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Court Summons out of the blue - What do I do now?


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Hello everyone!

 

It's my first post here after reading through quite a lot of the threads, but I'm a little stuck on what I should do.

 

In a nutshell my wife has an account with the retail store she works at. She's recently had problems making payments to the account but is now back on track (the whole episode lasted 5 or 6 months). She's received a statement as usual with a request for the next payment on the 4th of November for the usual minimum.

 

However, this morning she received a court summons from a firm of solicitors acting on behalf of the company who she had the account with, demanding full payment of the account plus costs and fees. We don't recall ever having any warning of this and it just seems a bit unfair as we were going to pay more than the minimum on the 4th of November.

 

Are they allowed to do this? And what can we do to sort this one out? I'd very much appreciate your comments and suggestions (and I know you'd love to give them!). If this needs to be moved to another forum then fair enough!

 

Thanks very much,

 

Elkus

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However, this morning she received a court summons from a firm of solicitors acting on behalf of the company who she had the account with, demanding full payment of the account plus costs and fees

Are you sure? Read the letter carefully or if they have sent you a N1 form, it should have the official court stamp on it. If it hasn't, it's just a threat, not the real thing

 

Court summons cannot be isued by a solicitor, only by a court

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OK, it's the real thing. You must acknowledge within 14 days of the deemed date of service (which should be 1st Nov - it will say on the form), so that's the 15th November. You can do it online with the password on the form. Once you have done that you will then have a further 14 days ( ie until 29th Nov)to submit a defence.

 

Can you post up the Particulars of Claim

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Ok, it's a lot and they filled the box...

 

"The Claimant's claim is for the sum of 292.61 being monies due from the Defendant to the Claimant under a regulated credit agreement between the Defendant and GE Capital Bank Limited under reference XXXXXXXXX and assigned to the Claimant on the 22nd October, 2008 notice of which has been given to the Defendant.

 

The Defendant has failed to make payment in accordance with the terms of the agreement and a default notice has been served upon Defendant pursuant to Section 87(1) of the Consumer Credit Act 1974.

 

Pursuant to clause 7 of the agreement, the Claimant also claims contractual interest at a rate of 26.478% per annum from the date of these proceedings to the date of judgment, or sooner payment, accruing at a daily rate of 0.27"

 

It's worth mentioning that no such notice of assignment has been sent to us, let alone any mention of a default notice.

 

We don't contest the 292.61 as that's the balance of the acount as of the last statement date (which was the 10th of October) and would be happy to pay that off, but it's the whole court case thing plus costs which get to me. If they had indeed sent us a letter stating they'd take us to court if we didn't pay the full balance then we would have done!

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So if there has been no default notice, they haven't complied with Section 87 or 88, see here for the proscribed form of a default notice:

 

Consumer Credit Act 1974 (c. 39) - Statute Law Database

 

and not only not sent a Notice of Assignment but have issued a claim within 5 days of the alleged assignment.

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Thanks for the useful insight, but I can see what their defence is going to be... "We issued a default notice/notice of assignment on XX/XX/XXXX so you have been told, and here's a copy."

 

Could they do that? And are they not allowed to proceed with the N1 within 5 days of the notice of assignment?

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Since they are the claimant, they should be put to strict proof that both the DN and NoA were served on you and depending on what date they allege the DN was sent, why were they still sending a statement on 10th October with normal payment by Nov 4th.

 

BTW who is the claimant?

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The account was with GE Money, but the firm that have taken over the account is CL Finance Limited (correspondence address is for "Howard Cohen & Co Solicitor").

 

GE Money sent the statement themselves, but in the meantime this finance firm sent the N1 form before the next payment due date. Is there any way I can ask them what they're playing at? Or any way I can prove or disprove anything they might claim to have done? I'm figuring I'd have to write to either/both of them but unsure of what I should be asking...

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If you are going to defend then send the opposing solicitors this by recorded delivery (did you get a letter before action too ?)...

 

Dear Sir,

 

Re: (Claimant's name) v (Your name) Case No:

 

CPR 31.14 Request

 

On (date) I received the Claim Form in this case issued by you out of the (Name) County Court.

 

I confirm having returned my acknowledgement of service to the court in which I indicate my intention to contest all of your claim.

 

Please treat this letter as my request made under CPR 31.14 for the disclosure and the production of a verified and legible copy of [each of the following / the] document(s) mentioned in your Particulars of Claim:

1 the agreement. You will appreciate that in an ordinary case and by reason of the provisions of CPR PD 16 para 7.3, 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.

 

2 the assignment

 

3 the default notice

 

Your client should ensure compliance with its CPR 31 duties and ensure that the documents I have requested are copied to and received by me within 7 days of receiving this letter. Your CPR 31 duties extend to making a reasonable and proportionate search for the originals of the documents I have requested, the better for you to be able to verify the document's authenticity and to provide me with a legible copy. Further, where I have requested a copy of a document, the original of which is now in the possession of another person, you will have a right to possession of that document if you have mentioned it in your case. You must take immediate steps to recover and preserve it for the purpose of this case.

 

Where I have mentioned a document and there is in your possession more than one version of that same document owing to a modification, obliteration or other marking or feature, each version will be a separate document and you must provide a copy of each version of it to me. Your obligations extend to making a reasonable and proportionate search for any version(s) to include an obligation to recover and preserve such version(s) which are now in the possession of a third party.

 

In accordance with CPR 31.15© I undertake to be responsible for your reasonable copying costs incurred in complying with this CPR 31.14 request.

 

If you require more time in which to comply with this request you must tell me in writing. You must tell me before the time for compliance with this request has expired. In telling me you require more time you must tell me what steps you have taken and propose to take in order to comply with this request and also state a date by when you will comply with this request. In addition your statement must be accompanied with a statement that you agree to an extension of the time for me to file my defence. Your extension of time must be not less than 14 days from the date when you say you will have complied with my request and you must state the new date for filing my defence.

 

If you are unable to comply with this request and believe that you will never be able to comply with this request you must tell me in writing.

Please note that if you should fail to comply with this request, fail to request more time or fail to agree to an extension of time for the filing of my defence, I will make an application to the court for an order that the proceedings be struck out or stayed for non-compliance and a summary costs order.

 

I do hope this will not be necessary and look forward to hearing from you.

 

yours faithfully

 

You might find this thread useful too - http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/legal-issues/159445-getting-them-reveal-their.html

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Ok, I'll send this one out tomorrow when I get the time, but in answer to your question - no we did not receive a letter before action. This is the first thing we've got from any party other than the monthly statement.

 

As we're asking for a copy of the credit agreement as a result of a court claim, do we still need to pay the £1 fee for the document?

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Ok we now have a message on our answerphone (is it normal for them to have our number on file?) asking us to call them urgently. Is this something we should avoid doing, or should we just hear what they have to say without making any arrangements? I gather we should stick to the written route from now on...

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...and assigned to the Claimant on the 22nd October, 2008 notice of which has been given to the Defendant...

 

So if the N1 form issue date is the 27th October 2008, which is 5 days after the assignment date, does this mean they did not give themselves enough time to send me a notice of assignment? In any case no default notice nor notice of assignment has been received.

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CL finance dont concern themselvs with trivial matter like not sending a NoA or Default Notice they are above the law.They purley buy debts which are defaulted with no intention of dealing with the Debtor to persue you through CCBC ( Northampton) and use the Bulk Centre restrictions as a way to avoid furnishing said documents, at the the time of litigation.

Providing you defend and I mean Defend all,this will stop the automated process of them attaining Summary Judgement and put them to proof of their claim

I wish you well with your case

 

Regards

 

Andy;)

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Hello Andy,

 

That does sound very promising, and I'm hoping this mess can be sorted out without having to take it all the way to court. I'll be posting the CPR request this afternoon by recorded delivery and will let you all know what their reply is.

 

We've already sent off our AoS stating our intention to defend all of the claim, so we'll see how this progresses.

 

Many thanks for all your help though, it's given us the confidence to go ahead and fight our corner :)

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Hey all,

 

Just a quick update and a question...

 

The Post Office have verified that the letter to the solicitors has been delivered on Friday 31/10/2008, so does this mean they have until Friday 07/11/2008 to send the requested documents?

 

At least now it's just a waiting game, so we'll see what their response is and I'll keep you all informed.

 

Elkus :)

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Morning all,

 

Howard Cohen have delivered a letter today saying they enclose the NoA as requested. Note they didn't say a copy, the wording they used was "Please find enclosed Notice of Assignment as requested."

 

Since their deadline is effectively tomorrow to hand over copies of the CA and DN, what's the next thing I should be doing?

 

Elkus

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Morning Elkus

 

Can you post up a copy of the NoA less your personal details.

Unless they provide copies of CAA DN statements etc then the CPR request remains incomplete.So you will have to submit an holding Defence.

 

Regards

 

Andy

We could do with some help from you.

PLEASE HELP US TO KEEP THIS SITE RUNNING EVERY POUND DONATED WILL HELP US TO KEEP HELPING OTHER

 

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Good afternoon Andy,

 

Thanks for jumping on board, much appreciated :)

 

Ok, the NoA is dated 24th October 2008 and says the following:

 

NOTICE OF ASSIGNMENT

 

TO *********

 

Account Ref: ***************

We hereby give you notice that GE Capital Bank Limited of R/O Agar Street, London, WC2N 4HR, have by an Assignment dated 22nd October, 2008 and made between GE Capital Bank Limited and CL Finance Limited assigned to CL Finance Limited absolutely a debt in the sum of £292.61 due and owing by you to them for the balance due under account reference *********** and you are required to pay the same to the benefit of CL Finance Limited accordingly.

 

Dated 24th October, 2008

 

Dear *********

 

We act for CL Finance Limited.

 

A Claim has today been submitted to the County Court for issue. You should respond to the Claim immediately upon receipt.

 

Payment in full of £357.61, being the total amount shown due in the Claim including costs, will prevent judgment being entered against you.

 

Payment MUST be forwarded to this office.

 

(Rest is reference number and contact number, then signature)

 

Hope that helps any?

 

Elkus

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Ok that looks ok have you had the same from GE capital ?

 

I would suspect not I bet the ink had not dried on that one before winging its way to Northampton :rolleyes:

 

 

Andy

We could do with some help from you.

PLEASE HELP US TO KEEP THIS SITE RUNNING EVERY POUND DONATED WILL HELP US TO KEEP HELPING OTHER

 

Have we helped you ...?         Please Donate button to the Consumer Action Group - The National Consumer Service

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