I think there is nothing you can do about the charge on the house ATM. Getting charges plus interest back will bring the balance down, maybe to the point that the debt can be paid off outright, so getting rid of the charge. ims21 is giving you good advice - do what ims says

What did you put in your defence?

You asked whether an unsigned credit agreement was enforceable. The answer is 'yes' unless you can convince a court that, on balance of probabilities, you never had such an agreement. In other words, that it belongs to someone else.

In my case with Welcome, I have proof of hidden commissions. There response has been total silence. For 7 months.

I wouldn't tell WFS anything until you get the letter from Cap1

If you can actually get them to put all this in writing then you are home and dry IMHO BTW the draft directions look OK basically repeating what is in the CPR31.16 request

What you do is you put in a draft order for directions that include the questions you want answering - there are a few example draft orders around on the site. In your case, you have a pending application under CPR 31.16. In 'other information' on the AQ point out to the court that this application is pending and request that this case should not be listed until that application is heard.

That's £3.50 per agreement, of course. These charges would be unlawful even if they were 35p

Madkit The letter you PM'd me reads too much like a witness statement. I would loose everything from 2. onwards - just keep the first bit up to "...of any kind." If you want to include draft orders, add "I respectfully request that the court consider the attached draft orders for directions, which I feel will advance the overriding objective by enabling the court to deal wit the case expeditiously and fairly." CitezenB has posted info about for the draft order should be presented.

and...?

MadKit wrote AFAIK there is no specific form for this. Just write a brief letter in plain English (the courts do not appreciate LiPs trying to sound all legal) saying what you need to say (they have made no attempt to settle and you want to proceed to trial). You could add a draft order for directions "for the court's consideration" - they may or may not take any notice (the 'normal' time for this is with the AQ) - and see what happens. I have no legal training, this is just based on CAG experience - what do others think?

That would probably be considered an expert witness. Normally witnesses are just witnesses to the facts of the case.

Just the amount of the claim without interest

THe N150 doesn't necessarily mean FT - you get a N150 if the AQ attracts a fee - ie the claim is greater than £1500

That assumes WFS are logical (or even sensible) Again, you are assuming a certain level of competence. IMHO, what seems to be Machiavellian manoeuvring is actually stupidity Put in a draft order for directions with your AQ which demands the answers you want. The draft order would effectively be a Part 18 request. See above and 'yes' see above Yes. Part 31.14 is not to disclose documents though, it is to inspect documents already disclosed. Yes

I do the same but finding it is the problem

At the AQ stage you can respond to their defence - in fact this is the only opportunity to do it apart from a hearing

and he won't come anyway

It is not normal to get witness statements from bank employees in these circumstances - they probably won't and I don't think you can compel them in the civil courts

I don't know definitely but I cannot see any reason why you cannot ask for more than one thing on an application particularly as the change of defendant's name will be seen by the court as fairly trivial

I have no experience of 31.12 and am not sure at what point it can be used. However, taken with 31.11, perhaps you could argue (and ask for directions accordingly) that you became aware of the existence of the underwriting sheet after you filed the claim and ask for an order under 31.12 on that basis. As to WFS's defence, I come back to what I said before - we need to fully understand HFS's involvement, if any. From what I remember of your thread, the sequence of events was that you applied for a loan from HFS but were declined. Subsequently, you got a loan from WFS directly. What is not clear to me is how that came about and whether HFS had any part in it.

I think you have to choose - I have laid out various options as I see them with the risks of each. The 'perfect' answer would be to have filed a CPR 31.16 before filing the main claim - obviously that is no longer an option. The risk you are trying to avoid is ending up with a hearing for the claim on secret commissions (the "main claim") without having the underwriting sheet ("US"). The options I have outlined are: 1. file a CPR 31.16 now. The risk is that a hearing on this may come too late for the main hearing. You may be able to ask for a stay on the main hearing pending the outcome of this application. A stay may or may not be allowed - it would certainly be opposed by WFS. 2. put in a draft order for directions with the AQ for the US to be supplied. The risk is that the court may not issue the order - they often don't. You would have to make a really strong case, which would inevitably be weakened by the fact that you filed the main claim without the information you would then be requesting (and saying is vitally important) 3. in the AQ, ask for fast track so you can use standard disclosure/CPR18. Obviously WFS are not going to disclose that they have the US so you would almost certainly have to fall back on CPR 18 with the same risk as in item 2. The further risk is that you would expose yourself to costs. The upside of that is that WFS would be exposed to costs too and the court might grant your CPR 18 request. That possibility might frighten them into settling before going to court.

At the time of the AQ you can suggest orders for directions at no extra cost - it is included in the AQ fee. I don't know what happens of the court decide a hearing is needed before making such an order - I think that would also be included - someone else may know the answer

People have mused here for a long time as top whether all CPRs apply before the track is allocated but it is not clear because in many cases you know what track the claim will be allocated to before the AQ goes in. My belief is that courts would (certainly could) take that into account. As to what you should do - IMHO you have two choice which I spelt out earlier. The one thing you must not do is to go to a case hearing without the underwriting sheet (at least for the commissions part of the claim) as no evidence = no case.

Another option that might be worth trying is to put in an application (N244) NOW for an order under CPR 31.16 for the underwriting sheet. (I think I posted the witness statement I used for such an application earlier). You then might be able to ask for the current case to be stayed pending the outcome of that case. One way or another you have to get the underwriting sheet before there is any hearing on the case you have filed or you have no case for secret commissions and breach of duty.