OMG! Can anyone help?

Pinhead2014

I'm being sued by a firm for some spurious amount of money they claim I owe them.

I received a County Court Summons from them via the CCMC in Northampton. I returned the Defence form stating that I do not owe the company any money. I then received a Directions form which I must return by next week.

However, yesterday I received the oddest letter from the company's legal department. They enclose an Application they've sent to the court demanding that the court enters judgment against me "forthwith" without even giving me a hearing.

Here is the actual wording:

They are requesting "summary judgment against the Defendant pursuant to Order 24.2 CPR 1998. Because the Defendant has no real prospect of successfully defending the claim."

***can they do this? Don't I have a right to a fair hearing?****

longtermplanner

They can request anything they want, it doesn't mean the court will grant it.

eyeopener2

They want you to cave in, nice bully boy tactics.

Try posting on the legal beagles forum. There are some very good consumer champion minds on there and will give you sound advice.

skintmacflint

You could also try posting a thread on the Consumer Action Group website for advice.

If you have an insurance policy with legal cover option then you can usually phone them for free legal advice 24/7.

FireWyrm

What does this relate to? What type of debt? If this is a simple civil debt, then the onus is on them to prove you owe the debt, not you to prove otherwise. That doesnt mean you shouldnt defend it, just that they are whistling in the wind if they think they can bully you with those court papers.

exoteric

Pinhead2014 wrote: »

I'm being sued by a firm for some spurious amount of money they claim I owe them.

I received a County Court Summons from them via the CCMC in Northampton. I returned the Defence form stating that I do not owe the company any money. I then received a Directions form which I must return by next week.

However, yesterday I received the oddest letter from the company's legal department. They enclose an Application they've sent to the court demanding that the court enters judgment against me "forthwith" without even giving me a hearing.

Here is the actual wording:

They are requesting "summary judgment against the Defendant pursuant to Order 24.2 CPR 1998. Because the Defendant has no real prospect of successfully defending the claim."

***can they do this? Don't I have a right to a fair hearing?****

You do have the right to a fair hearing - the hearing of the Claimant's summary judgment application. As they have said in their letter/notice, they are applying for an early determination of the claim on the grounds that you have no defence. However, as you have said, you do have a defence, so you need to respond to them repeating what you have said in your Defence, i.e. that you do not owe them any money, and send a copy of the letter to the Court. Send everything by recorded delivery to ensure they cannot say it never arrived. You will then get a notification from the Court of the date of the hearing - if this is at a Court which is far from you, you can get the claim and the hearing transferred to your local Court.

If the Claimant proceeds, you will have to defend against the summary judgment application in Court. However, the burden of proof is on THEM to show that you do indeed owe this money. If you are absolutely, categorically certain that you do not owe this or any amount to this company, I would say you need to stand your ground and they will become unstuck.

However, I think you need to be sure - have you checked your credit report? It is possible that you owe the money from years ago and have forgotten, or that you owe money to a different company which has sold the debt on to this company. It is also possible that someone has fraudulently racked up a debt in your name, in which case you need to get this investigated, or that the debt company has accidentally confused you with someone else.

But don't worry - as long as you engage with the process and respond to the Claimant and the Court (i.e. do not make the mistake of treating this as an idle threat) you will have your chance to give your side of the story and have the facts heard. If you are worried at all, go to a Citizens' Advice Bureau or a Law Centre for further advice.

My own view is that, from what you have said and as long as you definitely do not owe the debt, you will be fine. However, I am very surprised that a company would go to the expense and effort of taking you to Court over a debt which you do not owe, so you definitely need to investigate why they think you do owe them money as soon as possible because one of the above things may have happened.

Good luck.