defence to suit your case i.e. change MBNA to GE CAPITAL BANK , and the amount. also where it says statutory interest, change to contractual interest.

 

They get 28 days to decide whether to continue

[surfaceagentx20]

The Defence suggested is not suitable.

 

Cast your eyes over the following and figure if in light of the absence of service of a default notice, you prefer the look of this for your Defence.

 

DRAFT / DEFENCE

 

1 The Defendant admits entering into an agreement with G E Capital Bank Limited and which was regulated by The Consumer Credit Act 1974 (The Act). No admissions are made as to the terms, conditions or other provisions of the agreement and the extent to which G E Capital Bank Limited may have complied therewith and the extent to which the Defendant may not have complied therewith. Further and alternatively, it is denied that the agreement was properly executed and/or is now enforceable in whole or in part.

 

2 No admissions are made as to the alleged assignment of the agreement from G E Capital Bank Limited to the Claimant and/or the validity thereof and/or the validity of any notice thereof to the Defendant.

 

3 It is denied that the Claimant served upon the Defendant a default notice or any default notice pursuant to section 87(1) of The Act and which was in prescribed form and compliant with the provisions of section 88 of the Act.

 

4 Without prejudice to the generality of the Defendant’s contentions set out at paragraph 1, the Defendant avers G E Capital Bank Limited and/or the Claimant terminated the agreement and pursuant to termination that the Claimant has since made demand of the Defendant for the payment of money the subject of this claim.

 

5 Incorporated within the sum demanded by the Claimant are sums claimed for administration fees, late payment charges and like provisions. It is denied (if it be alleged) that G E Capital Bank Limited and/or the Claimant has incurred any such fees and charges, alternatively that such fees and charges if incurred accurately represent sums lost by G E Capital Bank Limited and/or the Claimant by reason of any breach on the part of the Defendant. Alternatively, the Defendant avers the incorporation of such claims is penal and unenforceable at law.

 

6 Further and in any event, by reason of the matters set out at paragraph 3 of this Defence and the requirements of section 87(1) of the Act, the steps taken by G E Capital Bank Limited and/or the Claimant and identified at paragraph 4 hereof were steps which neither were entitled to take.

 

7 In the circumstances the Claimant has no entitlement to claim any of the relief now sought by its claim.

 

8 The Claimant’s claim to be entitled to £xxx.xx, to interest or to any other sum is denied.

 

I BELIEVE THAT THE CONTENTS OF THIS DEFENCE ARE TRUE.

 

Signed:

Dated:

x20

[Aristoc]

Once the defense is submitted - is there a follow up form i can send to them regarding non compliance with the cpr request?

 

John

[Aristoc]

The Defence suggested is not suitable.

 

Cast your eyes over the following and figure if in light of the absence of service of a default notice, you prefer the look of this for your Defence.

 

DRAFT / DEFENCE

 

1 The Defendant admits entering into an agreement with G E Capital Bank Limited and which was regulated by The Consumer Credit Act 1974 (The Act). No admissions are made as to the terms, conditions or other provisions of the agreement and the extent to which G E Capital Bank Limited may have complied therewith and the extent to which the Defendant may not have complied therewith. Further and alternatively, it is denied that the agreement was properly executed and/or is now enforceable in whole or in part.

 

2 No admissions are made as to the alleged assignment of the agreement from G E Capital Bank Limited to the Claimant and/or the validity thereof and/or the validity of any notice thereof to the Defendant.

 

3 It is denied that the Claimant served upon the Defendant a default notice or any default notice pursuant to section 87(1) of The Act and which was in prescribed form and compliant with the provisions of section 88 of the Act.

 

4 Without prejudice to the generality of the Defendant’s contentions set out at paragraph 1, the Defendant avers G E Capital Bank Limited and/or the Claimant terminated the agreement and pursuant to termination that the Claimant has since made demand of the Defendant for the payment of money the subject of this claim.

 

5 Incorporated within the sum demanded by the Claimant are sums claimed for administration fees, late payment charges and like provisions. It is denied (if it be alleged) that G E Capital Bank Limited and/or the Claimant has incurred any such fees and charges, alternatively that such fees and charges if incurred accurately represent sums lost by G E Capital Bank Limited and/or the Claimant by reason of any breach on the part of the Defendant. Alternatively, the Defendant avers the incorporation of such claims is penal and unenforceable at law.

 

6 Further and in any event, by reason of the matters set out at paragraph 3 of this Defence and the requirements of section 87(1) of the Act, the steps taken by G E Capital Bank Limited and/or the Claimant and identified at paragraph 4 hereof were steps which neither were entitled to take.

 

7 In the circumstances the Claimant has no entitlement to claim any of the relief now sought by its claim.

 

8 The Claimant’s claim to be entitled to £xxx.xx, to interest or to any other sum is denied.

 

I BELIEVE THAT THE CONTENTS OF THIS DEFENCE ARE TRUE.

 

Signed:

Dated:

 

x20

 

This is absolutely fantastic. My worry is that they may have defaulted her but that the default notice has simply been misplaced. What is said in that defense about the agreement etc however is very good, because i feel it might be likely that they have no agreement.

 

Even under the possibility that the default _was_ served, but considering they have not provided it with either the assignment or as a response to the CPR request - should we still use your, rather amazing, defense?

 

John

[Aristoc]

The Claimant is CL Finance, yet in the particulars of the claim they reference GE Captial Bank. Does this change anything at all?

 

John

[Aristoc]

never mind i think i understand

 

John