Help needed with Order from Judge - Urgent

stonehedge

Hi There,

Today, I received a letter from the county court dated 2nd August at the top. Natwest have filed a defense. I responded to the standard Cobbetts CPR18 request with a polite declination to conform and included a list of charges and the dates they were applied (for the third time!). I also copied my response to the court for inclusion with my papers. I sent this by recorded delivery

What do I do about this letter? It appears that due to postal delays, the timsceales are very tight and im not sure what to do. Also, if I must file an allocation questionaiire, shouldnt I have been sent one? How much do I pay?

This must have been caught in the post somehere. I have to reply today or tomorrow to meet the deadlines.

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Date: 02 August 2007
IT IS ORDERED THAT
The claimant must file an allocation questionnaire and pay the allocation fee by the 9th August 2007.

The Claimant must send to the court and to the Defendant by 16th August 2007 a sechdule showing the dates and amounts of each charge which is claimed. (I did this a day previous to this order being made, should I do it again)?

Because this order has been made by the court without considering representations from the parties, the parties (sic) have the order set aside, varied or stayed. A party wishing to make an application must send or deliver the application to the court (together with any appropriate fee) to arrive within seven days of service of this order.

Order made on 27th July 2007 (Does the fact I sent list of charges to Defendant and court on 26th Jul mean I can ignore this?)

Im really grateful for any help I can get. Having been pretty calm about the whole process, I am beginning to get a little nervous.

Just out of interest, if this does go to court...can I hire a proper defense or does the fact it will prob be assigned to small claims mean I have to represent myself?

Stokey125

On the allocation questionnaire point the court should have sent you one. If the court is close by call in to the general office and ask them for one. Unless you can claim for remission of fees it will cost £100. On the point about the schedule to play safe you should file another one but put a covering letter in stating you are filing this one in accordance with the order of 27 July 2007 and is not in substitution for the one dated 26 July and staple the letter to the form.

Beate

I would ring the court and tell them that you only received their letter now and say that you haven't received an AQ to fill in (you can download the form somewhere but I have forgotten where, they might be able to tell you though), and ask whether you can have more time to fill it in and pay for it (it's £100, but only if your claim is for over £1,500), and also ask whether you have to send the list of charges again.

Beate

Oh and you really do not need to hire someone to represent you!

There is a guide on how to fill in the AQ in post 8 of the Reclaim Bank Charges Help Thread, there is also a thread for the AQ here, currently somewhere on page 2.

stonehedge

Thanks for your replies.

I will call the court today and say that I have not received an AQ and will ask where I can get one and if I can have more time. If it is downloadable, I can easily get it done today or tomorrow in any event.

I will resend the list of charges with an explanation that it is in response to this order rather than to the defense.

I only asked about being defended in court as whilst I am persuing this claim entirely off my own back, my father is a Barrister and he offered me assistance should I go to court.

stonehedge

Just called the court.

The lady on the phone explained that I should have been sent an AQ. She has no power of sanction so cant give me an extension beyond the 9th but has put a record on my file that I did not receive an AQ and my letter had been delayed. She is going to send me a paper copy of an AQ which I will complete and send with a complete list of charges and a note explaining the delay to the court. I will also send the charges to Cobbetts for the 4th time. Might as well eh?

Better to be safe than sorry.

stonehedge

Oh, forgot to say.

The lady at my local county court pointed out that the AQ should have been sent my northampton county court who my claim originally went through.

In fact, northampton sent me an order saying the AQ wasn't necessary. Obviously crossed wires somewhere. Will lay this out in a covering letter when I send AQ and charges to court.

carol1_2

Hi Stonehedge,
I'm in the same sort of boat. I have been sent a AQ from the local court after the MCOL northhampton said i didn't need one. I have spoken to Yorkshire Bank as they offerered a full settlement on the 11/07/07, which I accepted. They seem to think I should have been sent a cheque but the deadline, 13/8/07 ,is looming and I am now faced with paying another £100 to file it at court. I read something in one of your replies that said it's only £100 if the claim is more than £1500. My claim is for £531 inc costs of £80.00. I don't know if I should request a stay for 1 month to try to sort this out with Y.B. They seem to be playing silly beggars since the OFT announcement. Any suggestions?