Court summons restons mbna. Help please.

elennor

Hi
We have a DMP with CCCS from sept last year. Recently got a letter from Restons saying if not paid by aug 16th they would start proceedings. Rang them and explained were with CCCS and they just said will they send SOA by 16th Aug, I said they were sending it today (3rd July). I rang CCCS who transfered payments to Restons and sent our SOA.
Today we have received a summons and they are also adding on interest. They received our payment from CCCS in August.
I don't know what to do. I have not requested a CCA as I am of the opinion that it is our debt and we are trying to pay it. I can see no way I can defend it. We cannot get to a court in Nottingham. They have also added a court fee of £75 and solicitors fees of £80.
What should I do-I thought we were slowly clearing our debts and now this has really upset us.
Any help gratefully received.

DarkConvict

CCJs are not uncommon in a DMPs, read this advice from 10past6 - https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2045387

Basically, you need to have the court summons brought to a court near you, so that you can attend. You need to take a budget sheet to show the maximum you can afford to pay on this debt (and bank statements incase the judge asks to see them), and eagerly point them to that fact your on a DMP with one of the top charities in the UK, and that they are already being paid the maximum amount that you can afford, again point back to the budget sheet.
Say whilst you understand money is owed and they want to get paid, say you feel they are been unreasonable in going for a CCJ as you are already paying all you can afford. The addition of court costs and interest onto the debt is only going to make it take longer to repay the debt. And tag in that they are not the only creditor in the DMP and the others have happily accepted the payments been made.

Basically, fight your corner. End of the day a judge should only award a CCJ for what you can afford in the worst circumstances so long as you turn up and show your side. I am dubious over their £80 solicitors fees, as a small claims court generally means you take the brunt of your own solicitors costs and I would present that to the judge as well.

barbiedoll

A CCJ is not necessarily a bad thing, the interest and charges may be stopped and as DC says, the judge will almost certainly order you to pay no more than you are already paying via your DMP. The priority is getting the hearing moved nearer to you so that you can defend it. It may be worth requesting a CCA, if they don't have a valid one then a CCJ cannot be awarded against the debt and you will be in a better position to haggle for the interest to be stopped, by using the threat of not paying at all!

DarkConvict

If a CCJ hearing has started a CCA is now to late, you must instead move to a CPR request instead. Basically it forces them to give you the original CCA that you personally signed, as to get a CCJ they must bring that to court. If they do not give it to you then you can have the CCJ struck out on those grounds as there is no enforceable paperwork.

CPR is not talked about much on these forums, here is just 1 off many CPR topics at CAG forums - http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?246431-CPR-31-14-particulars-of-claim

Read post #2 here - http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?261832-Judge-not-impressed-with-CPR-breaches-by-Cabot-and-others


Bigger help on CPR rulings - http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?173201-why-you-shouldnt-use-section-77-78-CCA-1974-if-you-want-the-signed-agreement

never-in-doubt at http://forums.all-about-debt.co.uk/index.php maybe able to help with CPR too.

elennor

Thanks for replying so quickly. How do I get it moved to a local court?
Do I agree the debt on the forms or dispute?
I am really worried I am going to write the wrong thing on these forms.
Should I write a covering letter explaining we are with CCCS and attach a copy of our SOA with them or just fill out the court form?
Sorry to sound so dumb but have never had to deal with any legal forms before.
Will look up CPR now-thank you

DarkConvict

Me neither, I've never seen a court form myself but just pick up on advise from the forums. If your going downt he CPR route i would "guess" dispute the debt. If you are looking to just make a set repayment then maybe "admit". The CAG forums do alot more legal forums than us here, and whilst there are good people here, there is no harm in getting advice from both forums.

goingforward_3

So do you have to attend CCJ hearing in person? Or is it a case of filling in forms, sending them back to the court and then the court deciding what happens?

I am just starting out with my DMP and given we have 11 creditors i am aware that we are likely to get a few CCJ'S issued and just wondered if we would have to go to court in person (that really does freak the hell out of me).

mr.ton

Has the summons actually been sent by a PROPER court?
I say that because its not unknown for companies like this to send out documents pretending to be a summons from a court.
You need to find that out one way or the other.
If it turns out to be the case, then report their sorry asses to the OFT,trading standards & have them done for contempt of court as well.

DarkConvict

mr.ton is correct,

But to answer your question, if it is a real court hearing, you must fill in the forms and attend. If you do not fill them in then there is no hearing and you loose by default. If you do fill them in but do not attend, you again loose by default. Just prepare a defence even if it is just your on a DMP, paying all you can afford etc, as mentioned in post #2.

Not going to court is more scarier than going to court, atleast this way you can put your defence forward and do your best to avoid it going to bailiffs.

elennor

Yes the papers look real-it's northampton court-restons normal procedure by look of it. I cannot attend this court so how do I get things moved to a local one. Do I accept the charges then wait until they give me an amount to pay and then contest it?

DarkConvict

Submitting a defence to the northampton bulk processing centre should get it moved to a local court, but if your unsure give them a ring. http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/bulkcentre.htm

County Court Bulk Centre (CCBC)
- which, under the name of Northampton County Court, deals with 9 out of 10 CPC cases. Around 200 defences are received each day both through the post and online. Where a claim is defended it is then transferred to the appropriate local county court. Judgment requests and requests to issue warrants of execution are also received electronically. CCBC receives on average 100 requests for Certificates of Cancellation and Satisfaction each day.