Unfortunately the link to the CAG court buddies system is very hard to locate – personally I think it would be great if it could appear prominently on the main Legal Forum page. It appears under the Bank Action Group, which isn’t easily accessible from the main pages. We can’t all afford legal representation, and the court buddy system is an incredibly useful tool for a self-help group like CAG. Going to court can be terrifying, and having someone with you, perhaps as a McKenzie Friend, to advise you, can make the difference between winning and losing. It’s here: http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/buddy.php Hopefully we can keep this thread bumped until perhaps the site team (who I know are under the cosh) can make it a bit more accessible.

Hi there, I am new to this, so forgive me if this is a bit disjointed. I was sued by an individual (ex-girlfriend) for alleged debt. I entered a defence and counter claim, but she did not turn up at the hearing, so her claim was struck out. She applied on notice to the court (county) to have it reinstated as she had advised the court by letter that she was unable to attend on the date notified. The judge opened the file and discovered the letter which had not been actioned by court staff. The Judge reinstated her claim and ordered her to quantify accurately her claim/loss and serve details on the court and on me by a particular date. Failing this "the claim will be struck out" The appointed date came and went and nothing was received. I thought that she had come to her senses and was dropping the matter. I was admitted to hospital as an emergency just before the date of the hearing that should have taken place if the documents were served on me. Thought nothing of it as I was convinced that the judge's instructions would have been carried out and the matter struck out. Silly me! I received a notice of judgement in default against me. I contacted the court and was told that she had filed papers with the court. But not on me. Now I am faced with additional costs in application to have the judgment set aside and the warrant of execution cancelled. Anybody ever have the same experience

Hi guys, In March this year we went on a trip to India as we have done for 7 years. We decided to stay in a different hotel as it was described as a quiet Hotel in a peaceful rural area. YES it was in a rural area in the middle of nowhere, which wasn't an issue. Our issue is that the Hotel was unfit for humans. The bed sheets were supposed to be white but had dodgy looking brown stains on them and the room was full of dirt and mould, it also overlooked a tied up dog which constantly barked. The Balcony had rusting rails so you actually feared to go onto it. The Hotel had building work being done next door and had 2 visits per day from a cement truck - This was delivery of Cement powder not ready mixed, so you can imagine what happened - the pool and everyone sat around it was covered in Cement dust twice per day! The pool in turn turned green/brown as the filter got blocked due to the cement dust. Two fellow guests suffered ear infections from that pool. We also suffered Homophobic abuse from drunken yobs as they kept the bar open 24hours and people were constantly drunk and agressive with fights taking place each night inside of the Hotel. We asked to see the rep but he wouldn't deal with us as we wasn't on his 'list' for the first couple of days. When we eventually got to see the rep he informed us this wasn't his normal hotel as the usual rep refused to service it due to the complaints. Anyway, he took us to another hotel to look at which was almost as bad, filthy with rats running everywhere and then asked us to pay £200 if we wanted to change. After numerous phone calls to the Resort Manager of Thomas Cook she eventually become aggressive and simply told us to stop complaining and make the most of the holiday. By the end of the first week, we packed our suitcases and moved to another Hotel of our own accord as Thomas Cook refused to help. We paid the extra for the new Hotel and did enjoy the rest of our stay. We caught up with the Thomas Cook rep towards the end of the holiday and asked for a complaint form which we completed and handed in and we took a copy. We were advised Thomas Cook would reply within 3 weeks, but we heard nothing, so we wrote to them on a further two occasions both of which had no reply. I have since contacted the Directors Office for Thomas Cook who have acknowledged receipt, but still no further response. I am now in the process of completeing a County Court claim as they are obviously not taking this seriously. I am just wondering wether to claim the full cost of the holiday or the cost of the new Hotel and also what to put on the claim form for Brief details, should it be negligence? Any advice or similar experiences would be very helpful. Thanks

Hi there, First time post, i have searched the forums and although i have found similar threads there is nothing that quite suits my situation. Apologies if i have missed a thread. My situation is that my parents have received a county court claim form from Capquest regarding a debt from an RBS credit card that I had 10 years ago. I initially had forgotton completely about it but having looked through my records I have found that I made a payment to a different debt collector (Wescott) in Oct 2005. This must be the debt they are talking about. It is around £350. Having read through the forums I believe that not enough time has gone by for the debt to be written off due to the limitation act in England. As the last payment I made was in Oct 05 i understand that it could possibly be written off due to the Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973. I have spent most of my time living in Scotland apart from a year and a half in England in 2005/2006. However, and here comes the bit that has me a bit stumped, I moved to China in Aug 2008. My father scanned me the claim form and as they had been on holiday i only had a day to make up my mind what to do, i have submitted an AOS online saying i am disputing all, i hope that was the right thing to do but I thought as it was nearly 14 days i needed to do something quickly. I spoke to a representative of Capquest and they said I should just pay up but couldn't actually give me the details of the original debt! I also spoke to RBS who have no record either. My questions are : 1. As i am living in China, is there anything they can actually do? If not how do i make sure that a CCJ is not recorded on my credit record? 2. Am i able to write of the debt as it is over 5 years and i had been living in Scotland before i moved to China? 3. Do i need to speak to the court regarding my situation as i got the distinct impression from our phone call that Capquest just want the money? If anyone could help me or point me in the right direction I would be very grateful, if there is another thread which has the answers apologies again. Thank you!! G

I wonder if there is a law against DCA's purchasing debts from original creditors at a small percentage and then claiming we owe them the full amount or more if they then add interest. Surely this can't be legal. Has anybody managed to find a way of obtaining the purchase price and then challenged it? It can't be possible to claim outright that you owe a much higher amount if technically the original lender has sold it off cheap.

My ex owes me about £6500 (not including interest) for the last 5 years but I'm not sure if I should take him to court to get the full amount or just go to the small claims court & get just under £5000. As I've read on the courts website that the strict rules of evidence dont apply to the small claims court. The evidence I have is email correspondence between myself and my ex with me saying "when are you going to get a loan to pay me back?" and him saying "is there any chance you can send me the documents saying how much I owe" etc The other evidence I have is bank statements with him paying me back in instalments (he paid £990 back). He also gave me the refusal letters for the loans he tried to get to pay me back. He didnt have much money but now I have found out he is going travelling so must have at least £3000 to go to the places he is going to. BUT do I have enough evidence to get the full amount back or only enough evidence for the small claims court? Someone I know lent her boyfriend £15000 & had a written contract but her boyfriend said she forged his writing & the judge believed him

hi there, to summarise my situation, iv a lot of unsecured debt for which im paying a £1 a month to my creditors on a hardship basis. a previous property investment/mortgage brokerage company i worked took me to court regarding advisor fees that were outstanding for monthly fees to work for their company. in the letter they stated i owed them £750 for unpaid feed and for "their" equipment ( laptop and scanner) that i had not returned. now the facts are that i worked as a mortgage advisor for a superbroker (dunno whether i can mention their name or not!?) whereby they took a percentage commision and monthly feed of £100 for compliance backup. THIS company, not the investment company(from now on ill call them TOOL) provided the equipment originally. Now TOOL also worked under this superbroker, and i was told that if i joined them i would get 5 red hot quality leads of previous customers every week and would no longer even need my existing client base. Now as i was struggling a little i jumped at the chance, and switched accordingly-this was in october 2009. this consisted of judt transferring my registration with the superbroker to be under TOOL. however i had to now pay £150 a month as i got all these leads. i spent four months with them and the leads were low quality names off their old database( proclaimed as serious property investors off whom one could make a lot of money) and many hadnt even transacted with or heard of TOOL. in fact the majority it was impossible to even contact as the database hadnt been updated with invalid phone numbers or email. so iput my heart an soul into it thinking that maybe it would improve with time-but after speaking to fellow advisors who also jumped to TOOL with me at the same time, it became clear that everyone was experiencing similar results and were hugely disappointed. any way by march 2010 my contract with them was terminated as i had not written any business and i switched back to working directly under the superbroker. by july i left mortgage advice altogether when i realised that i needed to do something different to make money. BACK TO RECENT TIMES - TOOL sent a letter through a solicitor worded exactly as so -: 'We understand that to the period ending 31 July 2010 you owe our client £750 ("the debt") in respect of a laptop and scanner("the equipment") supplied by our client to you to carry out your employment. The equipment has at all times remained the property of our client and you therefore have no legal entitlement to retain possession of the equipment. We are therefore instructed to inform you that unless by 4pm on 10 August you pay the debt of £150.00 and return the equipment we will be starting Court action against you without further notice. We note that our client has already given you confirmation that payment can be made by cheque or bank transfer into the following account: (blah blah blah account details) This equipment must be received at our client's London office in full working order inside the seven day deadline. Should the equipment be damaged or fail to work properly then our client reserves its position to bring an action against you for cost of repairs or replacement value. ' END OF LETTER I was abroad when this letter arrived ( all paid for by partners family in case you think im not that poor!) an the seven day deadline had expired by a week. When i read the letter the facts were incorrect and seemed contradictory and i foolishly thought to leave it( yes i know, but i have been so stressed and had broken my arm while away meaning i could no longer do my new commidion only reps job- i buried my head) THe court letter came near end of september but the wording was noticeable different to letter from sols- exact wording:- '1. The claimant is and has at material times been a mortgage brokerage. The Defendant was at all material times employed by the Claimant in the capacity of a mortgage broker. The Claimant provided the Defendant with a laptp and scanner("the I.T. equipment") at an agreed cost of £150 a month. It was a term of employment contract that when the Defendant wrote business, the cost of the I.T. equipment would be offset against commision, and the net paid out to the Defendant accordingly. The Defendant failed to write any business and since leaving the Claimant's employment has failed to return the I.T. equipment. 2. To end March ,the Defendant owed the Claimant £750 3. Despite repeated requests, the Defendant has failedto pay the sum of £750. 4. THe Claimant is entitled to interest pursuant to Section 69 of the County Court Act 1984 AND THE CLAIMANT CLAIMS:- 1. The said sum of £750. 2. Interest pursuant to Section 69 of the County Court Act 1984 at the rate of 8% per annum from April 1 2010 to the date of issue, amounting to £26.63 and continuing to Judgement or earlier payment at the daily rate of 16 pence. 3. Costs " END OF CLAIM When the letter from the court came i had a mini breakdown( not proud of it) but just over a week i got myself together. i tried ringing the mobile of the director named in court letter but always was off and could not leave a message. I finallly managed to get hold of him by the thursday of last week and he was fairly calm and said i just had to get a letter from the Superbroker confirming the return of the equipment and he would work out what i owed them and he'd tell me the correct figure-once i had that i was to ring him to confirm. He also said that the Superbroker was billingthem monthly for the use of the equipment. So feeling a lot of relief, i contacted the superbroker and asked for confirmation re return of THEIR laptop and scanner,and the lady there seemed perplexed by TOOL's statements and said that the fees were not for hire of the equipment, which incidentally was THEIRS not TOOL's and that TOOL left the superbroker shortly after me and certainly were not being billed for anything....Curiouser and curiouser.... anyway by the next day i received email confirmation of my safe return of THEIR equipment. that day was friday last week and i tried repeatedly tp contact him but he had his mobile off all day and was not in the office. so i texted him of the scenario and hoped to speak to him monday( yesterday) - i asked him to provide his up-to-date email address (as i only had his previous superbroker email which was obviously no longer valid) so i could forward this confirmation to him. I tried calling him again to no avail but managed to speak to him eventually in the afternoon whereby he said that i just owed them £600 now. I told him of my current financial plight and debt problem whereby i could only afford a £1 a month and he said to send him the offer and they would accept that. LO and Behold today ive received a letter from the court daying they obtained a judgement for £ 936 to cover £750 debt interest and costs. I knew the court deadline was close but i ( turns out foolishly) assumed that considering i was currently negotiating directly with the client, and that certain facts were evidently UNTRUE , that court action would be abated. I was going to send the letter to TOOL today but now i dont know what to do ?! For anyone who read all of the way through this, THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR PATIENCE. All i want to id there any way i can get this judgement removed for any reason , bearing in mind conflicting claims from solicitor and court and also incorrect information re: equipment issues. I also fel i was enticed to move to TOOL under false pretences, i.e. great leads and support, when in fact i got rubbish leads and almost no support. I spent lots of money travelling up and down the country for meetings, converted my garage into an office, bought furniture etc. i was told of how i would be able to make a difference to my familys life because of the great income opportunities, when in fact i was a glorified unpaid telesales chasing some of the worst leads i have ever had the misfortune of been given. I could have used that time to try and earn money from real prospects or even get another job but instead put all of my eggs into their basket because of the "fantastic" client database they had( purchased on a song i believe). PLEASE PLEASE CAN SOMEONE ADVISE ME AS I UP A METAPHORICAL HEIGHT AGAIN . Again a massive thank you to anyone who could be bothered reading my essay, even if you cant help thx for trying. cheers in advance, marky313:sad:

Have just received a FPN for parking 'on a roundabout' at 4:05pm. The road in question is a close with a small roundabout at the end. on the green is a sign showing a parking restriction from 8:15 to 9:15am and 2:30 to 4:00pm. The community officer was still there when I returned and said that I parked illegally. I pointed out sign & said it indicted that I could park after 4pm she said she issued a ticket anyway as I am parked on a junction! (its hardly that!) Notice says it I do nor agree can ask to have matter dealt with by court, what I want to know is has anyone got any experience of this - what happens? If I do go to court & lose will it end up costing me loads?

Hi, a different perspective on this. Im being taken to the small claims court for a private Ebay sale. I sold a Tent in Nov 09 which was collected in person and paid for in cash. 230! days later the buyer tells me it wasnt as described and wants a refund. I said if he had come to me sooner I could have validated his claim, but as its been soooo long (No feedback was given & my Ebay seller aco**** doesn't even have a record of the sale anymore!) that I cant now prove it is my fault or his. Under the sales of goods “reasonable” time is allowed for an (alleged) misdescribed private sale. As its a Tent would 230days (till June) be deemed a reasonable time? Im concerned Im going to get a ccj for a small claim of £120? Ive sent the court papers back stating Im going to defend the case. But Im still worried. But I genuinely feel that for a private Ebay sale, for the buyer to say he isnt happy 230days later is unreasonable. Am I likely to lose? many thanks.

Hi everyone, So finally I have decided that I need to do something with my debts, I constantly have letters comming in telling me they're goin to take me to court? I just hide the letters thinking they will go away. Of course they're not goin to. I'm sure I have almost 10,000£ worth of debt and continuing as there is charges and interest. Does anyone have any links to templates letters for me to send to them reguardig reducing the amount that I can pay as I am up to my neck in debt? I've always made sure that my mortgage has been paid as I couldn't lose my house not with my two kids. My debs are Halifax loan £7500 over 7 years, only £2000 paid off, £156 a month loan £5000 over 5 years £4000 paid over 1 year to go. Vodaphone-£500 capital one- started off at £100 limit now at £500 because of charges. DFS - £2000 two years still to pay. I've buried my head in the sand for too long, I haven't paid a creditor in 6 months bar my mortgage, really need some help and I would rather do this myself than go to a company. Many thanks

Hi, Just wondering if anyone knew anything about how long a claimant has to respond to a defence for a county court claim. 3 of the lawyers I have spoke to have given diff answers to what is the norm. Anyone know? I ask because i have filed my defence and just wondering how long i have to wait?

Hello all. Are there any rules governing or guiding out of court settlements for non protection of our deposit? We've moved out of our property and discovered the estate agent/landlord never protected our deposit. Instead the money was scooted into a black hole by the estate agent, and the police are following up on this. However our legal claim (i believe) is with the landlord not the agent, and any 'understanding' the landlord had with the estate agent is a secondary legal matter. Over 1 month later, we still don't have the deposit back, as it's tangled up between the loss adjusters/insurers/police. We've notified our landlord that it's his responsibility (he says it's not) and said that we'll go to court for the deposit, costs and non-protection fee of 3x deposit. This is the third message we've served to the landlord, and the first time we've threatened to go legal. We are entitled to almost £10,000 from a successful court judgement, but are not particularly inclined to go to court unless we have to. My question is what is a reasonable claim for an out of court settlement? Also, could we liable for the landlords legal costs if the courts fail to award the non-protection penalty? (there seems to be less clarity in practice on this issues than the letter of the law might suggest) Lastly can we ask for a nominal amount to cover the stress and time spent as a result of non-protection/non-return of deposit or would this weaken our court case if it comes to that? (Say, £600 - on top of our deposit for example) I'm naturally disinclined towards litigation culture, but the fact that our landlord is taking no responsibility for our situation (and charging us £25 to replace a lightbulb on top of this) makes me want to assert our rights here. Lastly, we do in some ways feel sorry for our landlord, who may have innocently (if not rather lazily) assumed that the estate agents had done this... Any advice appreciated!

I am taking MBNA to court. However, isn't it time these delinquent were finally dealt with? Everybody who has been dealt illegally by MBNA should write to their MP. They certainly are the worst credit company around. It's really time they started abiding by the law. They willingly and repeatedly break the law because they get away with it.

Hello all, i received a summons today and would greatly appreciate the advice of someone who knows what they are talking about. (Point three is my main concern/hope) Here is a brief summary: I have just recieved a magistrates summons, stating that on 10th January 2010 i was questioned between Surbiton and Wimbledon, having contravened railway byelaw 18(1) made under section 219 of the Transport Act, in that i did, in an area not designated as a compulsory ticket area, enter a train for the purpose of travelling on the railway without valid ticket entitling me to do so. A witness statement from a PCSO is also included in the envelope, including plea entering etc. No information is included as to how i can appeal. Just to state, fair enough; i was travelling with a Child Travelcard and i am 19 but at the time i literally had about £10 to my name. I would not do it out of choice but my journey was essential. So my queries/problems: 1. I have now moved up north and am absolutely unable to attend court on the 24th August. Can i tell them that i will not be able to attend, without just copping out and paying them the fine/costs? Perhaps to appeal? 2. In the witness statement provided by the female PCSO (she was writing in a notepad at the time of offence) It states: "At approximately 19.44 hours i cautioned him" "I explained he was not under arrest and was free to leave at any time" But im pretty much 100% sure that she did NOT state that i was "free to leave at any time", otherwise i obviously would have done so thereby avoiding this situation. Does it hold any bearing if she did not state this? Would i even be able to prove it? 3. The offence took place on 10th January 2010, but i have only received the summons today (12th August 2010). Now, it has been forwarded from my previous address, so we can assume perhaps 2 weeks delay at most from when it was supposed to be recieved. This still leaves a gap of more than six months between the offence and the issue of the summons. Is it not correct that there is a legal time limit which must be respected, between the time of the offence and the issue of the summons? Any help would be greatly appreciated as it was a real shock to find a summons on my doorstep when i am trying to start a new life for myself! Thanks in advance for any help Dom