Andy, ring the court up and ask them where you are up to, tell them, you don't understand the letter? Just write down what they tell you and get back here with the info. If the claim is from the Northampton Bulk Centre Court the phone number is.........03001231056, tell them your claim number and they will advise where you are up to.

OK, i have decided to make an application to the court as i said i would do in my CPR request, i am filling in the N244. I have followed the sticky regarding the use of CPR procedure and I have a couple of questions for clarity please............. [1] The sticky advises to apply without a hearing, and also further down mentions "current fee" of £75. I rang NCCBC for advice about submitting a N244 application, they advised me the cost was £45 without a hearing or £85 with a hearing. How come the discrepancy in advice? [2] Costs aside(as regards the application fee) what are the merits or otherwise of 'without hearing' or 'with hearing' [3] The draft order notice has sentences such as........... Is that to be reproduced verbatim so the court can insert a date, depending on the order? Or am i supposed to work out a date? [4] How long will it take to process/hear/act on the application (roughly) ? [5] I assume having made the application i am not compromised by not sending in a defence until such time as the application is heard?

HI, i'm going to back up a bit and start over, i.e not jump the gun and ask stupid questions. Claim recieved dated 8th October. Acknowledgement sent to court with intention to defend. CPR 31.14 request for the documents they mentioned in the claim sent to Sols, dated 14th, sent 1st Class post (i have proof of posting) on 15th. No reply to date. Should of been seven days to reply? If i have no reply in the morn should i ring the sols to see if they have recieved it? Whats my next move (options) ?

Hi Andy, many thanks. Would anyone have an idea how to address the first particular of the Claim...... I do have a copy of the agreement which was an electronic transaction and i saved the original page. So i know it exists. If i say this is not disputed, is that a part admission of the claim?

Hi Tony, you will find some useful information here from about page 21 onwards, that may help you out i think. http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/business_leaflets/consumer_credit/OFT1272.pdf Also to add, it contains information relating to the tactics shown by example in that letter from Drydens you recieved.

Hi Ford, thanks for reply. I have some good news, the document i scanned and emailed to them has been accepted as acknowledgement, they've mailed me back this morning to confirm it. I'm just so stressed over the whole thing and worried sick. And now i have to file a defence and counterclaim, i'm almost doubting if i want to put myself through it. First simple question please if anyone can tell me. I owe approx £5,600. If i accepted it and didn't go to court and got a judgement against me, what does the mean in practical terms? I am a homeowner on a low income. If i defended it and lost what does that mean to me in practical terms, costs ?

Hi Ford, many thanks. I have been trying it all week and it still doesn't work. I don't have any faith in the system at all now. Even if i got through tonight i'd still post it tomorrow. Thats the way i feel over it.

Hi Tony, this may be to late for you to consider but as i am researching similar stuff myself i picked up on this.... That reads like you do not know the date of service of the DN. Which is a direct question you could be asked which may be fatal to your argument. Maybe you should have asserted a service date unless the claimant can prove otherwise, rather than leave it open ended?

Hi again, i tried to use the MCOL service and it didn't work for me. I am computer savvy so its nothing i've done wrong. I've already previosly used gov.gateway services for tax etc. so i know how it works. I registered, got as far as enter claim number and password, and it doesn't work. I did email MCOL, subject title [claim response] (or whatever expression it used) and told them i was acknowleding service. I got email back containing some interactive PDF docs, and was told .............. Now i'm still within my time limit for posting so i'm asking this question really for reference for anyone else who may stumble across this thread who has the same problem. So although i have typed a claim acknowledgement, they havn't accepted it as one and have suggested i type one in email to them (which i thought i had already done). I'm not reasurred by any of that, neither am i reassured of filling in an interactive PDF doc , saving it and emailing it to them. It would need my signature? What i have done is get my original, fill it in, scanned it, converted it to a pdf and i am about to email it to them. Not that i have any faith in how its going to work, so i am going to post it in the morn as well. Any recommendations for method of post? Registered, signed for , proof of posting, etc ? I'm going to have a lot more questions shortly, as i will be preparing my defence and mounting a counterclaim which is going to put a whole new light on matters. I still have a lot of unanswered questions in this thread, i would be gratefull if anyone has any input at all. I'm doing a very lot of reading and only have my own assumptions to go on, based on what i read, I would appreciate some feedback even if negative as its not something i can discuss with wider members of my family/friends or neighbours. Please some basic questions are, what if i loose a £5700 claim. What are its implications, i don't earn enough to pay it, i am a home owner. By counter claiming where does that leave the "claimant", are they now a defendant? What is the status on that? Also luckily for me i have kept all correspondance from my creditor, what i am short of (although it is referenced in the letters to me) is my letters to them. I have one or two, the rest have been lost in computer changes where i have not thought to back them up. Will they turn up in a SAR request? I have done a SAR request today. At this stage and in keeping with my defence and counterclaim i'm not relying on SAR response, i already have enough to work with. Anything a SAR throws up could only help me. If i have to prepare a document bundle for court do i have to copy every sheet i have? There must be about 100 of them, and number them i.e ML1/ML2 etc... I spent all of yesterday waking up at 6.30am, reading all day on computer, making notes until 11pm (and thats only one day of the story), and my partner interupting to say "stop it, just tell them you have been making payments" I'm very gratefull for the responses i've had so far. But is self help going to be a way forward, should i consider looking for free legal help?

Sorry, didn't mean to shout. Page 2 of the DN i threw away, i'm sure it was compliant, it was a big notice (i was sent a similar copy with other letters) mentioning the OFT and where to get help etc. I didn't realise they may be important. I have done no SAR, i will do this first thing in the morn. In the meantime i'll acknowledge service, then work on my defence and counterclaim. My counterclaim is goig to be the bulk of my defence i think, i'll mention the need for proof of service to validate the DN and rely on the unfair treatment, i think.

I couldn't say with any certainty what date it was recieved.

Ok, i've been doing a lot of reading through all the rescources on the site and trying to get to grips with my feeling of injustice, and finally managed to focus a bit. So some more information and a few questions. I had been a Lloyds TSB account holder for over 20 years without blemish. Took loan in March 2010. Never missed a payment. Contacted them in Sept 2010 after i paid my September installment and told them of my change in circumstances and provided CCCS income and expenditure form with the offer of a token payment of £5 per month. Received letter (1st October 2010) confirming they would accept this whilst account was on way to collections. I paid Oct, Nov, Dec. In December i received Default notice (which i was clearly in no position to pay), which confirmed the areement would be termiated if i didn't pay. I continued to pay, Jan 2011, Feb, March etc.. In February i recieved Letter before action (from SCM sols) and demand for the full sum. That was the only correspondance i received from them. After that i was contacted by Apex and continued my payments to them. Now my thinking is i have a BCOBs and possibly Estoppel defence along with an argument the DN is defective anyway. The termination of the contract was also unlawful and i had no chance of being able to repay the full sum in February 2011. Could/should i use this a defence that they have not treated me fairly at all, could i issue a counterclaim? If i can issue a couterclaim do i just do it or contact SCM first to say i will and see if we can come to an agreement ? I realise no one can tell me what to do, but if someone could point out any merits or otherwise of what i've said above i'd be grateful. One last thing, does the 20+ years i held a Lloyds account mean anything for them to consider or is it just the length of the loan account they should look at when considering my relationship with themselves ?

Section 7 of the Interpretation Act 1978 may help you out. http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1978/30/section/7 I'm researching this very thing myself

Thanks Andy, was a typo i got that many thanks. Might seem trivial question but here goes. My statement from Lloyds shows payment on 25th December, thats christmas day and it was a cheque i sent. I thought they where closed on Christmas day? My cheque account shows the payment leaving my account on 30th December. Does that seems right? I'd be gratefull if someone could look at my default notice above (untitled2) and confirm if it does not give the 14 days required to remedy. My thinking is its dated 21st, due to xmas hols, service on 29thDec to remedy before 10th Jan i make that 11 days? Oh, and also is (untitled3) above a statutory demand?

[ATTACH=CONFIG]46865[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]46866[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]46867[/ATTACH] If i can just add some more info, going through my stuff. I have found the reply from Lloyds dated 1st Oct,2010 that agrees to my reduced payments of £5 whilst my account was on its way to consumer debt recovery. Also my statement confirms the token payments on 15th Oct,17th Nov,25th Dec. My cheque book stubs show dates of 13th Oct,15thNov,17th Dec. My question is.....where they correct to issue a DN after this informal agreement? I'm just very suprised to have received this claim after so long and its knocked me for six a bit to be honest. And i'm unsure of what way is best to go about this, i will check the amounts claimed but i dare say they will be correct other than the payment i've made inbetween the claim arriving. In substance i dont dispute the amount or the claim, do i just accept it? I s it worth defending it on the basis the DN might be unenforcable etc... What are the potential outcomes for me? Oh and one more thing, the particulars of claim say the sum has not been paid nor any part of it, i have all my statements showing these token payments, is that an argument or a defence the that particular item of the claim? I'm just going to use MCOL to acknowledge service right now and post off a CPR 41.14 request to Sols. See where we go from there, it will give me time to make my mind up anyway.

I'm unsure if the balance is correct as they have not sent a latest statement, last one was in April this year so i'll have to check my payments, just to complicate it a bit, i have made a payment either on or a day or two before the summons dated 8th October. I'm not sure if this is normal but i usually get a statement every 6 months. Actually i get two seperate ones. Both look similar i.e on Lloyds headed paper, one will have Lloyds address and details in the top right hand corner and one will have Apex details in the top right hand corner. Both will usually have the same balance but the Apex one will not show all the payments. i just tried to post the claim, DN and other letter refered to in the claim but it won't let me post yet. [ATTACH=CONFIG]46863[/ATTACH]

Hi Andy and thanks for reply. The Claimant is Lloyds, i've had no correspondance from Apex other than their earlier comformation letters that i should send my payments to them, which i have done.

Hi, i took out a loan from Lloyds in march 2010, in May 2010 i lost my job, i kept up repayments until september 2010 when my savings ran out. I wrote to Lloyds and told them of this fact i also contacted CCCs (credit councelling service) and drew up a plan to pay my debts and bills i said i would pay a token £5 per month until i was back in employment or my circumstances changed. I recieved a letter from them verifying it and agreeing to it, although it did say the account would be placed with collections dept. I continued to pay £5 per month to Lloyds, over time i recieved several letters (all which i have kept) either some sort of formal notice or a statement of account. In May 2011 i received a notice from Apex that the account has been placed with them for administration and the payments would continue for 6 months. This carried on as before i paid Apex online. I recieved another letter from Apex in Jan 2012 to say my account had been passed from Lloyds to them (just as previous letter) and it would be good for 6 months (i.e the £5 per month arrangement). Throughout all this time my payments would be sporadic, i.e £5 in May. £5 in June, nothing in July, £10 in August. No letters or warnings about anything, its just continued like that until about now. I received a letter from SCM Sols saying if i don't pay the full amount owing within 14 days then they'll take me to court. I did not respond and i now have a court claim. ------------------------------------------------------- Particulars of Claim 1. By a loan agreement in writing & regulated by the Consumer Credit Act 1974, the Claimants agreed to lend monies to the Defendant. 2. The Defendant is indebted to the Claimants in the sum of XXXX.XX in respect of a Personal Loan account numbered xxxxxxxxxxxx and maintained by the Defendant at the Central Loan Proccesing Unit. 3. In breach of the said agreement, the Defendant failed to make payment and on 21/12/10 the Claimants did issue a Default Notice pursuant to section 87 (i) of the consumer credit act 1974. 4. By letter of the 22/02/10, from the Claimants to the Defendant the Claimants demanded repayment of the said sum, but the Defendant has failed to repay the said sum or any of it. 5. In the premises, the Defendant is indebted to the Claimants in the sum of XXXX.XX 6. THE CLAIMANTS THEREFORE CLAIM THE BALANCE DUE UNDER THE LOAN AGREEMENT ********* ------------------------------------------------------------------ Now i've done some reading here, tonight and previously . I've picked up on the fact that my DN dated 21/12/10 may be invalid? --------------------------------------------------- Default Notice (dated 21st December 2010) served under section 87(1) of the consumer credit act 1974. Personal loan account :xxxxxxxxx Current Balance :£XXXX.XX Arrears :£XXX.XX Which part of the agreement have i broken? The terms and conditions of the agreement above provided that you will pay on the monthly repayment date pay £XXX.XX How have i broken the agreement? You have not paid all the monthly repayments on time. There are arrears of £XXX.XX What do i need to do to correct this?ou must pay £XXX.XX by 10th January 2011. What will we do if you do not correct the breach? We will automaticaally terminate our agreement with you. --------------------------------------------------------------- Also i have paid at a rate of £5 per month and i have Lloyds receipts and statements to prove i have paid some of it. I'm thinking i'm looking at a defective DN and an untruth that i havnt paid any of it when i have clearly paid (as receipts show) a nominal amount of £5 per month between any or all dates mentioned, and still have been paying to date. Any advice gratefully recieved as i havnt done anything like this before. I have to respond to the claim, i intend to respond that i disagree with the claim. I'll do some reading as regaards the defective (or possibly) DN, any other thoughts?