advice with county court & capquest

[dolphin1970]

I took out a loan maybe 9/10 years ago. Then came out of work and was unable to pay. Heard absolutely nothing for years, then suddenly capquest was on the job. The first thing we heard from them was a Judgment for Claimant telling me it had gone to court at Northampton and I had to pay the amount in full. So I looked on the internet and found a form "Application for suspension of a warrant and/or variation of an order" (N245). I filled this in sent a letter saying I had found this form and would it do and encloed a £10 postal order. (still not working as I have young children) Now today we have received a Notice of Transfer of Proceedings letter saying the claim has been transferred to the Redditch County Court for enforcement. What does this mean please? The amount they are claiming we do not recognise either. I thought they would have send a paying in book or something not this, they haven't even acknowledged my £10.

[Docman]

Welcome to CAG,Dolphin.

 

It sounds like they got judgment by default by filing the papers electronically at the 'bulk' centre. For ease, these cases are listed as being at Northampton County Court. In responding the court have transferred the case to the county court nearest where you live.

 

As this debt seems to be over six years old, it may not have been enforceable. If you can, post some details of the case after taking out any personal identifying details to see if you can be helped further.

 

Whatever you do, don't acknowledge that you owe the debt in writing.

[Tau]

Hi dolphin

Did you receive any letters through the post regarding this case.

Who is the debt with?

How long since you last made a payment or acknowledged it in writing?

[dolphin1970]

I sent this N245 on11/11/07 paying the £10 but before that must be 7/8 years ago since last paying anything. The original debt was from Alliance and Leicester took out before my eldest born hes now 7 1/2 years old. The only letters we received in the post was this judgment for claimant and now the notice of transfer. I have never acknowledged this debt apart from filling in the application for suspension of a warrant and/or variation of an order. It says I cannot pay the amount ordered and

I wish to apply for: suspension of the warrant

and/or

a reduction in the instalment order.

 

I ticked a suspension of the warrant.

 

Looking at the Judgment for Claimant in brackets underneath it says (in default). Does this help?

[Docman]

OK.

You will need to apply to the local county court to have the judgment 'set aside'. The application should be on the general application form (N244) which you can download from the court service website. You may have the address but in case you haven't it is www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk.

The grounds for your application should be (a) because you never received any letter, claim details or other correspondence from the claimant or their solicitors AND (b) because you believe any alleged debt is over eight years old. Explain how you found out about this debt in Part C of the form but do not acknowledge you owe any money.

Take the form to the court if you can with the notice of transfer from Northampton and talk to one of the court staff about putting in your set aside application. There is normally a fee to pay of £75 but this is waived if you are on means tested benefits. Read the Court web site before you go about being unable to pay the court fee if this applies to you.

At the same time you should write to the solicitors asking for details of their clients claim. Make sure you state at the top of your letter that you do not acknowledge that you owe any money. There are templates around on other threads for the kind of letter. I'll try to find one for you unless someone else posts a link.

Cheers

[Tau]

It looks at first glance that the judgement has been granted by default.

My point is, can this judgement be quashed as it looks as though it would have been statute barred at the time of the hearing.

Just a thought.

[42man]

Dolphin you MUST, MUST fight this, this is disgusting Capquest trying it on to make a totally unenforceable debt 'enforceable' (they are trying to frighten you and get judgement !!! is it at all possible you can cross off all the personal details, scan it and then post it on here....if you are sure you have neither acknowledged or paid anything towards the debt in the last 6 years it is DEFINATELY statute barred and NOT enforceable by law.....I would also inform the FOS, Trading Standards (their local TS), OFT and get your MP involved....

[dolphin1970]

here are pics of said forms

 

many thanks for your hellp on this matter

[dolphin1970]

2 more

[dolphin1970]

having problems here sorry lol

[dolphin1970]

i think this is it. Just been looking through way back stuff and found on a bank statement loan amount went in on 13 May 1999. Would only have paid it for a year or 2 at most because our son was born then and that when I was out of work.

[Newborn]

Is this not contempt of court territory? The DCA are obviously misusing court time and assets.

 

Newborn

[dolphin1970]

what do you mean contempt of court who are the dca

 

what is the best way to tackle this problem

[Newborn]

Sorry Dolphin, this was more of an open question than something you should be doing.

 

Contempt Of Court (Tiscali):

 

Behaviour that shows lack of respect for the authority of a court of law, such as disobeying a court order, breach of an injunction, or improper use of legal documents. Behaviour that disrupts, prejudices, or interferes with court proceedings either inside or outside the courtroom may also be contempt. The court may punish contempt with a fine or imprisonment.

 

This seems to cover what you are being put through. I am no expert here but was hoping someone with more legal knowledge than me could comment?

 

Newborn

[spamheed]

The court would not look at statute barring as an option unless it is brought to their attention and obviously a DCA who seeks to earn is not going to draw their attention to it. it's a bit like the CCA that the DCA is supposed to present before every court case, but how many never have a valid one?

 

I would submit a set aside application asap and a complaint to the FOS and TS et al.

[dolphin1970]

so even though i have recieved a CCJ for this debt i still can fight to have it removed by sending in the "set aside form" n 244

 

im really getting worried about this

 

who do i complain to

[spamheed]

It is very much time related. it depends on how long it is since the judgement was received and how long it is since the court case was actioned. the gist obtained from the thread is that it has only just happened. this is a good thing

 

Tomorrow is a monday and as such the ideal day to get it all started. I would advise to leave the complaining til later, telephone the courts and seek advice on a set aside, it is never a bad thing to get in touch with the courts, they do this on a daily basis and whilst they cannot give legal advice, they can give procedural advice.

 

Either contact them directly/telephone (preferable) or online and initiate a motion to set aside the CCJ at the soonest opportunity. get the forms senty in asap, make notes and take names, ensure your eye for detail is in gear and get the wheels in motion, the court staff will normall be quite helpful and even if they're not helpful, they will be increasingly curious over this one....

 

Once the courts are actioning your instructions then is the time to start complaining, get the scuzzballs off your back and then seek retribution. ideally financial but who knows.

 

The chance to nail one of them, acting not in a way that could be construed as illegal, but in a way that is illegal, persuing through the courts a debt that is prescribed by law as statute barred. a case that is brought by their legal representative as well as a court that fails to recognise the obvious and a legal representative that fails to bring to the courts attention the obvious legal state.

 

The possibilities whilst not being endless are well worth a shimmy to see what falls out.

[dolphin1970]

ok just to clarify here are the dates

default judgement obtained on 8/11/2007

wife sent this N245 on 11/11/07 (heard nothing)

recieved letter "notice of transfer of procedings dated 10/1/082 on 12/1/08

i hope that this isnt too much time that has lapsed

which court do i phone my local one or the one named on the last letter i recieved

any chance of a link to get to the "set motion aside" webpage ive had a look but it is a mine field

finally what do i say am i admitting that i owe this money or doesnt it matter either was as the debt is over 6 years old sorry for all the questions but having a hard time taking it all in

[Docman]

Dolphin,

As Spamhead suggests you need to start with contacting the Court office. The dates are fine if you call your local court in the next few days. Quote the number of the case as a reference to them.

You will need to complete form N244 and pay the fee of £70 but the court staff will help you with the procedure. You may have to go before the judge in your local court but don't worry about that now.

Once you have made the application, post an update. Whatever you do, do NOT acknowledge the debt in writing because the six year 'clock' starts running again if you acknowledge the debt. As to the payment of £10, I think the easiest way to explain that is that you received a court order to pay and sent what you could afford but without acknowledging that you owed anything.

[dolphin1970]

thanks for that is there anybody out there that could help me with the wording that i use to fill in the n244 form

ie the correct wording to use without admitting this debt

 

also which court office do i call and what questions do i ask

 

if somebody could help me on this i would forever be in there debt

 

many thanks

 

also more questions when filling in the n244 form

 

1 how do i wish my application to be dealt with

a:at a hearing

b:at a telephone confrence

c:without a hearing

 

2 give a time estimate for hearing/ confrence

 

what do i put here

 

3 is this agreed by all parties

 

what do i put here

 

4 give dates of trial period or fixed trial date

 

what do i put here

 

5 level of judge

 

???????? dont know what to do

 

6 parties to be served

 

what do i put here

 

i presume that all these questions in the box should be filled in by the courts

 

 

a 1

 

i get this i just put my name

 

a 2 what is thename of the order i am looking for

 

because? need help with the wording here

 

part b what evidence do i need and how do i word it so i am not admitting the debt

[spamheed]

This is not an area I overly familiar with, but here goes

 

You need to have your application dealt with at a hearing.

 

any county court office should be able to answer your procedural questions

 

you are looking for a set aside order, on the basis that you never received any original paperwork, or notice that the matter was going before the court. as such, you were given no opportunity to defend their claim. the debt was also statute barred and as such should not have been pursued in the first place

 

Bump for more assistance please

[dolphin1970]

thats great thanks so what is the evidence i wish to rely on is it my statement of my case the attached witness statement or evidence in part c

[Docman]

I suggest you leave the sections 1 – 6 blank at first. Discuss these with the court officer when you take the application in to court.

In part A, put in the name on the document you received from the Northampton County Court at (1) and cross out everything except ‘the defendant’.

At (2) write ‘to set aside the judgement’

At (3) write you “dispute the debt and that I was never served with any particulars of claim by the claimant.”

In Part B, tick part C and sign in the box as applicant. Leave the rest blank.

In part C, explain the circumstances in your own words. In particular that you never received any paperwork.

 

I suggest you post up a draft of your words for part C before submitting the form so that any further help can be given.

[dolphin1970]

heres a picture for the wording please note it is only rough if there is a better way of wording it or anything to add please let me know

 

****UPDATE*****

 

JUST phoned the court and told them we wanted a set aside order on this case "gave them the claim number" and they said that they would send a form out for us to fill in