Firstly I do apologize if this is in the wrong place on the forum:

My partner received a letter from Judges Demand demanding just under £2,000 for unpaid nursery fees dating back 4 years ago or there about's.

Now when the letter landed on the doorstep enclosed with it was a "Contract" which printed was my partners name and previous address.

Overleaf was a signature that they claim is my partners which is far from her signature used on things such as driving license.

Within this said contract there was a term "If payments are more than a week late then entry will be refused until the balance is brought up to date".

My partner is insistent the correct notice was given to end the placement within the setting.

A claim the client strongly denies.

There was an invoice enclosed within this which stated figures only.

Not detailing what the figure was billed for.

We sent an email across to ask the following:

Could your client please provide me with a true copy of the contract that you claim I've signed as the signature is nothing like my true signature.

Evidence of this can be disclosed upon request.

Could your client also please provide me with attendance records along with any correspondence that relates to this matter.

Can you client explain why a debt of almost £2,000 was allowed to be accrued before seeking recovery of the amount.

Surely as per term one if payments are behind then entry would be refused.

Surely at £170 there must of been some common sense used as to when to begin recovery for the outstanding balance and not allow it to exceed a specific amount.

They have said they would like to see a copy of my ID with my signature although have advised doing so would not alter anything to do with the amount they are claiming,

To date they've now replied to say that they are unable to provide attendance records based on the time that has elapsed and they are entitled to claim the balance they've raised due to 6 years not passed.

They also cannot provide us with any correspondence sent across to address this matter before passing it to a DCA.

They've completely dismissed the quote around allowing the debt to accrue so high before pursuing her for monies.

They've said that she's openly admitted liability for the amount therefore they want her to pay

- All correspondence by email.

Upon checking the emails there is no liability admitted whatsoever

I'm keen not to just ignore this as I too received one of these that I was liable to pay and I stupidly ignored it

now I've received a letter from the county court bulk center wanting me to answer.

The one for me is significantly lower so I don't want to ignore this one.

If anyone can shed any light as to which direction i need to go in.

We only have around £10 per week disposable income between us once our debts are satisfied.

Normally, if you don't pay such nursery fees within a month of attendance, the nursery stops accepting the child.

You don't want to get into a game of letter tennis. I think you want to see a copy of the original terms the nursery provided. The terms probably state what happens if nursery fees are not paid i.e. Child is excluded after x amount of time. If the terms state this, then potentially liability is limited.

Personally, I think you need to deal with the nursery directly and not contact the DCA again. Consider sending the nursery a data protection subject access request, to get hold of all of their records.

are they aware of the correct address?

don't use email block them!! bounce them

judgedemand are a powerless DCA

only the nursery can do court

if you have not WRITE to the nursery with the present address

deny any debt.

but don't waffle

How do they expect to chase it properly when they have already admitted they don't hold any of the info they need to legally chase it?

If they sent a letter via post, demand a full and complete breakdown then don't communicate further till they comply or you get a lba

So, you have a county court claim for N1 do you?

If so you must ascknoledge the receipt of this pronto or you may end up with a default judgement against you and then proper bailiffs will come knocking.

What does the claim say is being claimed and why.

Also, you are arguing about likeness of signatures,

this is a red herring if you argreed to entet into a contract or service so be sure of what you think is correct as far as what you received in exchange for your money,

what notice period is required for ending the service or contract and match this with what they are claiming.

It may be that they say you signed up for a whole school term so owe for that whether the child attended or not.

you will need to read the contract and then decide if they are pulling a fast one or whether you have made a miscalculation with the notice of withdrawal from the nursery