I have received a claim form from Northhampton county court bulk centre, issued on the 21st October but which didn't arrive at my address until 13th Nov.

I responded online as soon as I got home 14th Nov and the court processed the acknowledgement the same day (I intend to defend the case).

I have since received a notice in the mail this morning to say that the claimant had filed for judgement.

What I need to know is

- if the court accept the claimants application what can I do?

It does seem unfair that a document as important as this can be sent without any proof of delivery and can then be acted on without the knowlege of the defendent. The postal service here has been very poor for some time.

Mail is often delivered to the wrong address or doesn't arrive at all.

You can apply to have the judgement set aside on N244. See here:

National Debtline England & Wales | Debt Advice | Factsheet 12 How To Set Aside A Judgment In The County Court

Who was the notice from? The court or the creditor? It shouldn't have let you file an acknowledgment if judgment had already been entered

The notice is from the claimant, the registration of my acknowledgement of service is showing up on the court website

then relax.................judgment hasn't been entered the claimants soliciotrs have jumped the gun:D

Thank you all for your help I am a lot happier now

Regards Plashets

Post up the Particulars of Claim, and give a bit of background, so we can get on with this. remove any personal details first.

this claim is from RBS ref credit card. it is being handled by an firm from Notts

particulars:- Balance under an agreement regulated by the consumer credit act 1974 made between the defendant and the claimant or it's predecessor in title and outstanding at this date. the defendant remains liable for making monthly repayments under the agreement until the outstanding debt is repaid. Invoice ref. XXXXXXXX

no other information or paperwork was included.

At the same time I filed the acknowledgement of of service I sent a request for copy of cca etc to the agent (copied "request for information CPR part 18" template from this site)by recorded delivery.

Should I have sent this to RBS?

Phone the court on monday explain the position, say you want to defend, but were not given the opportunity re RM taking so long to deliver the claim paperwork etc. Hopefully they will understand and sort it out, if not you will have to go thro the process of having the judgement set-aside.

Judgment hasn't been given. It was a letter from the claimants solicitors jumping the gun................... Plashets has the extra 14 days to file his defence he doesn't need to apply for a set aside

Oh ok sorry, i got the wrong end of the stick there

The Particulars are very vague, there's not much to go on at all, about the worst Ive seen.

It mentions an invoice, if it was a c.card surely this would be an acc number?

I think a simple defence denying everything in the POC is in order, until they can come up with a proper one.

As I mentioned earlier a request for information has been sent so I was intending to use an embarrassed defence as a holding position. Do you think I should go for a flat denial instead?

embarrassed defence

As I mentioned earlier a request for information has been sent so I was intending to use an embarrassed defence as a holding position. Do you think I should go for a flat denial instead?

Something in between i think, i know 42man has a very short to the point one, that ive seen on here a few times, ill get back if i find it.

Hi Did anyone find that short and to the point embarrassed defence letter

creditcardmug mentioned 42man had published? Northampton CC say that my defence deadline is 23rd Nov so I need to be prepared.

Hi again, here is a defence to that very poor POC,

Between

Defence

1. I xxxxxxxxx of xxxxxxxxxxxxx am the defendant in this action and make the following statement as my defence to the claim made by xxxxxxxxxxxx

2. The Defendant is embarrassed in pleading to the Particulars of Claim as it stands at present, inter alia: -

3. The claimants' particulars of claims disclose no legal cause of action and they are embarrassing to the defendant as the claimant's statement of case is insufficiently particularised and does not comply or even attempt to comply with CPR part 16. In this regard I wish to draw the courts attention to the following matters;

a) The Particulars of Claim are vague and insufficient and do not disclose an adequate statement of facts relating to or proceeding the alleged cause of action. No particulars are offered in relation to the nature of the written agreement referred to, the method the claimant calculated any outstanding sums due,or any other matters necessary to substantiate the claimant's claim.

b) A copy of the purported written agreement that the claimant cites in the Particulars of Claim, and which appears to form the basis upon which these proceedings have been brought, has not been served attached to the claim form.

c) A copy of any evidence of both the scope and nature of any default, and proof of any amount outstanding on the alleged accounts, has not been served attached to the claim form.

4. Consequently, I deny all allegations on the particulars of claim and put the claimant to strict proof thereof

5. I respectfully request the courts permission to submit an amended defence should the claimant file a fully particularised Particulars of Claim

Statement of Truth

I xxxxxxxxxxx, believe the above statement to be true and factual

Signed .....................

Date

Thank you very much Creditcardmug, looks just the ticket.

As an aside , when I called the court to find out the date for defence submission I found the staff very helpful and reassuring.

I have lodged my defence based on the template given earlier. what should I do now? By the way I have had no reply to my request for information from RBS ref CCA etc.

I have lodged my defence based on the template given earlier. what should I do now? By the way I have had no reply to my request for information from RBS ref CCA etc.

The court will send a copy of your defence to the claimant, they then have 28 days to decide whether to continue, if they do the court will send you a Notice transferring the case to your local court, and a form called a Allocation Questionaire.

Post back here when/if you get this, or if you get a Notice of Discontinuance from the other side.

Dont worry about not getting a CCA reply from them, you get to insist on all the relevant documents in the next stages of the process.

Hello again

The court received my defence on the 20th Nov and as yet I have heard nothing at all from the court or RBS, Should I do nothing or is there a procedure I should be following?

PS merry Christmas everyone

I say 28 days, but 5 days are given for postage, so we are looking at after xmas really...if they were serious about pursuing this, after seeing your defence, i think they would have indicated this to the court by now...so i'd say its looking good:)

Hi again

I have had no word from the court (8-01-09) regarding this case, but in this morning's post a letter from Moorcroft which contains a copy of a credit card application form.

dated early 2004, there are no terms or conditions on the sheet at all.

They feel that this should identify any errors that remain in this matter and believe that this is a sensible approach to limit legal costs.

Any thoughts?

Am I right in thinking this is a bluff as they don't have an enforceable contract

Hi There

Well here we are 24th March and still not a squeak from RBS or Moorcroft.

How long does the claimant have to proceed? is there a time limit?

I would appreciate any advice on what to do next.

Regards

Hi, suggest you phone the court tomorrow, ask about the status of the claim, they will probably say its stayed, then the only way to force any movement is to make a formal application to the court to have their claim struck out and claim your wasted costs, you could also ask for the court to rule the agreement unenforceable

Cheers for the prompt response, I'll follow your advice and post back when I have news

Regards Plashets