County Court claim, Urgently Need Advice, Please Help!

[jadzia.dax1]

Hi all,

 

A few days ago I received a solicitors letter telling me a company called: Cyclone asset management limit, re: shop direct financial servi would be issuing a county court claim against me but I don’t recognise the company (looks possibly like a catalogue??) or the amount they say I owe.

 

I’ve received a County Court claim two days later.

 

What can I do to find out what this is & what I am supposed to owe the money for?

 

The particulars of claim say:

 

The claimant claims £***.** such sum being part of a debt due under an agreement number******* (“the agreement”) whereby the defendant agreed to pay the claimant £***.** (“the debt”).

For the avoidance of doubt in making this claim for a part of the debt the claimant does not waive any rights as to the balance of the debt, which the defendant continues to owe to the claimant under the agreement.

 

They have not attached any documents to the claim form… so I have no idea what it is.

 

What should i do next... should I tick: I intend to defend all of this claim on the acknowledgment of service on the basis that I don't know what it is?... then what do I do?

 

Any help greatly appreciated.

Edited October 16, 2008 by jadzia.dax1
details

[havinastella]

who is the Solicitor? Bryan Carter?

 

JOgs

[jadzia.dax1]

Yes that's them.

[havinastella]

Oh dear, another easy win for CAG

 

You may want to use something like this for your defence. Remember, when they pull the case to go for a wasted costs order.

 

 

In the Northampton County Court (CCBC)

 

Claim number

 

 

 

 

 

Between

- Claimant

 

And

 

 

- Defendant

 

 

 

 

Defence

 

1. I, xxxx of xxxxxxxxx make this statement as my defence to the claim brought by xxxxxxxxxx

 

2. The claimants particulars of claim are vague and fail to disclose any cause of action, they appear to be an abuse of the process in that they fail to deal with the basic rules of pleading in accordance with the CPR even allowing for the constraints of the bulk issue system

 

3. No documents supporting the claims in the particulars have been offered nor have any dates of agreement or account numbers been stated which the defendant needs to establish what agreement it is that this action is based upon

 

4. The claimant appears to be a debt purchaser of delinquent debts and not a money lender, the claimant seems to contend that they are entitled to monies due under said agreement made between the defendant and the claimant Fredrickson international. The defendant has no knowledge of this company or any indebtedness to them relating to any agreement, the defendant has not entered into any agreement with the claimant and therefore should it be the Claimants contention that they have a claim to monies under an agreement between the defendant and another creditor, the defendant seeks clarification of this fact and proof of legal assignment as required by Law of Property Act 1925

 

5. Without clarification of the claimants claim, the defendant is extremely disadvantaged and the claimants claim appears without merit

 

6. additionally the claimant appears to have split the cause of action insofar that they bring a claim for a part of a debt. the defendant notes that this is unlawful and for authority of this fact cites Section 35 County Courts Act 1984 which sets this out clearly.

 

 

7. Further to that above 6 paragraphs, the defendant is unable to plead effectively or at all. The defendant is embarrassed.

 

8 the defendant seeks permission upon clarification of the claimants case and disclosure of the necessary documents to amend this defence

 

Statement of Truth

 

 

I xxxxxxxxxxxx, believe the above statement to be true and factual to the best of my knowledge

 

 

Signed .....................

 

Date

 

 

 

Hope this helps

 

JOgs

[huggys boss]

I have just looked up SHOP DIRECT FINANCIAL SERVICES and they seem to be part of the Littlewoods catalogue group.

 

If you are in any doubt about the letter, DO NOT ring them and DO NOT sign anything until you have taken advice from this site.

 

I am just new to the site myself, so cannot offer you any advice other than, don't be hasty in getting in touch with them, wait for somebody with experience of your problem to give you advice and letter templates to deal with this company.

[jadzia.dax1]

Hi JOgs,

 

Thank you so much for your replies.... WOW! Your good!

 

Should they have attached the paperwork on the claim form then?

 

Do I need to ask to see the any alleged credit agreement?

 

jadzia

[jadzia.dax1]

Hi elaineh

 

Thanks for the help,

 

I did have littlewoods years ago but thought that was paid up :?

 

Haven't had any letters before last week.

 

jadzia

[jadzia.dax1]

Hi,

 

Sorry to be a pain but should I make a formal request for a copy of my CCA (if there is one) now or should I wait until it goes to court?

 

If I need to do it now where do I need to send it to?

 

Many thanks

 

jadzia

[Having_A_Knightmare]

right first thing you have to do is get the 28 days acknoweldgement that is part of the claim form.

Send it special delivery to the court.

 

Next you need to send a CPR request to the claimants address on the claim form.

 

Alter the one below to suit

 

In the Northampton County Court

xxxxx V xxxxx

Claim Number: xxxxx

 

 

Dear Sir

 

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION UNDER PART 18 CPR

 

I have received a recent court claim from your organisation. Your particulars of claim are very vague and in addition you do not disclose the contract upon which this claim is being based.

In order to file a defence and any counter claim I require some information. Given that this matter is now the subject of legal proceedings, you are obliged to disclose under the Civil Procedure Rules, the information and documents detailed below.

 

The information must be furnished within fourteen days of the receipt of this letter. If you fail to comply, this will be reported to the Court, a copy of this letter will be provided as evidence to the same and an application will be made for an Order enforcing your compliance under the provisions of the CPR

If it becomes necessary to make an application for an order forcing your compliance I shall ask the court to consider my costs as well

 

1. A true copy of the executed credit agreement and any terms and conditions that applied to the account at the time of default and at the time the account was opened. True copies of any notice of assignment and/or default notice or enforcement notice that you or the original creditor sent me, with a copy of any proof of postage that you hold.

1.1 If copies of any of the above documents are to be relied on in court rather than originals, a copy of the Notice of proposal to adduce hearsay evidence required under s2(1) of the Civil Evidence Act 1995 together with proof of the authenticity of the document(s) as required under s8(1)(b) of the Act, including but not limited to:

 

(a) a copy of the procedure(s) used for copying, storing and retrieving documents

(b) a copy of the relevant log entry showing the time and date of the scan or copy, the name of the member of staff making the copy, the method used for copying, storage and retrieval and time and date of destruction of the original document(s)

© copies of internal and external audit reports covering the entire period from the date of the copy to the present to demonstrate that the procedures have been complied with

(d) copies of Quality Assurance accreditation certificates covering the entire period from the date of the copy to the present to demonstrate that the procedure(s) and audit process(es) comply with the appropriate quality standards

 

2. All records you hold on me relevant to this case, including but not limited to:

 

a. Transcriptions of all telephone conversations recorded and any notes made in relation to telephone conversations by your company, or by any previous creditor

b. Where there has been any event in my account history over this period which has required manual intervention by any person, I require disclosure of any indication or notes which have either caused or resulted in that manual intervention, or other evidence of that manual intervention in relation to my account formerly held with HSBC Bank.

c. Documents relating to any insurance added to the account, including the insurance contract and terms and conditions, date it was added and deleted (if applicable).

d. Details of any collection charge added to the account; specifically, the date it was levied, the amount of the charge, a detailed financial breakdown of how the charge was calculated, and what the charge covers.

e. Specific details of the fees/charges levied by any other agency in respect of this account and a detailed breakdown of said fees/charges and what each charge relates to and on what date said fees/charges were levied.

f. A genuine copy of any notice of fair use of my data as required by the Data Protection Act 1998

g. A list of third party agencies to whom you have disclosed my personal data and a summary of the nature of the information you have disclosed.

h. Copies of statements for the entire duration of the credit agreement.

 

3. Any other documents you seek to rely on in court.

 

I will require this information within the next fourteen days. I must advise you that if the information is not forthcoming, it will be reported to the Court that you are trying to frustrate proceedings and denying me the opportunity to file a defence and counter claim.

 

Yours faithfully

[jadzia.dax1]

Hi Having_A_Knightmare

 

Thank you so much, that looks great!

 

Do I have to send any payment with this?

 

 

Many thanks!

 

Jadzia

[Having_A_Knightmare]

No payment needed for CPR

 

Just get it of in the post tommorow

[havinastella]

No payment is required now!

[jadzia.dax1]

Hi all,

 

Thank you so much!!

 

jadzia

[jadzia.dax1]

I received a phone call from Bryan Carters solicitors on the 10 Sept, the man calling started asking for me to confirm my details, I replied that I didn’t give out that information on the phone.

 

He got pretty annoyed and said “well I can confirm a letter has gone out to you today” so I said “well I can also confirm a letter has gone out to you today” and he put the phone down on me.

 

The letter I was referring to was the CPR Part 18 request, they received, and signed for it on 12 Sept. So far the letter he said had been sent out hasn’t arrived.

 

I haven’t had any acknowledgement to my CPR request of any other contact from them up to now. If i've got it right their 14 days are up.

 

My defence has to be in by 30 Sept so I just wanted to check if I should put anything on it about them not sending any information under CPR and if so, can anyone help with the wording of that please.

 

Many thanks

[Having_A_Knightmare]

Yes you need to mention the fact they have not replied to your CPR request.

Put in the defence the proof of postage and the letter you sent.

 

I would also send them a reminder 2nd class and get a proof of postage from the post office and also attach that to your defence.

 

HAK

[42man]

Just one question did you acknowledge the claim within 14 days of the date on the claim form ??

[jadzia.dax1]

Thanks HAK & 42man,

 

Yes I did the AOS online on 12 Sept, saying I was defending all of the claim.

 

Date of service was 2 Sept

AOS was due by 16 Sept

Defence is due by 30 Sept (if i've worked it out correctly)

 

Many thanks

[42man]

Excellent and 'phew' thank goodness !!!

[jadzia.dax1]

I've just had a thought I sent the CPR request to the claimants solicitor because it said on the claim form...'Address for sending documents' Bryan Carter blah blah

 

Was this correct, or should I have sent it direct to the claimant?

 

Many thanks

[42man]

CPR goes to the opposing solicitor.....

[jadzia.dax1]

Oh, thats ok then

[jadzia.dax1]

Right I think I've done my defence

 

I would be very grateful If you could possibly have a read through and see if there is anything I need to change or add/take out etc...

 

 

In the Northampton County Court (CCBC)

 

Claim number xxxxxxxxx

 

Between

 

Cyclone asset management limit,

re: shop direct financial servi - Claimant

 

 

And

 

 

xxxxx xxxxx - Defendant

 

 

 

 

Defence

 

1. I, Name of Address make this statement as my defence to the claim brought by Cyclone asset management limit, re: shop direct financial servi.

 

2. Except where otherwise mentioned in this defence, I neither admit nor deny any allegation made in the claimants Particulars of Claim and put the claimant to strict proof thereof.

 

3. The claimants particulars of claim are vague and fail to disclose any cause of action, they appear to be an abuse of the process in that they fail to deal with the basic rules of pleading in accordance with the CPR even allowing for the constraints of the bulk issue system.

 

4. No documents supporting the claims in the particulars have been offered nor have any dates of agreement been stated which the defendant needs to establish what agreement it is that this action is based upon.

 

5. Without clarification of the claimants claim, the defendant is extremely disadvantaged and the claimants claim appears without merit.

 

6. Additionally the claimant appears to have split the cause of action insofar that they bring a claim for a part of a debt. the defendant notes that this is unlawful and for authority of this fact cites Section 35 County Courts Act 1984 which sets this out clearly.

 

7. Further to the above 6 paragraphs, the defendant is unable to plead effectively or at all. The defendant is embarrassed.

 

The Request for disclosure

 

8. Further to the case, in an attempt to ascertain what grounds the claimant is bringing this action and to allow me to prepare my defence, I requested on 10/09/2008 the disclosure of information pursuant to the Civil Procedure Rules, which is vital to this case from the claimants.

 

9. The information requested amounted to a true copy of the Credit Agreement referred to in the particulars of claim and also any other documents the Claimant seeks to rely on in court.

 

10. The request was received and signed for by the claimants solicitor on 12/09/2008. To date the claimant has failed to accede to, or even acknowledge my request under the CPR and I have not received any such documentation requested. As a result it has proven difficult to compose this defence without disclosure of the information requested.

 

11. The defendant seeks permission upon clarification of the claimants case and disclosure of the necessary documents to amend this defence.

 

Statement of Truth

 

 

I xxxxxxxxxxxx, believe the above statement to be true and factual to the best of my knowledge

 

 

Signed .....................

 

Date

 

 

Many thanks for looking all help is very much appreciated!

Edited September 26, 2008 by jadzia.dax1
typo

[jadzia.dax1]

Should I send a CCA request to Brian Carter for this... or does him not sending info after the CPR request show that he probably doesn't have it anyway?

 

I would be very grateful If you could possibly have a read through my above post (my defence), and check if there is anything I need to change or add/take out etc... Is the bit I did about them not sending CPR info ok?

 

Is it ok for sending, as it is please?

 

Many thanks

[jadzia.dax1]

bump

[Jesteruk]

Jadzia,

No need to apply for a CCA as the CPR covers it.

I very much doubt you will recieve the CCA as littlewoods/Shop Direct are not good with there paperwork as i and many others have found out.

Mr carter does like splitting the case, as youve discovered and this is just to cover his costs. normally 10% of the total balance.

To me the defence posted above is fine and should get the case thrown out.

42man will prpbably confirm this as well