Curious twist on two CCA requests-they are taking me to Court!

[e28bigalbexley]

Laiste:D

Surely if they have not filed they have no arguement.

I havent got a clue what a paginated trial bundle is or to be honest a case summery (but it would sound like the proof of the basis of their argument), please correct me if im wrong but is that 'No Arguement, No Case'.

 

What is a paginated trial bundle please?

 

AL:)

[Laiste]

Hi Al,

 

Its all the documents they are seeking to rely on, numbered for ease of reference. The case summary is a very brief (250 words) synopsis of what their case is based on.

 

Essentially, as we are so close to the trial all documents have to be submitted on time. The Judge could strike out their claim if he so wishes. It is difficult to see what HFC will be able to do at this late stage. You do start wondering if they have given up on the case and decided not to go to the trouble of submitting anything, as it would be an unnecessary waste of their time and money. Who knows?

 

Laiste.

[e28bigalbexley]

Laiste thanks for that...............

Well fingers crossed for you, it does not sound like a bookmaker would give them very good odds on winning.

 

AL

[Markb03]

Any update on this?

[noomill060]

bump

[Laiste]

Hi everyone,

 

Well things just get more and more interesting....!

 

The solicitors acting for HFC did not submit the documents to us and the Court as required, this was confirmed by Court staff last Friday. On Saturday morning we got a letter from the sols stating that they had filed an application notice with the Court for the trial to be vacated(cancelled) because they had not received the Court's directions regarding what documents had to be submitted on what date! Absolute poppycock, but we can't prove it! Given that these directions were dated mid November and that they know the timescale within which things happen in a case, what are the chances that they only realised in late December that they had had no instructions from the Court? Highly unlikely, remote...yes that's what we think!

 

There are then a series of babbling comments about having contacted the Court by phone, asking for papers to be faxed, they weren't, court staff shortages, rang again....blah, blah, blah! It read like a comedy sketch!

 

The outcome is that we got a call yesterday afternoon stating that the judge had vacated the trial! I can't help but think he is p**sed off with their antics, so who knows what he is going to put in his order!

 

Something in our counter-claim must have frightened them, to come up with such a jackanory story as they did! We thought their application was comical, at least we are able to look at the funny side of their

actions!

 

I'll keep you posted on any developments!

 

Laiste.

[JonCris]

bump

[Guest Battleaxe]

Hang in there Laiste.

[ClintMccutcheon]

An awesome read if i may say so,

 

Now the court case was vacated (i presume that means cancelled) then does that mean it is over? Or does that enable you to sue for damages or such?

 

Good luck!

[Laiste]

Hi everyone,

 

Thanks Battleaxe and Clint for your comments!

 

In answer to your question Clint, the trial being vacated is not an end to proceedings. It has been cancelled essentially because the claimants have stated that they didn't receive the Court's directions back in November. Had the Judge forced them to go to trial, they could quite conceivably have appealed the decision. It is much easier for the Judge to give them the benefit of the doubt and re-schedule the trial.

 

So we are now waiting for the Judge's decision regarding what date the trial will be re-scheduled for.

 

Regards,

 

Laiste.

[Laiste]

Hi Clint,

 

No problem, don't worry, I gathered you were new! You are more than welcome to come back and comment on what's going! I will keep up with your thread and help if I can. I hope you get things sorted out.

 

Best wishes,

 

Laiste.

[Janet-M]

Hi jacked postings have been moved from your thread Laiste

[Laiste]

Hi everyone,

 

You will recall that I sent a DPA request to HFC's solicitors, back in October to be passed onto HFC. Anyway, they returned my request over 2 weeks later, saying they could not furnish the info! Which is funny, because I didn't ask them to! I thought reading documents properly was an essential part of a solicitor's job....? Well, a short time later I sent a Data Protection request to HFC directly, their 40 days were up on the 22nd Dec. I sent a letter to them stating they were in breach of the DPA 1998 and they wrote back saying they hadn't received my request!

 

So the solicitors played dumb and didn't do as I asked, by passing on the request and HFC have stated they didn't receive it! Does this seem a bit odd and rather convenient? It did to us!

 

Well, all this has been detailed in a letter to the Court and we have received a letter with the Judge's instructions. The trial has been re-scheduled for April and HFC have to provide all the info we have requested by the 31st January. So it remains to be seen if they attempt to pull the wool over the Judge's eyes! He is already aware of everything that's gone on, in respect of our efforts to obtain info that we are legally entitled to which supports our case, so any games on their part I think will be met with the appropriate sanctions, which could include their case being struck out. I will be writing a letter to the Court to be submitted on the 1st Feb, if they don't comply.

 

I would like to offer a little bit of advice. If anyone finds themselves the subject of legal action and you need info that you would ordinarily request under the DPA 1998 to support your case, it is not necessary to do such a request once proceedings have been initiated against you.

 

You simply need to send the Company in question a letter stating all the info you require, advising them that as the matter is the subject of legal action and to support your case, they are obliged to furnish what you have asked for. Give them 14 days to provide it. Include in the letter that if they do not comply, you will report the matter to the Court stating that they are disrupting proceedings. Also advise them that you will be reclaiming the application notice fee as you will need to submit one with your letter as you are asking a Judge to compel them to provide the info, without which you cannot properly present your case.

 

Doing things this way means ultimately it will cost you nothing to get the info, hopefully it will shorten the time for getting it and probably most importantly, it will demonstrate to the Judge that they are behaving unreasonably. He can impose sanctions for such behaviour and it creates a bad impression in the Judge's mind, as it will be viewed that they are trying to gain an unfair advantage by not furnishing the info. All parties have to disclose info that both supports and detracts from their case and by not doing so, they are effectively scuppering proceedings, which a Judge will definitely not appreciate! So anything that can be used to demonstrate unreasonable conduct on their part, is no bad thing in my opinion!:grin: They behave disgracefully towards us, so take every opportunity (with good reason of course) you can to put their conduct under the scrutiny of a Judge!

 

I hope this is useful and I'll keep you updated on any developments!

 

Regards,

 

Laiste.

[e28bigalbexley]

Hi Laiste

That sounds really promising for you, would love to be a fly on the wall at HFC legal dept. Lets hope they continue with their 'were above the law attitude' and the judge orders them to court to explain exactly what is going on. Dont think he would be overjoyed with the conduct of the solicitors.

I might just have a day out and go to the court just to see them squirm,

what a giggle:D

 

What a great year 2007 is turning out to be for you:)

 

AL

[Laiste]

Hi Al,

 

Thank you for your really positive comments!

 

Now that HFC are aware that the Judge has been fully informed about the little games they've been playing, I really hope they are worried! I think all of the banks and c/c's sadly think they are above the law.They earn such obscene amounts of money and possess what I would describe as nothing short of disdain for their customers. They are arrogant in the extreme and think they can behave in any way they see fit. That said, all the underhanded little tricks don't seem quite that clever when they have to explain their highly questionable behaviour to a Judge. Particularly when the offending Company has done more than one thing wrong, which establishes a pattern of conduct....if you see what I mean!

 

It is going to be interesting to see what happens in relation to the deadline they have. I am certainly not going to go easy on them, no info by the deadline and it will be reported to the Court the day after!

 

Watch this space and thanks Al for your continued support!

 

Laiste.

[PriorityOne]

Go get 'em Laiste... !!

[Laiste]

Hi PriorityOne,

 

Thanks for your support!

 

So you managed to get through the thread...? There is such alot to read, in some ways it feels like this has been going on forever! These situations are never resolved as quickly as one would like. Justice clearly takes time, but we are very positive!

 

Laiste.

[JonCris]

Laiste it would do no harm for YOU to write to them via special delivery mentioning the courts requirements & dates with copy of the order if poss. Also send a copy of your letter to the court

[Laiste]

I've already stated Joncris that I have written to HFC with a copy of the Court's instructions. There is no need for me to write to the Court at this stage advising them that I've written to HFC, that will be done if and when they fail to comply. All that was required to be done has been.

 

Laiste.

[JonCris]

OK but did you send it special delivery. Also I disagree. You should even now advise the court you have written to them in case they try to make a further application.

 

It can do no harm but it can a lot of good should they try to pull another fast one.

[coolchilli]

Laiste,

 

Excellent thread. Definately a good investment of the 1+ hour it took to read through. Best of luck!

 

Chilli

[Laiste]

Joncris, when I said that everything that needed to be done had, obviously that included sending the letter by guaranteed next day delivery! I have had enough dealings with banks and c/c's to know that sending a letter by a guaranteed delivery method is a basic and fundamental rule and to do otherwise is asking for trouble!

 

It would be a complete waste of the Court's time and mine, if I write advising them that I have written to HFC, it serves no useful purpose whatsoever at this stage! The Court has sent directions to us and HFC's solicitors by normal post. We decided, to ensure that there are no repeat performances of them claiming they hadn't received Court directions, to send a senior person that we have liaised with at HFC, a copy of the Court's requirements, with a detailed covering letter, all by guaranteed delivery.

 

They are acutely aware of what is required of them by the end of this month. At that point, if they haven't complied with directions, it is then appropriate to inform the Court of this and further advise that we have sent a copy of the directions to HFC and they have ignored the letter. It will have more of an impact on the Judge if we inform him of their transgression, in respect of the Court's directions and the fact they have disregarded the letter sent to HFC also, if this is done after the 31st January.

 

What you've suggested would be overkill. The way I'm doing things will give them enough rope to hang themselves and will achieve the best result possible. It's as simple as that!

 

Laiste.

[Laiste]

Hi Coolchilli!

 

Thanks for your support! Sorry it took you a while to get through the thread, its one long saga and its not over yet! Things are certainly getting very interesting though....!

 

Laiste.

[JonCris]

Fine Laiste but I have to say there is no such thing as overkill in the circumstances you have described relating to their previous transgressions

[gamaclea]

my first post on here after reading various pages/articles over the last few weeks.....have to say i agree with joncris. going by their previous actions i would consider this to be prudent and anyway, the court i don't think would look unfavourably at you doing this.