Hi, Thanks for answering for me.... I have taken time to read it agian... slowly! and have also looked at numerous other claims similar to mine. I can now see I need to prepare a witness statement and a bundle of letters and documents that i will need to rely on. I need to send a copy to the court, the claimant and keep a copy for myself, and these need to be delivered 14days prior to the court hearing. i have found other statements here and will adapt to suit I think. am I on the right path now! ? thanks again for taking the time to look over this for me, Im really very grateful.

hmmm.. I have read it a couple of times and as far as I can make out I dont have to do anything, the claimant has to pay a fee. It also says they have to send me and the court documents they will rely on and bring the originals along with them to the hearing.... if they have reconstituted these then they wont be able to bring these and or rely on them?

Hi, following on from the case not being suitable for mediation due to Lowell not being able to produce any documents other than a couple of non headed letters I received a notice of transfer to my local court. 8th Oct I received notice of allocation and this gives a court date at the end of november. 15th Oct I receive another letter from lowell which they have attached a letter of claim a letter on non headed paper, and in their words a reconstituted notice of assignment. they have also given a little bit more detail on the account saying it was entered into on march 2014 and was a rolling deal of £12 a month. last payment received december and then disconnected on January. for one month they are charging £200+ for an all inclusive deal? they state that they dont have a copy of the agreement and because there is no legislation requiring them to keep a copy, they havent got one! However they still claim the money is owed. So no agreement, no proper copies of any lettters, no proof of posting, no details on how £200+ in charges in one month can occur in one month on an all inclusive package? im mystified. this has all ony just been sent as well after the alloction when they have had months to sort this. Just wondering wht my next steps are? Now I have more info shall I contact o2 direct to get to the bottom of it? Do I push for more info? Do I respond to them? do I just wait and put all this before a judge??? just wondering if anyone can point me in the right direction....? as always any guidance gratefully received!

Thanks, I will email them now.

For anyone else who is in a similar position and hasnt been before be aware you are in for the long haul.... I had no idea when being presented with all this that it would be such a long drawn out affair where you need to answer letters and get the right documentation in on time and correctly filled out, if you are going to defnd yourself be prepared and on the ball! I guess that solicitors are used to the nuances and timescales involved and prey that joe public will drop the ball, miss or forget something, and win by default... Anyway, i have just received a mediation letter. The mediation requirements are as follows: 1. For mediation to be sucessful, you would need to be willing to negotiate on the amount of the claim and have a degree of flexibility, can you agree to this? 2. Can you confirm that you have enough information about the claim to allow you to enter into negotiations and that you do not require any further evidence from the other partybefore you can mediate? In my case they have still failed to provide anything in regards to paperwork, contracts, letters that were supposed to be sent etc. I am not sure how I reply to them to say that mediation is not suitable in this case as they still havent provided enough evidence etc. can anyone shed any light on my next next steps? As always im really grateful for any guidence anyone can offer!

Thanks for the info! I will await arrival of the court copy!

I was in a mad rush yesterday (and today) and embarrasingly I had actually received their N180! Sorry to be a pain, just double checking I print the N180 and return to the court? I havent received any questionaire from the courts, is this normal? do you think they will be sending me a copy? Where do you think i would find the date it needs to be returned by? When you say solicitor above is that the claimant solicitor and do I send them a copy? Really appreciate you time looking at this, many thanks

Hi andy, thanks for the info.

Hi, yes, I received an acknowledgement and then by coincidence a questionaire regarding which court etc has literally just arrived so I assume the next steps are to complete this and return!? I notice from other threads that you should answer the yes/no questions and also ask for it to be heard at your local court. interestingly(or not) these yes no answers were already ticked in the correct boxes.....

Hmmmm.... I have filed my defence and had an acknowledgment. Do I just sit and wait now? will they contact me? i checked MCOL to see if there was any update there just in case i missed a letter or something? I have taken a look at a few other threads but cant seem to work out what the next steps are? Do they have 28days to respond? Do they decide what happens next i.e. allocation of the claim? Sorry Im a bit lost and would hate to be sitting here thinking its all ok when I should have done something. hoping someone can point me in the right direction!

I appreciate you taking a look for me and amending, this version is a lot more concise! I will sit tight and send Friday morning.

The above recommendation regarding searching through the site was extremely useful and I can now see that there are indeed 100's of these types of cases! I will submit the following as a defence and see if they can muster up a statement.... Particulars of claim for reference only 1)The Defendant entered into an agreement with 02 (uk) Ltd under account reference XXXXXXXXXX ('the agreement') 2) The defendant failed to maintain the required payments and the service was terminated. 3) The agreement was later assigned to the claimant on 31/08/2016 and notice was given to the defendant. 4) Despite repeated requests for payment the sum of £212 remains due and outstanding. and the claimant claims a) The said sum of £212 b) Interest pursuant to s69 County Courts Act 1984 at the rate of 8% per annum from the date of assignment to the date of Issue, accruing at a daily rate of £0.047 but limited to one year being £16.98 c) costs Defence 1. Paragraph 1 is accepted. I have, in the past, entered a contract with O2, however I do not recall the exact details, nor do I recall any outstanding balance. I have requested the claimant verify the exact details of this claim by way of a CPR 31.14. The claimant has refused to provide me with a copy of the agreement, stating they are not obligated to do so because it is a telecommunications account and is not regulated by the Consumer Credit Act 1974. To date, no statement of the alleged account has been received either which has also been requested. 2.Paragraph 2 is noted, again I do not recall any breach and I have never received the stated Default Notice. Again, to date, no statement of the alleged account has been received and they have stated that they are not obliged to provide a copy of a default notice as it is a telecommunications account and is not regulated by the CCA 1974. 3. Paragraph 3 is denied. I do not recall having received a Notice of Assignment, as stated by the Claimant. They supplied, under CPR 31.14 which was received 6 June 2019, an alleged copy dated 28 October 2016, which is not on O2 Mobile headed paper as one would expect, this appears to have been computer generated using a template. 4. Paragraph 4 is denied because the claimant is misleading the court in its pleadings. The defendant has denied the debt at each request as the claimant has failed to provide proof of the debt in the form of an agreement and a default notice. The claimants sole purpose in purchasing this debt was to litigate and secure a County Court Judgment and therefore Pre Action Protocol was never followed correctly and should be considered in deciding the outcome of their claim. Therefore, the claimant is put to strict proof to: (A) show how the Defendant has entered into a Agreement/ Contract; and (B) show and evidence the Defendant was sent a Notice of default and termination notice/demand notices; and (C) show how the Claimant has reached the amount claimed for; and (D) show how the Claimant has the legal right, either under statute or equity to issue a claim. 5. As per Civil Procedure Rule 16.5(4), it is expected that the Claimant prove the allegation that the money is owed. 6. On the alternative, as the Claimant is an assignee of a debt, it is denied that the Claimant has the right to lay a claim due to contraventions of Section 136 of the Law of Property Act and Section 82A of the consumer credit Act 1974. 7. Subject to the above, should the alleged amount claimed include an early termination charge(s) amounting to the total balance of the remaining contract, OFCOM guidance clearly states that any Early Termination Charge, that is made up of the entire balance of the remaining contract, is unlikely to be fair, as it fails to take into account the fact that the provider no longer has to provide and pay for their service. 9. By reason of the facts and matters set out above, it is denied that the Claimant is entitled to the relief claimed, or any relief. thanks again

ah, ok, so go for the eleveth hour to submit. Im going to take a look through now. thanks for taking the time to respond

Ok, that all makes sense. I really appreciate your help! i am going to take a look through the site for an example of a holding defence in that case and get on it sooner rather than later.

Ah, ok, thanks. I was waiting for them to send me a statement as they said they have requested a copy from O2 and would forward it to me upon receipt. I am still tempted to call o2 and request a copy myself, I was on a monthly recurring agreement with unlimited calls etc. so have no idea how the cost could possibly spiral to £200+ I am guessing this would form a big part of my defence....