Excel County Court Claim

Coupon-mad

I don't know what to do next.

Of course you complain to the CCBC again and prove that the email was sent by re-forwarding it while you are on the phone, and quoting the rules about the deadline to them (the proper deadline, as quoted by KeithP).  

You then ask to speak to the CCBC/MCOL Manager and you DO NOT accept them telling you something different than page 14 of the MCOL USER GUIDE, keep quoting it and ask why the other person told you wrongly, and stay on the phone repeating that you DID email your defence to the right email address and it WAS in time, according to:

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).

Gitface

Hi All
I persisted as you suggested and after being thrown around various departments, told to spend another £250 by multiple staff members, I eventually got this email without paying anything at all.  They did eventually agree the date was correct. 

Incidentally, I didn't get a receipt of email that they call a 'bounce-back' when I resent the defence along with the description of my problem, so an issue does exist with their systems.  I tested sending a small email and got a reply, maybe the attachment is causing a problem?  Who knows?
Anyhow, this is the email received:

"Good afternoon
 I am writing in regards to the above claim.
Please be advised that your case has been referred to a District Judge for directions on how to proceed as although we are unable to locate your email in our mailbox we were experiencing some problems at that time. Please accept my apologies for any inconvenience caused.
 It can take 2- 4 weeks to receive a response at which point you will be notified accordingly.
 If you require any further information please email us or contact our helpdesk on the number above."

Just hope the default CCJ doesn't appear on my credit file in the meantime.
As always, thanks for your help.

Le_Kirk

At least you have some proof (and an apology) in writing.

Gitface

I had this response from the court a few days ago, 
I am not entirely sure what to do with this.  Can you give me some advice?  The letter also enclosed a letter which I will post following this...

Gitface

Second part of letter from Court attached.

KeithP

Gitface said:

Second part of letter from Court attached.

Where??

The Default Judgment against you has been set aside. That's good.

Presumably the 'second part' tells you what you need to do next.

Gitface

Also attached to the bundle, this form with the struck out parts performed by the court, not me....

KeithP

OK that looks like the situation is back to how it should be.

You now need to file a completed Directions Questionnaire with the CCBC, sending a copy to the Claimant.

Follow the guidance I offered in the second list in my post of 21 January at 10:37PM on this thread - the first reply you ever received on this thread.

Edited to add:
However, time has moved on since you started this thread - for a start, the forum software has changed and the links in my earlier post might not work.

You are probably best advised to follow items 7 to 10 in the list in this post instead:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/76880595#Comment_76880595

Gitface

Thanks Keith, et al  :-)

nosferatu1001

Yep, basically you are back within the normal process
NEWBIES thread - post 2 - you MUST MUST MUST read it NOW. Dont delay. Read the whole thing to understand about DQs AND about your witness statement. already had people today only coming back after finding uot a court date asking the dreaded question "what do I do about a witness statement?"