north london, I have found myself in a very similar situation with a contractor who is taking me to court for withholding payment. I'm just wording my defence and counter claim. Are you able to share any pointers that may help me write my defence?

The claim has been issued in the name of the building firm

They are a small local firm. I have personally used them before when I was made redundant. I'm 99.9% sure they sign the form on behalf of the claimant as part of their 'debt collection services'. The claimant is the contractor. Whilst he doesn't have to represent himself in court, I'd be surprised if he didn't. Perhaps this thread needs moving to "general legal issues"

I would prefer not to name them here as this is a live action but they are interconnecting businesses

Date of issue 17/3/15 def filing date : 17/4 by 4pm What is the claim for – The POC says: The claim is for £600.00 a) services supplied by the claimant to the defendant at the request of the defendant, plus debt collection costs, details of which have been sent to the defendant. b) The claimant claims the further sum of £XX.XX in respect of interest pursuant S69 county court Act 1984 at a rate of 12.75% from 6th June 2014 to the date hereof - 270 days together with the late payment compensation pursuant to the above act in the sum of £0.00 c) The claimant also claims statutory interest at the above daily rate of £0.23 from the date hereof to payment or Judgment whichever is the sooner. d) Costs (Obviously £XX.XX is a financial amount, but it works out to be nearer 11.75% than 12.75% !?!) What is the value of the claim? £600 Is the claim for a current account (overdrafticon) or credit/loan account or mobile phone account? builders costs When did you enter into the original agreement before or after 2007? N/A Has the claim been issued by the original creditor or was the account assigned and it is the Debt purchaser who has issued the claim. Contractor appointed DCA to act on their behalf Were you aware the account had been assigned – did you receive a Notice of Assignment? I only knew this matter had been passed onto a DCA when I received a letter from the DCA including their collection charge. Not before Did you receive a Default Notice from the original creditor? No. Only non-agreed invoices Have you been receiving statutory notices headed “Notice of Default sums” – at least once a year ? N/A Why did you cease payments?N/A What was the date of your last payment?N/A Was there a dispute with the original creditor that remains unresolved? There is an unresolved dispute with the contractor (claimant) Did you communicate any financial problems to the original creditor and make any attempt to enter into a debt managementicon plan? N/A

I'm loving the quick positive responses and have posted my case as requested.

I have received an N1 claim form. The date of issue 17/03/2015 This situation arose following a dispute with a contractor. The contractor admitted making mistakes but wanted me to pay extra to have the work rectified. When I refused to do this and refused to make an interim payment (which was equivalent to the original quote) the contractor passed the matter over to a DCA to handle the matter on his behalf. The DCA added £100 for the privilege even though there was no contractual clause allowing them to do this and the £100 is included in the claim. I found it was impossible to negotiate with the DCA as they constantly denied my allegations and threatened court action on at least half a dozen occasions. When I tried to contact the contractor to resolve, he just passed my letters to the DCA. I had no alternative but to sit tight and wait to see if they took me to court and they have. There were no payment terms and conditions agreed with the contractor at the outset. Just a formal quotation for work. Thus payment would have been made upon completion to a satisfactory standard within a reasonable time-scale. after 5 months I had to get someone else in to rectify and complete the job, but the work has cost me almost double the original quote from the 1st contractor. The N1 form is signed by the claimants solicitor. I want to defend and counter-claim but I have never been in this position before and would like some advice from anyone with a wise head on their shoulders. The POC says: The claim is for £600.00 a) services supplied by the claimant to the defendant at the request of the defendant, plus debt collection costs, details of which have been sent to the defendant. b) The claimant claims the further sum of £XX.XX in respect of interest pursuant S69 County Court Act 1984 at a rate of 12.75% from 6th June 2014 to the date hereof - 270 days together with the late payment compensation pursuant to the above act in the sum of £0.00 c) The claimant also claims statutory interest at the above daily rate of £0.23 from the date hereof to payment or Judgment whichever is the sooner. d) Costs Date 03 March 2015 (Obviously £XX.XX is a financial amount, but it works out to be nearer 11.75% than 12.75% !?!)

Hi, I stumbled across this forum when I was looking for help following receipt of an N1 form I received from the court following a dispute with a contractor. I'm just going take some time to look around and get myself orientated. It looks like there are some good people here so I hope I've come to the right place