Hi Folks First time here so please be gentle I am assisting my OH who is the respondent in a case brought by Arrow Global Ltd for a debt he didn't know had been assigned to them, originally an MBNA credit card debt. He is in a DMP with StepChange, formerly CCCS and this debt was included in it and according to his StepChange statements, paid off and showing a zero balance. However, this seems not to be the case as his credit report shows a balance £1801 as of January 2013 to Arrow Global Ltd. They say they acquired the debt in August 2010 but no communication (notice of assignment etc) about this was ever received and to all intents OH thought it remained with MBNA and was being paid off. I have helped him with the defence to the claim and filed it online within the prescribed timeframe but we now wish to do an urgent CPR 31.14 request for all the documents listed in the particulars of the claim, none of which have ever been received originally or after doing a CCA 77-79 request on 29th January 2013 which has been ignored. It was sent signed for, recorded delivery. Documents required are notice of assignment, default notice, termination notice and a full statement of account to ascertain what payments have been made and when. OH is also going to take this matter up with StepChange as something has clearly gone wrong with assignment of payments. As we have already submitted a defence but this did not explicitly rely on the fact that legal ownership of the debt has not been proved by way of proof of notice of assignment etc, do we now have to request permission to amend the defence to include this whilst we await the outcome of the CPR 31.14 request ? His defence was he had no knowledge of Arrow owing this debt, he has been paying it via a DMP and has never received any communication that the debt was still owing. Interestingly, Arrow Global were originally using a local but large firm of Solicitors to make their claim, but they are now acting as a litigant in person using their own in house legals. Is this significant do you think ? Why not carry on with the Solicitors appointed if they thought they had a good case ? They have served the appropriate notice N434 though, so that looks in order. Many thanks for your helpful and constructive advice

Hope this is the right forum - CAG might like to know that the CPR are about to be changed. This is what came out of the Jackson review so there are a lot of changes. See http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2013/262/made. The changes take effect on 1 April 2013. The following struck me as the main changes: The small claims track threshold is going up from £5,000 to £10,000. A stricter approach to case management. There is provision for the court to contact the parties to monitor compliance with directions, so I guess the courts will be getting more proactive. A stricter approach to breach of court orders. The language around sanctions has been tightened. I suspect people who don't comply with court orders will soon be more likely to find that their claims get struck out. The AQ is being replaced by a "directions questionnaire". Don't know what this will look like but presumably it will be more detailed than what we have at the moment. When asking for permission to appoint an expert, you must give a costs estimate for that expert.

Now I now CPR 18 & 31 (and plenty of others) are specifically excuded from small claims, but can they realistically be used in the pre-allocation stage or could the other side just reply that the case is almost certainly going to be allocated to small track and ignore the request ? Also if a claim is stayed does this mean that things like CPR requests (and making changes to the claim) are stopped during the stay period ? Andy

Hi, Are scottish CPR rules the same as English ones? I have a repossession hearing coming up and would like to know how to get the case dismissed/struck out. Thanks in advance for your help

I have been issued with a LBA (Letter Before Action) over a part of my tuition fees which I have always disputed. I would like to make a CPR Part 31.16 (Disclosure before Proceedings Starts) application to find out if I'm truly liable for this part of the tuition fees. The School passed my details to a debt recovery solicitor. Please I would like help in making this application. Help in the form of the template to use e.t.c. I noticed that in a previous post, andyorch said that CPR Part 31 request are free. Please can anyone confirm. Also do I make the request through the court or directly to the school/solicitors? Please confirm anyone. Thank you all

I will describe the situation with hypothetical names: I am a defendant in High Court Proceedings being brought by ABC Ltd The true cause of the loss suffered by ABC Ltd is a third Party XYZ Ltd and there is evidence to support this I was indirectly involved in the matter as an employee of ABC Ltd at the relevant time but I am no longer in its employ XYZ Ltd is a sister company of ABC Ltd, both of whom operate under common ownership. Consequently, ABC Ltd has no interest in suing XYZ Ltd Instead, ABC Ltd is attempting to reclaim its losses from me I am now faced with several options: I defend myself and as part of my defence I assert that the true claim of the loss was XYZ Ltd; I present the evidence of the culpability of XYZ Ltd to the Court, assert that there is no case for me answer and ask for the case against me to be dismissed; I attempt to have XYZ Ltd added as a party to the proceedings. My questions to the Consumer Action Group forum are as follows: Strategically, which course of action would be the best to pursue? If I wish to have XYZ Ltd added as a party to proceedings under CPR 19 then what claim will it have to answer? ABC Ltd is the claimant and will not make allegations against its sister company. Am I, in my capacity as Defendant, expected to issue a counter claim against XYZ Ltd for having created a liability for which I am being held to account? If this latter course of action is correct, would I need to amend my Defence (already submitted to the Court) in order to create a "Defence and Counterclaim" against XYZ Ltd? I am grateful for your advice. Sincerely Monica

Hi, hope you can help. DCA (Sigma) has issued a summons against me, the debt from an HSBC Overdraft Account having been sold to them: Fist port of call was forum/showthread.php?241827-Legal-Action-how-to-start-off.-IMPORTANT-IF-YOURE-BEING-SUED P.o.C (Particulars of Claim) NOTE: Cant post links yet but this provides additional info forum/showthread.php?349072-HSBC-DCA-has-issued-summons-for-interest-on-default-notice&p=3829736&viewfull=1#post3829736 forum/showthread.php?139265-Bryan-Carter-And-solicitors-how-to-defend-ccj-claim**WON**&p=1481366&viewfull=1#post1481366 The PoC does not include any section like: forum/showthread.php?139265-Bryan-Carter-And-solicitors-how-to-defend-ccj-claim**WON**&p=1481443&viewfull=1#post1481443 Step 1 is to look at the response pack ...normally these things go through Northampton which is an online system.. make sure to acknowledge the claim in the time frame ... this is the acknowledgement of service (I said I will defend claim in full and ask for 28 days) Step 2 write to the claimaint (note this is likely the address for sending documents and payents and will be different) I used the following thread and advice: So I have requested CPR and will also request a CCA CCA - Section 5 | Sample Letters - nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_wales/debt_advice.php#6 CPR - forum/showthread.php?159445-Getting-Them-To-Reveal-Their-Vitals.-Using-CPR-31.14-to-Your-Advantage CPR - forum/showthread.php?139265-Bryan-Carter-And-solicitors-how-to-defend-ccj-claim**WON**&p=1493642&viewfull=1#post1493642 Can I get clarification wether my PoC would be seen as a Split Claim? I feel it is but... I will update this thread as this progesses for the benefit of others

As one of many caught up in sigma's latest antics with a part claim I'm about to submit a CPR Request to them. What's a reasonable time to allow for a response guys? Seven days like a CPR31.14 [my preference- I mean they should have all this info at their fingertips] or fourteen, as I've seen mentioned in a couple of places?

Joining a party as Defendant to an action I am a litigant in person with very limited resource and not enough disposable income to pay for legal counsel. I am being sued in the High Court by an unscrupulous multi-national for whom I used to work and I find myself at a disadvantage due to my lack of knowledge pertaining to proper High Court procedures. The claim relates to a loss ocassioned by one part of the multi-national group (A) ocassioned by a breach of contractual undertaking to a client by another part of the multi-national group (B). (A) is now suing me for acts that occured long after the breach by (B). In an attempt to recover its losses from an external source, rather than from its sister company (B), the claim disingenuously alleges that my subsequent acts caused the loss. Moreover, (A) has dishonestly attempted to conceal the contractual undertaking of (B) and has not referred to it in its Statement of Claim against me. I have subsequently discovered the existence of the undertaking, the breach of which was the true cause of the loss sustained by (A). I would now like to apply to the Court for an order under CPR 19.4 to have (B) added as a Defendant to the proceedings on the basis that clear evidence exists that (B) was the true cause of the loss for which I am now being sued. In the alternative, I would like to apply to the Court for the case to be struck out on the basis that it is an abuse of the Court's process. However, I have no idea how to make a proper application to the High Court for such an Order and I am afraid that, notwithstanding the merits of the application, that it may fail for improper adherence to the proper process. Any advice would be gratefully received.

My bank is taking me to court unsecured loan. i am preparing my defence however under CPR31.14 the bank is claiming that they dont have a copy of the default notice.it is submitted that under CCA 1974 does not require the claimant to keep a copy.Postage alone constitutes service, by reason of section 7 of the interpretation act 1978.There is no record of the Default Notice being returned. Any help or suggestion will be appreciated.

Following on from discussions in the Legal Action -How to Start Off thread, I am compiling a collection of all the most informative and helpful posts on dealing with litigation. There are numerous excellent postings throughout various threads on CAG, but due to the passage of time and queries/posts in between, the valuable core information tends to get lost. My intention is to group the vital information together in logical sequence to form a step by step guide, all in one place. It will also be a good opportunity for original authors to amend or eloborate on their original (now uneditable) posts if they wish...just let me know. I take no credit for the intended content, all original authors and anyone who helps with the compilation will be credited. I would therefore be most grateful for any suggestions for inclusion, with direct links to the relevant posts (as opposed to an entire thread). The obvious place to start is with the Legal Action thread, so I'll get stuck into that. All other suggestions welcome! Many thanks, Elsa x