taken to court by HFC/restons... **case dismissed** now marking CRA file again

[whatamess]

What if they do not respond?

[AndyOrch]

see above

[citizenB]

Cant see the point of this route CB to be honest.Firstly I very much doubt Restons will agree to the extension and even if they did as the case will no doubt be SCT I cant see them complying with the CPR request either.Would it not be better to submit a short holding defence and put them to expense and trouble of responding.Should they respond then any docs can be requested at AQ stage.IMHO

 

Regards

 

Andy

 

Would certainly be easier lol.

 

whatamess, in response to your question... if they dont respond. Andy is advising that in view of the level of court ie small claims and the value of the claim, it will probably be better to just enter an embarrassed defence.

[citizenB]

So ignore the letters above and wait until Tuesday. If you havent received anything from Restons by then. We can sort out an embarrassed/holding defence for you. ok ? It will probably be less stressful for you.

[whatamess]

Righto, thanks both so much will be in touch on Tuesday have a happy weekend

[citizenB]

Anything in the post ?

[whatamess]

Anything in the post ?

 

Hi there, our post doesnt come until about 10am, i will get in from work at 6 this evening so will be back then to update... fingers crossed ....

[citizenB]

ok

[whatamess]

No letter from restons, I take it this means they have nothing to put in front of the court and are maybe hoping that i am scared of the court so will pay up?

[citizenB]

No letter from restons, I take it this means they have nothing to put in front of the court and are maybe hoping that i am scared of the court so will pay up?

 

Okey dokey, right we need to have something for you to submit for Friday wasnt it ? Just checking.. BRB

[citizenB]

Here you go... this can filed online

 

DEFENCE

 

1. The particulars of claim discloses no cause of action and are self evidently an abuse of process, in that they fail to deal with the basic rules of pleading in accordance with the CPR (even allowing for the constraints of the bulk issue system).

 

2. The defendant is embarrassed in pleading to the Particulars of Claim as it stands at present, inter alia: -

 

3. The claimants' particulars of claims disclose no legal cause of action and they are embarrassing to the defendant as the claimant's statement of case is insufficiently particularised and does not comply or even attempt to comply with CPR part 16. In this regard I wish to draw the courts attention to the following matters;

 

a) The Particulars of Claim are vague and insufficient and do not disclose an adequate statement of facts relating to or proceeding the alleged cause of action. No particulars are offered in relation to the nature of the written agreement referred to, the method the claimant calculated any outstanding sums due, or any other matters necessary to substantiate the claimant's claim.

 

b) A copy of the purported written agreement that the claimant cites in the Particulars of Claim, and which appears to form the basis upon which these proceedings have been brought, has not been served attached to the claim form.

 

c) A copy of any evidence of both the scope and nature of any default, and proof of any amount outstanding on the alleged accounts, has not been served attached to the claim form.

 

4. On receipt of the claim form the defendant sent a request by way of CPR31.14, for a copy of the agreement which forms the basis of this claim.

 

5.. It has been confirmed via the Royal Mail Website taat this request was received and signed for on DATE XX. However, no response has been received from the Claimant.

 

6. Further to that above the defendant is unable to plead effectively or at all. The defendant is embarrassed.

 

7. I respectfully request the court’s permission to submit an amended defence should the claimant file a fully particularised Particulars of Claim and the documents requested.

If you want to you can print off an extra copy of the defence (you must print a copy for yourself anyway) and send a copy to the solicitor along with the following letter.

 

Dear Restons

Claim number : From court form

Claimant v Whatamess

 

 

Herewith copy defence by way of service, the same having been filed with the court.

Please serve amended particulars of claim and plead your client's case in an appropriate manner within 7 days, so that I am aware of the case I will have to meet at trial. I request that you attach to the particulars a copy of the agreement upon which the claimant relies. The matter will be transferred to my home court and the claimant will have to produce the document, in any event. In those circumstances you should plead in accordance with the CPR rather than the Northampton County Court regime.

 

Failure to provide that requested in the time period provided for will result in application to the court. I confirm a copy of this letter will be produced to the court when the question of costs falls to be decided.

 

Yours etc...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[whatamess]

Thank you for this, just so i understand, I am sending the DEFENCE part and the letter underneth to Restons today, and when you say "this can be filed online" do you mean I can send this to the court online? The DEFENCE and the Letter or just the DEFENCE? sorry hope i have not confused you too much.

 

Also once restons have received this do they HAVE to respond?

[AndyOrch]

Copy and paste the Defence into MCOL and print receipt of input (Northampton will forward a copy to the Claimant) and then print a copy of the letter and post to the Claimants Sols.

Entirely up to them if they respond

 

Regards

 

Andy

[whatamess]

Hi just a quick update, i recieved a letter from the court to say they acknowledge receipt of my defence and they have sent a copy to the clainmants solicitor. So now do i just sit back and wait?

 

thanks

[whatamess]

Hi its now the 16th Sept and heard nothing from the court or Restons, the last I heard was on 3rd Sept i got a letter from the Court to say they had acknowlegde my defence and sent this to Restons, nearly 2 weeks and nothing should i be worried?

[AndyOrch]

No quite normal for the outfit you are dealing with.If they dont respond to the Court the claim will be stayed, how long is up to the Claimant.If they do respond you will receive an AQ ( Allocation Questionnaire)and the claim will be transfered to your local Country Court.

 

Regards

 

Andy

[whatamess]

Thanks for your reply Andy I will sit tight

[whatamess]

Hi

As i have still not heard anything and has been just over 4 weeks since the court wrote to say they have acknowledged my defence what does this mean now, just keep sitting tight? if i still do not hear anything does this mean the case is closed?

Thanks

[AndyOrch]

No it means the case is stayed until you receive an AQ

 

 

Andy

[whatamess]

Hi Andy, sorry what does that mean?

 

Thanks

[AndyOrch]

What the stayed or the AQ? Stayed means its in limbo until the Claimant wishes to proceed and AQ means Allocation Questioner to complete which transfers it to you local CC to proceed

[whatamess]

Oh i see ok, so is it a good or bad thing that its in limbo? As they have nothing on me is this normal practice?

 

Thanks

[AndyOrch]

Depends how you view matters, hanging over your head or get it sorted one way or another.Reasons for Claimants letting claims go to stay ,vary enormously they may not be ready to proceed due to workload, they may have trouble in finalising their claim ie documents or simply agasp that you have nerve to defend. A stay may last 2/3 /12 months there is recourse for the defendant to then challenge the claim and opt to strike out the claimants case should he see fit or in a position to do so.

 

Regards

 

Andy

[whatamess]

Thanks Andy, So in other words I may not hear anything for up to 12 months? Is there anything i can do about this or do i just sit and wait?

[AndyOrch]

If you the Defendant has not agreed to a stay ie in your AQ you stated no then you can either make application to lift the stay to proceed or you can strike out the claim if you feel your application has merit.

 

Regards

 

Andy