Court claim form received from Geoffrey Parker Bourne- Help!

[Teetacbin]

Hi

 

I've received a claim form for court today from Geoffrey parker Bourne. They did write to me recently regarding a debt through Equidebt, I wrote back saying could they provide me with more information as I have no record of this debt or company. They have not replied just sent this court claim.

 

What do I do next, I called the court and they said fill in the defence so what should I put in that box?

 

Thanks in advance.

[42man]

Hi Teetacbin.....can you tell us what the Particulars Of The Claim are, no need to put EXACT amounts in or account numbers.....when you wrote back with this a formal request for a copy of your agreement ? or just a general letter asking for more information...

[Teetacbin]

The POC says:

 

"The claimant's claim is for the sum of XXX.XX being monies due at today's date under a CCA. they sue as assignees of the agreement, Notice of Assignment has been provided to the Defendant"

[42man]

Is that it ? That is a VERY vague claim....I would be fuming, especially as they never replied to your letter

 

Is it through Northampton County Court ? You have got to acknowledge receipt of the claim within 14 days of the date on the claim form....if you DEFEND ALL (if that is your intention) then state that, then you get a further 14+3 days in which to submit your defence....however it is too early to submit a defence at the moment...(but keep a close eye on the timescales...

 

Read this letter VERY carefully and EDIT it as required and send this recorded delivery to GPB....If it was me then I would leave in all the points to 5 as it could be presumed it was a regulated agreement...

 

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.

 

[Prior to the issue of proceedings I had delivered a request for the production of the agreement mentioned in the Claim Form and on which you rely. That request was ignored][delete if no such request was delivered]

 

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*

 

4 the termination notice*

 

5 statements for the duration of the agreement*

 

* delete if not mentioned in the Particulars of claim.

 

[Although your claim is for a sum which is not more than £5,000.00 and will in all likelihood be allocated to the small claims track for determination upon my delivering a defence, at this moment in time I have not delivered my defence and the case has not been allocated to a track. In consequence the provisions of CPR 27(2) are of no effect and you should not seek to avoid compliance with your CPR 31 duties by claiming otherwise]#

 

# delete if claim for a sum exceeding £5,000.00

 

You should ensure compliance with your CPR 31 duties and ensure that the document(s) 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

 

 

Oh and have a read of this too - http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/legal-issues/159445-getting-them-reveal-their.html

[ODC]

TYPICAL

 

These Cretins hope you ignore them and then they get judgement by default.

[42man]

And do have a read of this too - http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/legal-issues/156156-help-mum-being-taken.html#post1665130

[42man]

Oh and you MUST read this thread also... - http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/dca-legal-successes/202604-ccj-defence-form-against.html

[Teetacbin]

Thanks for all the help so far, I feel better already. That was everything they wrote in the POC box on the blue form and yes it is Northampton. The claim is for more than £5000 does this make a huge difference?

 

I hadn't cca'd them, just asked for more info as to what this was all about, will that hinder this in anyway?

 

Do I need to request longer from the court to get this moving?

[42man]

The fact it is over £5k only makes a difference in the letter above....just send the letter off recorded asap to GPB.....you don't need to ask for more time at this stage...if they don't provide all the paperwork, you can make a draft order when the Allocation Questionnaire comes through, if the judge orders the paperwork (especially the originals) then unless their paperwork is completely in order, then (and as you can see from the thread above in post 7) then they might not be up for the fight and withdraw....if they do you can then hit them with a wasted costs order....

[Teetacbin]

Just been reading those threads you linked which were brilliant- thanks.

 

Next question re your wondeful letter...

 

1)"the production of a verified and legible copy of each of the following documents mentioned in your Particulars of Claim" As they haven't mentioned docs in the poc do I still go for this bit?

2) None of the 2,3,4 or 5 points are mentioned in the POC either (they are hugely vague! So do I put those points in still as well?

Thanks again for all the help.

[Seminole]

Thanks for all the help so far, I feel better already. That was everything they wrote in the POC box on the blue form and yes it is Northampton. The claim is for more than £5000 does this make a huge difference?

 

I hadn't cca'd them, just asked for more info as to what this was all about, will that hinder this in anyway?

 

Do I need to request longer from the court to get this moving?

 

Don't forget to acknowledge service and say that you will be defending the claim.

 

Do you have any debts that this could possibly relate to? Equidebt are a debt purchaser and so it could be for anything.

[42man]

If it was me in your shoes i'd still send the letter off leaving in points 2,3,4,and 5

 

Just for good measure, then you could also send this one too -

 

In the XXXX County Court

Claimant -v- (YOUR NAME)

Claim Number: (CLAIM NUMBER)

 

 

Dear XXX

 

CPR 18 - REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

 

I have received a recent court claim from your organisation. In order to file a defence and 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 Order enforcing your compliance will be sought.

 

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 *********.(AMEND TO THE COMPANY NAME)

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 sincerely,

 

XXXX (type, don't sign).

[42man]

Please try and understand what is being said, I assure you, spending some time around these forums will give you some mighty knowledge in dealing with these type of situations....!!

[Teetacbin]

I have had various credit cards and bank loans over the years, it is hard to have kept track which I know makes me a terrible person, but we have young children and money worries so things have gotten quite confusing at times. I don't remember dealing with Equiwhatsit at any stage but who knows...

[Teetacbin]

42man _ I don't know if my wording came across wrong but I meant the POC's are incredibly vague not your letter. Sorry if it appeared that way.

 

I am reading the threads and referring points in them back to the letter you have posted. I am probably seeming thick, I think it is more for reassurance more than anything.

[Teetacbin]

Right I will leave in those points because I know they did not send me half those things (or possibly any of them actually now I look back through my files)

 

Can I save postage and send both letters to GPB together? Reading through everything I think I am right in thinking I send nothing to Equidebt? As it has reached this stage do I still have to send a postal order £1?

sorry I know I am being a nightmare.

[42man]

No need to justify yourself to me Teet, you are amongst others who have been/are going through exactly the same situation, and yes the POC's are vague, but let's see what paperwork they have....if it isn't in order then fair enough, but if you do not know what this is for, then it is only right you should get them to disclose all...

[42man]

Nope, carrying out CPR requests in opposition to a claim via Civil Procedure Rules is free, you do not have to send a £1 in with those.....but you can send both CPR's 31.14 and 18 together. GPB are acting solicitors so you do not have to send anything to Equidebt, but send out the CPR's RECORDED.....

[Teetacbin]

You have been amazing. My head is buzzing from reading these threads but I am gradually getting a handle of the jargon.

 

I have slightly confused myself further on one point though. Can you or someone else please confirm I am doing this part correctly.

 

Out of the court papers I am, at this stage just sending back the AoS page. I am putting my married name as they have my maiden name.

 

But do I tick the intend to defend all of this claim AND the I intend to contest jurisdiction or just the first point? It's blimming miles away from me.

[Teetacbin]

Whoops. Have just been an utter fool just realised what they meant by jurisdiction! Forget that part, I can't see why I would need to contest that bit!

[Teetacbin]

Right.

 

Sent those letters off the same day, thanks again for all the help with that.

 

I have received a reply from GPB...

 

Thank you for your letter.... ...We have requested from our client copies of documents mentioned in the Particulars of Claim, per Civil Procedure Rules: the agreement and a copy of the Notice of Assignment.

 

We do not know why you intend to dispute liability, and since the concept of proportionality applies to disclosure, we take the view that a search for statements, default notices andd termination notice is not proportionate before a defence has been filed.

 

We will contact you again if within the 7 day period of your request our client is unable to produce copies of the documents referred to in paragraph 2 of this letter.

 

yours....

 

 

HELP! I've read this through about 5 times and still don't know what next! ~Of course I am disputing it, I have no idea what this debt it and this doesn't make it any clearer does it?

 

Concept of proportionality? I think I know what they mean but could someone help at all. I'm off to re read those other threads

[Seminole]

I think what they are saying is that they are trying to find the key documents- specifically the agreement and the notice of assignment. That's what they need to be able to make a claim and if they haven't got theu, they are stuffed.

 

Of the remaining documents, it is the statements that are key. These would show whether you have any potential counterclaim against them for penalty charges applied to the account, assuming it is your account of course.

 

Others may advise differently but I would be inclined to write to them saying that IF they are able to prove that this is your debt and IF the agreement is valid, then you want to confirm that no recoverable penalty charges have been applied to the account giving rise to a counterclaim. I would add that if copy statements are unavailable, a transcation list since the commencement of the account would be acceptable together with a key setting out transaction key codes and their meanings if appropriate.