next step to take

Coupon-mad

You say 'date of claim'.

Errr...you have a court claim form?  You didn't say that.  You said a letter from DCBLegal.

killyken

its  from DCB legal and says letter of claim, not from the court

Coupon-mad

killyken said:

it was DCB legal
date of LETTER OF claim 1st Sept
date replied 18th sept for SAR request they gave 30 days
17th oct got another 30 days after debt request
probably done this all wrong, but only recently become aware of th

This is what I don't understand. Why do that when you presumably knew it would take you into the time you are away?

Who will get your post and email you a copy of the claim form in time?

Or

Is there another address for service you can nominate (family who won't panic and pay it) where someone will open your post and email photos to you to put a defence in by email?

UncleThomasCobley

You should email DCB Legal and inform them that you will not be available for service of any claim until your return from abroad with an expected date of return. If necessary, provide some evidence to show that you will be abroad. They are then under notice and should they ignore it and issue the claim and seek default judgment, you will be in a good position for a set aside and costs for unreasonable behaviour.

Courts have some discretion in these matters. If the court believes that the claimant unreasonably pursued a default judgment while being aware of the defendant's unavailability due to prior notification, the court may set aside the default judgment. The court may take into account whether the claimant's actions were unfair or breached principles of good faith and proportionality.

So, they would be foolish to ignore a notification of unavailability as it would cost them n the long run. However, you are dealing with intellectually malnourished people and there is not real way of predicting how they will act as their greed more often than not blinds them to any rational thinking or actions.

As in all these cases, there is an element of risk, especially when to comes to judge bingo but it may be worth asking DCB Legal if they are prepared to delay any claim until you are available for service. Being available for service of the claim is your best bet to guarantee that the claim will get thrown out at allocation stage or discontinued at a later date without the hassle of a set aside.

killyken

Your right, Ive not thought it through well, and been a bit spontaneous in doing things.i have no one near enough to keep popping in to see what s turned up. My daughter may accept the mail. I will have to check it out with her. What would be the wisdom of asking them not to wait for the 30 days and just start the process

Umkomaas

What would be the wisdom of asking them not to wait for the 30 days and just start the process 

To get it over and done with soonest, but with the best will in the world, that's not going to happen before the end of November. So you're going to have to rely on other strategies.

UncleThomasCobley

You can ask them to file the claim immediately but they are under no obligation to do so. Hence the point about informing them of your unavailability to be served a claim after the 30 day deadline as required by the PAP.

You are assuming that you are dealing with a human at some point in the process. You aren't. This is a bulk litigation process and almost everything about it is automated. Getting them to somehow alter their very profitable process is not likely to yield anything to your advantage.

killyken

Think my worry would be if they acted while I was away, i'd come back to a busted door and my furniture missing.

Umkomaas

killyken said:

Think my worry would be if they acted while I was away, i'd come back to a busted door and my furniture missing.

Your imagination is running riot. Can you show us where you've got this idea from?

Coupon-mad

Nominate any address where you can be served.

Your daughter or local friend only has the task of opening a letter and emailing you a copy.

No-one will knock on their door and nothing bad will happen. It's a letter.  But an important one. You MUST defend in time.

Do that this week, by email to DCB Legal before you go away and tell them you cannot be served at XXXXXXX address in November, December or January (at all) and if they send a claim there in those months knowing you cannot be reached there, it will be improper service and their client will be liable for your £275 N244 application fee to set any CCJ aside, plus further costs for unreasonable conduct.