Claim Form arrived from nowhere!

[ScabHunter]

Hi progeniga,

 

Don't worry, we will make sure you know exactly what to do at the right time.

 

Well done for posting nice and early. That makes an enormous difference. You wouldn't believe how many people post at the last minute, or even when it is just too late.

 

You will need to acknowledge service stating you will defend all of the claim. This can be done within 14+3 days of receiving the claim. MCOL is not going to be operational on 24/25/26 December or 1 January.

 

You should then send off letters for information under the Civil Procedure Rules. As you say, there are no fees involved in this as it is now part of a defence to a court claim.

 

Carter will not comply with your request for information. At least I have never seen a single case where he has done. Don't worry about this. You will just submit a holding defence and then challenge him again at the Allocation Questionnaire stage. That is if he doesn't bottle out before the AQ stage, as he often does.

 

The first letter you will need to send is a request for information under CPR 31.14. This covers documents mentioned in the Particulars of Claim, which in this case will only be the agreement.

 

Have a read of this -

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/legal-issues/159445-getting-them-reveal-their.html

 

You will also need to request copies of statements under CPR 18, as there are clearly unlawful charges on this alleged account.

 

If you want to read some other threads on Carter so you know what to expect, these are some useful ones -

 

A case of Carter bottling out at the AQ stage -

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/debt-collection-industry/158857-county-court-claim-urgently.html

 

Strange letters from Bottling Bryan -

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/debt-collection-industry/170922-bryan-carter-help.html

 

These threads also have templates for the CPR 31.14 and CPR 18 letters, and a sample holding defence, which will show you what you are likely to need to do in the coming weeks.

 

It will also do no harm to send off a CCA request to the current holder of the account, so that they can be nicely in default of that before any potential hearing.

 

Any questions, just ask.

 

SH

[ScabHunter]

So Carter is now in default of your CPR 31.14 request, and will very soon be in default of CPR 18 as well. Your CCA request will also enter default very soon.

 

You could, if you wanted to, spend £75 challenging Carter's non-compliance with the CPR by issuing an application -

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/legal-issues/159445-getting-them-reveal-their-3.html#post1771008

 

but there is no need to do so. You can mention his non-compliance in your defence, and then challenge again at the Allocation Questionnaire stage.

 

The preparation of the defence is the next stage. Have a look at this to give you an idea of the type of defence you will have to file -

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/debt-collection-industry/171510-help-please-court-papers-6.html?highlight=defence#post1882272

 

and then at this to show you how to challenge Carter's non-compliance at the Allocation Questionnaire stage, which comes later -

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/legal-issues/131499-directions-n150-n149-allocation.html

 

SH

[ScabHunter]

I would add in a paragraph about default notices and reference Woodchester v Swayne, and I would also mention the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999, as there seems to be an excessive amount of charges on this account. Put in a paragraph similar to this -

These documents are necessary to establish the balance on the said account, to establish the percentage of the balance caused by unfair terms under the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 and therefore not binding on the defendant, and to establish whether or not the defendant is indeed indebted to the claimant to any degree. My legitimate request for this necessary information was ignored.

 

This paragraph is from an allocation questionnaire draft order which has just seen bottling Bryan chuck the towel in on another CAG case.

 

SH