Thanks for the reply PDLVictim - that is certainly all food for thought. I have to confess I have had a nose through other posts on here, and have come to the same conclusion regarding going to court.... but would love someone to prove me wrong. IF you have a 'positive outcome' from a court appearance -v- a PDL company, I would love to hear from you. Thanks again for all the advice I have been given by everyone.

May I ask why you suggest this? Have you had personal experience of this company, or others like them?

Yes SillyGirl - it has all been reported to OFT and Trading Standards, not that they seem that interested either. I think too my situation will change shortly, and I will no longer be in receipt of IS - going s/e and claiming tax credits. That will then probably make it look like I was taking the proverbial with my offer, although in reality I probably won't have any more disposable income than I did before. Seriously considering an IVA or something more drastic - maybe then I will get all my creditors off my back and will be able to sleep again. My mental health is seriously in decline with all this worry.

I do owe them, and I am happy to pay what I owe - but this debt escalated in a ludicrous fashion, and they ignored my offers of payment. One of their gripes is that I didn't make any part payments to show willingness. Just out of interest, I was told all I should admit is the original loan plus one months interest - do Judges tend to look at that as reasonable or not? Safeloans just appear to hold the cards at the moment - they keep pulling new things out of the hat to use as part of their defence, and all I have is a pile of letters that they claim they haven't had! Just feeling very despondent. I thought that accepting the Mediation would show some willingness on my part to negotiate, but it has just left me feeling worse.

Have had a bit of a wade through the posts here, as I am currently considering a move to Scotland from the UK. I do have a bit of a debt, one CCJ and several defaults, that will obviously follow me there. The process appears very different however. Can someone explain to me please the main differences between Scots and English Law regarding debt? Have to say, from what I have seen, the Scottish law seems somewhat harsher - the thought of an arrestment of my bank account would be a complete disaster. Thanks for any advice.

Sorry, who should have got a Judge to look? Safeloans or the Mediator?

But as their 'admission' they wanted me to deal on the phone was made to the Mediator, I doubt they will mention that in court! I just feel they must think they have a very strong case to have not budged an inch during the mediation process - and I am going to end up with an even bigger debt at the end of the court hearing. Actually, the mediator appeared quite negative to me too - he kept reminding me that going to court could result in me ending up with fees for the court hearing, and travel costs for the defendant. This is all stopping me sleeping now.

Apparently the mediation process is 'without prejudice' and mentioning this in court or in my defence would 'prejudice' the judge. I have already reported them to OFT and Trading Standards. What is a Tomlin order? Does this mean that Judgement is entered against me, or not?

OK, so here's the latest.... Had mediation call this morning. Safeloans are basically denying that they have received any communication from me, and that is why the debt has escalated to £609.00. I explained I had written and they had not acknowledged my offers, and their response was that I could have called and this whole situation would have been avoided. Pointed out that as their communication was so shoddy, and often incorrect, I didn't trust them on the phone. The upshot was they wanted the full £609 immediately, or over four months to avoid court. This I can't do. I reiterated my offer of £20 per month, and they will accept that but only on the full balance - no negotiation whatsoever. I offered £100 more than my defence to meet in the middle - £330 payable by £20 instalments. They declined. The best they will do is knock £50 off to give me a total balance of £559, and then I can pay that by instalments of £20 with a Tomlin order, and proof of my Income Support. (They claim to have asked for this, but I haven't got a letter from them about it). I am mindful of the fact that if it goes to court I could end up paying nearer £900, and to be honest, am so drained by this all I am tempted to take the offer and be done with it. I am, frankly, quite worried about going to court and that it could end up worse for me. I am also told by the Mediator that I cannot mention the mediation in court - ie can't mention the fact that I offered £330 today. So what was the point? Surely that would help my case? What do people think? I have not had experience of the court process, nor of dealing with these parasites before, and am at the end of my tether. Court date is set for September 28th btw.

Have mediation call appointment now... does anyone have any advice they can offer on this? Not sure that it will be much help, as they haven't budged so far, but worth a try....

Thanks again sillygirl, I have emailed them today and told them that I note their comments, reiterated my offer, and advised that their continual communication is also being added to my defence. I am getting worried sick about this....

Yet another communication from my friends at Safeloans today.... copy of the AQ plus the following letter.... Dear Miss xxx Please see attached Allocation questionnaire as served upon you and the Court. Again the claimant invites you to settle our claim, as we are mindful of the increased cost in this claim, and we are further reluctant to protract further costs in this matter. If this claim does proceed to hearing, we will ask the District Judge for a cost to be paid by you. We hope to hear from you in due course to see an end to this matter. Yours sincerely I am getting hearily sick of their 'communications', which having gone through again today, fail to acknowledge my offer to them at any point. What costs can they ask for from me? Are they trying to avoid court, by me getting so worn down I settle just to get them off my back? They are aware that I am now in receipt of Income Support, I have offered £20 per month. Is the Judge likely to make me pay substantially more than this? Any thoughts, please. Thanks again.

I have today received the Allocation Questionnaire, and have a couple of questions to clarify things in my mind before I send it back... Where it asks 'Location of Hearing' do I just put in my local County Court? And what can I give for the reasons? Are they likely to put it near me in Cornwall, or am I more likely to be expected to go off hundreds of miles? Any thoughts on the Mediation Service? Is it worth ticking yes, and seeing if they can get any sense out of them? Does anyone have any experience of using this service? And fees.... it asks if I have sent the appropriate fee for filing the aq, but gives me no clue as to how much this is.... Thanks again for the advice, and sorry to keep asking questions which probably appear quite obvious to some of you. Having never been through this process before, I am finding the advice here invaluable!

Very close to Padstow Renegade... in fact, we were there yesterday! Had a fantastic carrot cake icecream! (Really, it must be tried!) Aside of that, guessing it will probably go to Bodmin then... I hope! Maybe they are faffing about as they've just realised where I am and wondering whether it's worth sending someone down here!

Thanks for the kind offer SillyGirl... could use some moral support! However, really hope it WON'T be in Croydon, as I am down in Cornwall!!!

No, no date yet... why interesting? Have you had dealings with them too?

Everything I had received up to getting the Claim Form was sent to the Court as my defence... all this correspondence is after it went in. So all this afterwards just needs to be sent in with a covering letter with the claim number?

Should I put a covering letter in pointing out the discrepancies, or will that just aggravate a judge having it pointed out to them?! Sorry to ask so many questions, have never done this before. Thanks for all your patience x

Yep all went to the Court, and assume it has been processed as Safeloans refer to my partial defence and won't accept it. The stuff I've had since. do I send this to the Court now with a covering letter, or hang on to it? Just really worried about defending this, as am starting to not know whether I am coming or going.

Yes Silly Girl, defence has gone in, and Safeloans do not accept it. (tough!). Should I send all the copies to the court now, or wait until the case comes up? Funny how they didn't want to talk to me or respond to my letters at all until the ccj had been requested... and yet they are still completely ignoring my offers!

Two loans Renegade, which are both under the same CCJ application. I have already filed my defence, this correspondence is all since that went back to Court. The wording of the original court claim is here on this thread earlier. They have lumped them both together, this is why I don't understand why they would be offering me a reduced settlement on one of them, and not the other, when they are both being dealt with under the same Court claim. I am getting hopelessly lost and confused. I want to reply to them, but have no idea where to start...

Renegade Imp - can you just clarify which bits would be against regulations? I just cannot think straight about this now....

Also just noticed that the balance they quote in todays email - £637.25 - is not the same as that quoted in their letter to me; this was £554 plus £55 summons fee. I make that £609, which is the amount after revised interest!!!

Hi everyone.... this is about to be another ridiculously long post, so please bear with me. Hope it makes sense to you all..... Firstly, I received this email: Re: Safeloans Ltd v xxx Court Case Number: Balance owing on your account as of today's date:11/05/2012: £210.75 REQUEST FOR JUDGMENT IMMINENT- FINAL SETTLEMENT OFFER Dear xxx This is our final formal notice informing you we are at the legal stage "Request Judgment" where the issuing of your (CCJ) judgment is imminent we will inform the court that you have not paid the debt owing and we will ask the court to "Request Judgment," you will then be registered with a "CCJ." A judgment will have a very negative impact on your credit rating and will make it near impossible for you to gain any form of regular credit or finance for a whole 6 years from when registered. IMPORTANT PLEASE READ- As you are aware we have tried to negotiate with you throughout the arrears status on your account. The Courts directive is to try and "mediate settlement". Even at this late stage we offering you 2 discounted option's to settle our claim. 1/ A substantial 30% discount off the balance owing, your new discounted balance is £147.53, to take up this offer the account must be repaid in one payment and by 25/05/2012. For this offer the payment must be made by a valid Debit Card and we will set up an automated collection for the date agreed with you.This action will settle your account and stop proceedings. Please note you must contact us no later than 21/05/2012 with your proposal 2/ A 15% discount off the balance owing, your new discounted balance is £179.14, this payment arrangement is set over two months. The first payment must be made on / before 25/05/2012. This action will settle your account and stop proceedings. For this offer the payment must be made by a valid Debit Card and we will set up a payment plan on our system for automated future payments on the date agreed with you. Please note you must contact us no later than 21/05/2012 with your proposal If you have any queries please do not hesitate to contact the litigation team who will be able to assist you on 020 82534132 / 020 82534133 or 020 82534140. You may also send a letter or email your queries to: litigation@safeloans.co.uk If your first re-payment date is more than 7 days away you will need to make a “Token” (Goodwill Payment). Because of the seriousness of the account status a minimum token payment £20.00 must be paid to allow us to enter in to payment arrangement with you. Regards Safeloans Ltd 1st & 2nd Floor 30 Church Street Croydon CR0 1RB http://www.safeloans.co.uk Then I received the letter detailed in my earlier post which stated a highly inflated figure being claimed in court. I wrote and re-iterated my offer to them, based on the above email, and have today received the following email: Dear xxx We confirm receipt of your email. As per our letter dated 15th May 2012 your total outstanding balance is currently £637.25. As you are aware you have two account with us. The figure for £210.75 outlined in our email sent on 11th May 2012 is the balance owing on one of your accounts. We have not accepted you part admission and therefore confirm that it is our intention to continue with court proceedings. Regards Safeloans Ltd Having checked their earlier email, and their letter, they are quoting the same account number on each. So for the same account number I have two different balances? When I also checked against the letter I received, (copied earlier in this thread), neither account would add up to the £210.75 they claim it does. They also keep referring to 'their claim' in the first email here, which indicates that this is the only amount on there. Surely they cannot send out a separate letter, for a different account, under one court claim? Why would they not have sent another letter with a reduced settlement for the other account too? I am rapidly getting to the end of my tether, and would appreciate any advice as to how to respond to them. They have succeeded in confusing me, worrying me, and have still not even acknowledged my offers made! They are always conveniently disregarded in any correspondence they send to me. I am just concerned that having confused me so thoroughly, when we get to Court, they will walk all over me as I don't know what the hell is going on now. Thanks for any assistance.

Have copies of everything they've sent me, either by email or post. Are they actually lying though? Or did they simply drop the amount to avoid going to court? Just feeling so worn down by it all....