help with court papers and actions

abbiesmom

No I have never had an LBA from them...I have never had anything from this firm of solicitors since 2010 when I thought the whole case was closed and the work they undertook was covered by legal aid...how do I add this to my defence? Have just joined legal beagles.

I really need to get this sorted. I seem to be the only one sticking to our verbal agreement made after the first set of papers from Northampton

spacey2012

Make no mistake, the solicitors will steam ahead to court hoping you believed them.
Has it been allocated to a hearing yet and how close is it ?
Was the address on the court papers correct ?

abbiesmom

address on court papers correct and current. Not sure how far away it is the letter just states that it's been allocated to my local court.

ValHaller

Essentially, the solicitor is acting in bad faith - no letter before action, negotiating with you and telling you it was under investigation while continuing with court action.

You need to write to the court and summarise what they have done here and ask for a stay on action while this is undertaken. Roughly. There will be others with more experience.

Basically, once court papers are served, you do not take anyone's word for what they say, you get it in writing or put it in writing yourself.

abbiesmom

do i write to Northampton or my local court now? Should I send a copy to the solicitors?

[Deleted User]

If you think the bill is unreasonably high, you can ask your court for a 'taxation'. This is where an experienced judge examines the bill in detail and often reduces a bill significantly. Not sure how much it costs but this is often recouped several times over once the judge has slashed the greedy blighter's add-ons(my sister was charged £90 for a phone call made by her solicitor!). Might be worth a thought if the bill is high.

abbiesmom

Deleted User wrote: »

If you think the bill is unreasonably high, you can ask your court for a 'taxation'. This is where an experienced judge examines the bill in detail and often reduces a bill significantly. Not sure how much it costs but this is often recouped several times over once the judge has slashed the greedy blighter's add-ons(my sister was charged £90 for a phone call made by her solicitor!). Might be worth a thought if the bill is high.

That could be a plan when I actually 'see' the bill. I still haven't had one or know what it's for and which aspects of the work they undertook wasn't covered by legal aid.

abbiesmom

I have just given them another 14 days to respond with the requested information - which is a total of 38 days from 1st request. Is this a reasonable timescale in which to supply me with the information?

spacey2012

You have selected to defend the claim in the court website ?

abbiesmom

yes I did that when I first got the court papers as I knew nothing about the debt as I thought legal aid covered it - then from advice here I contacted the solicitors who said that they would investigate and cease proceedings - they then rang me back and said it wasn't so I paid £50 then and agreed to pay £50 monthly and that they would send me the letters they sent in 2010 and a copy of the balance and invoice and I haven't had any of that.

In the meantime I get a letter from my local court saying it had been transferred to them. I email the solicitors to find out what's going on - not ringing them anymore. Got no response. I have now drafted a letter which I will fax tomorrow and then post recorded also.

Is another 14 days to respond justifiable? If they don't repsond in 14 days can I just send all that to the court and stop paying the agreed £50?