Hey guys I have received a County Court summons for £244.96 Inclusive of Court Fee @£25 and Legal Representatives costs @£50. The original debt was from "Three Mobile" and it says I failed to maintain contractual payments. It says the debt was legally assigned to "Lowell Porfolio 1 Ltd" I can't remember if I paid this in full or not as it was a few years ago. Is there anything I can do about this?

Hi, I am sad to say that I have a second county court claim issued against me. The first one is sorted. This new one is just as scary and any help will be appreciated. Name of the Claimant ? CABOT Date of issue – . 08 JAN 2016 What is the claim for – 1. By an agreement between CAPITAL ONE & the defendant on or around 03/11/2010 (‘the Agreement’) CAPITAL ONE agreed to issue the Defendant with a credit card. The Defendant failed to make the minimum payments due & the Agreement was terminated. The Agreement was assigned to the Claimant. 2.THE CLAIMANT THEREFORE RE CLAIMS 650.00. What is the value of the claim? 780 Is the claim for a current account (Overdraft) or credit/loan account or mobile phone account? CREDIT CARD When did you enter into the original agreement before or after 2007? AFTER 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. CABOT Were you aware the account had been assigned – did you receive a Notice of Assignment? NO Did you receive a Default Notice from the original creditor? NO Have you been receiving statutory notices headed “Notice of Default sums” – at least once a year ? NO Why did you cease payments? MY HUSBAND BECAME SERIOUSLY ILL AND HE WENT ONTO DLA – I BECAME HIS CARER AND OUR INCOME REDUCED DRAMATICALLY What was the date of your last payment? I AM NOT CERTAIN (AROUND JUNE 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? NO

Hi Everyone, I've tried reading as much on here as possible however I'm now at a point whereby asking might be a clearer way forward. Debt - £2583.32 Creditor - Barclaycard I've had a letter through from Kearns Solicitors informing me that I have to pay the outstanding debt of £2583.32 is required in full otherwise I'll be taken to court in 14 days. I contacted them stating that I was unable to make any form of payment and that I had sent a financial statment to both IDR and Link whilst making an offer of £1pw. I was told that Kearns could either enter into a 12 month payment plan for the full amount of the debt or take full payment now. I said that this wasn't possible in which they said I would receive a summons in 14 days time. To cut a very long story short (as possible) I had to give up work to care for my disabled daughter whom is ventilated 24/7 and requires 2/1 care 24/7 in July 2013. On doing so it meant I was unable to pay my creditors and I also lost my house. As soon as I gave up work I started contacting my creditors informing them of my situation. Whilst most couldn't do anything until I actually defaulted, I was able to deal with all easily enough however this could only be done when my partner was present or the limited nurse cover we have was. Unfortunately I've lost track of who I've dealt with however I did forward a letter to both Link & then IDR along with a financial statement making an offer. I believe I spoke with Link however I can't be sure I spoke with IDR. Apologies if I've given any information not required however I thought some circumstances might be helpful. Any help/guidance would be greatly received. TIA

Hi there, I recently moved from Norfolk to Somerset to be closer to my wifes family so she could get some additional help and support(she has been on DLA and then PIP for the last 5 years). In Norfolk we received 100% reductions in Council Tax and our only income is PIP and Income Support(I am her full time carer). Mendip Council granted us an 80% reduction but said that as we were of "Working Age" we were not entitled to a 100% reduction and when questioned why this was we were only told that "The Government says so"(No matter how many times I pointed out that I was receiving a 100% reduction in Norfolk and no where can I find any information of this policy online). We were told that we should apply for the Hardship scheme and we would get it as we have no income apart from benefits. Today I have received a letter denying us the additional help. Not what I want on Christmas eve. Its not a lot of money but it makes a difference. How can I fight this? Does anyone have any experience of a similar matter? Thanks

Ten percent of all court fines relate to using a TV without a valid licence. It is a sad fact that the vast majority of people who receive a visit from a TV Licence Enquiry Agent ignore the summons and the accompanying Means Form. A large percentage of people subject to these fines rely upon state benefits. In almost all cases, the person receiving the summons should respond to plead guilty. In doing so, 'credit' will be credit (which will be a reduction in the standard fine). Secondly....it is vitally important to complete the Means Enquiry Form (as outlined below). The following is a copy of an excellent post by a Magistrate that featured on a 'blog' today: "Went in to Court today to fill a gap in the rota. I found myself in a non-CPS court dealing with TV licensing offences, and local authority Council Tax cases arising from non-payment of the tax. http://magistratesblog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/this-isnt-what-i-signed-up-for-three.html

Hi I have received a County Court Summons for a debt which was formally with Black Horse. The last payment I made was to the best of my knowledge in Jan 2009. I have not made any payments or sent any written acknowledgement of the debt since and it has been passed around various debt companies since. Then Cabhoot bought it and it went to Mortimer Clarke, it is not showing on Noddle. Can they do this? I already completed an online defence about this. Thanks

Dear forum users, I hope I can gain some useful advise here as I can't afford proper legal advice. Story goes: I took a train from Llandaff to Cardiff Central (3 stops £3.60) for the local beer festival. Spirits were high and my mind wasn't on the ball. The ticket office was closed at Llandaff so usual run of business is buy on the train or at Cardiff Central. This train the conductor went back into his cabin and so I could not buy a ticket. When I got to Cardiff Central I asked where can we get a ticket bacause there was no ticket office open. Was directed to unpaid fairs desk. This is where I did things wrong big time. I claimed I came from Cathays. 1 stop after Llandaff. 60p cheaper. My normal run to work is Llandaff>Cathays. I claimed ticket office was closed. They called the station, station said they been open all day. During call I realised I wasn't thinking straight and said I came from Llandaff, but still ticket office was closed. I offered to pay the full fair but the officer said it was pointless as I was going to have to pay twice. So I didn't. This was all taken down in a statement and I had to sign it. Letter came few weeks later, I responded giving my story of events, apologised firmly stating that I had every intentiont to buy a ticket but put my hands up for confusing Llandaff and Cathays stop. I also offered to pay the full fair and wished not to waste anymore of their time. I'm a regular user of the service and always pay. I still have a Llandaff>Cathays rtn ticket for that day. I hold my hands up, I've done wrong I've been informed I must respond to the threat of court proceedings within two weeks before it progresses. I've no criminal record and I don't want to get one because of a stupid fib and 60p. Am I being paradoid or is what I did that serious? Any adivse on how to proceed would be much appreciated.

Need some help please a few years ago i could not work and fell behind with my council tax and was taken to court which was my fault and i took it on the chin and agreed to pay the arrears off at £100 per month this plan is up to date and has never been missed. However the council use the same agreement number for arrears and the currant years tax and this is where the problem is. I was sent a letter to say i had missed payments on the currant years tax which i had not so i spoke to the council and they said they would sort it, next thing i know is a summons is at my door. So i attend court and provide receipts that show all my payments have been made both on the arrears and on the currant years so both are up to date. The council do not take records to court so could not comment and asked for the case to be brought back to court in a months time. So i attend court again and the council admit they have taken this years payments and taken them off the arrears along with the £100 i have been paying for the arrears. The summons is withdraw so i have now had 2 days off work travel to and from the court because the council made a mistake. I find it hard they they could not have withdrew the summons the moment they found out saving me a day of work and trip to the court so i am planning to sue them for the cost of my days work and travel to court

Hope someone can help with a SORN question. To cut a very long story short my son's car became undriveable so bought another. Phoned DVLA after getting a fine what he needed to do to SORN it as he hadn't received the log book from the DVLA and couldn't do it online. He was told to send in a letter which he did. After a couple of months he got a summons from Stevenage Court for not having insurance. He wrote to them and explained he'd sent a letter and lo and behold, notification and tax refund was received the next day and dated back to the receipt by them of the letter. He has now just received a further letter saying that as the SORN was backdated the offence of no insurance still stands albeit well after the date that the vehicle has been SORN'd. He has an acknowledgment from them stating "Your SORN starts on 11/09/2015" Summons states that he had no insurance on the 6/10/2015?? Is this legal?? Surely if the vehicle has an official SORN date and the tax refunded back to the 11th, how then can they say it was uninsured after that time? Any help would be gratefully received.

Hi Long story but will keep as concise as can be. I am leasing a vehicle which required some work (impossible to remove wheel nuts to replace tyres - vauxhall dealership said previous owner had used the wrong instruments previously) I contacted the company for advice (first time leasing a vehicle, wasnt sure on liability) they admitted that after just 6000 miles I should not need to replace the tyres, and as a courtesy would take the vehicle and replace them. At no time was I told they would charge for this (or I would have done it locally) It was due MOT the same week which the lease company said would put through the MOT and bill me for the cost of the MOT. This all occurred August 2013. - this was done verbally. I received my car back with damage to the rear pannel, to which I comtacted them immediately to sort out. They denied everything to do with it and tried to suggest that they had noticed the damage themselves, that it was already there. Complete lies! A week later I received an invoice (rather, my neightbour did) for £290 which included the replacement tyres, removal of old tyres and maintenance plus the MOT. I contacted the company to dispute this and to also chase up on the status of my claim regarding the vehicle damage. They tried to suggest that an email had been sent to me outlining the total cost of the work, yet when I asked for proof of this it was clear that they had the wrong email address (although I had been comunicating with them via email the entire time I had been dealing with them for the lease hire) We disputed this for weeks and in the end I accepted their offer to waive the cost of the MOT and would pay for the tyres only. I asked for a new invoice (reiterating my address - and advising that they got it wrong previously) and I shared pictures of the body damage which was requested by the CEO to look into. - For 2 years I hear nothing, I pay myself for the body repairs via a garage and assume (stupidly) that common sense had prevailed. Bare in mind that I am still a customer, the car is outside my house right now, I pay them via direct debit £159 a month, so I am not difficult to find. 2 weeks ago I had a call from a collections agency chasing up the £290 to which I disputed based upon the situation raised above. They advised they would put the claim on hold whilst they investigate. They called me back today claiming that they are willing to take this to court and that unless I pay £490 (including costs) there would be a summons against me. They then re-read my file and advised that a summons was already against me, it was raised in August of this year. I advised that I have never received any communication since 2013, how can I be expected to acknowledge the summons if I didnt know it existed..? They threatened me with bailifs unless I pay £400 today to clear the debt. I felt intimidated and did this straight away with the aim of speaking with Citizens Advice afterwards to understand my rights and how to proceed regarding the vehicle damage which was never acknowledged. I was given I reference number by the debt agency and I called the courts immediately. I was advised by the courts that the summons was sent in August 2015 and as I had not paid within 30 days that a CCJ has been listed against me. When she asked for my details it became apparent that the address Hippo Leasing had given to the court was the incorrect address that they sent the initial invoice to. . it was the neighbours address of my previous address. I am not sure where I stand in this case. The lady at the courts suggested that I have grounds to set aside the CCJ on the basis that Hippo did not provide the correct address details for me , but that I need to pay the £155 to do this. She also suggested that I may be able to get the courts to enforce the £155 on the car leasing company as it is their error...? 2nd thing is if I have any legs with the body damage thing? I wish I had escalated it further at the time, but I gave them the benefit of the doubt (that they were absorbing the cost of the repair) so I arranged to sort the rest out myself. :-x Any advice welcome!

Hi, I would appreciate any assistance. I had a couple of CC's years ago and lost my job for a year and 4 months. No repayments were made as i could'nt afford it and ended up getting into real dificulty financially. This was back in March 2009. I did receive demands for repayment for a while after i had defaulted and stupidly ignored them due to worry. Now i have received a small claim summons from sheriff court for £2400. Can anyone advise me if this is time barred as it has been over 6 years? And also what my options are? I would be gratefull for any good advice please.

Hi all, today i received a court summons and would greatly appreciate some advice/help from some one with similar experience or knowledge. I am 19, i was 18 at the time. I have just received a magistrates summon, stating that i was questioned at Guildford and failed to show a valid ticket. in the statement written by the ticket officer its references that i had appropriate change, (so intent to pay) and that my reasoning was due to the ticket machine not taking my change. I received several documents but am a bit lost on what is my best option, I personally think that pleading guilty would be the best options. However i am unsure if being present at court would benefit me? Or whether i should sign guilty and provide a cover letter? I'm also would like to know what kind of result this will have eg criminal record, as well as general thoughts on the matter. any help would be greatly appreciated.

Hi all. I got into more than £50k of debt a few years ago and ended up in dire financial trouble. I read up on these debts using a site called ****** and used their three letters method to deal with the banks, credit card companies and DCAs. A couple of weeks ago I received a writ from my local Sheriff Court as seen in the photos: I'll be honest, I'm terrified now. I get limited legal cover through my work i spoke with a solicitor. He was decidedly unimpressed with the letters and advised me to do a trust deed. He says Cabot are a big company and will definitely have the assignment, they wouldn't have spent money on the legal costs to begin with if they didn't have them. He did help me with a skeletal defence for court: I have set a meeting for tomorrow to start to arrange the trust deed. My honest feeling is that Cabot have nothing, but I would be risking my house if i was wrong. And I have no real basis to believe they don't have what they need. I have never received any letters from Cabot before the writ. No notice of assignment or even a demand for payment. I have had other DCA's for this account but they stopped responding after the three letters. I immediately sent Cabot the three letters by recorded delivery but they have never responded. The last day for making adjustments to the writ or defences is 11th November. i have a bit of breathing space but I'm really worried. Any help will be much appreciated. Ps the letters are like this:

Hi, At the beginning of October 2014 I decided to scrap the car I was then driving, as it was basically falling apart. It was taxed and MOT'd at the time. I contacted what I believed to be a reputable car scrapping company to come and pick the car up from my parents' drive - parking where I live is a nightmare -they did so - (my father even recorded it in his diary it was such a memorable even for him..) The car was duly picked up at the start of October - the company web-site said they would do all the necessary DVLA stuff - and to my mind that was that. Fast forward a couple of months - and I started getting 'reminders' from the DVLA that I was still the Registered Keeper (RK) etc.. At first I phoned them up to explain what happened - but this did not seem to resolve the issue. At last, in late April early May, I read the reminder properly and saw the bit about writing to the DVLA to confirm that I was no longer the RK. I did so mid-May - but did not send this letter recorded or special delivery.. To cut to the chase - I have just received a Form 144 APR 'Requisition' to appear before a Magistrate's Court - miles from where I live. The case being put forward by the DVLA is that I did not acknowledge that I was the RK of said vehicle before 12/06/15. I am pretty annoyed about this - as I don't see what I have done to deserve the requisition. I have tried to contact the scrapping company I used - but they were not helpful - I gave them the V5 doc when they took the car for scrapping... All I have is my word against the DVLA - I've half a mind to plead not guilty and ask for the case to be moved to a Magistrates Court nearer where I live. My worry is how to plead not guilty in front of court - as I am sure that the DVLA will have a brief to represent them.. By the way - jus to make things clear - I understand that I should have received acknowledgement from the DVLA to my letter stating that I am no longer the RK of this vehicle. To this date - I have not received any such acknowledgement from the DVLA.. Any advice?

I have a court summons "No ASN required" on the 28th August 2015 for the DVLA. states in on the 25/02/2015 i was the registerd keeper of a insured vehicle. under section 22 of the road safety act. A fixed penalty notice was sent and was not received by the specified date in notice. no notification was received prior to the offence the vehicle had been disposed and to date no notification had been received the vehicle was insured on the date of offence. I had an accident in my viehical october 2014 and my vehiclle was written offf i ha tax for a month. received penalty notice in 22 Febraury 2015 thought the garage had sorted all this out as the vehicle was scrapped.. i sent all the details 25th Feb 2015 to dvla including slip explaining the car had been written off and they sent a letter acknowledging their records had been updated and i was no longer the owner of the vehicle. i thought that was it... now this court summons a few months later can i get dval to overturn this decision... Thanks

Hi. I received a NO ASN required dated 7th of July 2015 to attend court on 10th August for keeping a motor vehicle on the road whilst a Statutory Off Road notification declaration was in force. My car had been towed away on 8th June 2015 after I had it recovered to a garage for repair work. At the time the vehicle was untaxed and was on SORN. The vehicle got towed whilst being in possession of the garage and going through repairs, assuming it was taken on the road for a test drive. Since the towing I paid the fine and taxed the vehicle immediately. Can you kindly advise if I can appeal this is in anyway or come to an out of court settlement?

Local authority or the court ?

Hi, this is my first time on this forum. I really need help. Around 4 months ago I was caught using my dad's oyster card which had a monthly season ticket to it. Until the ticket inspector told me that day that it was not transferable I had no idea about it. I realise now how stupid and ignorant that sounds but I really didnt know, I was under the impression that only photocards were not transferable. Luckily I have never used my dad's card before as he always had it with him at work etc when I go out. But unfortunately on this day i used it as he was off from work. Recently I have received a courts summons asking me to plead guilty/not guilty etc. I am really panicking right now and have around 2 weeks before I have to send the form. I have read about out of courts settlement but I'm really not sure what to do and can't think straight. I've always tried to keep out of trouble for everything and can't believe that I might be getting a criminal conviction because of a foolish mistake. What do I do now, do i ring them up? or write a letter? Also if I am to write a letter, how should I write it? I am so worried about my future, university offer etc etc right now! Any help would be great!! Thanks in advance

I have some questions about the correct procedures for County Court summonses. I'd be really grateful if anyone could advise me on any of these queries. I have read the guidance notes for both online and paper forms but still have some uncertainties. Background: I am about to issue a County Court summons for unpaid compensation for use of part of my property by a builder. The basis of the compensation is set out in an agreement and related emails. My questions: 1) When sending in a paper N1 form, is it correct to send supporting paperwork with it? E.g. Copies of agreements, contracts, print outs of related emails. 2) Exactly how many copies of the N1 form, defendant's notes, and supporting documents (if these should be sent with the N1) do I need to send? I assume from the guidance that it should be a total of three copies of everything: One copy (i.e. the original form) for the court, one copy for the defendant, and one copy for me (to be sent back to me). 3) I was originally planning to issue the summons online but the Particulars of Claim box on the MCOL website is absurdly small. How does anyone explain the key points of their case with so few characters and lines to work with? Any help on these queries will be really helpful. Edit: I have found the answer for question 4. Questions 1, 2 and 3 still confuse me. Answered question below: 4) I am aware that one can send additional PoC by post if using the online form but, as I understand it, these later PoC are only to be sent to the defendant. The Court and the Judge will not see them unless and until the case comes to a hearing. Is this correct, or should one send additional PoC to the court as well as to the defendant? Answer: I see that form N215 'Certificate of service' requires that documents sent to the defendant must also be sent to the Court.

Hi Everyone, First of all would like to thank all the brilliant people in this site who have helped lot of people beat the Debt Collection Agencies tactis which are threating and stressful. At the moment i am going thru the same level of stress and anxiety. I recieved a Small Claim Summons from Edinburgh Sheriff court Form 1a, this was from Optima Legal on behalf of Cabot financial uk ltd, which related to a debt with Vanquis bank credit card. The copies attached. As you might all be aware the process in scotland is different, the reason for this new post is to share my experience with others in scotland as there are not many threads here relating to scotland. I have started of with three letters in a span of three days to the solicitor and to Cabot but had no response from them till now, and should be sending and estoppel and section 10 notice soon to follow. In scotland CPR 31 is not valid and we have to apply for an incidental application to the sheriff for such documents, i have been to the court and was told to first submit my repsonse and then i can make an application for the incidental application for such documents, which i shall be doing now. As this is new for me i was wondering if i could get more help on this below is the draft for my incidental application, if you good people can comment which would help that would be great, i have made comments in bold where i want further help so if you guys can help that would be great. ******************************************************** Dear Sir/Madam: I hereby make a formal request under ACT OF SEDERUNT (SMALL CLAIM RULES) 2002 NO. 133 CHAPTER 17: Recovery of documents and attendance of witnesses, for the following Documents: 1) The agreement. You will appreciate that in an ordinary case, where a claim is based upon a written agreement, a copy of the contract or documents constituting the agreement should be attached to or served with the particulars of claim and the original(s) should be available at the hearing. Further, that any general conditions incorporated in the contract should also be attached. ****SHOULD I BE ATTACHING THE £1 FEE TO THIS APPLICATION AND QUOTE THE SECTION IN THIS PART**** 2) The Deed of Assignment ****WHAT LAW AND CASE POINT WOULD BE BEST TO QUOTE HERE FOR DEED OF ASSIGNMENT***** 3) The Deed of Novation ****IS THIS VALID REQUEST FOR DEED OF NOVATION WHAT LAW AND CASEPOINT CAN I QUOTE***** 3) The Notice of Assignment and proof of service of said Assignment Notice ****I KNOW THIS RELATES TO LAND AND PROPERTY ACT IS THIS VALID IN SCOTLAND***** 4) The Default warning letter 5) Default Notice and proof of service of said Default Notice ****I KNOW THIS RELATES TO LAND AND PROPERTY ACT IS THIS VALID IN SCOTLAND***** 6) The Credit Card Agreement as mentioned in your particulars of Claim *****AM I ASKING FOR THE SAME DOCUMENT AS IN MY REQUEST 1 OR IS THIS DIFFERENT TO THE ABOVE******* I hereby request Sheriff Clerk to grant commission and diligence to recover the above listed documents from the pursuer. ********************************************************************* PLEASE REMEMBER GUYS I HAVE TO BE PHYSICALLY PRESENT IN FRONT OF SHERIFF SO THAT I CAN DEFEND MY REQUEST PROPERLY SO THE MORE INFORMATION THE BETTER PREPARED I AM SO PLEASE HELP. Hope to hear from you guys soon Thanks for your reply the documents in pdf

Hi, Great resource and wish I had the knowledge to help as so many of you do. Perhaps they way I can help is tell my story and have the advice here that may help put someone else mind at rest. I have received a summary cause summons from cabot today. Relates to old clydesdale loan. My business went under in 2009 and everything pretty much went to pot. Struggled to pay my bills for a while then the defaults kicked in and had house repossessed after a a few painful years (another story sold cheap so owe the bank still) I have not heard anything on this debt from CB for years or any DCA - Cabot that i can think. I have not received any assignation letter from either. The loan account number still appears in my online banking but for as long as i can remember the balance is 0 it has been like that for at least 2-3 years. I thought it had been written off or wait a sec maybe it was assigned way back just not clear as to that but certainly not assigned this year. I am a little confused if it is an enforceable loan why CB are not pursuing, me still bank with them. If it was assigned way back why are they claiming just assigned in last 5 months? The amount is £4500 so it is summary cause and not small claim. There is no supporting documentation in the summons other than the details in the statement of claim paragraphed as follows- 1) Jurisdiction 2) The loan account details, that it was under CCA1974, was assigned earlier this year, last payment 2011 3) Outstanding balance £4500 not maintained the agreement 4) Called upon to make payment I have refused and action rendered necessary. No detail here other than account number, does not note original amount or monthly amount or period of the loan. So first instance will try and get it dismissed but they can lodge again at the correct court so ultimately will have to deal with this. Two things summary cause scares me as unsure what the expense they are allowed to claim, small claim is restricted, so advice on this would be great. Secondly how to proceed without damaging the time bar. 1) They claim 2011 last payment but I think would be 2010 2) Assignation - no letter 3) Is it enforceable how do i best get the details from cabot and cb. 4) Use incourt debt advisor from a debt charity if they talk on my behalf with DCA does this affect the tim bar. The return date, when i have to respond to the court is 27 July and calls in court where it is decided if it will go to full proof hearing on 10 august. If it does go to proof it will be sometime in November I would imagine should I not get it thrown out for jurisdiction. So should I CCA or SAR Cabot and Clydesdale I don't think i should engage their solicitor at the moment as technically they do not need to give me anything until 14 days before the proof (i think that is right). I have made contact with a local debt charity which has incourt service advice though i don't think they will appear. They will talk to your creditors though so will try and see them later in the week. If they get in touch, think i sign a mandate to allow them to, does this affect the time bar. A few years ago this would a be a very dark place for me tonight, I tried to do something really really stupid that did not work and so I now live life to the full everyday. I really don't get affected or worry about this crap any more I just need to work out how to react to the various outcomes. Thanks for reading and thanks in advance for any advice. D

Hi. Can someone inform me a city council can issue a court summons without the signature of a court official or case number on it?

Hi all, Over 12 months ago now, I was wrongly accused of Benefit fraud by the DWP who stopped all my income with the exception of Child Benefit. My local council then followed suit and stopped my Housing Benefit and Council Tax Support saying they were acting under the instruction of the DWP. To cut a long story short, I went to Tribunal and the Judge ruled in my favour. However, the tribunal was appealing the DWP's decision and not the Council's (I thought the appeal covered both as they acted together but this wasn't the case) I then with the help of the CAB appealed the councils' decision and recently (in the last 2 weeks) they overturned their original decision. I have now received a Court Summons 7 days after receiving an adjustment notice where the alleged "Overpayment" was taken off and the council tax support that I should have been in receipt of has been added. I am not in disagreement that I am in Council Tax arrears, as since all my benefits' stopped I was plunged in to terrible debt. I have been recently making contributions of £10 or £20 as and when I could afford it but there is no way I am able to clear the whole amount. I have requested an income and expenditure form from the Council on 3 separate occasions so that I could make an offer of repayment but I have never received the forms. The summons also has my Partner's name on them, but it is trying to recover council tax off him from periods when he wasn't even living at my address, I'm not sure if this has any bearing? The council have so far made no attempt to repay the Housing Benefit that I was entitled to whilst I was being wrongfully accused of benefit fraud or indeed to refund the money they took from a subsequent claim. If they were to give me back what I was originally entitled too, it would be more than enough to clear the council tax arrears! I really could do with some advice on how is best to proceed with this, obviously I preferably don't want to have to pay the £107 summons fees if it can be avoided. Thank you in advance, CAM

Hey guys, Bit of background - like many, up to my eyeballs in debt: council tax debt, gas and electric, parking fine, couple of older debts, old house utilities also. Im a single parent to a 4 year old, have bipolar disorder and struggle to manage the balancing act with regards to payments. A week before christmas 2014 a TVL bloke knocked on the door, and came in to check why I didnt have a licence. I didnt have one due to not being able to afford paying it ontop of everything else. He asked me to turn the TV on and fiddle with the buttons etc, and unbeknown to me the sky box was plugged in - upon questioning my folks they had plugged it in whilst over last as my child had asked them, and they were not aware id decided not to have a licence or use the sky box (hindsight, should have removed it from the TV stand). He filled out a form, and said that I could pay it via a weekly payment card, and that should sign up for it now and if i dont use it cancel it later on. Read the usual stuff about needing to sign it, might be taken to court but out of his hands. Did what he asked to get him out of the house. I paid the first installment, and after that stopped because it wasnt needed and finances were just not allowing me to have the extra there to pay. Nothing until last week, when I received a court summons for the 14th May because Id admitted that at some point the TV had likely been used whilst my parents were over, hence why it was connected again - though I hadnt done it myself nor had it on, but assumed because it was connected that they'd turned it on. Ive filled the form out as pleading guilty via post, parents say it was on like id told the man it probably was, and have written down the outgoings etc. Its a million dollar question, but whats the likely outcome of this? I know there will be a fine of some sort, but will the court take financial circumstances into account? Sorry for the ramble, am stressing

I received a summons earlier this year for non-payment of council tax in a property I rent out, as the tenants hadn't registered themselves for council tax. That's not a problem in itself, a quick call to the council and the summons was cancelled. However, when I looked at the summons, I noticed the signature looked very familiar. The magistrates clerk who's signature had been used on the summons apparently has exactly the same signature as the best man from my wedding. Needless to say, I checked this with my best man and he confirmed the signature was identical to his, and that he could think of no reason why his signature should appear on the summons having never worked for the court or the council, although he had lived in the area. Perhaps this is just a remarkable coincidence, but I'm wondering if a mistake may have been made at some point and the wrong signature is being used, or if something else has gone awry. Anyway, the LA in question have confirmed that around 12k summonses have been issued in 2014/15 with the signature in question (and I'm waiting for them to clarify if there were any in previous years) , so if there is some irregularity then it could have significant impact. Does anyone have any thoughts how I might find out a bit more about the clerk and whether the signature is likely to be genuine? Would the clerk's actual name (the signature only has 2 initials and a surname) be covered under DPA or should the court provide that on request? Any other ideas?