Please help...at wits end

[allyballybee]

Hi everyone,

 

I have never posted in a forum before, but I really need some advice. Apologies for the lengthy post, but I just don't know where to turn.

 

In April 2013, we were unlawfully evicted from our rented property. Knowing that we were away for a few days, the landlord entered the property, changed the locks and emailed to tell us he had done this and if we tried to gain entry he would call the police.

 

We were behind on our rent.

 

The landlord kept everything that we owned, except the few clothes we had with us. He then proceeded to sell our possessions at a local car boot sale.

 

Thankfully my partners parents were in a position to take us in otherwise we would have been on the streets.

 

I sought advice at the time from Shelter/CAB and they advised that we should seek legal advice.

 

Although reluctant, we approached a law firm and based on the details we had provided, evidence that we had, they agreed to take on the case on a no win, no fee basis.

 

Naturally the landlord denied everything, made up some crazy lies and would not agree to settle.

 

At first, the law firm were very proactive but after sometime when it became apparent that this was going to be a lengthy drawn out process, their interest waned. The Solicitor who was looking after our case changed no less than seven times. Large periods of time would pass without any contact from them and then suddenly we would receive an email from someone saying they were now handling our case and we would have to go over everything once again.

 

On the 7th December 2015, having not heard from them for five months, we received an email from a Solicitor that we had not heard from before asking why we had not returned a 'disclosure' form. This was urgent apparently and need to be with the court in two days time. We did not receive the disclosure and after investigation it transpired that it had actually been sent to the house we had been evicted from.

 

We were sent another copy and duly returned without actually having the time to read or understand what the document was.

 

Around the 19th December, the Solicitor now dealing with our case contacted me and asked us to provide him with our witness statements. I explained that we had already provided and signed off the statements (on two separate occasions) and as nothing had changed, we would like him to proceed with statements we had already given.

 

I also explained that on the 4th December my elderly mothers home was destroyed by the floods in Cumbria. It was an absolute nightmare (she's 86) and I really couldn't deal with the case for the moment, so I asked him to carry on and I will respond to his emails, sign off any documents etc.

 

At this point he became very aggressive. As he hadn't handled the case from the beginning, hadn't put together the witness statements etc, it was necessary for us to go through the whole process with him again. Bearing in mind this was the seventh solicitor to handle us, I stuck to my guns and told him they had everything that they needed to proceed, we had nothing to add and considering the circumstances with my mother, I really needed his cooperation and understanding.

 

Christmas came and went and on the 12th January, we had the opportunity to get my mother away for a week to my brothers place in the Highlands, whilst he came to Cumbria and helped deal with the aftermath of the flood. I emailed the Solicitor, informed him I would be back on the 19th and I would be able to answer any questions, sign off documents if needed on my return.

 

What followed was a series of aggressive letters from the Solicitor (whilst we were away from home), culminating in a letter sent on the 18th January, dismissing us. He had contacted the court and asked to be removed from the case, which the court agreed to.

 

We were devastated by his actions. In a panic, I contacted the court and they advised I should try to find another law firm or handle the case ourselves.

 

I contacted several Solicitors but no-one was prepared to take the case on a no win, no fee basis. We had received our case files from the law firm, which the solicitors looked over and it transpires the whole thing was a disaster. The litigation was very weak, the vast majority of the documents were just a copy/paste of the information I had supplied by email (including errors) and with so may Solicitors handling the case opportunities had been missed and mistakes had been made.

 

I contacted the court repeatedly, keeping them informed of the situation, but eventually we ran out of options. We couldn't afford the fee of £500.00 to continue the case ourselves and even if we could, neither of us had the confidence or knowledge to take it on ourselves. We had to withdraw from the case.

 

In June 2016, we were informed by the court that the case had been dismissed and a hearing was to be held on the 1st November.

 

Not knowing what to do, I wrote to the court prior to the hearing, explained why we were unable to proceed. We also responded to the financial claims made by the defendant.

 

He claimed that he paid our outstanding utility bills, but provided no evidence to back this up. He claimed that he had to replace the carpets, but gave no proof of this. He claimed that he had to have the house treated for wood worm even though we had only been in the house for 10 months.

 

There was no mention of the £1000.00 deposit that we had given him to secure the property, which he failed to protect and was part of our claim against him.

 

Needless to say. nothing that we brought to the attention of the court was considered and on the 12th November we received a General Form of Judgement or Order dated 10th November informing us that we had to pay almost £13k by the 15th November. Three days to pay.

 

We are poor people. We have a household income of less than £900.00 per month and we simply do not have the means to pay. We have no assets, our house is furnished from charity shops, we don't even own a car. We just about get by every month with the help of a credit card which we owe £2k on.

 

I just don't know where to turn. I am quite frankly terrified.

 

Can anyone give us some advice on what to do? Does this mean we now have a CCJ? It states that our property can be taken, but we don't have anything of value. Can our wages be taken? We would lose everything if this was the case.

 

In April 2013, we lost everything and I just don't think I could handle losing everything again.

 

Any assistance/advice you can give will be greatly appreciated.

 

Many thanks

Ally

[BazzaS]

It sounds like it is a CCJ.

 

Yet, they can't "get blood from a stone".

If you don't have the means to pay, you ask the court to set payments at a reasonable level (as low as £1/week??).

 

This is done using an N245 form, and you should also ask for a fee exemption from the N245 fee.

 

https://www.gov.uk/county-court-judgments-ccj-for-debt/if-you-do-owe-the-money-pay-the-judgment

 

https://www.moneyclaimsuk.co.uk/PDFForms/EX160A.pdf

 

Another option would be to appeal the judgment, but this would mean going through the litigation process again.

[allyballybee]

Thank you for coming back to me so quickly. I will look at the links you have provided.

 

Are you aware if a CCJ appears on your credit file immediately or is there a 'cooling off'period before it is registered?

 

Many thanks

Ally

[BankFodder]

Does your present house belong to you?

[BankFodder]

Although this won't solve your immediate problem – and you will probably have to get advice from others on this forum about that, I think that you should also start making a complaint to the legal ombudsman http://www.legalombudsman.org.uk/ about the legal service which you have received. It may be that some kind of financial solution would be produced which would help you.

 

You have talked about several solicitors being involved. Are they all part of the same firm? Or have you been swapped from firm to firm and who chose the new firm or solicitor each time?

 

You have put together a fairly coherent account of the story in your first thread. If you are able to work on this and to refine it and to accompany it by any relevant documentation and to present it in a methodical, chronological form, cross-referenced to the evidence that you include with it, say, as an appendix, I think that it might make a very decent basis of a complaint to the legal ombudsman.

 

I can see that you have been under a lot of stress and it clearly hasn't finished yet that if you have the strength to do this then you may at least get a sense that you are doing something and taking some action about the way that you have been treated. As I say, this won't solve your immediate problem – or not yet, at any rate. However, if you got a good strong favourable decision from the legal ombudsman, this might help you in future if you have to argue any kind of appeal or any further action in front of a judge.

 

When you say that the evidence that you presented to the court was disregarded. Who presented it? Were you there yourself? What did the judge say? Was it simply completely disregarded – or did somebody go through it and find that in some way what you were presenting to support your argument was inadequate?

[allyballybee]

Hi Bankfodder,

 

Thank you very much for coming back to me. I will answer your questions as best I can

 

No, we rent our current flat.

 

The Solicitors were all from the same firm. Our case just seemed to be passed from one person to another. I got the impression that it just landed on the desk of whoever was available at the time. At one point someone took it on for two weeks. They introduced themselves, told us they were now looking after us and 14 days later, someone else took over.

 

 

Back in January, I did ask the law firm for a copy of their complaints procedure as I do wish to complain. According to the literature they supplied, I have to complain to them first before I can refer it to anyone else. I'm not sure if this is the case or not. With dealing with this and my mothers situation, I haven't had a moment to even consider putting pen to paper yet, but I will.

 

We wrote to the court prior to the hearing on the 1st November defending the financial claims made by the landlord. I think this was a bit redundant, but I gave it a bash. I'm not even sure if it would be taken into consideration as the case had been dismissed back in June and this hearing was just to 'wind things up' I suppose.

 

The landlord was claiming for utilities that he apparently paid, replacement carpets and woodworm treatment among other things. He provided the court with redacted bank statements showing random payments to British Gas and the local council. There was absolutely no proof that these payments related to us in anyway, just amounts with no reference on a bank statement. They were also dated six months after we had been evicted.

 

He claimed for new carpets, but provided no receipt or proof that this was actually the case. And how can a tenant of 10 months cause woodworm?

 

I brought all this to the attention of the court (via letter and email), but it made no difference. He also held a deposit of £1k that was ignored by the court. Everything that he claimed for, the court seems to have agreed with, despite the lack of proof. The court didn't even deduct the £1k deposit.

 

As I say, it was probably too late by that time, but I tried my best.

 

I am popping out now for a couple of hours, but will respond when I get back.

 

I am extremely grateful to everyone for taking the time to help.

 

Prior to the hearing on the 1st November

[BankFodder]

Yes, that is correct that you have to complain to the firm first.

 

Set your complaint out very carefully. No emotion – just factually. Chronologically and bullet pointed. Make the complaint well spaced – in other words leave a clear line between each bullet point. Make sure that the paragraphs are numbered. If you want, draft your complaint and then post it up here so that we can see.

 

If the firm doesn't deal with it within – I suppose, eight weeks, then they have to give you a final response and you go to the ombudsman. Get this moving because it may be that your complaint will finally get to to a responsible person who will start to appreciate what a pig's ear they have made of the whole thing. However, don't agree to withdraw the claim unless you are fully satisfied that you got a proper solution. Not simply that somebody will start to deal with the case. I suggest that you keep in contact with us and let us know before you make any decisions.

 

You don't own the flat. This means that nobody can take your home from you but they might to take some of your personal property – depending on what you have. I think that if you complain to the solicitors and they get worried enough, then they may at least start taking some measures to stay any enforcement procedures while the matter is sorted out.

 

So it turns out that you didn't attend a hearing. Why not? I'm not surprised that your evidence/defence wasn't dealt with particularly well if all you supplied was some emails. I think you need to tell us much more about this. Why did you need a fee of £500 to continue the case?

[allyballybee]

I will start the complaint next week. I will keep it factual and straight to the point as advised. Should I let the court know or the landlords solicitor know I am complaining? Is there a possibility I could have the order set aside until the complaint is resolved? Probably clutching at straws.

 

The constant changing of solictors wasn't the only problem. Documents were sent to the wrong address on more than one occassion. They lost our contact details several times. We would hear nothing for months and then all of a sudden all hell would break loose as they realised a deadline was looming and the work hadn't been done. We would then have to drop everything and deal with whatever they urgently needed. They copied my emails/responses verbatim and used them in pretty much all correspondence to the landlords solictor.

 

They also hired someone to hand deliver a letter and documents to us and when we weren't home, they posted it in the letterbox that we share with three other flats, not in an envelope, print side up for everyone to see. It was handed to me by my neighbour who always collects the post and it was quite obvious he had read it. This neighbour also rents from my landlord, who is a personal friend of his. So, I believe my current landlord was informed by my neighbour that we were suing a previous landlord.

 

To add insult to injury, after they dismissed us, they sent our entire case files in two flimsy brown envelopes that had burst/split en route. The files were delivered to us by Royal Mail in two plastic bags. They had sent two sets of the case files and numerous pages were actually missing from one set, meaning they had spilled out and been lost somewhere in Royal Mails system.

 

With regards to the hearing on 1st November. We didn't think we would have to attend. When the case was dismissed in June, we received a letter from the court saying we had to pay £x amount and that that a hearing was to be held on 1st November. It made no mention of us attending. To be perfectly honest, we weren't entirely sure what the hearing was about. When we received the letter back in June, we thought that was it, we lost, case closed.

 

We also now live 350 miles from the court and couldn't afford the train fare.

 

On the 28th October, we received a letter from the landlords solicitor, informing us that they were claiming for rent, utilities, wood worm, their costs etc. It was then that I wrote to the court to point out that they had no proof to back up any of their claims with the exception of unpaid rent. I didn't think I was providing evidence/defence, as far as I was aware we had lost back in June. I was just hoping that the court would take my letter and the points raised in it into consideration. Clearly that is not the case.

 

In retrospect, I know have been naive. When you have no legal adviser and documents are being sent to you that you don't understand, its very overwhelming. I knew we had lost. We had been let down by an extremely unprofessional law firm and no-one else would help us.

 

The fee was due when both parties sent their witness statements to the court. I believe the fee was £545.00 and it was payable immediately. I would have to trawl through the files to be sure, but a fee did have to be paid. Does this make sense?

[BankFodder]

As I have indicated above, I hope that somebody else who has a much better understanding of landlord and tenant problems will come along and give you specific advice. I really have no experience in this area. However, it sounds to me as if you have a very serious complaint to make and the further information you have given in this last post – particularly about the incorrect addresses and also the data protection and breach of confidence by posting open documents through a common letterbox is extremely important.

 

Make sure that you get it all down in your complaint. Take your time over the complaint and make sure you get it all in – but once again, refine it so that it is presented in a serious and businesslike way and not in the form of a rant. This is the best way to make the firm sit up and take notice.

 

A lot will depend on the firm's attitude. If the main partners of the firm are responsible people who are seriously interested in their clients and have not realised what has been going on, then they may decide to take your case on in order to mitigate damage to their own reputation and to try and save the situation for you. They will realise – on the strength of what you have said here – that they are highly culpable and that not only may the legal ombudsman be extremely critical and make an award to you but also they could be referred to the solicitors regulation authority.

 

You say that it went through seven different solicitors. Do you know if these were senior people or simply associate solicitors. Who are the main partners of the firm? Is this a big outfit?

 

Unfortunately, if the senior partners have been involved in the mess as well then it may be that you will simply get a defensive attitude and a cover-up. You will have to see, but of course if the complaint is not handled to your complete satisfaction then it should be taken to the ombudsman. Frankly, it seems to me that you have suffered so much damage that you will pop we have to go to the ombudsman whatever happens. If the firm takes your complaint seriously then they will probably take some action to mitigate the situation and make you an offer but I expect that the offer will be on condition that you drop all complaints – and of course it could well be that this will not be in your best interests.

 

In terms of the hearing that you didn't attend, this was a serious error. You must always attend hearings – even if people tell you "well you don't need to go on this occasion because it simply routine". I don't know how much it would have changed things for you, but it would have given you a chance at least to get things delayed.

 

I see that you say that in June, you were notified that the case had been dismissed. Can you tell us about that? Had there been hearing?

 

Also, I've asked you about this £500 which you say you need to continue but you haven't explained why.

 

It would be very helpful if you could post up the original claim form which started the action and also the order in June which dismissed the claim. Please post them in PDF format. Take out the identifiers if you want.

[allyballybee]

Thanks once again for taking the time to respond Bankfodder.

 

I really need to go over everything in the case files to answer your questions. I know that for a very short time, the main partner (who owns the law firm) took over the case. When he contacted me it was for something that had a deadline and he decided to just 'make it up' so to speak as I couldn't supply the information as quickly as he needed it. It was sometime ago and the details are hazy, but I will look back.

 

I will post copies of the documents and answer your questions in more detail on Monday. We have a family wedding to attend , so I will need to put everything on hold, a smile on my face and try to get through the weekend as best I can.

 

I really appreciate all your input and advice. I will come back to you with further details on Monday.

 

Ally

[BankFodder]

Okay, you say that the senior partner already knows about the case and has been involved in part of the general mess. I'm afraid that this will probably mean that your complaint is likely to be dealt with in a very reluctant and unsatisfactory way. Unfortunately these small firms of solicitors don't have any of the kind of customer-facing approach that you will find in the much larger practices. It is likely that their main objective will be to make things right for them rather than make things right for you.

 

However, you will have to stop the complaint with them and go through the hoops. You never know, I might be wrong and they might start coming up with some very sensible proposals. I imagine that they will want to see you and ask you what you want to happen.

 

When we understand more about your claim, then maybe we can make some suggestions you. Anyway, I'm quite sure that you need to make this complaint and move it up to the ombudsman as quickly as possible – even though that won't impact immediately on your present predicament. At least it will to some extent mean that you are starting to take some control of this because although I know that you are in difficulty and stressed out by it, I think that you have rather let go of everything some time ago and this is one of the reasons why it has developed so badly for you now.

[BankFodder]

I've been having a look at the website of the Solicitors Regulation Authority http://www.sra.org.uk/consumers/problems/report-solicitor.page and I see that the matters relating to breach of confidentiality are handled by them rather than the legal ombudsman. I think that the way that the documents have been posted to you are a good example of a breach of confidentiality. You could make a separate complaint directly to the SRA but in a way this is not an overly serious breach and I would be intended simply to flag this up in my complaint to the legal ombudsman, to point out that this is a breach of confidentiality and that you would like the ombudsman to consider it as part of your complaint but also to forward the matter on to the Solicitors Regulation Authority as well.

[BazzaS]

I know that for a very short time, the main partner (who owns the law firm) took over the case. When he contacted me it was for something that had a deadline and he decided to just 'make it up' so to speak as I couldn't supply the information as quickly as he needed it. It was sometime ago and the details are hazy, but I will look back.

 

 

One of the things to identify is if the firm knew of a deadline in advance, and 'just let things slide' until close to the deadline, or if events moved quickly. In the case of the former, you can state that the deadline being missed / not enough time being available for you to supply the information was avoidable, but not avoided due to their error.

 

Okay, you say that the senior partner already knows about the case and has been involved in part of the general mess. I'm afraid that this will probably mean that your complaint is likely to be dealt with in a very reluctant and unsatisfactory way. Unfortunately these small firms of solicitors don't have any of the kind of customer-facing approach that you will find in the much larger practices. It is likely that their main objective will be to make things right for them rather than make things right for you.

 

However, you will have to stop the complaint with them and go through the hoops.

 

"stop" (the complaint) : Dictation software typo?.

 

You never know, I might be wrong and they might start coming up with some very sensible proposals. I imagine that they will want to see you and ask you what you want to happen.

 

When we understand more about your claim, then maybe we can make some suggestions you. Anyway, I'm quite sure that you need to make this complaint and move it up to the ombudsman as quickly as possible – even though that won't impact immediately on your present predicament. At least it will to some extent mean that you are starting to take some control of this because although I know that you are in difficulty and stressed out by it, I think that you have rather let go of everything some time ago and this is one of the reasons why it has developed so badly for you now.

 

The firm's complaints procedure must be allowed to run its course (or reach 'deadlock') before it can be taken to the LO.

 

I've been having a look at the website of the Solicitors Regulation Authority http://www.sra.org.uk/consumers/problems/report-solicitor.page and I see that the matters relating to breach of confidentiality are handled by them rather than the legal ombudsman. I think that the way that the documents have been posted to you are a good example of a breach of confidentiality. You could make a separate complaint directly to the SRA but in a way this is not an overly serious breach and I would be intended simply to flag this up in my complaint to the legal ombudsman, to point out that this is a breach of confidentiality and that you would like the ombudsman to consider it as part of your complaint but also to forward the matter on to the Solicitors Regulation Authority as well.

 

The LO does have the ability to refer to the SRA any matters they consider are breaches of the SRA's principles. If "I believe this was a breach of confidentiality, please pass this on to the SRA if you agree that there has been a breach of a SRA principle" is included in a complaint to the LO, there should be no need to make a separate SRA complaint.

[BankFodder]

You're quite right, it should say "start the complaint". I must stop mumbling into my microphone!

 

Yes of course, the firms procedure has to take place – but I expect that it means that it's got to be sorted within eight weeks.

[Ganymede]

I will start the complaint next week. I will keep it factual and straight to the point as advised. Should I let the court know or the landlords solicitor know I am complaining? Is there a possibility I could have the order set aside until the complaint is resolved? Probably clutching at straws.

 

The constant changing of solictors wasn't the only problem. Documents were sent to the wrong address on more than one occassion. They lost our contact details several times. We would hear nothing for months and then all of a sudden all hell would break loose as they realised a deadline was looming and the work hadn't been done. We would then have to drop everything and deal with whatever they urgently needed. They copied my emails/responses verbatim and used them in pretty much all correspondence to the landlords solictor.

 

They also hired someone to hand deliver a letter and documents to us and when we weren't home, they posted it in the letterbox that we share with three other flats, not in an envelope, print side up for everyone to see. It was handed to me by my neighbour who always collects the post and it was quite obvious he had read it. This neighbour also rents from my landlord, who is a personal friend of his. So, I believe my current landlord was informed by my neighbour that we were suing a previous landlord.

 

To add insult to injury, after they dismissed us, they sent our entire case files in two flimsy brown envelopes that had burst/split en route. The files were delivered to us by Royal Mail in two plastic bags. They had sent two sets of the case files and numerous pages were actually missing from one set, meaning they had spilled out and been lost somewhere in Royal Mails system.

 

With regards to the hearing on 1st November. We didn't think we would have to attend. When the case was dismissed in June, we received a letter from the court saying we had to pay £x amount and that that a hearing was to be held on 1st November. It made no mention of us attending. To be perfectly honest, we weren't entirely sure what the hearing was about. When we received the letter back in June, we thought that was it, we lost, case closed.

 

We also now live 350 miles from the court and couldn't afford the train fare.

 

On the 28th October, we received a letter from the landlords solicitor, informing us that they were claiming for rent, utilities, wood worm, their costs etc. It was then that I wrote to the court to point out that they had no proof to back up any of their claims with the exception of unpaid rent. I didn't think I was providing evidence/defence, as far as I was aware we had lost back in June. I was just hoping that the court would take my letter and the points raised in it into consideration. Clearly that is not the case.

 

In retrospect, I know have been naive. When you have no legal adviser and documents are being sent to you that you don't understand, its very overwhelming. I knew we had lost. We had been let down by an extremely unprofessional law firm and no-one else would help us.

 

The fee was due when both parties sent their witness statements to the court. I believe the fee was £545.00 and it was payable immediately. I would have to trawl through the files to be sure, but a fee did have to be paid. Does this make sense?

 

No, no and absolutely no.

[allyballybee]

Thank you to everyone for their input.

 

Unfortunately I can't scan in the documents as my phone is playing up, but I will type out what each one states:

 

9 June 2016

 

General Form of Judgement or order

 

On hearing legal executive for the Defendant and the Claimants not attending

 

IT IS ORDERED THAT

 

1. Unless the claimants serve on the Defendants Solicitors within 14 days of service of this order on them the statements of all witnesses of fact on which they intend to rely, the claim shall be dismissed and the Defendant shall be entitled to enter Judgement on the Counter Claim without further order

 

2. The trail listed 17 June 2016 is vacated and is to be re listed on the first open date of the 28 days with a time estimate of ONE DAY, date time and location to be advised. The parties are to lodge any dates to avoid within 7 days of service of this order

 

3. Service of further pre trial checklists is dispensed with

 

4. The Claimants are to pay £545 by no later than 14 days before the hearing date failing which the claim will be dismissed

 

5. The claimants are to pay the Defendants costs of the application dated 17 March 2016 summarily assessed in the sum of £1983.00 payable within 14 days

 

It was at this point I contacted the court and informed them that we would be unable to pay £545.00 as we simply don't have that kind of money. We then received this:

 

21 July 2016

 

General Form of Judgement or order

 

Upon the Court reading a letter dated 29th June 2016 and enclosures from the Defendant

 

IT IS ORDERED THAT

 

1. There be judgement for the Defendant on his counterclaim for damages to be assessed and costs

 

2. The case be listed for a disposal haring (sic) before a District Judge sitting at the County Court at (court address) on 1 November with a time estimate of 30 minutes

 

3. The court to send the Claimants a copy of the said letter and attachments with their copy of this order

 

4. Ther3 (sic) be liberty to any party to apply to set aside, stay or vary this order by 4.00pm 30th July 2016

 

And finally:

 

10 November 2016

 

General Form of Judgement or Order

 

It is adjudged that

 

The defendant recover against the Claimant the sum of £xxxx.xx for debt and interest to date of judgement and £xxxx.xx for costs amounting together the sum of £xxxxx.xx

 

The Claimant having paid the sum of £0.00

 

It is ordered that the Claimant pay to the Defendant the sum of £xxxxx.x on or before 15 November 2016

 

So, thats it. When we received the order dated 9 June, I wrote to the court and told them that we could not afford the £545.00. We then received the order on 21 July which mentioned the disposal hearing, but no mention that we should attend. and finally the order on 10 November.

[allyballybee]

I am still not sure if we have a CCJ against us yet or not.

 

As yet, we have received nothing else from the court. I have been speaking with Stepchange and they are sending us a form and budget breakdown which we have to complete and send to the court. They have advised us to offer £1.00 per month as our monthly income/expenditure is in deficit. They have also advised us to consider entering into a Debt Relief Order if things get out of hand. We simply can't afford to pay the order.

 

With regards to the complaint. I know what I want to write, but Banfodder mentioned not getting emotional and ranting, which is very difficult to be honest. Could anyone advise the best way to open and close the letter? I am struggling with the opening, but once I have this, I can put the rest together.

[BankFodder]

We will help you start the letter. However, we need to see the claim. I have already asked you for this but you haven't provided it. Also it would be helpful to see the defence and you haven't provided this either as far as I can see.

 

You are tending to drip feed the information to us

[Ganymede]

I am still not sure if we have a CCJ against us yet or not.

 

 

Yes it is clear...

 

"IT IS ORDERED THAT

 

1. There be judgement for the Defendant on his counterclaim for damages to be assessed and costs"

[allyballybee]

We will help you start the letter. However, we need to see the claim. I have already asked you for this but you haven't provided it. Also it would be helpful to see the defence and you haven't provided this either as far as I can see.

 

You are tending to drip feed the information to us

 

I am trying my best to get the information to you, but there is a lot of it.

 

The original claim and the defense is dozens of pages BankFodder. I am unable to upload that amount of information manually and I don't have it on email to copy/paste Even if I could, I don't think I would be comfortable with putting it online.

 

We claimed that they entered the property unlawfully, changed the locks and retained our possessions which they later sold.

 

They claim that we abandoned the property and they were perfectly within their rights to enter. They claimed that the house was empty and that no possessions were retained/sold.

 

We had proof that they entered unlawfully as they confirmed they had in writing. We could also prove that they sold our possessions as we had four witnesses who attended the boot sale and in fact my partners mother bought back her foldaway bed that we had borrowed and was in the house when they gained entry. She also filmed them. at the boot sale, selling our things. She called us, we rushed over and confronted them. There was a scene in the middle of a field with 100's of people watching.

 

If you can't help me with the information that I can provide, I understand. I am just not able to upload 60-80 pages for you to read.

[allyballybee]

Yes it is clear...

 

"IT IS ORDERED THAT

 

1. There be judgement for the Defendant on his counterclaim for damages to be assessed and costs"

 

Thank you for clarifying. I have had conflicting information as I haven't received an N1 or N9? I have been told that no CCJ could be entered on the register before I complete these forms? Its all very confusing

[allyballybee]

Thank you for clarifying. I have had conflicting information as I haven't received an N1 or N9? I have been told that no CCJ could be entered on the register before I complete these forms? Its all very confusing

 

I think I realise now (after a bit of digging) that an N1 is irrelevant because the judgement has been made?

[Ganymede]

Thank you for clarifying. I have had conflicting information as I haven't received an N1 or N9? I have been told that no CCJ could be entered on the register before I complete these forms? Its all very confusing

 

Nonsense.

 

The N1 is the claim form you originally used to commence court action and the N9 is the response pack for the Defendant to use to respond to your claim.

[BankFodder]

I'm very sorry, but if we don't have the information about the claim so that we can see exactly what you are alleging, and if we don't have the defence to see exactly what the other sides answer to your claim was, then I'm not sure how to proceed.

 

We try our best to support people who come here with a great deal of enthusiasm and goodwill. It's all free. The only disadvantage is that it is a website and I'm afraid that people who come here need to be up to use the website and have the tools with which to use it.