Update: The judge adjourned the case, and suggested that mortgage co should pull their finger out to establish the exact arrears figure. He asked why what i was paying was not acceptable, then ordered it to carry on as is until adjourned hearing. Solicitor tried to go for suspended possession but judge was having none of it.

I have done it now, and dropped at the Court on Monday so 8 days before. Any tips for the hearing? I received a witness statement from the solicitors, it doesn't seem to say that much. The arrears amount is wrong again and different from the claim. I have flagged this up

Hi Things I want to include in defence. Settlement was being actively negotiated – against govt guidelines to start proceedings as I understand it, had telephone conversation, they wouldn't agree on phone but said they would when they had I&E which i sent in as agreed, They didn't respond or acknowledge letter event though my letter contained specific request for this. I had another telephone conversation with them in which they refused to discuss anything and told me I should have known that they had received my letter, I should have rung them to check! and I should have known that they had queries and wanted to talk to me!! I am apparently meant to be telepathic. Only over trigger point to start proceedings due to bank error in over charging interest Incorrectly calculated interest for Jan 2011, not responded to documentary evidence showing it is wrong. This contributed to being over trigger point, made credit file worse and arrears higher than actual. Also they calculate "months in arrears" by dividing arrears by current payment, the arrears were incurred some time ago when payments were higher, I have not missed more payments just had a drop in interest rates. i think this is unjust personally. Wrong number on file, Data Protection issue, Number not removed on request, Calling me on number known to be incorrect - so obviously they wouldn't be getting through (Data Protection complaint sent) I am meeting monthly repayments, I am paying towards arrears B&B is signed up to Homeowner Mortgage Support Scheme which defers interest instead of going for repossession yet haven't taken that option or even advised me of it.(I only found out today) Again against govt guidelines and what they signed up to. the aim of this scheme is supposed to be to prevent repossession Arrears are actually going down, though slowly from Oct 10 was £2,435, to may 2011 is £2,100 will be £2,000 end of month. My reasoning for original arrears is family bereavement, which led me to take some down time hence income went down. Now I just have lots of people who haven't paid me

Thanks, do I not have to get the defence back until a week before? For some reason i had in my head I have to reply in 2 weeks. Or i can send the form and add more detail later? What is best?

Hearing is 14 June

I have some concerns on declaring other debts on the form. I have some debts (credit cards) I am not making payments on. If I put everything on there on paper I can't afford payemnts. i am thinking put the same as i put on the I&E to the mortgage company, that makes most sense. At best it is a snapshot as a number of the amounts vary for income and outgoings.

I would love any advice on the defence form! Not started yet, and i think i have extra things I need to add! Cheers

My mortgage company have started possession proceedings despite me complying with what they asked for during a telephone conversation Potted history: Was on high fixed rate at £1200pm, missed about 3 half month payments over last couple of years, was always less than 2 months in total so whilst they chased there was no big hassle and I was making random small payments to reduce it. In January mortgage interest rate went down and repayments became £475. (And no I couldn't just pay the difference, about 3 people didn't pay me over that time so massive drop in income over Christmas) Total owed was £2200 on total loan of about £225k. My mortgage was bought from the original company by the current company about a year after it started. First issue because the interest rate reduced suddenly £2200 became 4-5 months arrears instead of less than 2 the way they calculate it - its not on missed payments it s on percentage of current monthly payment. I believe this is unfair, and suddenly I am a risk (!!) and get a lot of threatening letters, yet the amount owed is the same! Second issue, they charged me the old amount in Jan despite rate going down so over charged, so Mortgage company have increase arrears, even though they made an error. I have complained about this, they wrote back once, their final letter states that I started paying in Feb 2008 so lat payment at higher rate is Jan 2011, This is incorrct and I have sent in documentary evidence to prove it, but heard nothing back. My mortgage started in Dec 2007 and I had paid 36 payemnts by Dec 2010. The mortgage co used my offer letter to calculate not the actual completion date. Third issue: They have the wrong telephone number on file for me and are calling me on this number I have never heard of then saying they can;'t get through to me. I found out when i rang them back in April and they checked the number, I asked verbally and in writing fro them to remove it. i don't know where it came from and I don't recognise it. So firstly there is the Data Protection issue, secondly they call me on this number then blame me when I don't answer. I have asked for them to email but they wont, and it seems they don't like writing either. I have sent five letters over the last few months and only received reply once and that was because I made formal complaint. Fourth issue: Had long telephone conversation in April, on an 0845 number at high cost to me, they only give 0845 numbers which is no good if you're not on BT! End result was I asked if they could agree a repayment on the phone, answer was no, i have to send in an income and expenditure form then they can agree it. So I filled in the income and expenditure form as agreed with the lady on the phone and within the timescale discussed, offered what i said on the phone, and waited for confirmation. Next I hear is a possession hearing. I rang them up and after spending 10 minutes on security and checking the correspondence on file they refused to discuss anything with me and said they will only take what the court decrees. So they didn't write back, even though I asked for confirmation in writing in the letter. i am apparently supposed to be telepathic and I should have known that they received the letter and that they had a query on the I&E form, and called them!!. It is apparently far to much to expect that they would write back to me. So instead even though the I& E is recorded as received on their system and they told me when they received this they would agree a repayment plan, they instruct solicitors. To say I am angry is putting it mildly! I have started making the payments I offered - £100 pm, I did state that I couldn't pay more now but would increase as my income picks up. Though in fact i have had more people not pay me since then so things are very tight at the moment. However my main concern is keeping the house. Its not something i really want to share with friends, though hope to talk to one friend about it. In theory I suppose my best route is to try and borrow £2000 from someone to pay it off by the hearing. Does that make sense? My credit record would not allow me to borrow from a card or anything. There will still be the question of the nearly £800 disputed amount as I'm not paying that. However its less than 2 months "arrears" so i guess doesn't tick the box for court action. I think my main concern is that one of the judges at my local court is very bank friendly, though logicically I don't see how they could take the bank's side. Even more stupid I am dealing with a government owned mortgage company! So my actions for today are to fill in the court form, complain to the Data Protection Registrar, complain to the Ombudsman about the error, probably write to the mortgage company again, ask for a copy of the recording of the telephone call in April, and take more advice. I don't have funds for a solicitor. I do have some knowledge of the area and as far as i know (??) if I am meeting monthly repayments, which I am, and making some payment towards the arrears, which I am, albeit not on an approved "plan", they won't actually repossess. I would really appreciate thoughts on this. Its a bit different when its your own house!! Any help/advice/pointers/warnings etc very much appreciated Thank you

Can anyone help on this please. I am back in Court tomorrow with one of my many times adjourned cases. I am a little concerned as I lost the last one because the DJ referred to a recent case (Sept 2010) where he claimed that all the cc company has to do is show that there was an account and there is an outstanding debt, ie statements are suffiecient evidence, forget about agreements etc and everything we base our arguments on. Does anyone know about thsi case and its implications? I didnt get the name, but it lost me a case, OK a bank friendly judge, he decided before I even walked into the room! I would really like to know if there is anything there I should be aware of for tomorrow Thanks

bump, have to get this off today, any thoughts?

I am currently dealing with this lot for an MBNA claim. It took 3 adjournments from the Court to get them to provide all the information, and they still have bits missing in my view. I wrote and asked for the information, when they didnt get it (I had an equally dismissive letter first time) I sent a defence in saying i couldn't do a proper defence as I didnt have the documents they referred to, and asked the Judge to make an order for the documents (all examples on this site) He duly did and they still didnt comply, mine has been going on close to a year I think, Judge has refused to adjourn again next time so we will fianlly see then. They rely on us worrying and getting stressed so we give in and seem to be as awkward as possible whilst acting as though they are right and have an automatic right to win at Court. Assume they don't and act accordingly.

Hi all Sorry not to update sooner, have been away so memory maybe not as good now, which wont; help me! Anyway, the solicitors announced that they now had statements available which proved the debt, however the Judge said they should have served them properly and couldn't just bring up in Court. She said it was basically a paper matter so everything had to be in the Witness statements. She then raised the point about the Enforcement Order they are requesting and said this should have been applied for BEFORE the statutory demand was issued. Solicitor then went into blaming others mode and said she didn't know if it had been done or not because a different solicitor issued the SD. Incorrect,a different solicitor issued the first SD which was set aside, they issued the current one, though clearly they have no idea what has happened prior to them taking it on. So the nice kind lady Judge decided to adjourn so that they could go and find out and do another witness statement. She then told me more or less that I had no hope and I should get a solicitor and that even if they failed this time ultimately they would succeed. I think she wanted me to just back down. THis even though it was obvious the claimant hadn't doen teh paperwork correctly which is grounds enough for set aside. Clearly she is a bank friendly Judge and wants top give them every chance of succeeding. So I now have their statement, which doesn't mention the enforcement notice and just states that the statements prove the debt So now I have about a week to respond as my holiday has eaten into my time. The hearing itself is adjourned until after Christmas, so won't be in Court fora bit but I do have to get my response in on time and make sure I cover everything i need to in it. Any thoughts or help anyone?

Update: case was adjourned. Back with explanation when I have a bit more time to type it up Not a consumer friendly judge!!

OK, finally have the scanned copy statement http://i625.photobucket.com/albums/tt331/Diz36/AM1/W1.jpg http://i625.photobucket.com/albums/tt331/Diz36/AM1/W19.jpg http://i625.photobucket.com/albums/tt331/Diz36/AM1/W17.jpg http://i625.photobucket.com/albums/tt331/Diz36/AM1/W16.jpg http://i625.photobucket.com/albums/tt331/Diz36/AM1/W15.jpg http://i625.photobucket.com/albums/tt331/Diz36/AM1/W14.jpg http://i625.photobucket.com/albums/tt331/Diz36/AM1/W13.jpg http://i625.photobucket.com/albums/tt331/Diz36/AM1/W12.jpg http://i625.photobucket.com/albums/tt331/Diz36/AM1/W1.jpg

Would also appreciate if someone could explain what the Enforcement order is/does, where it applies etc And how it fits into the whole picture Many thanks