Bank vs Pin1OnU - Court Next Week - Advice Needed

[pin1onu]

I need some advice on a strikeout application I made under CPR31.14 for a credit case that they are seeking to recover from me.

 

As this is close to court I won't put anything down here that will allow them to identify me.

 

I stopped paying them in the belief that they did not hold the original signed credit card agreement.

 

They had previously sent me correspondence saying that they did not have to show the original to me only a re-constituted copy. They issued me with various threats etc and finally issued proceeding in March last year.

 

The claim was made via MCOL and no documents were received other than the court papers. I acknowledged service but did not get sent the documents to support their claim. I sent a letter to their solicitors requesting dislose of their docs under CPR 31.14.

 

Here is part of the text of letter I sent to them

 

-----

Prior to the issue of proceedings I had delivered a request for the production of the signed agreement mentioned in the Claim Form and on which you rely.

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 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

 

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.

------

 

I sent the letter recorded delivery and awaited their response. As I was unable to file a defense I had no response from them within the 7 days or at any time until after I received notice from the court saying that this was going to a hearing. I did receive a charming letter that as I hadn't entered a defense that a default judgement had been entered and here was a payment book for me to start paying them. However the case was stayed.

 

At the end of last month their solicitors then sent me a copy of the credit agreement which is hardly legible, statements of the account. They refused to send a copy of the default notice and of the formal demand as they don't retain copies. They are intending to attend court and oppose the application.

 

My questions are can I get a strikeout based on their non-compliance of the 7 day rule and should I emphasis this to the court? I think that a year is pretty unreasonable.

 

Should I request time to enter a defense? (If this becomes likely then I will be looking to get help on the defense). Any advice on what I need to say or anything else to support my application would be greatly appreciated.

[blondie 27]

which Bank is it?

[pin1onu]

Hi Blondie,

 

Would rather not say in open forum.

[blondie 27]

Thats fine its just people may be able to give you more advice if they knew what Bank it was

[caro]

Why didn't you enter a defence?

 

What you need to consider if you go for a set aside, is that the original case is then re-instated, so you need to be confident that you have a strong case or you could find yourself subject to costs. However, you could use the delay in sending you the info to show the bank are being unreasonable, which may help.

 

You say there was a default judgment, but also that the case was stayed. Can't be both and looks like a judgment if you're applying for a set aside

 

If you get the strikeout, you will then have an opportunity to defend.

 

It really would be very helpful to know what organisation you're dealing with to be able to advise, because they all have their own ways. It's nigh on impossible if you don't post all the info.

[citizenB]

There does seem to be some confusion..

 

This is the process.

 

Claim issued - defendant has a specific time in which to obtain information CPR31.14 and then enter a defence. You MUST entere a defence of some kind in order to avoid a default judgment.

 

You claim that the court wrote saying the hearing was stayed - they would only do this if you entered a defence.. question is.. DID YOU .

 

If you did then a default judgment could not have been awarded.

 

If you didnt then it almost certainly was and therefore you can make an attempt to get it set aside. However, you will need a good reason as to why you did NOT enter a defence and what type of defence you will mount if the court permits a set aside.

 

HTH

 

TBH, without information, we are probably not going to be able to advise accurately.

[asokn]

I can't understand why you made an application to strike out the claim but didn't trouble yourself to enter a defence? Perhaps the OP could write a longer, more comprehensive post detailing the sequence of events and the actual wording of each court order received so far. Posting that you received a notice of hearing and a default judgment confuses more than clarifies I'm afraid.

[pin1onu]

Just to clarify.

 

The bank in question is LTSB.

 

I was informed by the court that the case would be stayed pending the outcome of my application to strike out based on non-compliance with CPR31.14. The expiry of 7 days from their receiving my request was the day before the defense was due to be filed.

 

I only received a response to my CPR request at the end of last month. Thats more or less a year since the request was filed. I am going to suggest to the court that they have behaved unreasonably and request that the case be struckout. I have also claimed for costs against LTSB for the cost of the strikeout. In my CPR request I asked them to allow me more time to file a defense based on the time to respond to the request. I will ask the court for the same timeframe to complete a defense that they have taken to respond.

 

The letter I received from their in-house litigation team looked to me to be an automated job saying they were going to apply for default judgement on the grounds that I hadn't entered a defense I suspect they filed a bunch of claims and then had the computer set to issue payment books and letters based on whether the claim was defended. Given that I received it on the Tuesday after the defense was to have been filed (a friday) it arrived pretty quickly. But the judgement cannot be granted until the application for strikeout is granted.

[citizenB]

LTSB via their solicitor SCM are very quick to issue default judgments. They are also equally swift to issue letters inclduing payment books etc.. advising that a Default Judgment ahs been awarded when it hasnt.

 

IMHO, I would telephone the court and find out the status of the claim. They will advise if a Judgment has been awarded or not. In fact, if one had, then you should have been already advised by the court.

 

If one has.. then you need to sort out the set aside.

 

Your main issue will be why you did not enter a defence.