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    • I've given it a try, I expect alot of work required so will give my eyes and brain a rest as I'm getting word blind.. and I'll come back later following your initial bashings Thanks IN THE ******** County Court Claim No. [***] BETWEEN: LC Asset 2 S.A.R.L CLAIMANT AND [***] DEFENDANT ************ _________________________ ________ WITNESS STATEMENT OF [***] _________________________ ________ I, [***], being the Defendant in this case will state as follows;   I make this Witness Statement in support of my defence in this claim.   1. 1. I understand that the claimant is an Assignee, a buyer of defunct or bad debts, which are bought on mass portfolios at a much-reduced cost to the amount claimed and which the original creditors have already wrote off as a capital loss and claimed against taxable income as confirmed in the claimants witness statement exhibit by way of the Deed of Assignment. As an assignee or creditor as defined in section 189 of the CCA this applies to this new requirement on assignment of rights. This means that when an assignee purchases debts (or otherwise acquires rights under a credit agreement) it also acquires certain obligations to the borrower including the duty to comply with CCA requirements (such as the rules on statements and notices and other post-contractual information). The assignee becomes the creditor under the agreement. This ensures that essential consumer protections under the CCA cannot be circumvented by assigning the debt to a third party. 2. The Claim relates to an alleged Credit Card agreement between the Defendant and Bank of Scotland plc. Save insofar of any admittance it is accepted that the Defendant has had contractual agreements with Bank of Scotland plc in the past, the Defendant is unaware as to what alleged debt the Claimant refers. The Defendant has not entered any contract with the Claimant. 3. The Defendant requested a copy of the CCA on the 24/12/2022 along with the standard fee of £1.00 postal order, to which the defendant received a reply from the Claimant dated 06/02/2023. To this date, the Claimant has failed to disclose a valid agreement and proof as per their claim that this is enforceable, that Default Notice and Notice of Assignment were sent to and received by the Defendant, on which their claim relies. 4. The Claimant claims a Notice of Assignment was served on the 22/02/2022. This is denied. 5. The Claimant claims a Default Notice was served on the defendant. This is denied. 6. The Claimant is put to strict proof to verify and confirm that the exhibit *** is a true copy of the agreement and are the true Terms and Conditions as issued at the time of inception of the online application and execution of the agreement. 7. The Claimant further claims that the documents are sufficient to pursue a Judgement and are therefore copies of original documents in their possession. 8. Point 3 is noted and denied. The Claimant pleads that a default notice has been served upon the defendant as evidenced by Exhibit [***]. The claimant is put to strict proof to verify the service of the above in accordance with s136 and s196 Law of Property Act 1925. 9. Point 5 is noted and disputed. 10. Point 6 is noted and disputed. The Defendant cannot recall ever having received the notice of assignment as evidenced in the exhibit marked *** The claimant is put to strict proof to verify the service of the above in accordance with s136 and s196 Law of Property Act 1925. 11. Point 11 is noted and disputed. The Defendant requested a copy of the CCA on the 24/12/2022 along with the standard fee of £1.00 postal order, to which the defendant received a reply from the Claimant dated 06/02/2023. To this date, the Claimant has failed to disclose a valid agreement and proof as per their claim that this is enforceable, that Default Notice and Notice of Assignment were sent to and received by the Defendant, on which their claim relies. 12. Point 12 is noted, the Defendant doesn’t recall receiving contact where documentation is provided as per the Claimants obligations under CCA. In addition, the Claimant pleads letters were sent on dates given, yet those are not the letters evidenced in their exhibits *** (dates are wrong) 13. Point 13 is noted and denied. Claimant is put to strict proof to prove allegations. 14. The Claimant did not provide a true copy of the CCA in response to the Defendants request of 21/12/2022. Conclusion 15. Without the Claimant providing a valid true copy of the executed Credit agreement that complies with the CCA, the Claimant has no grounds on which to enforce this alleged debt. 16. The Claimant has been unjustly enriched at the expense of the Defendant by purchasing bulk debt at a greatly reduced cost and subrogating for the original creditor in trying to recuperate the full amount of the original debt 17. The Defendant was not given ample evidence to prove the debt and therefore was not required to enter into settlement negotiations. Should the debt be proved in the future, the Defendant is willing to enter into such negotiations with the Claimant. On receipt of this claim I could not recall the precise details of the agreement or any debt and sought clarity from the claimant by way of a Section 78 request. The Claimant failed to comply. I can only assume as this was due to the Claimant not having any enforceable documentation and issuing a claim in hope of an undefended default judgment. Statement of Truth I, ********, the Defendant, believe the facts stated within this Witness Statement to be true. Signed: _________________________ _______ Dated: _____________________
    • eh?...no you are simply telling them you have moved...
    • I agree with you. You and the company are separate legal entities so the company property that you damaged is third party property as far as you are concerned..  Get the company to write to you holding you formally responsible for the damage to their fence with the quotations for the repair. Send it by post (proof of posting) to Prima and ask them to confirm they will deal with the the third party directly. Best that someone other than you writes on behalf of the company! I suspect this is simply lack of knowledge by staff on customer service desks who don't understand the concept of companies and their shareholders being separate legal entities. If Prima still make difficulties use their formal complaints system until either they agree to cover the TP claim or issue a deadlock letter. You can then go the FCA.
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      This is generally speaking the problem with using PackLink who are domiciled in Spain and very conveniently out of reach of the British justice system.

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Taking British Gas to Court


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Hi All

 

I'n new to the site and am hoping someone can help. I am taking British Gas to court because for 4 years they have been billing be as a business whe I am a residential customer. I have wrote to them , called them and emailed them for over 4 years telling them that I am a residential customer. They have sent me ridculous bills (which I have not paid beciase I am not a business) and they have still not transferred my account to a residential one. An invoice for over £7k was the last straw so after them investigating the matter for 6 months and getting nowhere I decided I had enough and filed a claim against them to which they have responded with a defense and a counter claim for thousands of pounds through there solicitors Eversheds? Does anyone know anything about this firm or has anyone taken BG to court? The couter claim has worried me a bit so any advice would be helpful.

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Could you put up the claim, defence and counterclaim please.

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Hi

 

sorry Im new to these forums I have the defense scanned in my email and I have the claim partuculares (i think thats what theyre called) that I can copy and past how do I put the defense up?

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Can I email it all to you?

 

yes - to our admin address please

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We need to see the details (redeacted if required), you can post them up as pdf's. If the docs are in word format they can be converted using many free print to pdf applications or docs can be scanned to pdf.

 

Its not clear what exactly you are suing BG for ?

 

You may be interested to read Ferguson v BG, a well known legal case > http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2009/46.html

 

Andy

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nshy, we now have the documents and BF will be with you soon :)

Have we helped you ...?         Please Donate button to the Consumer Action Group

Uploading documents to CAG ** Instructions **

Looking for a draft letter? Use the CAG Library

Dealing with Customer Service Departments? - read the CAG Guide first

1: Making a PPI claim ? - Q & A's and spreadsheets for single premium policy - HERE

2: Take back control of your finances - Debt Diaries

3: Feel Bullied by Creditors or Debt Collectors? Read Here

4: Staying Calm About Debt  Read Here

5: Forum rules - These have been updated - Please Read

BCOBS

1: How can BCOBS protect you from your Banks unfair treatment

2: Does your Bank play fair - You can force your Bank to play Fair with you

3: Banking Conduct of Business Regulations - The Hidden Rules

4: BCOBS and Unfair Treatment - Common Examples of Banks Behaving Badly

5: Fair Treatment for Credit Card Holders and Borrowers - COBS

Advice & opinions given by citizenb are personal, are not endorsed by Consumer Action Group or Bank Action Group, and are offered informally, without prejudice & without liability. Your decisions and actions are your own, and should you be in any doubt, you are advised to seek the opinion of a qualified professional.

PLEASE DO NOT ASK ME TO GIVE ADVICE BY PM - IF YOU PROVIDE A LINK TO YOUR THREAD THEN I WILL BE HAPPY TO OFFER ADVICE THERE:D

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So far as I can see you had an account wiht BG since 2007 and they treated it as a business account but in fact it should have been a residential account.

 

They have been billing you on that basis - which is a higher rate than you should have been paying.

 

You are claiming £3800 for wasted time and you want the account closed and written off.

 

Let me start out by saying that these are not achievable objectives - so you will need to have a serious rethink.

 

You may be able to claim for the time you have put in trying to solve the problem - if you are in the wrong, but it would have to be a reasonable amount of money and you would have to support your claim with evidence of how long you have spent, what it has cost you and how calculate the total claimed for this.

The court will be very suspicious and you are best off keeping your claim for this part very modest - and well supported by evidence.

 

You will not be able to get the court to write off the debt. What you may be able to do is to get the court to agree that you only owe £XXX - being the residential rate.

 

I see that BG are counterclaiming £6200 for unpaid bills.

 

I think that you need to be warned that there is a real risk that this claim may be allocated to the fast-track. If that happens, then if you lose, you will be facing an order for some costs on top of your loss.

 

I think that you need to amed your claim quickly to reflect a more reasonable claim.

 

I think that you need to work out what you would owe if the gas had correctly been billed at the residential rate. this money shoujld be paid quickly so that the amount of the counterclaim is reduced.

 

People often make the mistake of getting angry and witholding all the money - owed and not-owed. This is wrong. You should always try to reduce the value of the dispute by paying what you believe you do owe.

This reduces the value of any cliam and it also demonstrates to the court that you are sincere, that you have acted reasonably and that you are not trying to pull a fast-one.

 

Is there any reason why BG might have thought the address was a business? Who was the supplier before BG? Did you live there before 2007?

You need to start gathering evidence that it is residantial - and that it always has been. Phone bills, bank statements, driving licences - anything.

 

I would find out what you would ose if it was residential - and pay it

amend the POC to reflect a more realistic expectation of expenses - and get rid of the request to write off the debt.

Send BG an SAR to get all info they hold on you about this.

 

I would base my claim on their contractual breach to conduct your account correctly, to treat it as residential and to bil you correctly on it.

I owuld do a very calculated claim for wasted expenses and effort trying to sort it out - at a very reasonable rate per hour - maybe £10.

 

See what that all adds up to.

 

Do this quickly vefore the claim is allocated. You need to amend by means of an N244

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I second BF's comments.

 

It is all too easy for an individual to feel hard done by, start (sometimes misguided) court action and ignore the £5000 small claims limit and before they know it, the claim is on fast track, they are in court facing barristers and they lose and are given a bill of many tens or sometimes hundreds of thousands, people have been ruined or lost their homes over such matters.

 

I agree with BF that all you can realistically claim is the differencve between the residential and commercial cost, any extras or essentially damages are only to restore you in the position you were in before, this would probably only be a small amount, I'd suggest perhaps using a rate of £18 as they is the litigant in person rate although technuically you are not actually claiming 'costs' at this stage.

 

Andy

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Hi noshy, I see BG have instructed Eversheds as their legal advisors.

 

This firm is ruthless, so it might well be in your interest to have a rethink of where you are going with this and follow BF's advice.

Have we helped you ...?         Please Donate button to the Consumer Action Group

Uploading documents to CAG ** Instructions **

Looking for a draft letter? Use the CAG Library

Dealing with Customer Service Departments? - read the CAG Guide first

1: Making a PPI claim ? - Q & A's and spreadsheets for single premium policy - HERE

2: Take back control of your finances - Debt Diaries

3: Feel Bullied by Creditors or Debt Collectors? Read Here

4: Staying Calm About Debt  Read Here

5: Forum rules - These have been updated - Please Read

BCOBS

1: How can BCOBS protect you from your Banks unfair treatment

2: Does your Bank play fair - You can force your Bank to play Fair with you

3: Banking Conduct of Business Regulations - The Hidden Rules

4: BCOBS and Unfair Treatment - Common Examples of Banks Behaving Badly

5: Fair Treatment for Credit Card Holders and Borrowers - COBS

Advice & opinions given by citizenb are personal, are not endorsed by Consumer Action Group or Bank Action Group, and are offered informally, without prejudice & without liability. Your decisions and actions are your own, and should you be in any doubt, you are advised to seek the opinion of a qualified professional.

PLEASE DO NOT ASK ME TO GIVE ADVICE BY PM - IF YOU PROVIDE A LINK TO YOUR THREAD THEN I WILL BE HAPPY TO OFFER ADVICE THERE:D

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Hi noshy, I see BG have instructed Eversheds as their legal advisors.

 

This firm is ruthless, so it might well be in your interest to have a rethink of where you are going with this and follow BF's advice.

 

Thanks Guys my claim is for under £4000, I'm worried now I dont want to end up in an even worse situation owing more than what the counter claim is, If I contact their solicitor and ask them to mediate and to come to an agreement that they change the account over to residential straight away, and the balance that they are counter claiming for already has a standing order going out each month do you think that would be reasonable, the just dont correct the account i have asked them so many times, also if I ask them for a break down of how the got to their counter claim?

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But surely their counterclaim is incorrect as its based on commercial rates ?..however it would appear there is some merit in it as clearly you do owe something.

 

You can suggest mediation, but they dont have to agree to it, but it may help your case later if you can show you were willing to mediate, some Judges push the mediation option strongly, others do not.

 

A slightly worrying thought is that because their counterclaim is over £5000 it still may go onto fast track, perhaps others can advise more on this.

 

It does appear that you are one of a large number who perhaps rushes into court action a bit too fast without weighing up the pros and cons first, (especially if there is a risk of fast/multi track and subsequent costs).

 

Andy

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If your address was always a residential address and you can prove it then you will succeed.

Get your evidence together carefully as I have suggested earlier.

 

Contact the court and tell them that you would like to use the mediation service. Yuo may find that easier

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If your address was always a residential address and you can prove it then you will succeed.

Get your evidence together carefully as I have suggested earlier.

 

Contact the court and tell them that you would like to use the mediation service. Yuo may find that easier

 

Thank you

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  • 4 months later...

Hi guys

just wondring if you can help again, had a case management meeting and the judge said that theres no real legal basis for my claim unless I change it to a claim for stress and anxiety and to get a solicitor, he was really nice about it and extended a stay for 6 weeks to negotiate a settlement but he said as it stands my case may get struck out, he cant go down the small claims route because the defendant has made their claim over 5k and wont aggree, hopefully we can settle before but BG dont negotiate well. Just so I know what happends if my claim is struck out? what will happend to the counter claim?

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Firstly the long number for your MPAN, does it start with "01" or "02". If any other number, then it is business rated MPAN. If you supplied proof that it is residential, BGAS should have downgraded. Did you request to be downgraded at any time? Does the meter serial number on the bill match the meter serial number on the meter which is on the property? Surely when you first registered with BGAS as a supplier, you would have approached them as a residential customer?

One way to lower the amount into the small claims court is to pay off some of the amount owing as either way you are liable and it will be payable. Over 4 years on domestic rates, I would estimate that you would owe BGAS at least £3200 if it is only for electric, i.e. no gas heating. If not, then it should be about £2000. I cannot see if you mention whether it is gas or electric. Generally business rates can be cheaper than domestic rates depending on supplier.

At the moment the judge is correct. If you can supply answers to the above perhaps I can help further.

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