They can claim whatever they like, the question is whether they can prove it

The estate accounts show a breakdown of how the estate has been administered, I assume from what you say that it shows a payment to your son. If this is the case and the payment has not been received then I suggest you ask whoever prepared the accounts to, well, account for it.

The EX140 is a form used when a judgment is in place and the debtor has been ordered to attend for questioning on their assets and liabilities. It is an extremely comprehensive form so I can understand why the solicitors have used it but at the same time they are not entitled to the information.

Putting any legal jargon to one side, why do you say you don't owe some or all of the money?

Or you were just very enthusiastic. I don't think you will get far claiming you were put under undue pressure; you could have ignored the email as its not as if someone came to your place of business and had a face to face meeting with you. As a business customer I think you would be presumed to be astute enough to read the contract before agreeing to it.

OK. Then as discussed her defence would be that she is a victim of fraud I suppose.

Why? If the judgment debt is not paid in time then it is up to the creditor to enforce it by any of the methods available. I'm not sure what telling the court would achieve.

You've said that she became aware of this when the partner left, so that was in 2007? All this time she has just ignored this fraud or, worse, claimed not to know anything about it? How did she find out? What exactly did she do? I simply cannot believe that she literally did nothing, not even mentioned it to the ex.

I agree, I really think a comprehensive post from the OP setting out a timeline with dates and significant events is needed.

Depending on the facts, and I'm a bit concerned you haven't really answered the last few posts trying to extract these facts, your friend could be an entirely innocent victim of fraud. That could be her defence. On the other hand, it appears your friend did know about this debt when the letters arrived as she knew about it when the ex moved out. Also, I'm surprised that you now say that you have been telling her to deal with this when your first post implied that neither of you knew anything about the *actual debt* until the claim form arrived.

How did she then come to know and what did she do about it when she first found out? (I suspect we can guess the answer to the second limb of that question)

I'm keen to discover what is being done about this, any updates?

To be honest I think you have left this far too late to challenge the debt itself (the CO application is a separate matter but statistically there is little chance of stopping that). The time to challenge the debt is when the claim is issued, not nearly one year after the judgment was entered. If you *do* want to challenge the debt you would need to show a real prospect of successfully defending the claim and you would need to show that you acted promptly in your application (see CPR Part 13). I cannot see how you will overcome that test. Also, even if you succeeded you would almost certainly have to pay the costs of the application and it only restarts the claim, it does not make the debt go away. The only issue you have raised is that of charges. That should not entitle you to set the judgment aside as you can issue a separate claim for those charges and set any damages awarded off against your CCJ, they do not in themselves give you a real prospect of defending *this* claim. In any event you would need to particularised the charges and show that they should be refunded. For the amount of time and money you will now have to spend in trying to unravel this CCJ and defend the claim I really think it would be wrong to suggest that you try. It is of course your decision though and if you want to proceed no doubt people on the forum will help you.

Getting back on track; What does the order itself say about costs? What does the bill of costs include? What happened with the case itself that you've got yourself in this position?

To be fair it doesn't. I think it's perfectly legitimate to say "if you think you have an agreement with me, where is it?".

Please do provide full details. Non-receipt of letters is not really a basis to defend the claim. Also, how do you know what you have not received?

I suspect that Gaymede may have been referring to bankruptcy and third party debt orders as the other means of enforcement. I'm not sure there are very many others. As for an insight into the process there is no real process as such. The creditor will take whatever step or steps it considers appropriate, from the menu already described, and will try to recover its money. If there are any particular methods of enforcement you would like to hear more about, or if you get notice that enforcement is going to be attempted, then just ask.

Now that the correct company has issued the claim do you consider that the money is owed or not?

I don't know about the distance selling regulations but non compliance with the PAP, even if proved by you, is not a defence to the claim, it would only be relevant to costs. It's a point well worth looking into in due course but I would focus on your legal routes to defend the claim as a priority. Having said that, make sure that your defence denies compliance with the PAP if you are of the view that it has not been followed.

I wouldn't go as far as "substantial" costs, I imagine as a LiP the costs would not even adequately compensate for the time spent. Andydd is right though, your fried could apply to strike out the claim but I think it's worth trying to find out what is going on first. I suspect that Link will produce a notice of assignment which will make it's locus standi clear, your friend would not want to have made an application to strike out only to find that Link *are* entitled to pursue this debt! Obviously be aware of the deadline for filing a defence.

You're welcome. Although many people on this forum quite rightly caution against telephoning creditors, I don't think it would hurt if your friend called just to ascertain who the OC is. That may allow your friend to at least identify the debt and work out if it rings a bell.

Apologies, I assumed if they were returned the envelope was simply marked accordingly and the contents unread. Has a notice of assignment been received then? Send the CCA request ASAP.

I imagine the debt has been assigned to Link from another creditor, does she have other debts? You will probably find that one of the letters was a notice of assignment but if they were all returned unread she would not know!

The ultimate aim of the hearing is to produce an order with a timetable setting out what both parties need to do and by when in order for the trial to be effective. Therefore, have a think about what documents you need, what documents you need to give them, when you can do this by, whether you have any dates when you are not available or will be unable to attend to the case, how many witnesses you will need etc