Received a letter today notifying me that the claimant no longer wishes to pursue the case and they have filed an abandonment with the court. I guess they didn't have the original credit agreement as they claimed.

Well, the plot thickens. Two days after receiving a letter from the court confirming that the claimants must produce all relevant documentation by 1st December or the case will be dismissed without further notice, I have received a letter from the claimant stating they are willing to accept a settlement figure and they will even allow me to pay in instalments! The cynics amongst us may assume that the claimant does not have said documents.

Yeah shoosmiths solicitor was there. No documentation. A number of cases were dismissed this morning for that reason. Thanks for all your help with this, very much appreciated.

The Sheriff has granted 4 weeks for the claimant to produce the original credit agreement etc. If they can't then the case will be dismissed.

Hi again. I have resubmitted form 4a and am scheduled to attend court on Friday 3rd. I had hoped that shoosmiths may have dropped the action but no word on that so far. I just have a quick question - is there any possibility that shoosmiths may just not turn up to the court or is that wishful thinking?

Sorry, yes.

My.date to attend is 3rd nov. If anything else happens in the meantime I will post an update.

Dear Sir/Madam Case Ref: xxxxxxxxx I refer to the above case number. I received a summary procedure notification regarding the above. The amount the claimant stated on this was £737.00. Included in this was a time to pay application. I received no advice or explanation of procedure, nor did I receive any explanation or breakdown of the amount being requested. Given that the amount being claimed is vastly more than the original maximum credit limit, I can only assume that fees and/or charges have been added. Unsure how to proceed and rather intimidated at being presented with court documents I filled out the time to pay application and returned it to the Sheriff Court in the hope that this would prevent the case from going to court. I have now received a letter from Shoosmiths LLP Solicitors acting on behalf of the claimant, informing me that the tine to pay application has been rejected There is no explanation given as to why the offer of repayment request has been rejected, other than a rather vague comment regarding my ability to keep up the payments going forward. (I would not have offered an amount I could not afford). More concerning, the amount is now being stated as £945.90. There is no explanation of why the amount has drastically increased and differs from the figure submitted to the court on the Simple Procedure document. My understanding is as follows: 1.4(2) The Sheriff must ensure that parties who are not represented, or parties who do not have legal representation, are not unfairly disadvantaged... 1.6(9) When appearing against a party who is not represented, or who is not legally represented, representatives must not take advantage of the party. 1.6(10) When appearing against a party who is not represented, or who is not legally represented, representatives must help the court to allow that person to argue a case fairly. The claimant is a well-known debt buyer or debt collection agency that purchases large debt portfolio en-masse, at a discounted pound to pence value. These debt portfolios were placed for sale because the original creditor neither wished to litigate against the customer themselves due to bad publicity, or are typically related to issues of enforceability under the CCA, or are a result of inflated sums due to penalties and/or interest levied upon them that are unfair and unlawful under FCA regulations. As per section 189 of the CCA 1974, the assignee becomes the creditor under the agreement, ensuring that the essential customer protections under the CCA cannot be circumvented by assigning the debt to a third party. The Respondent puts the Claimant to strict proof to provide copies of all documentation they must produce under Scottish law that confirms they are able, legally, to enforce and bring this claim to court. The claimant is also put to strict proof to:- . (a) Provide a copy agreement/facility arrangement along with the Terms and conditions at inception, that this claim is based on. (b) Provide a copy of the Notice served under 76(1) and 98(1) of the CCA1974 Demand/Recall Notice and Notice of Assignment. © Provide a breakdown of the excessive charging/fees levied to the account with justification. (d) Show how the Claimant has reached the amount claimed. (e) Show how the Claimant has the legal right, either under statute or equity to issue a claim. (f) Show how they have complied with sections III & IV of Practice Direction - Pre-action Conduct. The court will be aware that penalty charges and the recoverability thereof have been judicially declared to be susceptible to assessments of fairness under the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 The Office of Fair Trading v Abbey National PLC and others (2009). I will contend at trial that such charges are unfair in their entirety. In reference to the above points, I would like to make the Sheriff aware that I am representing myself, I am at a loss on how to respond to such a claim, and would welcome any assistance the Sheriff can give me. Thank you for taking the time to read this letter. Yours faithfully xxxxxxxx Formatting may have gone to pot a little but this is the letter I sent.

Great, thanks

It doesn't specify, it just says: 'the respondent is ordered to lodge a completed response form on the basis of the information contained in her recent letter to the court'. Even if the fleecer can produce the original credit agreement, surely the debt purchase agreement (which will no doubt reveal the debt was purchased for peanuts) and the breakdown of the sum claimed will show that a load of unlawful charges have been added and these charges will subsequently be written off by the Sheriff?

Ah ok perfect. Is there any possibility the claimant may back off now?

Hi just a quick update. I sent a letter to the Sheriff Court stating that I was disputing the amount being claimed and quoting some valid points from the information you provided me with. I have received a letter asking myself and the claimant to attend court for a case management discussion. I have to prepare a new response form to include the points I raised in my letter. I have not been provided with a new form however. I need to lodge this with the court prior to the hearing. Arrow Global have been instructed by the Sheriff to provide the original credit agreement, the debt purchase agreement and a breakdown of the sum being sued for. Any thoughts on this? How is it likely to go? Thanks again for all your help previously.

Hello again. I called the Sheriff Clerk office this morning. The lady I spoke to said she had no idea what an SPR form 4a is. I explained the situation, and that the claimant have now piled another £200+ onto the amount. She said that although the claimants have rejected the time to pay application, the Sheriff may overrule this and accept the offer of £20.00 per month, or will decide that it will go forward to a hearing, where I will then have to present a case for time to pay. The outcome of the phone call was that I have to now wait for communication from the Sheriff as to whether he accepts the offer I have made, or that it will commence to a hearing. Meanwhile, Shoosmiths are asking for a detailed income and expenditure breakdown within 14 days, and a full explanation of how I am intending to make payments, which I will NOT be sending them. Is it worth me still putting something in writing to the Sheriff Clerk office at the moment? Or should I wait until I receive further comms from the Sheriff Court? I obviously want to make the Sheriff Office aware that they are piling on extra costs with no explanation given.

Ah no sorry i sent the application for time to pay to the sheriff court and received the reply from Shoosmiths. I will look over all your advice and start taking action tomorrow. Thank you.

Hi I did send the time to pay to the sheriff court by recorded delivery, so I have no idea why the response came via shoosmiths.