Thanks, I never got round to starting the Arrow thread back when it was live.

I have TWO claims that were both stayed within a month of each other in late 2010: 1. Hillisden (former MBNA) 2. Arrow Global (former Barclaycard) Its only the Arrow Global claim that has been discontinued. I never started a dedicated thread for this. Is it possible to de-merge the threads and change the titles of the one called 'Claims Stayed since..." to '"Arrow Global vs Littlebert ****Claim Discontinued****"

Thats a different claim, albeit one that has also been stayed for 3 years! Nothing to update on that one, I'm afraid. I have updated my more recent thread dealing with both stayed claims here http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?305716-Claims-automatically-stayed-post-Defence&p=4330622#post4330622

Received a notice of discontinuance from Arrow Global yesterday.

Any update on this? Arrow have just discontinued their 3 y.o. claim against me. Fingers crossed they do the same with yours.

The claim will remain stayed until either party applies to have it lifted. Arrow could make this application to be decided 'ex parte' i.e. without notice and without a hearing. The first you would know about is upon receiving the courts directions, but you will have the opportunity to have it set aside. They may also apply to both lift the stay and to obtain summary judgement, this would probably require a hearing (unless your defence was particularly weak) so you would be served with the application notice and given a hearing date. I'm in a similar position to yourself. I don't know whether to wait for Arrow's next move, or to make one myself. I could make an application to strike out the claim as an abuse of process, but this would require a very strong argument and could expose me to signifiant costs if it were unsuccessful. But looking at it from Arrow's point of view, I don't see that they have a particularly strong position either. To apply for summary judgement after such a long delay and still having failed to provide all the documents would be equally risky for them. If you assume that they may have paid less than a penny in the pound for these accounts, it doesn't make any commercial sense to spend much pursuing defended claims - they would get a better return on investing in new receivables rather than litigating the problem cases. Hence their MO seems to be: farm accounts out to a panel of solicitors and get them to issue the claim and collect their fixed fees plus a success bonus if admitted; if defended, they 'park' the claim indefinitely and Arrow eventually bring it back in-house and have at least one crack at bullying you into setting up a payment plan. To me, this is clearly an abuse of the court process, but proving it is another matter. I've yet to find any recent examples of what Arrow tend to do next, so I took the view that I write back to them making it clear that there is still a dispute and that I intend to robustly defend any action they try to take. I also e-mailed the court to try to stop them obtaining an ex parte order to lift the stay. My thought was that ignoring them may lead them to believe they could obtain summary judgement uncontested.

Agree that its a judge lottery, but an awful lot depends on how well you present and argue your case. A lot has changed over the past few years but I believe that HFO v Wegmuller is one of the most recent reported successes at trial. It is probably fair to say that its difficult to win at trial, especially if you are not represented, but the case law still shows a prospect of success - should be enough to avoid summary judgement at least. LiPs can still be successful in getting settlements or discontinuances if you can present a strong enough defence. Personally, I would try to settle if the case looked like it were going to trial and I couldn't get representation on a CFA.

What do you mean by "enforceable agreement route doesn't work any more"? What other grounds for defending the claim were you hoping to find with the CPR 31.14 request - default, assignment?

The claim should be stayed and the clamant would need to make an application to lift the stay. They could probabbly have this delt with ex parte though as I suspect Northampton will take no notice of the delay. I have a very similar claim issued by Arrow in August 2010, that they have recently threatened to continue. I wrote to them saying the application form they sent me was unenforceable (no terms) and that they have still failed to provide copies of default notice and assignment. I have also e-mailed the court to asking them to refuse any ex parte application to lift the stay unless they provide an explanation for the delay. Not expecting much, but I do think that the court should take a dim view of a claimant who 'parks' a claim for nearly 3 years! Arrow seem to have form here and I believe there is case-law on abuse of process due to either starting a claim without the intention to pursue it, or parking claims while attempting to settle others. I suspect there are many more of these cases and Im wondering of the court service would provide some figures, for example, of the number of Arrow Global claims currently stayed for over 6 months? CPR5.4 might apply. If we could prove that Arrow are serial 'offenders' then this may help to get such claims struck out. Otherwise, I guess each case stands on its own merits i.e. have they provided an enforceable agreement etc

here is a redacted scan of the "agreement".

Well, after nearly 3 years Arrow Global have written to me to say that they are transferring the claim to in-huse solicitors and they intend to proceed with the litigation if I do not give them repayment proposals within 14 days They included a copy application form (referred to as the "agreement"), but this is barely legible microfilm and does not appear to have been executed. They have not provided a default notice or notice of assignment, as requested in my original "holding" defence. It seem pretty outrageous to expect to progress a claim that has been stayed for nearly 3 years, and I know that they need to apply to the court to lift the stay. But, in practice, how can I prevent this?

I still cant work out when the court would de-list the claim. I have searched the CPR, but it isn't clear what happens after a defence is filed but before AQs are issued

Thanks Shadow, When does the court de-list the claim and what is the effect of this i.e. can they start a new claim? bert

I'm defending two claims that are currently stayed because the claimant has failed to respond to the court after being served a copy of my Defence 1. Hillesdsen Securities (MBNA) since Sept 2010 2. Arrow Global (Barclaycard) since November 2010 Arrow refused to engage with me at all, but Hillesden did respond to a Part 18 request which I hoped would elicit some facts to clarify their absurdly vague PoC. Its now been 6 months and I really don't know how to proceed. Should I take the initiative and contact the claimants or make an application to the court? Or should I just sit tight? I've just got back to work after a three month absence due to depression and I don't want to leave this hanging much longer. Any ideas?

The claim is stayed as DLC never contacted the court after I submitted a defence. I've left it at that as there doesn't seem to be much that I can do. I have another case which is just about to be stayed automatically, so I would be grateful if anybody has any advice on how to proceed in these circumstances.