The original s78 request (+ delivery receipts), some correspondence from BLS Collections and the exchange between me & the Court when I went to get the claim struck out - only some of what I disclosed and nothing too drastic. Cheers Michael

Ok, ok, I've not managed to get the reply scanned in & posted yet (it's quite a long doc!) - but in the meantime have done my disclosure by list and SCM have requested copies of 14 documents, which I'm sending today (ooops though, apparently I should've supplied by 4pm yesterday!). I haven't requested copies of any of theirs, since I think I have all that I need. Now, moving forward, I have: I don't think I need to make a Part 18 request now do I? I think I have everything that a standard Part 18 request asks for don't I? Then come the witness statements - that'll be errrr.... fun! Any ideas on that please? Cheers Michael

Ok, N150 completed & sent back today - let's see what happens next.... Cheers Michael

It gets better - today I've had a "Without Prejudice" letter from my friend Jason Evans in the Legal Department at Ruthbridge. This states that despite their "many attempts to contact" me, I "have totally ignored or disregarded all [our] efforts to resolve this matter" and they're now advising their client to commence bankruptcy proceedings - of course the letter warns of all the perils that that entails () The alleged debt, by the way, is for £765.82, so they could go for bankruptcy legitimately. Whether they do or not makes absolutely no odds to me - I'm actually planning on going bankrupt later on this year, so they'd save me the £500 in fees! That said, I wouldn't like to miss out on the opportunity to completely humiliate this bunch of chancers (along with DLC/Hillesden) in court - which is what would happen if I accepted an attempt to bankrupt me so I could save the fees! Oh, decisions decisions.... Cheers Michael

ROTFL - thanks darling (says she, who never replied to my facebook post ) Seems that there are too many open/new problems versus solved problems at the moment *sigh* Thanks for pointing me in the right direction (as always ) - I've never been in this situation before! Cheers Michael

Hi all Am a little unsure as to where I stand on this under the SOGA, etc.. so, I hope someone can help please: 12 days ago, I finalised the purchase of a trade/p-ex car from a garage & picked it up. It's a Rover 416i, T reg ('99) with 135k miles on the clock - cost £780, no warranty purchased or included. Payments of the deposit (£250) and the balance were put on my g/f's credit card. The car came with a brand new 12 month MoT, and I was told that in addition it had "recently" (no, not sure just how long ago that was) had a new head gasket and starter motor - no proof of these as the service history isn't complete. Tonight, driving home from work, the car overheated - I pulled over and let it cool down, filled up the coolant tank with water and tried to start it - but it wasn't having any of it, bump starting didn't work either. In short, I had to call my recovery service and get towed back home - when diagnosing the fault, the recovery agent said that the head gasket had blown (he took a look at the inside of the cap of the coolant tank & oil filler cap, both covered with brown-y froth - "cappucino" he said!). Not sure whether the overheating was caused by the head gasket, or vice versa - but the head gasket going would perhaps explain some difficulties starting the car in the morning. The recovery agent also said that perhaps the "recent" head gasket replacement was just that - only the head gasket (i.e. seal) and not getting the head skimmed.... Now, I'd like to be 100% sure of my position before calling the garage tomorrow morning - I dunno if SOGA covers the sale of used cars with no warranty or not. Hope someone can help - I only wanted something to last me 12 months - not 12 days! Cheers Michael

Even stranger - it's an N150. Spoke to the Court this morning and they said they thought it was strange, but it's what the Judge wanted..... Cheers Michael

Hmmm, now I've received another AQ to complete - strange... Cheers Michael

After 3 months of silence, yesterday I received a standard "Notice before proceedings" letter from Ruthbridge advising that a county court claim will be issued in 7 days - apparently, proceedings will continue in Kingston County Court, uhuh, yeah, riiiight Am filing this one under "ignore" - if they want to start court action, then bring it on 'cos I can't wait Cheers Michael

Good luck matey - hope all goes well - can't wait to see your update later Cheers Michael

Oh absolutely agree - never said it was going to be easy, it's just I'm very prepared for it Umm, I'm not going to Australia Worse luck - am stuck in the UK for the forseeable.... Thanks mate, same to you Thanks for the pointer Indeed - the DMP I was on a couple of years back estimated 27 years to pay back! Imagine a *&%^$d credit file for that long? Completely agree with that assessment... Cheers Michael

LOL - you got that right Thanks everyone for your kind words - I'll be sure to keep this thread updated when the big moment comes Certainly helps to read others' experiences - the more I think about & plan for my own BR, the more I'm actually looking forward to it Cheers Michael

Aye, not an easy process at all, but a clean slate will be worth it. WRT credit availability - I've been living without credit for a couple of years really, and whilst it can be difficult at times, it's certainly not impossible. Plus, with the state of my credit file, I've already accepted that I won't be able to get credit for a good few years (not that I particularly want it anyway!). Absolutely - always happy to share.... well, some things anyway Cheers Michael

Hi Caro Well I've weighed up all the options and reached the general decision that I will go bankrupt - it's just a matter of timing, getting the court fees and paperwork together. I'm also in the middle of cases with MCE Portfolio, LTSB and Logbook Loans - as always, I'm enjoying the battle and am confident about 2 of the 3 (LTSB not too sure about at the mo, but hearings will be a while yet) - so I'm loathe to actually file while they're ongoing Have worked out the budget to present to the OR, and from my calculations it looks like my IPA could be less than 2 of the loans I used to pay! Yeah, I'm sure my decision is made - thanks for asking hon Cheers Michael

We've seen on CAG a few times that some judges let their opinion rule rather than applying the law as it is laid down and proved in cases previously - if they do that, then they're making bad decisions and are open to having their judgement appealed against... Cheers Michael

Absolutely Fred No waffle, you're right - but I guess that's a standard approach to sway the Judge's opinion... Cheers Michael

Actually none. However, they do mention "the Defendant is trying to avoid paying monies owed based on technicalities" quite a few times.... Cheers Michael

Cor blimey if I haven't received a massive reply to my defence today! :o Will try and post it up sometime this weekend, but suffice to say that it's all in lovely legalese.... Cheers Michael

Phew - thanks for that Paul - will get on with it this week Cheers Michael

Hmmm, should I be doing something about this stuff? Absolutely no idea what all this stuff's supposed to be about - I've never got this far into a case before! Cheers Michael

Thanks - ideally I'd like to do that too, but with the current housing market if they sold right now for the price being asked (which has been reduced by £25k), the shortfall would be ~£30k! So I can't see it making it to any positive equity in the near future... Aye, I keep meaning to call them.... That's always nice to hear, thanks matey Cheers Michael

Since posting earlier, I've opened today's post and LBL have sent the sealed copy of the BoS.....very interesting. To add to my doubts over the validity in terms of the attestation & wording, the seal states that it was sealed by the Supreme Court on..... 30th August 2007, some 10 days after the BoS was made & signed - s8 Bills of Sale Act (1878) Amendment Act 1882 (c.43) states: Bingo, methinks! Also got the solicitor's instructions pack Cheers Michael

Aye, well, more important to get the BR fees sorted Personally, I think it makes it a lot easier dealing with creditors when you've got BR sorted in your mind.. Completely, totally & utterly agree! Cheers Michael

Yup, though I suspect that the notice doesn't comply with the requirements of the CCA. That's not the aim at all - the aim is to check that the sealed BoS is valid and complies with the relevant legislation, since that's the object they rely upon to gain possession of the vehicle. Nope - I don't think that would serve any point at all, I've had the old circular conversations with LBL many times before and now avoid speaking to them on the phone. In any event, I now have solicitors on the case investigating the legalities... Cheers Michael

Funnily enough, not received anything from them as yet.... Cheers Michael