Hi No the deposit isn’t even close , three months fees in this case are around £2700 the deposit is £200. Also due to the rules relating to my business should I have to go to court I would have to close for the day and this would cost in the region of £1000 . The fact she has started proceedings against me means I will have to defend the case, So I might as well make a counter claim. The best result for me would be for her to just drop it and my thinking hear is that the threat of a counter claim might make her see sense.

Hi our customers agree to give us three months notice to leave and pay a deposit. This is made very clear when they start. So technically they are liable for three months charges from the day the give notice. Normally though we try and be flexible and would probably agree a week or two to try and find another coustomer. Some times I might even have a waiting list and just let them go. We employ five staff so the notice period is for stability our costs are very high. In this case after over a year with no complaints very happy with our service she doesn’t turn up one morning then sends a txt I decided to terminate our agreement you can keep the deposit. Obviously the space goes empty but I still have to pay staff. However because this customer pays through a gov tax website , they contribute towards childcare cost the website releases the months fees to us. She demands it back and I refuse. No I doubt I would even want to enforce any award and I don’t want to make a claim for three months costs. However she has fired the first shot when I recieved court papers this morning from Northampton. The papers come from The civil Money Claims Service, states we have till the 14th April to respond or a CCJ may be obtained. In her reason for the claim she states she no longer needs our services and has decided to terminate our agreement. Basically if I have to go to the lengths of going to court to defend this claim I’m going to be looking into enforcing our agreement.

Hi , I’m a childminder and look after lots of lovely children. One of my customers recently left without giving any notice, her financial circumstances had changed but instead of talking to me about it she decided to try and instigate an argument and use this not to give notice. I refused to give her a refund as I have to pay staff costs etc. This morning I received a letter from Northampton cc stating a claim has been submitted. It’s very badly written and she even states she has decided not to give me the notice period agreed between us. I will respond in the time scale however as she has breached her contract I am considering making a counter claim against her. Can you suggest any reading on this subject how to go about doing it effectively and professionally. I think I remember a while ago you recommend a book on how to make a county court claim thanks ELLIE

Ok Thanks Andy I will wait and see what happens.

Why have they said that ,it seems to imply ' the timescales for the CCA request do not apply to us 'and they have gone to the effort of back dating the letter

Update Hi everyone Since sending my CPR request a week later I received a letter from Shoosmiths acknowledging the request and advising they had asked ARROW for the following 1. Copy of agreement 2. Notice of assignment 3. default notice 4. Statement of account It then goes on to state if they do not receive a copy of my defence by the 28 day deadline they will be a liberty to enter a judgment against me. I ignored this comment as I entered my defence on the MCOL site. It also says they do not agree with the rest of my comments including the time stipulations set out. A week later I received a letter from the court acknowledging my defence and starring a copy would be served on the claimant and they have 28 days to respond or it would be stayed. Today I received a letter from ARROW its dated the 28th of March but it was posted by them two weeks later so they have gone to the trouble of intentionally back dating it which seems odd. ( I will try to attach a copy but I'm working on an I,pad ) It says Thank you for your letter and acknowledge your request for documatation pursuant to the consumer credit act 1974. We do not accept that we are the creditor as envisaged by the above statute. However we are willing to assist in obtaining that which has been requested. We will now process your request for the documentation from the creditor and will revert in due corse. They then go on to state all collection activities are suspended and have returned my £1 fee Should I do anything at this stage , I like to be proactive I don't think ARROW can respond within the time scale the CCA request was sent on the 11th March Thanks guys

Thanks Andy your help is greatly appreciated, also MB thanks for the input , I still look forward to reading the results of your successful outcome .

Thanks Andy .

Ok that's why I asked the question about " Niether admits nor denies " guess I was uncomfortable with my first part of the defence, as I said in my orriganal post I'm not trying to get out of anything , it's a CCJ I can't have. And at this point the creditor is not going to be willing to negotiate so I have to get to a position where they will. Even if got this thrown out I doubt it's just going to go away. There are many things wrong the amount interest ,charges etc. Should I amend as follows 1.Paragraph 1 is denied , The claimant has not provided the defendant with notice of assignment in accordance with s136 law and property act 1925and therefore have yet to prove they are entitled to bring this claim. The defendant does not recognise this account number. 2.Paragraph 2 It is denied I have been served with a default notice pursuant to the Consumer credit Act 1974 by HSBC or the claimant or any other party. Or should I be going with a different approach, bear in mind I'm a bit out of my depth here. I have read many posts but I can't seem to find one which exactly reflects mine. Any suggestions appreciated

Thanks Andy I was trying to personalise it a bit. One more question should at this stage I be using the frase "is denied" or I noticed in some other posts wording such as "Neither admits nor denies" The only agreement they can ever come up with would have to be reconstituted if at all.

Yes , it was late when I copied it, corrected now, also my cut and past from my document didn't copy no,s 1,2,3,4. But the particulars of the claim are exactly as on the Claim form . How the rest look

Particulars of the claim Claimant Arrow global limited. Date of issue xxxxxx 1.The claimants claim the sum of £XXXX being monies due from the defendant to the claimant under a regulated agreement between the defendant and HSBC bank Plc. No (xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx) and assigned to the claimant on xx/xx/201X, notice of which has been provided to the defendant. 2.The defendant has failed to make payment in accordance with the terms of the agreement and a default notice has been served pursuant to the Consumer Credit Act 1974 3.The claimant claims the sum of £XXXX the Claimant has complied, as far as is necessary with the pre-action conduct practice direction. Defence 1.Paragraph 1 is denied , the defendant has never entered in to, or has knowledge of the alleged regulated agreement. The claimant has not provided the defendant with notice of assignment in accordance with s136 law and property act 1925and therefore have yet to prove they are entitled to bring this claim. The defendant does not recognise this account number. 2.Paragraph 2 is denied the agreement has not been entered into, neither have any terms been agreed by the defendant. It is denied I have been served with a default notice pursuant to the Consumer credit Act 1974 by HSBC or the claimant or any other party. 3.Paragraph 3 The claimant has not complied with the necessary pre action conduct direction and has not informed the defendant in writing with concise details of the claim. The claimant has not provided the defendant with a summary of the facts, or how the amount is calculated. Therefore the defendant denies the claim as no agreement referred to in the claim has been entered into. The claimant is put to strict proof as to the existence , execution and terms of the alleged agreement therefore the claimant is put to strict proof to:- show how the defendant has entered into an agreement with the claimant, and Show how the claimant has reached the sum claimed for from the defendant, and Show that they have served notice of the sums in arrears, and Show how the claimant has the legal right,ether under statute or equity to issue a claim. 4. On 11th March 2016 I sent a request for inspection of the documents mentioned in the claimants statement of case under civil procedure rule 31.14 to the claimant's solicitor. I requested the claimant provides copies of the agreement, default notice and notice of assignment. 5. On 11the March 2016 I sent a formal request for a copy of the original agreement to Arrow Global Ltd pursuant to section 78 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 along with the statutory fee. 6. The claimant has failed to comply with s78(1) of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 and by virtue of sec 78(6) Consumer Credit Act 1974 cannot enforce the agreement. 7. Under Civil Procedure Rule 16.5 (4) Where the claim includes a money claim, a defendant shall be taken to require that any allegation relating to the amount of money claimed be proved unless he expressly admits the allegation. Therefore it is expected that the claimant be required to prove the allegation that the money is owed as claimed. 8.By reason of the facts and matters set out above, it is denied that the Claimant is entitled to the relief claimed or any relief

Hi Over the last few days I have been working on my defence so that it is ready to submit before the dead line. I've spent some time researching this but as this is a new field for me I would be greatful for any feed back positive or negative Thanks in advance

Hi all Just a quick update , I acknowledged the claim on Thursday the 10th the original court papers issued on the 25th Feb if I count the plus five days this means the the 1st of march plus 28days to submit my defence. I would like to do it well in advance of this date however. I posted the CCA request and the cpr31.14 recorded on Friday. How long should I wait before completing my defence on the MCOL site . I was thinking deadline the 22rd march to be on the safe side, as this is 27 days after the issue date not counting the five days? Do I have to wait for there response any set amount of time . Thanks

Hi Thank you for the above comments, I appreciate all advice and am particularly interested in others similar experience. Please don't turn the thread into an argument as this is a time of great stress for me. Mercyblue did you actually get to the stage of attending court and defending this in person, my intention is to get this thrown out if possible long before that stage. i would be interested in reading your full account thanks Martin I have already asked for the s78 but I know they will not provide me with one. My original debt management company asked for it I still have all the correspondence and replys along with the very badly forged copy they tried to use. I have no experience of civil court however have worked in the criminal court system which seems a lot simpler. I now need to prepare my defence I believe I have a limited number of words I can use on the MCOL system 122 ! My aim is to get this thrown out, or delayed as long as possible so I would appreciate help with the wording if anyone has submitted a similar defence and has examples. I understand if I put the right argument forward the court will ask the claimant to provide enough proof for it to go ahead. The original claim is dated the 25th Feb so I have approx two weeks to send my defence. Thanks everyone