Help Court action by Restons/MBNA – what should I do next?

[Zak464]

Hello all

 

I’ve been lurking around this forum for a long time trying to sort out various problems with several credit card companies. Mostly brought on by my business taking a nose dive during the credit crunch and MBNA raising my interest rate to 34.9% !!!!!

 

 

MBNA have decided to take me to court and I would appreciate any advice or pointers as to what my next steps should be.

 

Please forgive this very long first post but hopefully by giving all the background will help the CAG collective better provide ideas for what action I should take next.

 

I requested my CCA from MBNA back in Feb 09 (Application is from Jan 2004) – MBNA missed the deadline and I stopped making payments as the account was placed in dispute.

 

After a reminder letter (from Me) I eventually received an illegible copy of an application form with my signature on it and some further illegible terms and conditions on the back of it. PDF ATTACHED – not much to link these documents together as far as I can tell – the ref numbers on the bottom of each appear to be different although it is difficult to be sure as most of the small print/terms on the document is very difficult to read (even with a magnifying glass – I did try!!)

 

I wrote back to MBNA saying that this was insufficient to satisfy my CCA request as the document provided was illegible.

 

I was then hounded by MBNA and their lackeys for about 6 months or so (most of which I ignored as I was/am confident that the account is legally in dispute).

 

In July I received a Default Notice from MBNA (PDF ATTACHED) – as far as I can tell this appears to be technically valid (I would appreciate someone confirming this if possible?) although is it true that the account being in dispute would invalidate the Default notice anyway? (I do not have the envelope the DN came in unfortunately).

 

In August 09 I received an LBA from Restons solicitors (PDF ATTACHED).

 

And then in September 09 I received an N1 claim form from Northampton CC Bulk processing centre (PDF Attached). I acknowledged service online contesting the claim in full.

 

I then wrote to Restons with a CPR31.14 request for a copy of a Legible credit agreement (knicked the letter from surface agents brilliant thread – getting them to reveal their particulars – thank you).

 

I waited for a couple of weeks to see if Restons would respond and then sent off a form N244 asking for an order from the court to extend time for me to prepare a defence and ordering Reston /MBNA to comply with my CPR31.14 Request and asking that if they didn’t the claim should be struck out.

 

Restons did respond (Day after I sent the N244 from by SD) – Doh! But they have provided an identical application/agreement form which is still mainly illegible.

 

Thanks to anyone who has stuck with this post so far it is much appreciated!

 

I am slightly at a loss for what to do next and any pointers/advice would be very gratefully received.

 

Do I still need to file a defence (embarrassed defence?) given I have posted the N244 form? – if so the 28days expires on the 23rd Oct so I do need to get cracking on this if I do need to do it.

 

Is Restons sending the same (illegible) document enough to satisfy my CPR31.14 request?

 

Is there anything else I should be doing or working on at this stage?

 

I am perfectly willing to go to court to defend myself (very nervous about doing it obviously) but I refuse to be bullied into submission by MBNA who frankly (from my experience and reading the experiences of others) seem to have no regard for the law and are nothing more than legitimised loan sharks!

 

I would be extremely grateful for any comments or advice from other CAG members

 

Thanks Zak464.

MBNA CCA.pdf

MBNA Default Notice.pdf

Reston LBA.pdf

N1 Form & POC.pdf

[supasnooper]

Please can you supply the dates for the Default Notice as you've blanked out the date of the Default notice and the date to remedy.

 

Did you keep the envelope the DN was sent in ?

 

As to Restons supplying the same CCA as MBNA, then this is what they will go to Court with.

 

You cannot use an embarrassed defence if Restons have supplied the documents in response to your CPR 31 request.

 

Oh, and welcome to CAG !!

[Zak464]

Hi Supasnooper

 

The date on the DN is 28th July & the date remedy is 14th August.

Didnt keep the envelope it came in sadly.

 

Am i correct in thinking that if they sent it second class it is invalid but ok if it was sent 1st class?

 

Should I base my defence around the fact that the agreement is unreadable

 

Thanks

Zak.

[Mydogsawestie]

Zak464 I am popping on in to say how brilliant I think you have done so far in taking this as far as you have already, you have been so proactive with your research so far its amazing. There is certainly only one way this can keep going now with the caggers on board now too & thats up.......

 

I have this twosome on me & went to court in July, still ongoing though but perserverence & having all the caggers onboard has proved a great success so far.

 

We look forward to your further postings & no doubt there will be some expert advice along soon to chcek on your DN for definite.......

[supasnooper]

 

The date on the DN is 28th July & the date remedy is 14th August.

Didnt keep the envelope it came in sadly.

 

Am i correct in thinking that if they sent it second class it is invalid but ok if it was sent 1st class?

 

 

Yes you are correct about the invalidity.

MBNA do insist on sending out their DN's by UKMail, which is not a first class service.

You will have to put them to strict proof of the method of postage.

Edited October 16, 2009 by supasnooper

[Zak464]

Thankyou Mydogsawestie those are very kind words and much appreciated.

 

I was very lucky to have found this forum before I got into trouble with the credit sharks and so had some idea what to expect when I went down the CCA route.

 

Similarly I took Lloyds to court several years ago to get back bank charges they had applied to my girlfriends account (we won too ) so the threats of court action etc have not been quite as frightening as they would have hoped!

 

All that said, it is a huge relief to have other CAGers looking at my claim and giving me feedback so thanks once again (I will check out your thread with interest and wish you the best of luck too:-))

 

Thanks too Supasnooper - great ammo for my defence cheers!

[supasnooper]

Oh, by the way, if you can afford the £10.00 fee for a Subject access Request; get one off to MBNA and specifically ask for the Customer Information Systems log or the "Comms Log"............it has all the details of the operation of the account.

[Zak464]

Hi Supasnooper

 

I did send SAR request around the time I CCA'd MBNA. (Should have mentioned in my opening post).

 

There is a comms log included in the response (along with transaction details and the same illegible application/agreement I got for my CCA request).

 

Comms log only goes upto Feb 09 - what information should I be looking for in it? or do I need to SAR them again to get comms log to date? To be honest I had forgotten about getting this information as I couldnt understand most of it If you or someone else could explain what i need from it I would be very grateful.

 

Cheers

Zak464

[supasnooper]

Unfortunately you will need to send a more current SAR.

 

MBNA, on the Comms Log will specify exactly when an account is charged off.

 

Have a look at this post for what MBNA specify an account as being "Charged Off" - img011.jpg picture by paulbaxter009 - Photobucket

[Zak464]

Cheers Supasnooper

 

Fresh SAR request will be posted tomorrow (monday)