Welcome Finance Claim Form from Northampton County Court

[mikeyb101]

In August 2005 I had a loan arranged for me by a double-glazing firm to pay for a new door for my house.

 

The loan was with Welcome Finance and was for £1,318 plus £253.30 PPI plus £75 "acceptance fee" so a total of £1,592.30.

 

My last payment was July 2007 and I haven't heard anything from Welcome since the end of 2008 when I sent them a SAR - which if memory serves they didn't respond to.

 

Yesterday out of the blue I got a Claim Form from Northampton County Court from Welcome and Hegarty LLP

asking for £3,434.41 which includes £85 court fee and £80 solicitors fee.

 

The form says my balance is £2,394.14 plus £875.27 interest.

 

There's no statement of charges or fees attached or any paper work at all for that matter other than the court papers.

 

I'm looking for advice on how to proceed.

 

I'm self employed and have been for over 10 years so I'm fairly sure I was never eligible for PPI in the first place

and I've no idea how they've got a figure of £2,394 for my balance.

 

Should I send in another SAR and how should I respond to the claim form?

[dx100uk]

yes SAR recorded tomorrow

will help with PPI and and PENALTY charges reclaim

 

i'll let the legal bods ans the rest.

 

dx

[sillygirl1]

Far too late to send another SAR, you need to send a CPR request instead and defend this online, others will be along later to give more info. A SAR takes 40 days or more and is the wrong thing to do as you have court papers.

 

What are the exact particulars of claim here - sounds like they are trying to claw back as much as possible off poor unsuspecting punters.

[42man]

What are the particulars of the claim ? - Have a read of this - http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?241827-Legal-Action-how-to-start-off.-IMPORTANT-IF-YOURE-BEING-SUED

[mikeyb101]

Particulars of Claim:

The Claiment claims for sums due uner a/various Credit Agreement(s) related only to money regulated by the Consumer Credit Act 1974 entered into between the Claimant and the Defendent. The agreement(s) was/were terminated upon the Defendent failure to comply with the terms of the Agreement(s). The Claimant complied with Section III and IV and Annex B of the PD Pre-Action Conduct.

And the Claimant Claims:

Personal Loan Account number XXXXXX balance of 2,394.14 as of 19/11/07. Interest under s69 of the County Court Act 1984 at the rate of 8% a year from 19/11/07 to 13/6/12 of 875.27 and also interestat the same rate up to the date of judgment or earlier payment at a daily rate of 0.52 AND Costs.

 

Thanks for the advice so far, keep it coming!

[DonkeyB]

So have you had any letters before action at all? Anything? They are effectively claiming you have.

[sillygirl1]

Their interest charge is iffy - this is from a website which explains contract law

 

Section 69 of the County Court Act and section 35A of the Senior Courts Act

A claim for simple interest on a debt or damages under these statutes is discretionary. As it is for the court to award interest at such a rate and for such a period as it deems fit, it is always worthwhile challenging both the period and the rate of interest claimed.

 

 

This is a link to the website http://construction.practicallaw.com/blog/construction/plc/?p=296

Effectively by charging interest on the loan they have prevented it from becoming statute barred in the normal course of action.

[caro]

Their interest charge is iffy - this is from a website which explains contract law

 

Section 69 of the County Court Act and section 35A of the Senior Courts Act

A claim for simple interest on a debt or damages under these statutes is discretionary. As it is for the court to award interest at such a rate and for such a period as it deems fit, it is always worthwhile challenging both the period and the rate of interest claimed.

 

 

This is a link to the website http://construction.practicallaw.com/blog/construction/plc/?p=296

Effectively by charging interest on the loan they have prevented it from becoming statute barred in the normal course of action.

 

I disagree sillygirl. That's like saying that by sending a letter they've stopped it becoming SB. If the OP hasn't acknowledged the debt, whatever the lender does is immaterial.

[mikeyb101]

So have you had any letters before action at all? Anything? They are effectively claiming you have.

Nothing from Hegarty at all until the court papers turned up.

I had a few fishing letters at a previous address about a 18 months ago asking if I lived there and owed Welcome money which I ignored.

[DonkeyB]

Nothing from Hegarty at all until the court papers turned up.

I had a few fishing letters at a previous address about a 18 months ago asking if I lived there and owed Welcome money which I ignored.

 

Sp their PoC basically contains a lie – they have NOT complied with practice direction. You must therefore refute this, stating you received no communications, and putting them to proof, as it will go against them on costs.

[mikeyb101]

Thanks for the advice so far.

Had another letter yesterday saying Welcome were no longer using Hegarty LLP as their solicitors and they would be representing themselves.

[sillygirl1]

I think that shows they are running scared - if the solicitors won't represent them they have a very weak case.

[mikeyb101]

Had a letter from Welcome yesterday from the "Customer Complaints Department" saying that without my full name and account number they are "uanble to investigate this matter.

If you are unsure of your account number(s), you can request a copy of the Credit Agreement and Statement of Account by writing to us and enclosing a statutory fee of £1.00... Furthermore I am unable to verify your identity based on the information you have provided. As this is the case, I will need copies of either a passport or driving license for each customer named on the account."

 

They've also sent a huge questionnaire to complete and return "to register a complaint about the sale of payment protection insurance."

 

So where do I stand now and how should I proceed? It's been over a month since I got the original court letter and since I wrote to Hegarty (although they are no longer involved). I had a letter 2 weeks ago saying "This claim has moved to (my local county court rather than Northampton) as the CCBC Sol is No Longer Acting." if that's relevant?

[dx100uk]

berks!

 

p'haps fwding a copy of the claim form might jog their memory

 

......

 

i take it the ppi form is the fos one?

 

dx

[mikeyb101]

Yep it's the FOS one.

[dx100uk]

well you cant do that till ou get the sar back!

 

dx

[mikeyb101]

I sent my CPR request on the 25th June to Hegarty and got no response from them. Welcome wrote to me on the 26th June saying Hegarty were no longer representing so I resent my CPR Request to Welcome around the 12th July as I'd had no response from Hegarty after 14 days. Welcome have not produced the documents within 14 days of that letter either so can I move for a court order to produce the documents or get the case dismissed?

[sillygirl1]

I would, pointing out to the court that the solicitors are no longer acting for them, and that any change of legal team would be detrimental to your case and that this has clearly been an abuse of process by the old legal team.

[citizenB]

I dont think that a change of solicitor is going to be detrimental to the OP, SG.

 

This is happening a lot just lately. The claimant starts off using a "solicitor for hire" to issue the claims/letters. If a defence is submitted, the company seems to take the case back in house using their Litigation department. Which to me seems a bit odd.. but there you go.

 

 

 

But there does appear to be a bit of confusion..

 

OP enters into contract with Welcome in 2005 - last payment in 2007. Was that the end of the contract or did you stop payment for some other reason ?

 

Claim form issued in 2012

 

Was it at this point that you realised the PPI was mis sold ? You could have entered a counterclaim.

 

You have entered a defence against the claim, yes ?

 

When did you send the CPR 31.14 request.

 

When you were advised of the change of solicitor, were you given another contact to send legal documents to? That is where you should have sent your CPR request.

 

Was it clear that it was a CPR request, because they have no right to ask for money. Obviously if you made a CCA request then they can ask for the £1.00 fee.

 

It might be a good idea to contact the court and ask if they have a) been advised there has been a change of Legal representation andb) do they have the new contact details.

[citizenB]

You can if you wish, apply to the court to force the claimant to provide documents. I think it is an N244 and will cost you £40.00 without a hearing and £80.00 with. Although if you win your claim you will be able to include that sum in your costs.

[havinastella]

Have you submitted a defence or asked for an extention?

 

Are you still within court timeframe to submitt defence?

[mikeyb101]

Hi all,

Had another letter about the case, this time from Hegarty saying they ARE acting as solicitors on behalf of Welcome now.

I haven't entered a defence yet, just said that I would be entering a defence. to be honest I have no idea how to go about entering a defence or how to claim or even if I can still claim.

 

I have sent a CPR 31.14 request to both Welcome and Hegarty. Welcome responded with "we unable to investigate this matter." (without an account number)

If you are unsure of your account number(s), you can request a copy of the Credit Agreement and Statement of Account by writing to us and enclosing a statutory fee of £1.00... Furthermore I am unable to verify your identity based on the information you have provided. As this is the case, I will need copies of either a passport or driving license for each customer named on the account."

 

I used a template from this site for the letter, it doesn't specifically state "this is a CPR 31.14 request" but does state what the are required to supply under the Civil Procedure Rules.

 

Do I send the N244 to my local court now that the case has been moved there?

[citizenB]

They cannot charge for information requested under CPR.. They should supply any document they have mentioned within their Particular of Claim. You should bring this to the attention of the court.

 

Yes, any applications should now be made to the court where the case has been transferred to.

 

When you sent the CPR 31.14 did you use the court claim reference number ?

[DonkeyB]

When is/was your defence due? Don’t miss the deadline!

[mikeyb101]

Well I've made a pigs ear of this completely. I missed the deadline for the defence.

Early December I recieved notice that I now have a CCJ and the paperwork said I had not responded to the claim form. I could not afford the fee for a set-aside form and I don't qualify for help with fees.

 

A few weeks ago I had another letter from the court saying I have to go in for questioning and to take all my financial details, statements, etc. with me.

 

Since then I've sent off a PPI claim form to Welcome and another CPR request letter. They've replied to both but again they said I needed to send £1 and extra personal details for the information I requested. I've written back saying it's a CPR not a SAR and they have 7 days to respond. That was 6 days ago and no reply yet.

 

The original agreement was for £1318 plus £253.30 PPI plus £75 acceptance fee plus £1837.30 interest.

(makes me feel sick looking at that and stupider for even agreeing to it!)

 

I've tried doing a StatIntSheet but I don't have a monthly breakdown of payments and charges.

 

So, looking for a little advice re getting this all sorted out, overturned or just reduced to a manageable amount please! I appreciate I haven't helped myself by letting things get this far but I was trying to keep my business afloat over the last few months and the house heated and food on the table. Thankfully January's been a lot better than November and December were business-wise!