CCJ - Claim Form received - HELP!!

lordsnooty01

:mad:

Ladies and Gents,

Bit of history.....

Black Horse agreement.
The car was handed back.
The amount Black Horse requested to settle after they auctioned the car was in dispute and never resolved.
Black Horse issued and then applied a default notice to my credit file dated XX/XX/2010.
The debt was then sold to Lowell.

The Blackhorse default notice disappeared from my credit file.

All quiet until 2013 - Lowell slap a marker on my credit file for the disputed amount with Blackhorse.
I do not enter into communication with them whatsoever.
It trundles along and nothing..........until recently. :mad:

I received a letter from Bryan Carters who are "acting" on behalf of Lowells.
Being a little presumptuous, I decided to engage and requested 'they prove it' and additionally I questioned validity from a statute barred standpoint.

I received a response which effectively stated they would enquire with 'their client aka Lowells'. The trail went dead (not really surprised).

This morning I have received a Claim Form with the claimant as Lowells with reference to Bryan Carter as documentation and payment reference below the claimant details.

My belief that the debt was/is statute barred is IMO incorrect.....I don't dispute that 'an amount' was owed to Black Horse (original creditor) but it was not the amount they claimed and they failed to respond to my requests to rectify or discuss. This is why this situation has arisen.

Questions:

1. Firstly I have just reviewed both the court form and my credit report both of which state a default date of XX/XX/11 by Lowells. Remember that Black Horse had already issued a default XX/XX/2010.

My belief is that a default date cannot be changed once a creditor has issued and even if the debt has been sold - am I right?

Does this simple fact give me an angle?

2. I have never received an original copy of my agreement as per request to Bryan Carter acting on behalf of Lowells

Is this not another angle for attack?

3. Putting aside the above points, what other angles are available to me?

I intend to defend fully but wanted to see if the DCA has tripped the whole proceedings up before we have even got started?

Any viewpoints greatly appreciated

sourcrates

Hi,
Default date is immaterial really, now a claim has been made, its important you respond within the time frames set out by the court, i would respond online, as that gives you 28 days in total to defend.

A creditor is supposed to follow the practice direction, pre-action protocol, before issuing a claim :

Steps before issuing a claim at court
6. Where there is a relevant pre-action protocol, the parties should comply with that protocol before commencing proceedings. Where there is no relevant pre-action protocol, the parties should exchange correspondence and information to comply with the objectives in paragraph 3, bearing in mind that compliance should be proportionate. The steps will usually include—
(a) the claimant writing to the defendant with concise details of the claim. The letter should include the basis on which the claim is made, a summary of the facts, what the claimant wants from the defendant, and if money, how the amount is calculated;
(b) the defendant responding within a reasonable time - 14 days in a straight forward case and no more than 3 months in a very complex one. The reply should include confirmation as to whether the claim is accepted and, if it is not accepted, the reasons why, together with an explanation as to which facts and parts of the claim are disputed and whether the defendant is making a counterclaim as well as providing details of any counterclaim; and
(c) the parties disclosing key documents relevant to the issues in dispute.

If they have not followed correct procedure, a claim can be thrown out, you should also pursue your request for evidence from them as well.

fatbelly

I agree with Sourcrates re all those points.

The best people to assist you with this are

http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/forumdisplay.php?105-Received-a-Court-Claim

By asserting that it was statute barred when it probably isn't may have encouraged them to take court action - after all, only a court can declare something SB.

However, if the amount claimed is incorrect and/or if they can't produce relevant documents and/or they can be shown to have not followed the correct procedures then you do have angles. Legalbeagles will get you to do a cca request (sounds like what you did fell short of a formal request) and a cpr request now that court action has started.

lordsnooty01

Thanks all.

I have posted on the LE site.

No pre action has / was presented by Carters, additionally surely the date of default has relevance considering it's a missive of fact?

fatbelly

If the particulars of claim says that a default notice was issued on ... then that is one of the things that you can request a copy of through your cpr request.

Well done for posting on legalbeagles