Thank you everyone. I am sending the papers to the court today. I will update you when I have something new.

Hi Ford. Really sorry - I didnt understand that. Could you explain for me please.

Hi 42MAn. Just going through the Witness statement. Is it appropriate for me on this fom to list the correspondance sent and received by both sides - for clarity - this constitutes 8 letters and a phone call in total.

Also, I have just noticed that the SDis dated 30 July 2012. The covering letter from Bermans is dated 23rd October 2012 and I received it 24th Oct 2012. Why would they hold on to it for so long?

Thanks 42Man. On the Stat demand they have added interest of £557.70 based on 5% above Finance House BAse RAte. This was the amount on the original hire agreement to the Company (before it went into liquidation) that was specified as being owed in the case of default. It seems that they are trying to claim that through me as a guarantor. I had read somewhere that they cannot claim stat interest on an SD. Does this count?

Thank you. Can you give me any advice please on the acual forms to fill out and what I should put on them? Should I post them to the court or take them in personally?

Thank you to everyone who has replied (and sorry for the cut&paste faux pas 42man!). I think the consensus seems to be that we are stil lin dispute over the amount claimed in the SD because they have not provided me with the proof I requested in my last letter that they at least tried to achieve fair market value. I intend to ask to have the SD set aside on this basis. Assuming that it is set aside they may well then begin civil proceedings. If so, then I will defend this by again by arguing that they have sold the equipment to one supplier without any evidence that they can produce (assuming they can't) that they have achieved anything like fair market value. If the SD is not set aside then I can only argue that it wasn't served correctly and thus any ensueing bankruptcy petition would be invalid. I genuinely don't have any assets so making me bankrupt wouldn't achieve anything - except wipe out all my debts I guess!! I will if I can use the small amount that I have been offered by a family member to settle with creditors across the board. I would just like to get this over and done with and get on with my life. I am sure that these guys will have done a 'deal' of some sort and re-leased the equipment that they sold at a ridiculously low price back to the manufacturer. I have been offered 'almost new' laundry equipment in the past by them for not far off the 'new' price! Anyway, thanks again everyone.

I should also mention that the other Guarantor has not recieved a Stat demand. He has not had a response to his requests for the documentation about other quotations either although he has had some correspondence from Academy's Solicitor (Bermans). In their last letter to him they said that their client had no obligation to mitigate at all. He has gone back to them and said that as they have chosen to mitigate then they should be acting reasonably and fairly to all parties.

The Equipment doesn't usually depreciate that quickly. It is lifed for many years as it commercial grade. There are many second hand sellers out there who sell this kind of equipment on for substantial prices. The SD was posted to me. Not recorded.

Do you mean in my application to set aside the Stat Demand?

Hi 42Man. Yes, my last letter to them was in May after I had received a letter from them saying that they had sold the equipment. They enclosed copies of the invoices they had raised to show the amount they had achieved on the sale. The equipment was less than 6 months old and they sold it drectly back to the company who 'sold' it to me for less than 50% of the new price. I expressed my concern that the price achieved was very low even for second hand commecial laundry equipment and asked to send me details of other offers they had received to prove that they had got 'fair market value'. I never had a reply to this letter.

Thanks for the publications link. I have already read it. I have also had some good debt advice and I am pretty OK with the current 'game plan'. We are genuinely disputing the actions of Academy and CVF particularly with regard to their disposal of the equipment. So I guess that my question is "can I/how do I go about having the Stat Demand set aside on the basis that we are in dispute over the amount owed to Academy because they treated us unfairly/unreasonably as Guarantors by selling the equipment at a huge undervalue and not providing us with details upon request of how they achieved fair market value"?

Thanks both Bandit and UB. Just for the record I don't have any personal assets. If they bankrupt me then so be it. However, I would like to avoid it if possible! Legal advice is difficult if you have no money to pay for it! I have been offered a small sum by a family member to help try and settle - it's not a lot but more than they will get if they bankrupt me I guess. The total debt being claimed is £40K. We are negotiating with HSBC and CVF (we also have disputed the way they handled the sale of equipment having also undesold it!) currently so we will see what happens there. Yes, Bandit, I do have a photocopy of the agreement that they sent me in January. It is very difficult to read and in my last letter to them in May I did ask them to send me a more legible copy, as well as the details of the offers that they received for the equipment. I have not had a reply on either count.

Hi, Hi to everyone - I hope you can help me. Last year (2 Dec 11 to be exact) I unfortunately had to put my business of 8 years into voluntary liquidation. It was extremely upsetting to say the least. I had three personal guarantees signed on overdrafts or heavy equipment leases; one each with HSBC, Academy Leasing and CVF. The Academy and CVF ones are joint and several with another ex-director. Having suffered the loss of the business, I had no income obviously and wrote to each of these companies in turn with a Citizens advice Bureau prepared statement of my personal financial affairs. Yesterday, however, I received a Statutory demand from Bermans Solicitors on behalf of Academy Leasing demanding the £17,955.91 that they claim we owe them. we have both disputed the total amount we owe them is £17K because we feel that they completely undersold the equipment in an attempt to recoup some of their money and have not (after numerous requests) provided us with any proof that they received fair market value for the machinery they sold. It looks on the surface that they have sold it back to the manufacturer directly for a significantly reduced sum, a company with whom they have considerable dealings - it looks quite dodgy actually. Whilst they seemed to ignore my last request to them for information regarding the offers they received, they did write back to the other guarantor and say that it was an all monies guarantee and that they were under no obligation to mitigate at all. Surely though, if they have chosen to mitigate their losses they have to be fair and reasonable to us as guarantors? I intend to try and have the Stat demand set aside. Can anyone offer some advice please???? Thank you.