DCA set aside & later questionable solicitor action

[john 333]

CCA request printed, to be sent tomorrow. letter to court manager being written now

[john 333]

Hi all, not been on for a while due to various reasons, and my DCA's being quiet. However this morning I received a county court claim form for an alleged debt which had been succesfully set aside by me earlier in the year.

 

The thing about this one is that on the form where it says - address to which documents should be sent regarding this claim (i.e. my address) the so called solicitor has filled in their address!! also they state their address as the one to send back the court forms to!! reading other stories on this forum, the county court and common sense all state that the forms should be sent direct to the court.

 

There is also no address for the court anywhere on the form (which was printed by the solicitor)

 

This in my mind is an obvious dirty trick to get another judgement by default. They got one last time, but it got set aside easily.

 

I am sending the forms to the court stating full defence, but would love to know from you guys who to complain to about these lowlife oiks

[sillygirl1]

NO -- You just need to refer to the other case which got set aside. Write to the court manager and state that this is clearly an abuse of process.

 

Don't do a full defence as you have ABSOLUTE defence in the previous set aside - I assume the particulars haven't changed substantially from the previous case?

 

You now complain to the Ministry of Justice and the County Court users Association... can't quite remember the proper name at the mo.

[john 333]

thanks silly girl, I haven't sent anything yet, just looking at the forum. Nothing has changed at all.

 

A little background info for you: I am on benefits, living in rented accomodation and I have no assets

 

The original CCJ was gained by default because they knowingly sent the forms to an old address (they knew this was the case and was proved, hence the set aside)

 

I am paying them £5 per month via standing order, and have been without fail since the failed ccj.

 

So far (and I know I should have!) haven't even had the need to send the cca letter, as things just ticking over at affordable level

[reallymadwoman]

Is there even a claim number on the form - i.e. has it actually been anywhere near a court, because if it hasn't they could be in really serious trouble.

[john 333]

unfortunately, it has a claim number and court stamp, and i've rung the court to check! Incidentally the court officer I spoke to was pretty horrified when I told him what was happening!

[sillygirl1]

What uis the name of the solicitors, it isn't Uncle Bryan (Bryan Carter) or HL Legal (HL Illegal) is it?

[john 333]

seriously though, it's horrible what they are attempting to do, i'm lucky to have this site and my previous encounter to help me out, others would just send the form back to them, and they would file it under B1N and get a default!

[sequenci]

Hang on!

 

What form are you looking at?

 

If it is the n9a then the offer IS sent to the solicitor's firm. I think we might need a tiny bit more information, if it's the defence form then this is where things get a little hairy!

[john 333]

R-stons (fill in the gaps!) sorry, poor attempt at avoiding trolls

[john 333]

sequensi, it's the whole lot - the defence form has no return address on it- somewhere in the pack it states to send back to the solicitor, and there is NO address for the court anywhere in the pack, hence why I rang the court

[john 333]

and also, the parts of the form for me to put my address in (so the court knows who I am, and where I live!) has been filled in by them, with THEIR address in! why can that be right?!?!?!?

[john 333]

acknowledgement of service form also says to send it to them. It just seems SO DODGY

[sequenci]

When the judgment was set aside, what happened at the subsequent court hearing?

 

This all sounds very wrong indeed!

[john 333]

there was no court hearing, I was in (and still am!) in a bad place with my depressed and disabled partner at the time. What happened was they got the judgement by default about a year ago, then as this wasn't paid (as I didn't know it existed) they went for a charging order on my ex marital home, the paper work for this was sent to my correct address, hence I was able to prove they acted wrongly. When approached with all the evidence they set it aside themselves and paid the fee's (I was in contact with the court to check they had)

 

At no time did I know they were chasing the debt as I received no letters, NOA etc from them. When I finally found out, I started paying £5 a month by standing order.

 

I know I should have gone for the jugular at the time, but was too stressed to contemplate it at that stage. However things now are a little different!

[john 333]

got alot of guests viewing my thread, a bit worried!

[dx100uk]

two threads merged

 

dx

[DonkeyB]

Thanks DX.

 

The set aside was initiated by Restons because they knew they would lose costs at a hearing – they had sent the original claim form knowingly to the wrong address. However, it was done by a consent order, so Restons cleverly avoided costs.

 

However, that doesn’t change the essential facts.

 

What should have happened was that the ORIGINAL claim was continued. A set aside only takes you back to the point when the claim was issued – it doesn’t make it go away. Something has gone wonky here.

[john 333]

yes Donkey, it would appear I have let them get the better of me for the moment.

 

However, the paperwork I received today is clearly flawed as well. so my question now is do I send the acknowledgement of service to the court with a covering letter stating the errors (the address issues and the apparent attempt to get me to send it all back to themselves) and not at this stage to defend the claim?

 

thanks DX by the way

Edited November 12, 2010 by john 333
missing complement!

[DonkeyB]

A bit out of my depth. Need someone with a good knowledge of procedure (and abuse of process).

[john 333]

thanks Donkey, you've been a star!

[DonkeyB]

Far from it, mate. It’s often easy to see where the problems lie, but it takes a real depth of knowledge to know exactly what to do about it.

 

For example, if I see a car with a flat tyre, I know what’s wrong. But I wouldn’t know how to change the wheel!

[john 333]

anyone else with idea's about what to do? I'm guessing I should send back the acknowledgement of service at least. Then go from there

[DonkeyB]

Can you tell us the original particulars of claim?

 

And can you also post the new particulars of claim?

 

Are they the same?

 

A bit of history about the account would really help too.

[john 333]

Donkey, any reply is helpful mate, and thanks for your input!