Restons sent a court claim

[2hapennys]

Hi all

I would like a bit of advice towards writing a defence please.

 

Let me fill you in with as much detail as I can.

 

My husband and I split up in 2008,

we were both in a mess financially and the arguments about money was one of the factors to our break up.

 

 

I opened a new bank account Sept 08, and

after many tough years of knuckling down working 60 hours a week plus the advice of this site,

I am finally debt free apart from a mortgage and an old default which drops of in the next two months.

 

In March this year out of the blue I received a letter from Arrow Global saying I owed them around £500 for an old personal loan

 

 

I discarded this letter because I wasn't aware of any outstanding debts,

although it was addressed to my ex husband and myself.

 

I had another letter from Restons saying that unless proposals to pay were made they would issue court proceedings.

 

I wrote back stating I was not aware of this debt nor acknowledge it,

they wrote back saying again I must pay or legal action will occur.

 

 

A few more letters went to and fro, eventually they sent a CCA for a loan dated October 97,

I immediately responded with a statute bared letter.

They claimed a £1 payment was made on this account Sept 08,

I asked them for details of the payment ie. how it was received from which account etc.

 

Earlier this month they asked me to prove to them that I had not made that payment,

and prove to them when the limitation period began,

I thought it was down to the DCA to prove I had made it.

They have not sent me any documentation proving this payment so far.

 

I ignored that letter because my last correspondence stated that unless they provided me with the proof of payment I would not reply any further.

 

this week I have had the court claim through,

 

 

I logged on to MCOL and said I wish to defend the claim in full.

 

 

I am out of my league now,

 

 

I have no idea what to put I am thinking of the SB defence

but according to their letters they claim the payment was made on the 13/9/08

 

 

obviously this period will lapse during the time I am allowed to file my defence,

does this make any difference?

 

Could someone please help me pen a defence,

I really don't want to mess my credit rating up for another 6 years,

 

 

do you think I have a good chance of winning,

or should I just pay to make them go away.

 

Any advice, would be appreciated. sorry for it being such I long post,

I just wanted you to have as much detail as possible to help me.

 

THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH x

[renegadeimp]

Arrow and restons are notorious for inventing payments to try and get around the statute barred defence.

 

 

In your case they havent even proved a payment was made.

 

 

In my opinion, i would use the statute barred defence and put them to proof that a payment was made.

 

 

They almost always say that it was an admin error, or they try their hardest to settle out of court.

[2hapennys]

Thank you

I thought it may be a phantom payment but I cant be 100% sure.

 

Can I write to restons again asking for proof or just file a defence?

[renegadeimp]

Youve already asked for proof. Theyve ignored you and decided to chance their arm with a claim. IMO i would check your bank statements and then issue the SB defence. OThers may have different ideas. Sit tight. Its the bank holiday weekend so the forums will be slow, but youll get more advice.

[theoldrouge]

please read and answer the following, as much as you are able

 

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

[2hapennys]

Hi sorry about the delay in replying my depression kicked in

and I couldn't handle this.

 

 

to answer the questions the oldrouge asked.

 

1. Notice of claimant is Arrow Global

2. Date of issue 15/8

3. Reason - The claimant claims payment of the overdue balance due from the defendant under a contract between the defendant and hbos dated on or around 6/11/97 and assigned to the claimant on 8/10/10 in the sum of £500. Then it shows account number and a date of 3/3/14 default balance and value.

4. Value £500 plus costs

5. According to coca it was a loan.

6. Date of original agreement on or around 6/11/97

7. Via a debt purchaser

8. Note of assignment - not certain

9. Default - possibly I defaulted on lots but nothing on crf to do with this.

10. Default notices - no

11. Ceased payments - Husband lost job struggling to make ends meet.

12. No dispute although it shows ppi of £2752 & I interest on cca ?

13. I did enter into an agreement with most of the creditors at the time but it would have been early 2000

 

Is there anything else you require?

 

Because I have the Cca do I still need to request one?

 

Thank you all xx

[citizenB]

Right, you have a timeline that you need to stick to.

 

Date of issue 15.08.2014 + 5 days for service = 19.08.2014 + 14 days to acknowledge claim = 02.09.2014 + 14 days to submit defence = 16.09.2014

 

It is up to the Claimant to prove that a payment was made and by whom.

 

Did you make a CCA request around that time ? The £1.00 could have been for the statutory fee. Unfortunately, the SB clock would have stopped ticking the minute they issued the claim.

 

I see there was PPI on the loan, was this of any value to your and your ex ? If not, then this could be reclaimed. Whether or not you could do this by way of a counterclaim, I don't know -

 

You have a few days in hand, as your defence is not due until 16th September. Is this account in your name only ?

 

I will ask someone to pop in and advise further.

[dx100uk]

who was the original creditor

 

 

dx

[citizenB]

Can you please clarify the following..

 

 

You state you opened a new account in Sept 08... however, this claim is for a personal loan...

 

Restons state a payment was made in Sept 08 of £1.00.

 

Who is named on the claim ? Is it a P/L or an Overdraft ? What does the account number refer to?

[2hapennys]

Hi All

 

I did not request a CCA in or around sept 08.

 

The original creditor according to the claim was HBOS but the CCA shows The Bank of Wales.

 

I opened a new account Sept 08 due to my marriage breakdown, the payment they allege was not from that account. My old joint account was used by my ex husband for a while.

 

Who is named on the claim ? Is it a P/L or an overdraft ? What does the account number refer to? It is a P/L according to the paperwork. The claim is in my name only but the CCA is in both my ex and my name.

 

I see there was PPI on the loan, was this of any value to your and your ex ? If not, then this could be reclaimed. Whether or not you could do this by way of a counterclaim, I don't know - No it wasnt we were both employed by Royal Mail at the time who gave full sick pay, and death in service benefit. Is it not too old to claim it was taken out in 1997.

 

Anything else please ask. x

[AndyOrch]

Do you recall roughly when you last made a payment to the account 2hapennys ? If it was in the region of June/July 08 then their claim is Statute Barred disregard the Reston phantom payment of £1 ...they try it with every SB claim.

 

Andy

[2hapennys]

Andy

 

I would guess at around 2007, but cant be certain.

 

I have asked them to prove this £1 payment but they have sent me nothing, does that mean they are trying it on?

x

[AndyOrch]

Of course they are.......

 

Here is a form of limitation defence to the claim. There may be other grounds of defence in this particular case, but this defence alone will serve to defeat the claim assuming the facts stated in it are true.

 

 

 

1. The Claimant's claim was issued on (date).

 

2. The Defendant contends that the Claimant's claim so issued is a claim in contract and is statute barred pursuant to the provisions of section 5 of the Limitation Act 1980. If, which is denied, the claimant contends that the Defendant is in breach of the alleged contract, in excess of 6 years has elapsed since the date on which any cause of action for breach accrued for the benefit of the Claimant.

 

3. The Claimant's claim to be entitled to payment of £x or any other sum, or relief of any kind is denied.

 

Regards

 

Andy

[2hapennys]

Thanks Andy

 

Do I file now on leave it until a few days before the due date?

xx

[AndyOrch]

No point waiting may as well submit now on MCOL....get it out of the way.

[2hapennys]

Ok Andy will do

 

The only reason I ask it that I am on training for two weeks residental and wont be able to go to court during this time.

 

thank you for your help so far x

[AndyOrch]

It will be 3/4 weeks before allocation ...assuming they wish to proceed on a SB claim:roll:

[2hapennys]

Thank you Andy x

[citizenB]

Ignore what I said previously, looks like andyorch has looked in on you and sorted things out

[panther12]

Just a thought but before submitting defence would it be worth a CPR 18 request for specific info relating to the £1 payment they say was made Sep 08. They have 7 days to reply so if there's time before the defence has to be submitted I was just wondering if this might add extra weight if they fail to reply or provide proof of this payment.

[AndyOrch]

You cant add any more weight to a statute barred defence...its an ultimate defence.You can simply clarify the above if they wish to proceed later in proceedings.