Cabot/Shoesmiths Claimform - old catalogue 'debt'

[mitsy]

Hi, I've just received a county court claim form from Shoosmiths LLP claiming on behalf of Cabot Financial for an old Premier Man account from the 17/12/2008 for the sum off £406. I don't have any paper work from the account and got into financial difficulty around that time.

 

Can anyone please shed some light on what is the next step, should I ask for a copy of the agreement etc. It says I have 14 days to reply so any help would be much appreciated.

 

I have made no payments since 2008.

 

Regards Mitsy

[ims21]

Thread moved to the Legal Forum.

 

Can you please have a read here and post the answers to the questions here on your thread.

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?419198-You-have-received-a-Claim-What-you-need-to-do.-**UPDATED-April-2014**

 

This will help the legal guys help you.

[mitsy]

You have received a claim form. Yes

 

In order for us to help you we require the following information:-

 

Name of the Claimant ? Cabot Financial

 

Date of issue – top right hand corner of the claim form – this in order to establish the time line you need to adhere to. 19th June

 

Date of issue XX + 19 days ( 5 day for service + 14 days to acknowledge) = XX + 14 days to submit defence = XX (33 days in total)

 

What is the claim for – the reason they have issued the claim? Please type out their particulars of claim (verbatim) less any identifiable data and round the amounts up/down.

 

The claimant claims the sum of £321.56 being monies due from the defendant to the claimant under a regulated agreement between the defendant and Premier man. And assigned to the claimant on 13/01/2012, notice of which has been provided to the defendant.

The defendant has failed to make payment in accordance with the terms of the agreement and a default notice has been served persuant to the consumer credit act 1974.

The claimant claims the sum of £321.56 and costs.

The claimant has complied, as far as is in the pre-action conduct practise direction.

 

What is the value of the claim? £321.56 court fee £35 solicitors fees £50 totall amount £406.56

 

Has the claimant included section 69 interest (8%)within the total claim or is it shown separate within the Particulars but not added to the debt? No

 

Is the claim for a current or credit/loan account or mobile phone account? No

 

When did you enter into the original agreement before or after 2007? After

 

Has the claim been issued by the original creditor or was the account assigned and it is the Debt purchaser who has issued the claim. Debt purchaser Cabot financial.

 

Were you aware the account had been assigned – did you receive a Notice of Assignment? Can't remember

 

Did you receive a Default Notice from the original creditor? Can't remember

 

Have you been receiving statutory notices headed “Notice of Default sums” – at least once a year ? No

 

Why did you cease payments:- financial difficulty.

 

Was there a dispute with the original creditor that remains unresolved? No

 

Did you communicate any financial problems to the original creditor and make any attempt to enter into a debt management plan? No

 

What you need to do now. How I proceed, and what forms do I need to send, can I ask for a copy of the agreement.

 

Answer the questions above

 

If you have not already done so – send a CCA1974 request to the claimant

 

Send a CPR31.14 request to the solicitor named on the claim form for copies of documents mentioned/implied within the claim form. There are two different versions - one for Loans/Credit cards the other for Current accounts

 

Request 1 - Loans/Credit Cards

 

Request 2 - Current accounts

 

You may use a CPR part 18 request for any other information (not request documents) that you might require in order to defend yourself.

Please not that CPR 18 is specifically for Fast Track claims and although technically the claim has yet to be allocated to a track the claimant may refuse to comply for this reason.

 

If you require CPR Part 18 - this will need to be drafted specifically.

 

If you are not planning on defending for one reason or another – then you will need to complete an Income and Expenditure form and contact the Solicitor with your proposal. The N9a is already enclosed in the claim pack for Admittance which should be sent to the solicitor named on the claim form

 

If you are considering making a partial admittance N9b must be completed and returned to the court.

Please note in most cases a partial admittance will result in an automatic CCJ for the amount admitted.

Edited June 26, 2014 by Andyorch
Hi light on PoC

[mitsy]

Bump

[AndyOrch]

So you need to acknowledge the claim first Misty as above add 19 days to the date on the claim...that is your acknowledgement date but you can do it anytime now once you have registered to use the MCOL service.

 

Then you need to decide if your intended action ...do you wish to defend? If so you need to request the information as outlined above ..CPR 31.14 and CCA (credit consumer agreement) request.

 

Regards

 

Andy

[mitsy]

Thanks Andy, CPR 31.14 and CCA have been sent off, and I have acknowledged it through MCOL.

What would be the next step, if they ignore the request, can I ask the court to set it aside due to non compliance.

 

I also don't think what they say I owe is incorrect, if I remember correctly, I think the credit limit was for a £100 but don't have anything to back this up.

[AndyOrch]

Thanks Andy, CPR 31.14 and CCA have been sent off, and I have acknowledged it through MCOL.

What would be the next step, if they ignore the request, can I ask the court to set it aside due to non compliance.No they are not compelled to disclose pre defence...disclosure follows the defence

 

I also don't think what they say I owe is incorrect, if I remember correctly, I think the credit limit was for a £100 but don't have anything to back this up.

 

 

Andy

[mitsy]

So if they ignore the CCA and CPR 31.14, and I put in my defence that they have not produced the credit agreement, and they come back and say they cannot provide one, would this be sufficient enough to have it thrown out of court.

[AndyOrch]

They cant ignore the CCA they can decline the CPR...they will have to disclose irrespective at the relative stage when the court directs...if they fail the court will strike it out.

 

If they cant respond to the CCA then there is little point proceeding...but the court again will deal with that as above at the necessary stage.

[mitsy]

Oh dear the solicitors sent the paperwork back because I didn't sign in. It did print my name though.

[AndyOrch]

Delaying tactics..there is no legal requirement for a signature.

[mitsy]

Just received this back from the solicitors after I signed and returned my requests.

 

"We acknowledge receipt of your recent letters.

 

As you should be aware S78(1) CCA 1974 states that "the creditor under a regulated agreement for running-account credit, within the prescribed period after receiving a request in writing to that effect from the debtor and payment of a fee of £1, shall give the debter a copy of the executed agreement..

 

Your request is returned to you because we are not the creditor- we are a firm of Solicitors.

 

In any event, it may be useful to explain that the Credit Agreement was terminated when you failed to comply with the terms of the Default Notice issued. We refer you to the judgment of His Honour Judge Simon Brown QC in the Rankine V American Express Service Europe Limited.

 

In response to your request made pursuant to CPR 31.14 we respectfully point out that the proceedings in this instance were issued via the County Court Bulk Centre, which is a procedure specifically provided for in the CPR. PD 7(1.4)(3A) States that "the requirements in the paragraph 7.3 of the practice direction 16 (statements of case) for documents to be attached to the particulars of contract claims does not apply to claims to be issued by the Centre..."

 

Furthermore, as you should be aware, CPR 31.14(1) States:-

 

"a party may inspect a document mentioned in -

 

(a) a statement of case,

(b) a witness statement,

© a witness summary, or

(d) an affidavit"

 

The documents you requested are not "mentioned" in our particulars of the Claim and therefore CPR 31.14(1) does not apply.

[AndyOrch]

Just received this back from the solicitors after I signed and returned my requests.

 

"We acknowledge receipt of your recent letters.

 

As you should be aware S78(1) CCA 1974 states that "the creditor under a regulated agreement for running-account credit, within the prescribed period after receiving a request in writing to that effect from the debtor and payment of a fee of £1, shall give the debter a copy of the executed agreement..

 

Your request is returned to you because we are not the creditor- we are a firm of Solicitors.Who are acting for the claimant in litigation of this agreement

 

In any event, it may be useful to explain that the Credit Agreement was terminated when you failed to comply with the terms of the Default Notice issued. We refer you to the judgment of His Honour Judge Simon Brown QC in the Rankine V American Express Service Europe Limited.

 

Nonsense and laughable from a supposedly firm of solicitors...the fact its terminated has no effect on a section 77/78/79 request and is applicable until replaced by a judgment (CCJ)

In response to your request made pursuant to CPR 31.14 we respectfully point out that the proceedings in this instance were issued via the County Court Bulk Centre, which is a procedure specifically provided for in the CPR. PD 7(1.4)(3A) States that "the requirements in the paragraph 7.3 of the practice direction 16 (statements of case) for documents to be attached to the particulars of contract claims does not apply to claims to be issued by the Centre..."

 

You never stated that ....you requested disclosure of the documents referred to in their particulars vis a CPR 31.14 not that they were not attached

 

Furthermore, as you should be aware, CPR 31.14(1) States:-

 

"a party may inspect a document mentioned in -

 

(a) a statement of case,

(b) a witness statement,

© a witness summary, or

(d) an affidavit"

 

The documents you requested are not "mentioned" in our particulars of the Claim and therefore CPR 31.14(1) does not apply.

 

What did you request ? Were they referred to in their particulars?

 

Regards

 

Andy

[mitsy]

Do you mean the CCA and CPR i requested Andy? Think I only have a few more days to state my defence, any idea what I should put in it, template letter etc. I'm a bit clueless when it comes to things like this, with the last dabble with legal letters etc being when everyone was claiming bank chargers back. And I missed the deadline by one day.

 

Thanks for the help Andy much appreciated.

[AndyOrch]

What did you request in your CPR 31.14 and what did they refer to in the particulars?

[mitsy]

I asked for the.

 

2: the assignment*

 

3: the default notice*

 

4: the termination notice*

 

5: statement of account*

 

Don't think they referred to anything Andy.

[AndyOrch]

The claimant claims the sum of £321.56 being monies due from the defendant to the claimant under a regulated agreement between the defendant and Premier man. And assigned to the claimant on 13/01/2012, notice of which has been provided to the defendant.

 

The defendant has failed to make payment in accordance with the terms of the agreement and a default notice has been served pursuant to the consumer credit act 1974.

 

The claimant claims the sum of £321.56 and costs.

The claimant has complied, as far as is in the pre-action conduct practice direction.

 

Credit agreement

Notice of Assignment

Default Notice

[mitsy]

Oh yes, should I just add this in my defence that they have failed to produce the information that I asked for.

[AndyOrch]

Yes....have they returned your CCA fee or kept it?

[mitsy]

They returned it Andy.

[AndyOrch]

Okay send just the CCA request to Cabot ....attach a covering letter stating that you have previously requested this information from Shoos who are representing you Cabot as Claimant in litigation with regards to an ongoing claim number xxxxxxxx and that they are deliberately denying you from seeking this legal request in support of your defence and quoting and relying on Rankine V American Express Service Europe Limited.

 

You must empathise that should this request not be complied with you will bring it to the courts attention at the appropriate point of proceedings.

[mitsy]

Andy to try and put things a bit more in to perspective, i have 2 claims against me at roughly the same time. i didn't want to start a new thread so based the 2 claims of this one.

 

Shoesmiths have actually not Acknowledged the CCA or the CPR 31.14. it was the other solicitors Restons who have replied, but i'm just trying to keep things simple.

i have had no response from shoesmiths. MCOL Acknowledged my service on the 30/06/20114. so its now been 15 days since i entered into MCOL, and the CCA and CPR were posted first class recorded on the 02/072014.

 

Should i now enter a defence of non compliance? Im dealing with the other case as you instructed.

 

Do the think it's worthwhile sending this to Restons.

 

Section 77/78 Request

As prescribed under section 77/78 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974

 

To **** **** **** ****

 

I write to instruct you Restons Solicitors Who are acting for the claimant in litigation of this agreement to supply me with a copy of the above Regulated Credit Agreement, including any document referred to therein and statement of account under the legislation contained within Section 77 and 78 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974. I enclose the statutory fee of £1:00 as required per this request. Failure to comply with this request is a criminal offence under the Consumer Credit Act of 1974. Under 189 of the Consumer Credit Act of 1974 you are obliged to provide these documents whether you are the original creditor or not.

 

If you the Solicitor acting on behalf of the claimant under an agreement fail to comply with this request within 12 days you will be in default and as a consequence not entitled to enforce the agreement and where the default continues for one month you the creditor/Solicitor will commit an offence.

 

Yours faithfully.

[AndyOrch]

So is this thread Shoes or Restons?

 

Dont send the above to whoever...its no longer a criminal offence

[mitsy]

It started out as shoes but a few days later I got one from restons basically for a cat debt both Cabot so just kept it as it is. Shoes have ignored me and it's Restons who declined the CPR and CCA.

 

I already posted the above 77/78 request

 

All the dates on this thread are regarding to shoes, I only added the restons bit as they are the ones that actually replied.

 

Is there a templet letter I could add to MCOL regarding the shoes, the court letter was dated the 19th June and I acknowledged it through MCOL on the 30th June, so I think the 33 days are nearly up, and it has now been 14 days since I sent the CCA AND CPR to shoes.

[AndyOrch]

If this is the shoesmith claim then I would advise a new thread for Restons and a time line of what you have done so far together with any responses/court documents etc.