Ignoring letters - acknowledge?

KeithP

33 days from 22nd July is indeed 24th August.

24th August is a Saturday so you are allowed until 4pm on the next working day to file your defence.

25th August is a Sunday and 26th August is a Bank Holiday.

Have a look at page 14 of the Money Claim Online (MCOL) - User Guide, where it says:

How long does the defendant have to respond to my claim?

The court will send out a claim pack to each defendant once the claim has been issued and allows 5 calendar days from the date of issue for the service of the claim. Therefore the 'date of service' is the 5th calendar day after issue.

The defendant has 14 calendar days from the 'date of service' to file a response. If the last day for filing the response falls on a day that the court is not open (i.e. a weekend or public holiday), the court will allow the next full working day for a response. The defendant can extend the time to respond to 28 calendar days by filing an acknowledgment of service (AOS).

Spetznaz7

Thank GOD.

Cheers.

KeithP

So has the Acknowledgement of Service been accepted or not?

Spetznaz7

Dear all,

Further to my case, having been assigned a court date in the new year, a few weeks later I have now received a letter from VCS offering me a 'reduced settlement charge' of £125.00 to settle the matter.

They begin the letter by stating they are confident they have a strong case against me however 'they are mindful that under civil procedure rules litigants are expected to try and resolve disputes where possible'.


I apparently have 14 days from the date on the letter to accept this.


I suppose my question to the experts on here is, is there precedent for this sort of thing?
Is it an indication they think my case is strong? Or is it just a standard thing they do so that if/ when it reaches the proceedings at court they can point to their 'reasonableness' to attempt to settle?

Not sure what to make of this really. It's obviously £135 less than the outstanding total charge (if I lost) but I don't really want to pay anything so am tempted to ignore it and go ahead with the court date!

Very grateful for your thoughts guys.

Le_Kirk

It's your call but the normal advice is why are they offering a settlement if they are so sure of their ground and that they would win in court? You could go back with a counter offer of £10.

Umkomaas

They begin the letter by stating they are confident they have a strong case against me

If it’s that strong, and given these are simply money-eating machines (nothing else in this world matters to them), draw your own conclusions.

I suppose my question to the experts on here is, is there precedent for this sort of thing?

We see it from time to time, and there’s scope at any stage for either party to make an offer to settle before court proceedings reach the hearing stage.

Is it an indication they think my case is strong?

That would be my guess, but no one knows the inner workings of each or any PPC, other than as above, their entire raison d’etre is to make money.

I don't really want to pay anything so am tempted to ignore it and go ahead with the court date!

It’s obviously your choice, but you’re speaking our language here!

Spetznaz7

Umkomaas wrote: »

If it’s that strong, and given these are simply money-eating machines (nothing else in this world matters to them), draw your own conclusions.


We see it from time to time, and there’s scope at any stage for either party to make an offer to settle before court proceedings reach the hearing stage.


That would be my guess, but no one knows the inner workings of each or any PPC, other than as above, their entire raison d’etre is to make money.


It’s obviously your choice, but you’re speaking our language here!

Ha. Good to know. Do you think I should respond and send a counter offer of something measly just so as to show to the Judge that I have acknowledged and engaged with the claimant and addressed their 'courteous' offer?

Coupon-mad

Yes - only a tenner though - but not to show the judge because you CAN'T show WP communications at the hearing, except at the end when costs are discussed!

Castle

Mendop6 wrote: »

Dear all,

Further to my case, having been assigned a court date in the new year, a few weeks later I have now received a letter from VCS offering me a 'reduced settlement charge' of £125.00 to settle the matter.

So all they have done is to knock off the fake £60 charge.

Coupon-mad

The sum they can't get anyway, against a clued up Defendant!