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County court claim - do I have a case?


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Hello,

 

Firstly, I am a regular poster on the forums here but feel the need to use an alt account for this post.

 

A debt collector has issued a county court claim against me for the amount of ~£2,500. And I don't agree with the full claim. Please hear me through :-)

 

In late 2009, I left my job to start a business. My old employers, "Company X", accidentally continued to pay me for 3 months, totalling ~£3,600. A few months later they wrote to me to obviously ask for the amount back. By this point, I'd spent the money. I had so much coming in and out of my account at the time that I didn't notice. Terrible organisation, I know, and not a mistake I would make today!

 

So I offered to pay a nominal £20 back per month until I could afford to pay more, to which Company X agreed. That was fine, and then in October 2012 I agreed to up it to £300 per month over 10 months to clear the remaining £3,000. Note that they also stated the usual blurb of "if you don't keep up payments, you will be liable additional costs" etc.

 

All fine. I paid the first 3 payments, but then missed the next 3. Totally my mistake - I had removed my calendar entry telling me to pay it. Company X then instructed a solicitor / debt collector to sort it out. A few weeks ago the Solicitor wrote to me advising that my account is in arrears, and that if I do not pay the outstanding £900 within 7 days they may issue court proceedings. 13 days later, they did so, for the outstanding balance, plus 8% interest dating back to 2009, plus court and legal fees, totalling £2,500.

 

At this point, you're probably wondering what I have to complain about. Here's what it comes down to:

 

  1. Company X at no time informed me that I had missed payments. The first contact I received, having kept up with the new payment schedule, was from the Solicitor, with only 7 days to act.
  2. I was working away from home for two weeks which spanned the entire period between the Solicitor's letter and the court claim. In other words, I didn't see it until the court claim was already issued.
  3. Both Company X and the Solicitor had my email address (and possibly my telephone number), but made no attempt to contact my through those channels, which I would have been able to respond immediately to.

As I said above, I was away when the Solicitor's letter was sent. When I opened it (which was 13 days after its date), I paid the £900 immediately. The very next day I was opening the letter of the court claim! Then, I paid the remaining £900.

 

I told the Solicitor this but they basically ignored it entirely and want the remaining £700 interest and fees.

 

I think their lack of effort to contact me and go straight to a court claim is ridiculous. I'm tempted to pay the £700 fees, because I'm buying my first house this year and simply can't have a CCJ registered against me.

 

Do I have a case to not pay?

 

Thanks a lot in advance :-)

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Thread moved to Legal Forum.

 

Regards

 

Andy

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I am afraid I am not sympathetic. You had the responsibility to pay the monies back, you couldn't (having spent it) so agreed a payment plan. it was your responsibility to stick to the repayment plan, you didn't. I would pay the fees and keep much better control over your finances in future. A lesson learned the hard way IMHO.

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Thanks for the reply.

 

I certainly agree that it's 100% my fault, I missed payments, it's obviously their money (I've always wanted to pay it back), etc. I don't know, I just thought it wasn't right for them to not contact me and just issue a court claim.

 

I've since found out that 7 days notice is all you need to give legally. I find that a bit strange, as people are often away from home for longer than that. It seems like that's another thing tilted in the favour of debt collectors.

 

Anyway, I just got off the phone with them and they've agreed to waive the interest but not the fees. I will take that! Phew :oops:

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What are the fees for, also I don't think they can charge you interest. Only the court can award that.

 

If you have paid all the outstanding debit, they will find it difficult to claim back dated interest and their fees.

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I assume they are the company's reasonable costs for having to put this in the hands of their solicitors. A company is under no obligation to enter into a repayment plan for overpayment of salary, particularly when the amounts concerned are likely to be 'noticeable' by the recipient. It may seem unfair but the responsibility lies with the person whom spent - presumably knowingly - money that was not theirs to spend. The company can demonstrate to the court that they have been more than reasonable in allowing the recipient to pay back the money IMHO so I personally would not risk it. However, that's purely a personal opinion. I do agree it doesn't look right to try and claim back 8% as presumably nothing was 'signed' giving you a 'loan'; I guess that's why they have agreed to 'waive' that part of the claim! But additional costs for having to pursue? Humm. They might stand firm on that one....(note the word 'might...). Who knows.

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