I sent the solicitor the following email earlier this week: Thank you for your reply. Can you please send me a copy of the default notice that was sent please as I do not recall ever having received it. And received the following response today: Dear XXXX Your request for a copy of the default notice is noted. As my client is a debt purchaser, they have to rely upon the original lender, namely Halifax, to provide them with the documentation relating to the debt. My client has previously requested a copy of the default notice from Halifax and, to date, has been provided with the default notice template and screen print that was previously provided to you. I will again raise the request with my client for them to revert back to Halifax. In the interim, as evidenced on the screen print, the default notice was issued to you on 16 December 2010. I will revert back to you in due course. Kind regards XXXX

I think I will hold tight and see if they apply to lift the stay, then go from there. I have numerous points to argue a defence if they submit N244.

Would I be able to submit a full and final settlement offer at this stage, would this have the same effect as the Tomlin order? I have drafted a settlement offer letter and would be grateful for your comments. Dear Sir/Madam Without prejudice save as to costs Account No: XXXXXXXXXXXXX I am writing about the money which you are claiming on the above account. I do not accept liability for this debt, however in the interest of saving further legal costs and time, I would like to offer £500 inc VAT as full and final settlement of the account. I am making this offer on the clear understanding that, if you accept it, neither you nor any associate company will take any other action to collect or enforce this debt in any way and that I will be released from any liability. If you accept this offer, please confirm that you will not seek to lift the stay on proceedings. I can pay the amount I have offered within 14 days of receiving your written agreement of this offer. I look forward to hearing from you. Yours faithfully

I would hope to agree dx100uk. However, having read the experiences of other individuals in previous threads, I can't bear the thought of having to attend court witnessing a judge on overly friendly terms with the claimant's solicitor such that I would it perceive it not to be a fair trial. I know that often it is not what you know, but who you know, and if you are familiar with the legal system that puts litigants in person at a severe disadvantage. At least having a solicitor would mean that I would not have to face that prospect.

I have a couple of further questions if I may, How likely is it that the objections I raise to the N244 application would be successful, and if so, what would be the outcome? If the stay is lifted, I would seek the advice of a solicitor as I would not want to face the prospect of going to court without legal assistance as I am not confident that I would be able to articulate my defence in legal terms effectively. Would the cost of solicitor fees (around £800 estimate) outweight any potential costs of a Tomlin order? How would I go about arranging a Tomlin order?

I agree dx100uk, very dodgy. However, I am not sure if this is enough of a defence from what Andy has said. Andy, in response to your question about scale of 1-10, I would say I am around a 8/10 in preferring not to have a CCJ/charging order. However, I was wondering if I could play this tactically, see how far I get, and request Tomlin order at last minute if it looks like the CCJ is more likely, but am unsure as to the timescales of court processes and whether this is feasible. I could also appeal any CCJ if it comes to it with the help of a solicitor? I have sent Halifax a SAR, and have a received a letter from them stating that I should get the information by 5/8/19.

There was no name, address or card number supplied with the default notice. The letter that is scanned is exactly what was sent to me. Only the screenshot shows the card number, that is all though. Their response to explain this was: "I confirm that the copy letter supplied to you was a template default notice, not a copy of the default notice issued to you. The purpose of the default notice letter was to illustrate how the default notice issued to you on 16 December 2010 would have been formatted."

There were not dates on the default notice, it was a template that they sent to me. The computer screenshot was their evidence that this was issued. See post number 6 where I questioned this with the solicitor.

I am considering sending this response to Shoosmith's, the solicitor. I have not heard from the court yet.

There were not dates on the default notice, it was a template that they sent to me. The computer screenshot was their evidence that this was issued.

I am considering sending the following response: Dear Sir/MadamThe Claimants statement of case states that the account was assigned from Halifax to Cabot Financial (UK) Limited on 24 June 2014. I do not recall receiving notice of this assignment, and you have not presented me with evidence that this was sent to me.It is denied that Halifax served any Default notice to me pursuant to s87 Consumer Credit Act 1974, and respectfully ask your client to prove that a compliant Default Notice was served along with evidence that this was sent. Your client is required to also prove that any Default notice relied upon complied with the requirements of s88(4A) Consumer Credit Act 1974 and that the notice was in the prescribed form as required by The Consumer Credit Enforcement Default and Termination Notice Regulations 1983.I also question whether the relationship is fair in accordance with section 140A of the CCA, in view of the time that the creditor has taken to supply all of the requested documents four years after they were initially requested, and question whether proceeding with the case after this length of time would be an abuse of court process?I question whether this practice favours creditors to allow them a means to circumvent the Limitation Act by requesting a stay to be lifted for a considerable time after evidence of liability has been requested, during which time they are afforded an endless time limit in which to gather necessary paperwork to counter a defence. This practice would seem to favour creditors, who should not bring a case to court in the first instance if they do not possess sufficient evidence to do so.For this reason, I will be defending any application to lift the stay on proceedings.

I understand that solicitor costs for small claims are not recouped, and it is for this reason that I am reluctant to instruct a solicitor in this matter, but then I don't really want a CCJ and charging order against my home either. If they do apply to lift the stay and go straight for SJ, what options/timeline do I have? I also sent them the following email, Dear Sir/Madam,Thank you for your reply. I would be grateful for some clarification. I noticed that you stated in your letter that you have supplied a copy of the default notice, however I am unsure why the dates and amounts on the front page of the default notice letter have been blacked out, whilst the date has been included on page 2 of the default notice. Furthermore, I noted from your correspondence that the default notice was issued on 16/12/10, whilst, according to the account statements you have provided, a payment of £117.17 was made on 15/12/10 and there is no indication from the account statements prior to this date that the account was in default. I would therefore question whether a compliant default notice was served and kindly request that you supply me with an unredacted copy of the default notice please. I intend to defend any application to lift the stay on proceedings in this case. and received the following response "Thank you for your email.In response to your query regarding the default notice, I confirm that the copy letter supplied to you was a template default notice, not a copy of the default notice issued to you. The purpose of the default notice letter was to illustrate how the default notice issued to you on 16 December 2010 would have been formatted.As detailed within my previous correspondence, it is clear that you entered into an agreement with Halifax and that the outstanding balance due under the same has not been repaid. Furthermore, documentary evidence of your liability has been provided to you. In the circumstances, it is my client’s view that your defence has no prospects of success.On the basis of the above, kindly confirm whether you are willing to enter into an affordable repayment arrangement with my client to repay the outstanding balance? I have attached a standard financial statement for your consideration."

Thank you Andy. I will upload the documents they have sent to me shortly. I submitted my defence in 2015, and contacted MCOL to request a copy of my defence. However, they stated that they no longer have it as they do not keep records for longer than 3 years. Date of claim – 31/03/2015 Name of the Claimant? Cabot Financial (UK) Limited Particulars of Claim 1. The claimant claims the sum of 42496.96 being monies due from the defendent to the claim under a regulated agreement between the defendant and HALIFAX and assigned to the claimant on 9/2/15, notice of which has been provided to the defendent. 2. The defendent has failed to make payment in accordance with the terms of the agreement and a default notice has been served pursuant to the CCA 1974. 3. The claimant claims the sum of 4246.96 and costs. 4. The Claimant has complied, as far as is necessary, with the pre-action conduct practice direction. Have you received prior notice of a claim being issued pursuant to paragraph 3 of the PAPDC ( Pre Action Protocol) ? Yes Have you changed your address since the time at which the debt referred to in the claim was allegedly incurred? No. Did you inform the claimant of your change of address? N/A What is the total value of the claim? Just under £5k Is the claim for - a Bank Account (Overdraft) or credit card or loan or catalogue or mobile phone account? Credit Card. When did you enter into the original agreement before or after April 2007 ? After 2007. Is the debt showing on your credit reference files (Experian/ Equifax /Etc...) ? No Has the claim been issued by the original creditor or was the account assigned and it is the Debt purchaser who has issued the claim. Assigned to Cabot Financial UK Ltd Were you aware the account had been assigned – did you receive a Notice of Assignment? I cannot recall ever having received a notice of assignment. Did you receive a Default Notice from the original creditor? I cannot recall ever having received a default notice Have you been receiving statutory notices headed “Notice of Default sums” – at least once a year ? No Why did you cease payments? I cannot recall, but I remember that I changed bank accounts around that time as it was just after I married. What was the date of your last payment? 2011 Was there a dispute with the original creditor that remains unresolved? No Did you communicate any financial problems to the original creditor and make any attempt to enter into a debt management plan? Yes, some time ago. docs1.pdf

Hello, I would be grateful for any advice to help me in defending a court claim for an old credit card debt from 2011 that I contested back in April 2015 requesting a copy of the relevant documents e.g credit agreement, default notice, notice of assignment and statement of accounts etc. After 4 years and 2 months, they have finally provided their copies of documents requested, or the best that they can offer, and have written to give notice that they will apply to the court to lift the stay on proceedings. Received a claim? Yes/No: Yes Issue Date: 30/03/15 Have you Acknowledged the Claim?: Filed a defence on 2/4/19 on the basis that I required validation that I hold any legal obligation to pay the debt and requested evidence of this - see attached documents. Total Amount Claimed : 4500 Claimants Name: Cabot Financial (UK) Ltd Solicitors Firm: SHOOSMITHS LLP Original Creditor: HALIFAX Original Debt Credit card Particulars of Claim: 1. The claimant claims the sum of 42496.96 being monies due from the defendent to the claim under a regulated agreement between the defendant and HALIFAX and assigned to the claimant on 9/2/15, notice of which has been provided to the defendent. 2. The defendent has failed to make payment in accordance with the terms of the agreement and a default notice has been served pursuant to the CCA 1974. 3. The claimant claims the sum of 4246.96 and costs. 4. The Claimant has complied, as far as is necessary, with the pre-action conduct practice direction. Is the debt Statute Barred (have you had any contact with the creditor or claimant over the last 6 years?): Unsure. I have had no communication with the creditor or claimant over the last 6 years, however, court proceedings started back in March 2015 Letters sent: CCA request, and submitted a defence requesting evidence of claimant's authority to collect the debt, credit agreement that bears my signature, documentation that bears my name and balance of the debt, verification that the debt was assigned or sold to the creditor, complete account of the alleged debt. The claim was then stayed for 4 years. Any Other Information or Background Details: I have submitted a SAR to Halifax, and received a response acknowledging this. Halifax told me that I can expect the documents around 5/8/19. I emailed them the following response: "I am writing in response to your recent communication regarding the account with the above reference number, which you claim I owe. I do not admit any liability for your claim. Furthermore, I question why it has taken over 4 years since the filing of my initial defence on 2/4/15 to provide the documents you have supplied. I question whether this is an abuse of court process. I also question the quality of the documents supplied and whether copies of documents and screenshots would suffice as evidence of my liability for this debt. I would be interested to hear your views on this and will be seeking advice from my solicitor in this matter. I look forward to hearing from you" They replied as follows:: We write with reference to the above matter and further to your letter dated 3 July 2019. We note your comments regarding the length of time it has taken for documents to be provided to you. As our client is a debt purchaser they have to rely upon the originating creditor, namely Halifax, to provide them with documentation relating to the account. Unfortunately, the time frame for this is out of our client’s control. Whilst we appreciate that it has taken some time to obtain the documentation from Halifax, we do not agree that it has taken four years to provide you with the same. Documentation has been provided to you, prior to our letter dated 19 June 2019, as and when this has been received from Halifax. Included below, for your reference, is a timeline of the correspondence sent to you:- 6 January 2017 - copy of agreement; 4 July 2017 – copy of agreement; 26 October 2017 - copy of agreement, notice of assignment from Halifax and notice of assignment from our client; 24 November 2017 - copy of agreement, notice of assignment from Halifax and notice of assignment from our client; 14 November 2018 - copy of agreement, notice of assignment from Halifax, notice of assignment from our client, default notice screen print, default notice template and statement from our client; and 19 June 2019 - copy of agreement, notice of assignment from Halifax, notice of assignment from our client, default notice screen print, default notice template, statement from our client and statement from Halifax. You have also raised concerns over the quality of the documents and queried whether copies of documents and screen prints would suffice as evidence of your liability. Having reviewed the documentation, we would submit that all of the documents are legible and, specifically within the agreement, your signature is clear. Furthermore, our client is not obliged to provide you with the original documentation, copies of the same are sufficient. From the documentation provided to you, it is evident that you entered into an agreement with Halifax, that you failed to repay the sums outstanding and that the debt was subsequently assigned to our client. Therefore, our client is confident in its position that the sum of £4,246.96 remains due and owing to them and, should an application for summary Judgment be necessary, that Judgment would be entered against you for the full sums claimed. Despite this, our client would prefer to bring this matter to an amicable conclusion and, in the circumstances, we enclose a further standard financial statement for you to complete and return to our offices, endorsed with your suitable proposals for repayment. You have stated that you will be seeking advice from your solicitor, please contact our offices within the next 14 days to provide an update as to your position. We look forward to hearing from you.