Argh! Possible CCJ pending - help please! UPDATE

vax2002

some of basic principles of English law of torts are:
You can not claim for what you have refused or already taken
You can not claim for which you have not lost.
You can not claim for which you have not asked

If you fell behind on payments you will owe the portion of the service not paid for at a pro-rata rate, they can not seek payment for the full contract if they have not provided the full contract as this would not be a requisite of losses occurred but a contractual penalty .
Alternatively if they claim that they could not fill the place, then if they intended to claim payment for it, they should have allowed the customer to use it.
My thoughts are this is a shot in the dark hoping for a default CCJ from someone unable to defend it.
If you come out fighting they will throw the towel in.
They will not want to run the risk of paying your expenses.

ruintooeasy

[updated first post]

arcon5

So you offered to pay them £200 one week then £200 the next week to cover the debt?

So there must have been a time between offering this, being contacted by solicitors, then receiving the court summons - we can assume this time span is much much greater than 2 weeks - so why didn't you just pay the money despite them rejecting it as to avoid them taking it further.

Saying that, they have acted unreasonably (and very illogically), so if you allow it to get to a hearing and can demonstrate you made reasonable offers for repayment it's unlikely a judge will award them costs along with it.
Just seems one big farce on their part, rather than accepting a reasonable agreement and getting paid, they have dragged it out and spent money to take you to court?

ruintooeasy

yes that is right. they rejected my offer of £200 one week and £200 the following. this would have covered my child care for the rest of the term, so i then had to make other arrangements and use some of that money. i received the first letter from Daniels Silverman a few weeks after that, i then queried the amount and it took them about 6 weeks to come back to me. i then made an offer of a payment plan and again they didn't reply for about 6 weeks, and the next thing i knew i received the court paperwork.

should i pay something directly to the nursery now? i am planning on calling the nursery on monday to get an email address, and then emailing them to try and sort this out without it going to court.

Forwandert

How long ago is the debt from? You mention offering to pay over a two week period now in your last post describe a situation lasting several months since you made that offer to pay.

wealdroam

So last summer you knew that you owed £400.

Surely since last summer you have managed to get that money together knowing that at some time you would need to pay it.

Why not pay off the debt now?

They are going to look a bit silly chasing a debt that has already been paid, aren't they?

unholyangel

wealdroam wrote: »

So last summer you knew that you owed £400.

Surely since last summer you have managed to get that money together knowing that at some time you would need to pay it.

Why not pay off the debt now?

They are going to look a bit silly chasing a debt that has already been paid, aren't they?

Thats if OP actually owes it though. Can the childcare company show that they have tried to mitigate their losses?

Doesnt stop the OP writing to them, asking for a breakdown of the costs along with proof they tried to mitigate their losses. If nothing else, it might alert them to the fact that they do not have a rock solid case.

OP could also try CAB or consumer direct and see what advice they can offer

arcon5

Some clarification needed.........

from your more recent posts, i'm reading this to mean you fell behind with payment, they demanded payment for services provided and the rest of the term immediately - you was unable to do this so they stopped providing the service...

If this is correct, there is a possibility you are not liable for the whole amount. You need to read their terms, but if you was in breach of contract (non-payment), they then terminated the agreement as a result - I imagine all they will be entitled to is payment for services they did provide + their losses or equivalent to a notice period and NOT payment in full for the remainder of the term after they terminated the services.

stuntwomble

Pay up....

Crazy_Jamie

vax2002 wrote: »

That the attempt to demand monies from the court is not a pre-estimation of losses of the plaintiff but an attempt to install a contractual penalty contrary to Dunlop Pneumatic Tyre Co. Ltd. v New Garage & Motor Co. Ltd. [1915].

The amount claimed is presumably the amount initially stated on the contract itself, so I don't see how this is relevant. Whether or not the company can claim money for services not provided is of course a main point of issue, but I don't see how the amount claimed can be a penalty clause whichever way you spin it.

Also, the company will be the 'Claimant', not the 'Plaintiff'. The term 'Plaintiff' has been replaced by the word 'Claimant' for quite a while now.

nb this sounds like it will be small claims so it would be unusual for a judge to award any costs.

Not strictly true. Fixed costs are recoverable on the small claims track, usually constituting a small amount of fixed solicitors costs in addition to relevant court fees. It's clearly not in the territory of having to pay thousands in costs, but it can easily come to a few hundred pounds in costs, which worth noting when you're only going to court over about £400. Of course the Judge has discretion to not award any costs at all, which he will do if he believes that the Claimant has acted unreasonably.