BW Legal sent county court claim form

Poki12

Hello
I was getting letters from Lowell ltd. regarding a debt which I don't acknowledge, so I ignored them. Recently BW Legal started claiming for the same debt n asking to contact them. I ve been getting letters n even phone calls which I had been ignoring. Yesterday I received a County Court Claim Form for the same. Also received a letter from BW Legal stating that if I don't respond to their letter or the Claim form, they ll enter a CCJ against me.
Where I can recall, their claim is way back from around 2007. After which I was not in the country for few years and I came back 7years ago and to a different address. In any circumstances if I had an arrear won't it be statute barred by now.? But my credit report shows a default on 2011.
I have written a letter to BW Legal to provide me with the proof of contract with my signatures.
Can you plz advice me on how to deal with the Court claim form and BW Legal?

StopIt

If the debt is statute barred you must lodge that as a defence in the claim form.


If you go online you can do a thing called "Acknowledging service" which gives you extra time to fill out the court forms. However at this stage it may be too late to contact BW Legal. The Letter Before Action is basically the last chance for that normally.


However, the defence doesn't change, you just send it to the court. If the debt is statute barred the courts will throw the case out and the debt will not be enforceable. However if it is NOT statute barred, then you'll receive a CCJ and must pay within 1 month or the CCJ will be on your file for 6 years.


Good luck.

fermi

Talk to a free advice service such as National Debtline.

Maybe also post for help at: http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/forumdisplay.php?105-Received-a-Court-Claim

sourcrates

If you've not paid the debt since 2007, then it's likely to be statute barred, and that should form your full defence.

It's then up to the creditor to prove otherwise.

National_Debtline

Hi

I agree it’s a good idea to file the Acknowledgement of Service, to allow you to more time to seek advice.

This factsheet gives an overview of the court claim process:
www.nationaldebtline.org/EW/factsheets/Pages/replyingtoacountycourtclaim/replyingtoaccj.aspx

This factsheet explains the Limitation Act in more detail:
www.nationaldebtline.org/EW/factsheets/Pages/time-limits-for-recovering-debts/statute-barred-debt.aspx

I also agree it’s a good idea to seek legal advice if defending a court claim.

James
@natdebtline

Poki12

Thanks a lot for ur prompt replies. Really appreciate. My only concern is the default date in my credit file shows 2011.
Also is there a way I could find that the debt has reached statute barred so that I file my defence with confidence..?
I was about to post the letter to BW Legal today to ask them to provide the contract papers. Should I send it ?
I would take ur advice n ll contact a legal adviser. Thank you all

fatbelly

You file your defence anyway. The claimant then has to disprove your statement.

Fake default dates are routine. Even if the default was showing as say July 2011, that would indicate the contract broke down Jan-Apr 2011 and so there's a good chance this is SB even on their dates.

The most important link above is the one to Legalbeagles as they will help you defend the claim and do cca (if appropriate) and cpr requests - all the info is on that site.

Poki12

Thanks a million. I ll do that. Very much appreciate ur help:j

Poki12

Hello again.
I ve made an acknowledgement of service online. What should be my next step. I finally didn't post the letter to BW legal. I ve read everything online but it all seems too complicated. Please can u guide me through. I also went on Legal beagles but responses r much quicker here.
Thanks

StopIt

You MUST file a defence before the deadline.


If you think the debt is Statute Barred, use the defence and I think Legal Beagles has examples of how to do just that. As stated, the info is there, just take your time, grab a cup of hot beverage and work your way through it.

sourcrates

Advise here on what to do.

Remember, you must acknowledge service ASAP, then enter your defense within the time scale allowed, if you dont, you will receive a CCJ by default, so dont let that happen :

http://legalbeagles.info/forums/showthread.php?70908-Defending-CCJ-Statute-Barred-Debt

Your defense should be something along the lines of :

The debt is time barred under the Limitation Act 1980 Section 5 in that the last payment or acknowledgement of this debt was made over six years ago and no further acknowledgement or payment has been made since that time. The claim is denied.