We recently experienced a situation whereby a debt collector, Bristow & Suitor called at our door due to an outstanding Council Tax debt. The debt was from a previous address and was relevant to a shared occupancy. The issue was with regards to council tax fees that had not been paid during a period of residency by 3 occupants (a shared House). However, it would appear that 2 of the occupants had been [paying council tax revenue to the 3rd housemate and this had not been paid to the city council. I transpires that all three previous occupants were tracked down at their new addresses and summoned to pay the outstanding debt. When this was eventually attempted to be resolved by the parties, the debt collection agency were unwilling to disclose information about any of the other parties, thus problems ensued in the process of determining who would be due to pay amounts. Addresses and other contact details were given to the agency. Since this time, a 'Liability Order' was passed through the court. There was never any correspondence sent to the respective parties about legal and court action by anyone, Court or Agency. I accept that a liability order can be passed by the Magistrates however, should this order not be served to the parties concerned, particularly if the whereabouts are known? As a supplementary, I put this question to you........ Can a debt collection agency representative turn up on your doorstep, with a demand for payment in full or by instalment due to a Court Order without a copy of the Court Order or any other documentary evidence? Should not there be a copy of the Court Order be sent to the Defendant(s) and available to the representative? Any advice or comments would be appreciated.

Problem is though that the only charges I've accrued since last year have been the Overdraft Interest charges. Does that matter or is the law still applicable?

Now that I've managed to get my fees back, albeit by default, I am considering taking action again for the month's that have passed and the interest charges I've accrued....it comes to over £200! Don't get me wrong, I'm chuffed as a Butcher's Dog with the payout I've had but it would seem that SC&M's delaying tactics have done nothing short than reduce my payout. Does anyone think this is a bad idea? Especially considering the current climate and DJ's throwing out claims? Maybe I should just count my blessings and get on with my life.

Well, I should have posted this up before today but I am moving house and have been decorating all weekend!! I sent the letter to SC&M on Thursday and checked my account on the Friday.....FULL AMOUNT REFUNDED TO ME! YEEE-HAAA!! I went into Lloyds TSB on Saturday, had the full amount transferred to my partner's account.....and this is the bit I really like....closed my account with Lloyds one and for all!! I will be sending the Court a letter today advising them of the settlement. On Saturday night I took my partner out for dinner, after a hard day's wallpaper stripping. Fillet Steak and a nice bottle of Merlot never tasted so SWEET. Thanks again to all who have helped me along the way. Most of all thanks to Gary.

YEEEEEEHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!! :D I got a Judgement through from the Court on Saturday stating that the Defendant needs to pay up the full amount and my court costs!! Now I assume it's just a matter of waiting for Lloyds to pay up, though looking at other past threads, this could be some time and I may have to request a Warrant of Execution. I'll tell you all though....this stage is almost just as gratifying as will be the money going in my back pocket. (A Special Thanks to Gary again though. Couldn't have got this far without you mate!)

Request for Judgement has been sent to the Court. Keep you posted.

Since submitting my claim via MCOL I have literally only ever received a copy of the court's document where they advised it was their intention to defend the claim..... Neither I or the Court has ever received any other contact from Lloyds' solicitors.....they have simply made me play the waiting game and racked up more interest on my outstanding overdraft ever since.... Soon, it will be my turn to ask for money!! Ha, Ha

It was allocated to the small claims track. Is that the same thing?

Hey Gary.....and all others who have been following my arduous journey. GREAT NEWS!! I received from the Court yesterday a new General Form of Judgement/Order, as follows: "Before DISTRICT JUDGE GATTER...... Upon considering the court file IT IS ORDERED THAT 1. The order of the 08-05-07 be revoked. 2. Judgement be entered at the claimants request" Super Sweet! Thank you so much for your advice on this one Gary, you helped me save my claim from obscurity and although we're not all the way there yet, I'm well on the way to getting that 4 and a half grand back! I've assumed that I will now need to submit the N225 form again for the Judgement to be entered in my favour again, asking for the Defendant to be struck out and the money paid to me. One question though. Am I allowed to add the £35 for the Application Notice or is that being a bit too cheeky?

Cheers again, Gary. I submitted the Application Notice to the Court (copy to SC&M) on Monday....just fingers crossed now that it will do it's job! Will keep you posted.

Hi Gary, Thank you again...fingers crossed this may work. My Part C of the forms I have based very similarly on my last post. Please let me know what you think....whether there should be any amendments/additions etc? Additionally, why should I send the court 3 copies? Or is this one for the court, one for [problem] and one for me? PART C After the hearing date had been set for the 8 May 2007 and the order by District Judge Gatter for documents to be served by the 12 March 2007, I wrote to the Defendant on the 13 March 2007, requesting that they comply with the order. I then wrote to the Court on the 20 March 2007, advising of the non-compliance by the Defendant. I included a request for the court to make an order pursuant to Rule 3.4(2)© of the Civil Procedure Rules, or other such order as the court deemed just. An order was made on the 26 March 2007 by District Judge Matthews, stating the following: "Upon consideration of the court file IT IS ORDERED THAT Unless the Defendants do provide to the Claimant and to the Court by 4pm on 5 April 2007 full disclosure by list the Defendant be debarred from defending the claim, and the Claimant be at liberty to enter judgement for the amount claimed and interest and costs" Please note, this was ordered by District Judge Matthews and NOT District Judge Gatter, who made the original order. I wrote to the Defendant again on the 13 April 2007 asking for them to reconsider their position and settle the claim before I requested Judgement. As no response or payment was forthcoming I wrote to the court on the 30 April 2007 asking that the Defendant be debarred from defending the claim and for judgement of the amount claimed and costs be issued. I enclosed the form N225 with this letter, enclosing also a copy of the last letter sent to the Defendant. I assumed that because this had been sent in (recorded delivery) that I would not have to attend the hearing because the judgement would have already been made. I addressed this to District Judge Matthews. I would respectfully highlight again that I have always been a litigant in person whereas the Defendant has always had representation by specialist solicitors, whom have not responded to any order made by the court.

Hi Gary, Thanks again mate for your post. After the hearing date had been set for the 8 May 2007 and the order by District Judge Gatter for documents to be served by the 12 March 2007, I wrote to [problem] on the 13 March 2007, sending the non-compliance letter. Obviously this was ignored. I then wrte to the Court on the 20 March 2007, advising of the non-compliance and asking for an order. An order was made on the 26 March 2007, stating the following: "Upon consideration of the court file IT IS ORDERED THAT Unless the Defendants do provide to the Claimant and to the Court by 4pm on 5 April 2007 full disclosure by list the Defendant be debarred from defending the claim, and the Claimant be at liberty to enter judgement for the amount claimed and interest and costs" Please note, this was ordered by District Judge Matthews and NOT District Judge Gatter, who made the original orders. As expected, [problem] didn't even bother doing a thing. I wrote to them on the 13 April 2007 asking for them to reconsider their position and pay up before I requested Judgement. As no response or payment was forthcoming I wrote to the court on the 30 April 2007 asking that the Defendant be debarred from defending the claim and for judgement of the amount claimed and costs be issued. I enclosed the form N225 with this letter, plus a copy of my last letter to [problem]. I assumed that because this had been sent in (recorded delivery) that I would not have to attend the hearing because the judgement would have already been made. I sent this to DJ Matthews though.... I then received an order from DJ Gatter stating: "Upon neither party attnding the hearing on 8 May 2007 IT IS ORDERED THAT 1. The Defence is struck out 2. The Claim is struck out" As mentioned before, GUTTED. Do you think the form N244 is a good idea and worth giving a go? If so, I could really do with any help on completing it....What to put in and Where? As always Gary, you have been an absolutely blinding help to me and I could really do with some more help so that Lloyds don't get away with this one....

Anyone?? Please, does anyone know if there's something I can do? Can i appeal? Does my JBD submission mean nothing? Any advice at all????

Well, here you go....*** it up! Followed all the advice on the forum to the letter. Sent a letter to [problem] advising that I would be requesting Judgement By Default. Heard nothing back. Sent in a request to County Court regarding non-compliance. Received an order back from District Judge Matthews stating that they had until x date to submit defence or I would be able to request JBD and costs. Incidentally, this was from a different District Judge (Gatter) than the one who set the hearing date. Sent one last letter to [problem] asking for settlement or I would submit a JBD request. No response (obviously). Submitted JBD forms and copy of letter to District Judge Matthews requesting JBD on the 30 April 2007. Court hearing scheduled for 8 May. Had hectic week with work and other commitments. Forgot about hearing and/or nothing back from either Judge. Received Judgement Order yesterday from District Judge Gatter (original DJ) stating: As neither party attended the hearing: Defence struck out Claim Struck OUT !!!! I have no words to express my anger....9 months, hours of research, nearly £300 worth of fees and costs, absolutely nothing ever received from Lloyds or [problem], no response to JBD and it's effing well struck OUT! Not to mention, I still owe Lloyds nearly £1800 on an overdraft, being charged interest as we speak!! :mad: :mad: I presume there's nothing I can do?

Hi Michael, Which document do you think I should use? The full document is about 45 pages long and I've already got about 150 pages worth....is the summary sufficient to get the point across and legally or should I just go for the extra big document, with all the legalise in it? Any advice would be cool!