Well that didn't go well. I had my Dispute Resolution Hearing yesterday and I lost. I will go through the Hearing as it may help other people. To be honest the Judge and the claimants solicitor were nice enough guys. I had quick 5 minute chat with the claimants solicitor before going in where he asked if I was prepared to make an offer before proceedings. I did make a fairly low offer as I was confident in my defence. He told me we were too far apart from the instructions he had from his client, so in we went. The Judge as I said came across as a nice guy and he laid out what a Dispute Resolution Hearing was. Simply to establish the facts and positions of both parties, assess if mediation would be suitable or possible, send to full trail or make Judgement at the hearing dependant on facts and evidence. He had asked if we had tried to resolve prior to the hearing and was told we were too far apart. The Claimant solicitor was first up, but the Judge was looking at the exhibits and straightaway pointed out that the T&Cs had no name, address, date etc. The claimant solicitor pointed him in the direction of the signed application form and he totally accepted the claimant's excuse that as the account is so old it had been lost and Judge accepted that fully. The solicitor went through all their exhibits stating it was clearly an outstanding debt that is enforceable. My turn and I was very calm and clear through the whole process. I started by saying my defence was based round the CCA 1974 act which is in place to protect consumers and lenders and I felt claimant was not complying to the act with evidence just submitted. Straightaway the Judge said he looks at it as Contractual Law and the balance of probabilities and explained if it was 51% or more one way to the other that's what he would be considering. I first bought up the Default Notice raised by DCA and the fact I had never seen it before and believed a Default Notice could be raised by the lender/creditor and as the the account hadn't been assigned to the DCA it was defective. He looked at it and said as it stated in the notice that the DCA were acting as an agent for Barclaycard and had accounts number and correct balance he considered it acceptable, this wasn't going well. I then put up the fact the the T&Cs submitted as the CCA was just a blank photo copy of some T&Cs with no reference to me and no where on the form stating what year the T&Cs relate to. His reply was with the signed application form and the T&Cs and considering the age of the account and things get lost it was acceptable. He then went onto the statements and said as I had paid Barclaycard up until 2019 and had used the card up until 2010 for paying for things I had obviously had the credit card. He then directly asked if I had the credit card, I was fairly elusive and said I do remember having some financial dealings with Barclaycard, but couldn't remember ever seeing a CCA which had concerns about and that is why I wanted to see a CCA directly related to me. To cut to the chase, he summed by saying with the application form, T&Cs he felt Barclaycard would only supply for the right time period and the fact the statements showed I had used the card and made payments up until 2019 and if it went to trail I would lose. He then suggested me the claimants solicitor go out to see if we can come to mutual agreement. His parting comment as we left was to say to the claimants solicitor he would have made Judgement today. Great there went any negating position I may have had. me and the solicitor went to a meeting room where the solicitor said he would need to speak to his client and see if the figured for settlement offered before the hearing was still available. He comeback 5 minutes later and said they would accept the figure first offered which was the amount of the debt they bought at and so the interest and court and solicitor fees would be removed. if it is a saving I will pay around £700 less than the amount they were claiming. I had to accept this as It was the best I was going to get. I am in the fortunate position of being able to pay that as a lump sum as I have been saving what I could over the last 18 months just in case it went this way and have a family member prepared to lend me the reminder. Also I rent I could not take the chance of having a CCJ against me and having lots of problems trying to find somewhere else to rent with credit checks etc, if I ever need to and finally and probably a mistake, I never told my partner about any of it as it was a debt I had prior to meeting her and I didn't want to worry her. To finish I guess I got on the wrong side of the Judge Lottery and he was just not prepared to consider the CCA 1974 in anyway as a defence and finally what really grates me is I would have rather had Barclaycard pursue the debt through the courts than pay the those fleecers LC Asset. To anyone reading this don't let my experience put you off trying to defend yourself just try to be prepared as possible and read as much as you can with other threads on here and research online. if it wasn't for the signed application and the Judge's attitude to using the CCA 1974 as a defence I believe the outcome could have been different. Thank you everyone for your help was it was very much appreciated and a donation is in coming.

Thanks dx, I’ll let everyone know how I get on.

Hi dc i submitted my WS as stated above with a statement of truth. I wasn’t talking about the application form, I’m happy to combat that as it’s only an application form with no T&Cs. It was more to do with the totally blank T&C form they sent in reply to my cpr 31 request, which has no name, address, account number. I had read on line that reconstituted agreement could be enforceable from agreements started after April 2007, but can they try that on my account which is much older. Also I would like to know if a DCA can raise a Default Notice or does need to come from the actual lender.

Hi Everyone I have my Dispute Resolution Hearing in the next few days and in preparation I have few questions regarding reconstituted CCAs and Default Notices. 1, Am I right in believing reconstituted credit card agreements can only be used by a claimant if start date of the cca is after April 2007 2, With Default Notices is it the initial lender who has to raise the Default Notice and not a DCA I would be grateful for your guidance

I am looking to check statements etc through my lunch break and have most things on-line or saved. No sorry I didn’t send off a DSAR at the time, but the information in their bundle has lots of statements which do include the monthly payments I made up until 2019 and this ties in with my back statement. Amount they are claiming seems to be right, but they have added interest, court cost and legal representative cost, so amount claimed now is around £490 more than the original figure. So I can’t see an obvious dispute on the amount they are claiming. I will post a copy of the completed application form when I get home later, but it looks authentic with correct addresses, work place and my job title at the time And Andy, yes it looks like I will be relying on no valid CCA or DN Attached is a photocopy of the application form. It is genuine as I know my own hand writing and also all the additional information asked for is too varied form them to fake. Attached is my current Witness Statement and Defence I have highlight a line my defence in red which I feel may need to be removed. I need to submit by tomorrow for the hearing later in the month. I would be very grateful for feedback or advise WS June 23.pdf Defence.pdf Application Form.pdf

The photocopy is of a completed application with my details and signature. Does that affect my defence?

I think I am in trouble with this claim. I was just finalising my WS and Defence and going through Kearns bundle and thought the last 50 pages were just copies of statements, but the very last page is a photocopy of my application to barclaycard in 1995. Does that constitute they have complied fully with my CPR31.14 request

Hi Andy Have you had a chance to look at my WS. I am looking to button down my defence and witness statements today if possible as I need to forward on to the court by Tuesday 4th July. Having another look at my WS should I mention there is no valid DN as none have been included in Kearns bundle. Thank you in advance

Attached are both sides to the Mercer DN. Just strange its on blank paper all part from the registered company in small print at the bottom Attached is the Mercer Default Notice 2009-08-10 Mercers Default Notice.pdf

As I said the DN is not included in the bundle, but I did get a copy in my CPR31 request back April 22, but strangely it isn't on headed paper and right at the bottom in small print is a registered office in central London and when I googled it they are property management company who I believe either own or management the property and possibly their photocopier was used, maybe they do very short term office lets!? Anyway if you want me to post up the DN let me know. The rest of the bundle are the exhibits I posted earlier.

Thank you Andy

Hi Thanks Andy and DX for your help so far. I have drafted my initial witness statement, see below. Obviously I will add correct dates and details. Could I have your options on it and anything you feel need to add or delete. MY Name WILL SAY as follows: I make this Witness Statement in support of my defence to this claim. The facts contained within this statement are true to the best of my knowledge based on the information disclosed by the claimant so far. INTRODUCTION 1. The claimants witness statement confirms that it mostly relies on hearsay evidence as confirmed by the drafts person in the opening paragraph. It is my understanding that they must serve notice to any hearsay evidence pursuant to CPR 33.2(1)(B) (notice of intention to rely on hearsay evidence) and Section 2 (1) (A) of the Civil Evidence Act. 2. It is my understanding that the claimant is an Assignee, a buyer of defunct disputed or bad debts, which are bought on mass portfolios at a much reduced cost to the amount claimed 10p to 15p in the £1 and to which the original creditors have already written off as a capital loss and claimed against taxable income. LC Asset 2 S.A.R.L. claims to circumvent and claim the full amount of debt to maximise profit. 3. As an assignee or creditor as defined in section 189 of the CCA this applies to this new requirement on assignment of rights. This means that when an assignee purchases debts (or otherwise acquires rights under a credit agreement) it also acquires certain obligations to the borrower including the duty to comply with CCA requirements (such as the rules on statements and notices and other post- contractual information). The assignee becomes the creditor under the agreement. This ensures that essential consumer protections under the CCA cannot be circumvented by assigning the debt to a third party. BACKGROUND 4. The Claim relates to an alleged Credit Card Agreement between the defendant and Barclaycard under a reference number of xxxxxxxxxxx. 5. Whilst it is accepted that the defendant has in the past had financial dealings with BarclayCard, the defendant is unable to recall with precision of what alleged debt the claimant refers to. 6. On XXth June 2022, I received a claim form from the County Court Business Centre, Northampton, for the amount of £XXX. The claimant contends that the claim is for the sum of £XXX in respect of monies owing under an alleged agreement with the account no XXXXXXXX pursuant to The Consumer Credit Act 1974 (CCA). Contained within the claimant’s particulars the claimant states that the account was subject to assignment from Barclaycard to LC Asset 2 S.A.R.L. on XX July 2019 with notice given. 7. The defendant made a formal written request on the XX/XX/2021 to the Claimant for them to provide a copy of my Consumer Credit Agreement as entitled to do so under sections 78 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 andCPR 31 along with standard £1.00 fee. The defendant received a reply dated XXrd XXXXXXX 2021 putting their account on hold whilst they tried to gather the information 8. The defendant finally received a reply dated XXth April 2022 with no CCA attached other than the documents which enclosed a reconstituted copy agreement & terms & conditions, statements, default notice, notice of assignment from Barclaycard to LC Asset 2 S.A.R.L. CONCLUSION 9. To date no valid full true copy of the executed credit agreement has been disclosed. It is obvious that the copy agreement is merely a template with no reference to the defendant name, address or account reference number. There is no account reference number nor details of this being an on line application which would contain tick boxes as validation of my application and acceptance and timestamp and conformation of my IP address. The claimant has had over 21 months to respond to my request and this attempt to recreate an agreement falls short of all the prescribed terms required pursuant to section 78 of the CCA1974.

Yes I am sorry about that. I thought or more likely hoped it would go back to mediation as the court admin inputted a wrong number for me. I am going to upload a witness statement for advise in the next 24-48 hours. Is there anything else I need to be doing

Hi Andy and DX The second page is the General Form of Judgement Order that states we need to submit our bundles at least 14 days before the hearing. I haven't received a N157 I have attached all correspondence since the failed mediation back in December 22. I have also attached Kearns WS and Exhibits. I am going to try and find some similar examples to my case in preparation of putting my witness statement together. Apart from listing my defence and compiling a WS is there anything else I need to add. Finally it seems Kearns case revolves around the fact they believe a default notice and assignment notice were served which I have no recollection of seeing until they sent a bundle of information to me back in April 22 and funnily no mention of the fact they sent a photo copy of some T&Cs which have none account numbers, names or signatures which relate to me. I would be grateful if you give me any advise on my defence N271+N24+Claimants WS.pdf

Thank you DX An update of where I am with this issue. I did agree to Mediation and a date was set for last December. I waited for a call from the arbitrator in the allocated date and time, but never received a call. I called the Court around 30 minutes after the allocated time to be told the arbitrator had tried my number 3 times. When I questioned what number they had for me they had inputted 1 number incorrectly. I asked if the session could be rearranged and was told the judge would probably send it back for mediation. That didn't happen and instead I now have a Dispute Resolution Hearing for the 18th July. I have today received the court bundle from Kearns and I need to submit mine 14 days before the hearing. I am going to outline my defence as stated above and need to compile a witness statement and this is where I would like some help. I have a basic template, however can anyone point me in the direction of a successful defence and witness statement for a similar defence as mine. I have been searching the site, but can not find a copy of a witness statement I could use as a starting point. If you have any questions regarding the bundle from Kearns let me know and I will try to answer. Thanks again for your help