Received a Statutory Demand from Capquest ** WON + COSTS **

[Dibsthefrenchie]

I have received a copy of a letter sent to the court by Capquest, as follows:-

 

We acknowledge receipt of the Application to Set Aside the Statutory Demand.

 

Upon reading the application and the evidence in support it appears that the evidence in support of the application shows that there are no grounds upon which the Statutory Demand should be Set Aside.

 

We do not consider that there are additional matters upon which we will be able to assist the Court at the hearing of the Application to Set Aside the Statutory Demand. In view of this, and with a view to saving costs which could fall upon the applicant, we ask that our attendance at Court on the hearing of the Application to Set Aside be excused.

 

We ask that in our absence an order is made dismissing the Application to Set Aside the Statutory Demand and fixing a date after which we, as the creditor, may proceed to present a petition for bankruptcy to the court. We will not seek any order for costs in relation to the application to set aside.

 

I do intend to attend the court hearing, but is this a usual response from Capquest?

[tiglet]

Not the usual one I have seen, no.

 

However, before you panic (and this is me saying this) you must remember that this is their opinion only. It is not for them to judge - that is what judges are for.

 

Now, are you absolutely sure Scotcall were acting for capquest and not someone else instead, such as the original creditor? Were capquest in contact with you before Scotcall?

[Dibsthefrenchie]

Hi Tiglet,

Thank you for your reply.

Capquest did contact me previously to Scotcall, and it states quite clearly on all the correspondence from Scotcall that their client is Capquest.

I have not received a copy of the CCA, the letters sent to Capquest stated that the account is in dispute and has not been resolved, the SD was sent in usual post and the entire debt is made up of charges, if all that fails and the Judge does not grant a set aside, then I shall immediately pay the £19.01 to reduce the amount outstanding to less than the £800 debt required for bankruptcy.

[tiglet]

It sounds to me as if you have a good case - maybe this is a change of tactics for capquest? If they were so sure of themselves, why are they not turning up?

[42man]

What a load of complete RUBBISH.....they are stating that there are no grounds to set aside.....with NO evidence to back it up....then go on to state they will issue a BR, and then ask NO COSTS.....they have the cheek and temerity to issue a demand and can't back it up....I would be fuming at this....Dibs...you will get a set aside, as I said to Tigs, show the judge how annoyed you are at the fact they are issuing a demand which in your opinion is using the Insolvency service as a tool for scaring people into paying disputed debts......give the judge the references to Warren and Boggis and kindly ask him to order Capquest to pay your costs for such a frivolous attempt which in your view is an abuse of the Insolvency Service !!!

[42man]

It is one of the worst letters I have ever seen, and completely contradicts itself....

[Dibsthefrenchie]

Well said 42man, i'm glad you are on my side!

I intend to copy all my evidence and have a skeleton argument in place, and I most certainly do intend to make my contempt for Capquests abuse of the system known.

Dibs

[42man]

You won't need a skeleton argument.....in my opinion, if you get a user friendly judge, he will be pretty annoyed too.....I would also start complaining to TS and the OFT and tell the judge you are doing this....be firm but polite with the judge, get him/her on your side, say to him/her that you think it is appaling and ask for your costs....

[42man]

I think this proves that the demands and the responses to the court made by CQ are NOT written by a qualified solicitor....this speaks volumes !!!

[Dibsthefrenchie]

The letter also mentioned a statement sent to the court, as follows:

We enclose herewith a statement of ......., who has been working on the Application to set aside Statutory Demand within the Litigation team at Capquest Investments Limited.

I have faxed Capquest for a copy of the statement, not that I believe it will hold any extra information, but, I would still like to see it.

I also made complaints to FOS, OFT and TS, on receipt of the statutory demand, so will print copies for the Judges perusal.

Thanks again 42man.

[beanpole]

Just signing on - good luck with this Dibs.

I'll start a new thread as I've now got Credit Solutions (CSL) threatening legal action trying to enforce a debt previously in dispute and returned by another dca after CCA couldn't be produced !

BP

[Dibsthefrenchie]

First of all, Hello & Welcome to the Litigation team at Capquest, perhaps you should read more threads on CAG and actually learn something.

 

CAG members who have received a statutory demand from Capquest and are attending Court for a set aside, may be interested in this part of Capquest's statement of defence:-

 

 

I have seen mention of this on another thread, part of which is copied from gilly5001 below:-

 

"They also suggested that I didnt have my own defence merely a copy of one from this website and they had sent a photocopy of a defence posted on here. I again explained that whilst I had sought advice and help from here I understood what I had submitted. The judge replied that it is fine to get legal advice from the website!!

anyway, set aside awarded and costs !! yippee"

 

( Thanks to gilly5001)

 

Dibs

[pt2537]

First of all, Hello & Welcome to the Litigation team at Capquest, perhaps you should read more threads on CAG and actually learn something.

 

CAG members who have received a statutory demand from Capquest and are attending Court for a set aside, may be interested in this part of Capquest's statement of defence:-

 

 

I have seen mention of this on another thread, part of which is copied from gilly5001 below:-

 

"They also suggested that I didnt have my own defence merely a copy of one from this website and they had sent a photocopy of a defence posted on here. I again explained that whilst I had sought advice and help from here I understood what I had submitted. The judge replied that it is fine to get legal advice from the website!!

anyway, set aside awarded and costs !! yippee"

 

( Thanks to gilly5001)

 

Dibs

Interesting, so what if you use the inforamtion here?

 

actually i had a application for set aside recently and the response was that they believed that i have taken it from an internet forum:rolleyes:

 

The buffoons, alas this wasnt Capquest though but on a good note, i am just about to get my teeth into these people as i have a great case which looksl ike its gonna end up in court if they keep ignoring our written requests for information,plus its gonna have a cost order included but not at the LIP rate

[surfaceagentx20]

So Capquest are resisting an application to set aside a SD but with no intention of attending the court to present the oposition. How fascinating!

 

Let's get a couple of things straight. The court will not give a damn that the material employed was garnered from information found on this website. That material is now sworn evidence for crissake! What the court will be interested in hearing about and what the plonker from Capquest neglected to advance in the witness statement in response when he was merrily copying urls off of this site, are the legal reasons why the application to set aside the SD should be refused.

 

If the reasons are not in the witness statement and they don't plan to show up at court either, how do Capquest imagine they will be successful I wonder?

 

x20

[flyingdoc]

SIR SIR!!!!! he is copying sir - from the internet - he shouldnt be allowed!!!!!

 

both ridiculous and pitiful at the same time

[rory32]

what the plonker from Capquest neglected to advance in the witness statement in response when he was merrily copying urls off of this site, are the legal reasons why the application to set aside the SD should be refused.

 

Be reasonable. Presenting the legal reasons would require a modicum of...well reasoning I suppose, as well as some understanding of the law and a little intelligence.

 

Poor Capquest. I suppose their argument probably sounded so clever to them at the time. Ignorance is bliss - well until they get the bill for the costs anyway

[42man]

Was the witness statement above signed ? Dibs we both know that you have done a lot of research outside of these forums....it makes not a jot of difference where your defence has come from.

 

Post 44 here - http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/dca-legal-successes/164223-capquest-stat-demand-bankruptcy-3.html

 

Post 15 here (you can show this one to the judge) - http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/dca-legal-successes/156199-sd-capquest-hearing-listed.html

 

Post 91 here (show this one to the judge)

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/dca-legal-successes/103839-cca-1st-credit-connaught-5.html

 

Post 87 from here (show this one to the judge too)

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/dca-legal-successes/156970-omg-connaught-first-credit-5.html

 

Post 25 from here you might like to look at

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/dca-legal-successes/161411-off-court-within-week-2.html

[Dibsthefrenchie]

The legal reasons are in the statement, not particularly accurate ones, I just wanted to highlight the absurdity of Capquest stating that it is not a genuine defence as it's been "copied from the Consumer Action Group website".

The copy statement sent to me is unsigned. I do have another thread for this, but just wanted to bring it to the attention of people who feel intimidated by Capquest.

 

Capquest are refusing the set aside on three points:

1. They have denied receiving a request for a copy of the Agreement or statements, despite my having evidence to the contrary.

2. I used the credit card to make purchases, copy statements prove this.

3. I have copied my defence from CAG

 

I am requesting the set aside based on:

1. Not having copied my defence from CAG, but have taken advice from CAG and many other sources, including Debtline.

2. The whole balance allegedly outstanding is entirely made up of charges.

3. I sent a request for a copy of the CCA to Capquest's collection agents, that request was acknowledged with "Contact has been made with our client and I advise that we are unable to obtain a copy of the agreement".

 

I can produce evidence for each of my statements.

 

Dibs.

[42man]

Don't forget to submit your costs 24 hours before Dibs !!!

[Dibsthefrenchie]

I will do 42man, thank you as usual!!

Dibs.

[beanpole]

Hi Dibs...without giving too much detail away, roughly when is your court attendance ?

It is important that you print out and take with you any specific case law you quote (as in your set aside application)...just in case the judge asks to refer to it.

You may not need, but better to have all the ammunition - just in case the judge is a bit difficult, as was mine !

 

The rest of your argument looks sound - simplistically, apart from the unlawful charges, it is a complete defence at law if no CCA has been produced.

 

Also, if not already done so, have a look at CPR as they won't have fully complied with the Practice Direction Protocols that cover Pre-Action Behaviour:

CPR - Rules & Practice Directions

then tab on Pre-Action Protocols then

Practice Direction protocols

and go to s4 - for me this just adds up to the 'abuse of process' and wasting court's time etc.

 

This, with breach of OFT Debt Collection guidleines adds up to vexatious actions and harassment, without substantiation on their part.

Hopefully the judge will simply get annoyed with them and allow your set aside.

 

And keep reminding yourself to ask politely for costs to be awarded if successful.

 

Finally, have you asked for a copy of their formal complaints procedure ? If not, do so, as they rarely provide anything. - more non-compliance etc.

 

Always sign off letters with 'I reserve the right to produce this as evidence in court'

 

Hopefully since your last comment, things have been ok for you.

 

Please post update.

And if the hearing is imminent, best of luck.

[Dibsthefrenchie]

Hi Beanpole,

Thank you for all the information, it's really appreciated.

The court date is in the next fortnight. I have searched the net and read and re-read the forums, have even bought a debt advice book! I feel confident about my argument, but nervous at the thought of attending court, will be so glad to get it over with.

I found your thread extremely helpful, so a big thank you for that.

Dibs.

[tiglet]

Dibs - I was TERRIFIED at attending court - looking back now, I have absolutely no idea why - it was over in minutes and capquest did not even attend.

[pt2537]

~Dibs

 

This is what i used in an application recently

 

 

g) The applicant refers the court to the judgment of Mr Justice Warren in the High Court in the case of Hammonds (a firm) v Pro-fit USA Ltd [2007] EWHC 1998 (Ch) at Para 27.

 

27. So far as disputed debts are concerned, the practice of the court is not to allow the insolvency regime to be used as a method of debt collection where there is a bona fide and substantial dispute as to the debt. Save in exceptional cases, the court will dismiss a petition based on such a debt (usually with an indemnity costs order against the petitioner).

 

j) In respect of judgment of Mr Justice Warren as set out above the applicant avers that there is a clear dispute in relation to this debt and furthermore the respondent has been made aware of the matters complained of and despite this a statutory demand was issued

 

so if you havent already, refer the judge to hammond and pro fit;)

[Dibsthefrenchie]

Tiglet, thank you for your support.

 

PT, thank you for the information on Hammond's, it sum's up my situation brilliantly. I have spent hours searching for anything and everything that supports my case, and that one snippet is perfect!

 

Dibs