After some advice re court papers

[Sid Ney]

Hi, sorry to just barge in here, but i'm wondering if anyone could help me with some papers i received from Northampton County Court, re a loan i have with Santander finance.

[debbbbsy]

Hi,

Could you give us a bit more info.

 

Are you intending to admit the claim & make an offer of payment.

Or are you wanting to challenge the claim, and need help with a defence.

 

Debs

[Sid Ney]

Hi, Thanks for your speedy reply.

Unfortunately i'm not in any position to make any payment at the moment, and haven't been paying since March this year, and now i've received court papers claiming the full amount plus solicitors and court fees.

The debt relates to a car i purchased in November 2007, which i understood to be a hire purchase agreement, but have since found out that it was a personnel loan, and was just after some advice as to what i should enter on the response papers?

[Sid Ney]

Would i be right in thinking i need to return the acknowledgement of service form? And then send a subject access request to Santander, to receive copies of all the original documents?

[debbbbsy]

Would i be right in thinking i need to return the acknowledgement of service form? And then send a Subject access request to Santander, to receive copies of all the original documents?

 

Okay, you can acknowlege reciept of the court docs online. Once you do this (depending on when they were issued, determines when this needs to be done). Once done, you then have time to either admit the claim or submit a defence.

 

A SAR will take too long, they have 40 days to comply with no quarantees. Instead you must send a CPR 31.14. This is an official request for all the documents they refer to in the POC, and will rely upon to get judgement.

 

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 [any other documents mentioned in the Particulars of Claim]*

 

* 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

 

They only have 7 days to comply. This gives you time to consider what to do.

1. If they do supply everything. You will have to accept the judgement. But the court will only make you pay a sum you can afford. You'll have to provide your income & expenditure.

2. They fail to respond. You submit an "Embarrassed Defence".

 

I'm not clued up on car repossessions, but I read somewhere about ownership if you paid more than a third. Use the forum. Did they follow lawfull procedures when they took back your car.

 

Good Luck

 

Debs

[Sid Ney]

Hi, Debs Thank you very much for your reply and help, just a few queries, they did'nt take the car back as it is a personal loan, rather than hire purchase (although i understood it to be hire purchase when i originally bought the car, which was with GE Capital finance).

So is it best for me to acknowledge the service online, ( i only have until the 14th Dec) and then send the CPR 31.14 to Santander straight away (do i need to make a payment to them for this?)

I have only just realised that on the claim form it says the address to send documents or payments is CHAFES SOLICITORS, so should i send the CPR 31.14 to them or to Santander?

Many Thanks

Sid.

[debbbbsy]

Good morning

 

The CPR is sent direct to the solicitors. There is no charge.

 

If you are unsure about acknowledging the claim, phone the court, the staff are normally very helpfull.

 

Debs

[Sid Ney]

Thank you, so i'll just acknowledge the the claim, and send of the CPR31.14 to Chafes.

Sid.

[Sid Ney]

Sorry another quick question, where you say to enter the case number, is this the claim number or is it the reference number from the solicitors?

[debbbbsy]

The Court Claim Number.

[Sid Ney]

Thank you, have acknowledged receipt of papers online, and will post letter out special delivery tomorrow or Monday.