Thanks, but if they haven't followed pre-action protocol (which I have just done a quick search on) can I at least base my defence on that? In other words can I defend purely on the basis that pre-action protocol wasn't followed and get the claim 'struck out'?

A company had issued a small claim against me for £780, which I admit, but the claim came out of the blue. They say that they sent me a letter before action, which I genuinely never saw so now I have just a few weeks to acknowledge, admit and pay, or defend. I do intend to pay this off but I haven't got the full amount at the moment so I have sent emails to them about this but they seem determined to let the courts do it's worse and are not accepting any offers. It looks like I need to enter a defence just to stop them from getting a judgement against me, which should give me the time to pay off before the case comes to court. Can I use the lack of an LBA as a defence, in that they never gave me the chance to make any arrangement, or is it not a legal requirement, and does anyone know how long it takes for a case to be heard nowadays please, so that I know how long that I've got to save up! I've already paid about £100 since I received the claim, but I don't suppose that that helps me does it?

Wow this EGG thing is a real mindfield! I was one of the 161000 who had their cards 'cancelled' last year for no reason. I did have slight arrears from time to time but generally it was ok. After their termination I immediately cancelled my direct debit but continued to pay as and when and my minimum payment was about £150 a month. Some time later they increased the minimum payment from 2% to 3% meaning that my minimum went up to about £200 a month and I then got into arrears and subsequently defaulted. I agreed to a minimum payment of about £120 a month but couldn't keep it up and now have had a letter 'terminating my agreement'! I did speak to them to try to set up a minimum payment scheme again but they said they weren't interested so I said that I would then apply to see if the agreement was enforcable and they said it was and that lots of people had tried this before but no one has won so far. I've got my CCA which seems fairly tight but my wife noted the following which she thought was relevant No ‘Your right to cancel’ In certain circumstances the box explaining your rights may be omitted. However, it must be sent to you within 7 days of the agreement being signed otherwise the agreement is not properly executed. Information not supplied. Regulation 2 (4) Consumer Credit Agreement Regulations 1983 (SI1983/1553) requires that the statutory information set out within Para 3-19 of schedule 1 and 2 SI1983/1553 should be shown as a whole and not interspersed with other information if the agreement is to be properly executed and compliant with section 61 CCA 1974. Paragraph 22 of Schedule 1 Consumer Credit Agreement Regulations requires that the agreement details the default charges payable and Egg Agreements DO NOT. I'm expecting a letter from a DCA any time now and just wondered if anyone thinks that I should just put the account in dispute at this time and take it from there?