fighting back against northampton bulk cc

[djc]

we have been made aware of the impact of the northampton county court bulk centre with the devastating effect that it has on thousands of people.

 

The misery and distress can be measured by reading up on our forums of the devastating effect that it inflicts upon our members, the fortunate few that find there way on to our site. But there are literally thousands more that never find our help through ignorance or by not having access to an internet site.

 

consequently vast numbers of persons are having ccj or other judgements being awarded against them because our legal system is biased towards the claimant and to the detriment of the defender.Because they are considerably disadvantaged by the whole process and lack of understanding of even the most basic of consumer law etc... and all of this comes at a time of considerable stress and embarrasment.

 

our little grey cells have been contemplating this one sided argument for some time and now offer the following for your consideration and other views that you may hold.

 

Our suggestion has come from reviewing a large number of posts and they appeared to fall into the old 80/20% rule i.e. (The parento rule).

 

assuming that our findings were possibly representative of most judgements do you believe that a defendants bulk handling centre could be established to prepare a basic defence for litigants at a modest cost.example really cheap or in certain circumstances nothing( sounds like a new charity is being suggested).

 

Obviously this may well be way of beam and totally irrevalent to whats really needed but we welcome your views at this stage and just see where it goes.

 

 

djc

[sillygirl1]

I think it is entirely relevant - excellent idea - I also think that a rule should be made that if nobody turns up for either side the case is withdrawn completely and cannot be heard - this will make the companies think twice if they have to have a solicitor present at EVERY hearing, there wouldn't be enough solicitors to go around if that were the case.

 

I think the whole Northampton Bulk Court idea should be left to individuals claiming against individuals and not (ab)used by the likes of Bryan Carter, Capquest et al....

[FunkyFox]

I think it sounds like a useful idea and I have had similar thoughts and discussions with family. The advice from the CAB or CCCS in my experience is always far to general and ineffective. Other services offered by the likes of the Rankines are just focused on debt avoidance which is unpalletable at best. So its a good idea to offer a service that sits between the 2 but I do think there are a number of challenges. Firstly would be getting the service known. As you acknowledge only a tiny number of people with claims against them find their way onto CAG, which is established and very well ranked in google for competitive keywords etc etc. To spread the word across the UK of such a service and generate a brand that people could find and be helped would require masive investment and resource.

Next as already mentioned is the issue of people just wishing to avoid their debts. This is something I find myself morally debating endlessly. How would you decide and diferentiate between those in obvious need and those just keen to get out paying debts. Where do you draw the line and how do you choose. There are definately people on CAG who are using the advice available here, simply to get out of paying. I guess what I am asking is, what would the terms of reference of such a service be.

 

If you charge for the services (as opposed to being a charity) you would be left open to accusations of being another rankine, but a charity needs lots and lots of funding.

 

Personally I think perhaps a more realistic propostion would be to consolidate the knowledge available here into a downloadable guide/ebook which people could then access to take some of the strain off the forums. Kind of like a 'dummies guide to dealing with creditors and defending yourself in court - the anarchic version!'

 

I also think organised lobbying of various groups to try and initiate change using the knowledge, numbers and power on here would perhaps result in faster positive change. For example, with an organised and concerted effort perhaps it would be possible to bring about restrcitions on the use of SD's in the circumstances which they currently seem to be being chucked around like confetti.

 

I appreciate I have gone off at a tangent from the orginal idea (which I still thiink is a good one) but I can't feel that to essentially set up another CAB type organisation would be quite a challenge.

 

I'll get back in my box now!

[bigpeterlg22]

i can see from both sides of the fence with regard to the ccbc as I work for a claimant company who works through them and I know people at the ccbc and i do post and read on here and see what misery they bring.

Unfortunately the ccbc is necessary evil. most local courts wouldn't cope with the loading that if the ccbc wasn't there, most local courts are even struggling with the existing loads that they have with them for hearings of one kind or another and some courts are now listing cases into November & December and beyond due to lack of space

From a personal point, I would love the claim pack to be issued by recorded mail rather than just posted out to ensure people actually receive it as I have seen the state of some that have come back from royal mail and speak to quite a few people who either never have had a claim pack or claim they have never received one and am sure royal mail seems to lose quite a few along the way from ccbc to the addresses.

I definitely agree that there should be defence guide and example defences as well as some cheap assistant £5-£10 to deal with specific defences

I think the judiciary and the public as a whole is recognising how much misery certain firms use by just bulking up claims and hoping people are intimidated not to respond/aren't able to respond or don't have the knowlege to respond.

For those of you not aware a new draft general pre-action protocol is being look at for the minute by the civil justice council (http://www.civiljusticecouncil.gov.uk) and could potential change the claim process as much as the woolfe reforms which under which the legal processes for civil action run today

This may change the way things specifically like debt and disputes are dealt with through the litigation and pre-litigation processreading in between the lines of what is being said by the representatives, they are looking at changing or potentially adding into all pre-action protocol i.e. before you get the claim pack or with when it sent out a option for alternative dispute resolution if you don't want to litigate through the courts

 

However there is a sting in the tail for those who don't use the alternative dispute resolution as it looks likely they can't claim the costs or can have costs awarded against them.

Edited September 5, 2008 by bigpeterlg22
computer added all font infor

[questioning]

Thanks very informative Bigpeter, (the link doesn't work for me, think it might be because of the space between gov, easy enought to find though, thanks)

 

As for the idea put forward in this thread, Great idea, BUT I think the easiest way to get this kind of help would be to open more CAB offices and employ specialist adviser's who could deal with these issues. Most people know to go to CAB for advice, trouble is its so very hard to get an appointment (where i live any way. you have to wait ages for an app.) then its a lucky dip as to whether the adviser really knows their stuff or not.

Edited September 24, 2008 by questioning

[citizenB]

Q, the brackets and space that CAG automatically puts in web addresses prevents you from linking via the forum.

 

It would certainly be good if funding for more CAB offices and qualified staff could be made available. Like you, it is nigh on impossible to get an urgent appointment with my local office. Although I have to say when you do get an appointment they do an excellent job.

[legalpickle]

Whilst I sympathize with all who get CCJ's from Northampton CCBC - and indeed any court - I disagree that the CCBC is in any way biased to Claimants.

 

Would you say the same if you were chasing a debt via the CCBC? I doubt it.

 

If you are an individual and file a defence on time, then your claim will be transferred to your local County Court. How it goes beyond then depends entirely on your local County Court and is nothing to do with the CCBC.

 

The CCBC is a bulk processing centre of claims. It dispatches the claims by post to all parties. If a party doesn't receive a claim and a CCJ is put in default, then that is no more biased than if a CCJ were given in default in any County Court.

 

I fail to see what your "Campaign" is about. To make a default defence? That would be impossible. There is no default claim. Different people defend for different reasons. If you go through the forums here alone, you will see many reasons for defences, probably one of the most common is the Claimants lack of abiding by the CCA or similar.

 

The people at fault are not the CCBC, but the debt collectors - who I agree are at fault.

 

If you are going to make a campaign you must clearly & succinctly detail what your problems are and what you propose should be rectified. If you think the court system is biased then explain why. I have initiated many claims against big companies and individuals alike for a variety of issues, though mainly the former. Never the same as big dca's. I have won and lost and could definitely not say that the court was biased towards me. For my wins I have had to work like a dog to make sure everything was done above board. Unfortunately, I have also lost on occasions and had to look through the reasons and hopefully I have learnt from my mistakes.

 

Do more claimants in County Court win than defendants? Yes, definitely. But the reason why is simple. If a claimant didn't think they were going to win, they wouldn't issue the claim. If more cases were lost than won, it would mean that those initiating the claims weren't thinking correctly. I have lost a lot less than I have won - and I hope it remains that way. I would be doing something big time wrong if it was in any way different.

 

In short, I am very interested in this campaign. I am playing devils advocate and don't understand it. If you are convinced you have a valid campaign, I am sure you will get me on board but you will have to explain your reasons for the campaign and what you hope to achieve.

 

If the reason for the campaign is more judgments in default from Northampton CCBC than any other county court, then the reason is obviously that as they process so many claims at once they are going to have more judgments in default. If you compare all the County Courts in the country, I am sure that overall if you compare those in the same area, the bigger ones will have more claims issued at them and therefore more judgments in default. To me the campaign would be meaningless with this seeming reason and to try and change this would be ridiculous.

 

I look forward to reading a detailed explanation in the coming days.

[djc]

May i thank you all for your responses and apologise for delay in getting back, but i do value all of your opinions and the time time you have given.

 

sillygirl1

I like the idea which is if nobody turns up throw the case out of court, but, it's missing my prime objective of ensuring the defendents are aware of how to defend and avoid unsubstantiated increased costs with interest bearing hikes of significant proportions. Most defendants are unaware they can and must challenge the claimants on this point at least. Throwing the case out of court sounds a great idea but possibly needs some point of law change and i am not experienced in that aspect.

 

funky fox

 

A lot of your observations and comments are shared by a large number of individuals that enjoy access to this great site.

 

We particularly agree with your view of "A downloadable guide/ebook which people could access to take some of the strain off the forums". great idea.

But would still miss a lot of defenders.Not sure how to handle that aspect yet.

 

bigpeterlg22

 

Excellent piece of work and plenty to get the little grey cells to work at.

 

1/ CCBC do not appear to check if basic data and clear identification is present in the claim. It would appear that they are oblivious to any form of systemized control, and basic vetting/but they are quite prepared to judge on the flimsyist of data presented to them.

 

Personnally i do not believe that the judiciary or the general public at large have any idea of the intimidation and actions of the debt collection industry and in particular how there regulated, or lack of it,to the discinct disadvantage of the defendents.

 

legal pickle

 

where do i start another great response.

 

How many defendents do you see posting on our forums that are aware that this initial claim against them is able to be transferred to their local court and what they need to do to get it transferred.Very few, this is the prime reason of this original post to get that point across. Once that basic hurdle has been crossed they must file an acknowledgement of service of the claim and start to prepare a holding defence.

 

 

This possible campaign is not about changing views or laws or the way that DCA's etc...go about their business far from it because they provide enormous help to CAG members in providing a clear and defendable case that can be brought against them . Therefore if we can attract greater numbers to be enlightened surely this is our clear objective.

 

I cannot imagine the percentage of actions taken by DCA's etc.. that result in them being awarded judgement without a fight. could it be 90% we gasp.

 

Do claimants bring claims to court believing that they have no case.you bet your life they do and win, and why? because they know that possibly 80% will get judgement awarded in there favour, why do you ask? because the defendents are intimidated by the whole process including me and where do they go for help when monies tight? you guessed it CAB or CAg if there lucky.

 

 

BE lucky

 

djc

[legalpickle]

May i thank you all for your responses and apologise for delay in getting back, but i do value all of your opinions and the time time you have given.

 

bigpeterlg22

 

Excellent piece of work and plenty to get the little grey cells to work at.

 

1/ CCBC do not appear to check if basic data and clear identification is present in the claim. It would appear that they are oblivious to any form of systemized control, and basic vetting/but they are quite prepared to judge on the flimsyist of data presented to them.

 

Personnally i do not believe that the judiciary or the general public at large have any idea of the intimidation and actions of the debt collection industry and in particular how there regulated, or lack of it,to the discinct disadvantage of the defendents.

 

legal pickle

 

where do i start another great response.

 

How many defendents do you see posting on our forums that are aware that this initial claim against them is able to be transferred to their local court and what they need to do to get it transferred.Very few, this is the prime reason of this original post to get that point across. Once that basic hurdle has been crossed they must file an acknowledgement of service of the claim and start to prepare a holding defence.

 

 

This possible campaign is not about changing views or laws or the way that DCA's etc...go about their business far from it because they provide enormous help to CAG members in providing a clear and defendable case that can be brought against them . Therefore if we can attract greater numbers to be enlightened surely this is our clear objective.

 

I cannot imagine the percentage of actions taken by DCA's etc.. that result in them being awarded judgement without a fight. could it be 90% we gasp.

 

Do claimants bring claims to court believing that they have no case.you bet your life they do and win, and why? because they know that possibly 80% will get judgement awarded in there favour, why do you ask? because the defendents are intimidated by the whole process including me and where do they go for help when monies tight? you guessed it CAB or CAg if there lucky.

 

 

BE lucky

 

djc

 

1. In response to your response to "bigpeterlg22". This is not the responsibility of Northampton CCBC or any other County Court. Your campaign with its stated terms as such is therefore irrelevant.

 

2. In response to your response to me. I repeat, this is nothing to do with the County Court. Some courts have a PSU - Personal Support Unit - to assist individuals at hearings. The Courts are there to deal with claims, nothing else. The intimidation by DCA's against debtors is nothing to do with your "campaign".

 

Please explain:

1. What exactly you are campaigning against?

2. Who exactly are you campaigning to?

3. What exactly are your proposals?

[JonCris]

I think it may be said that any campaign is to cause the county courts to return to the brief under which they were 1st introduced namely to provide affordable a balanced justice to the ordinary citizen. It was intended that courts would ensure that actions before it held a legal basis on which to be brought.

 

It was intended that even in the absence of 1 of the of litigants the court would still ensure that the claim was valid. This only appears to occur in the absence of a creditor or DCA. In the case of a LiP failing to attend the court all to often refuses to rule but adjourns to allow the DCA more time a courtesy which is seldom extended to the legally un-sophisticated LiP

 

The bulk center is doing no more than pandering to the finance industry. as in the face of no help whatsoever except for sites like these most defendants are left high & dry

Edited September 15, 2008 by JonCris

[legalpickle]

I think it may be said that any campaign is to cause the county courts to return to the brief under which they were 1st introduced namely to provide affordable a balanced justice to the ordinary citizen. It was intended that courts would ensure that actions before it held a legal basis on which to be brought.

 

It was intended that even in the absence of 1 of the of litigants the court would still ensure that the claim was valid. This only appears to occur in the absence of a creditor or DCA. In the case of a LiP failing to attend the court all to often refuses to rule but adjourns to allow the DCA more time a courtesy which is seldom extended to the legally un-sophisticated LiP

The above has nothing to do with Northampton CCBC and is relevant to all courts across the country. Good luck with such a campaign but the bank charges campaigns haven't been what I would call successful so I seriously doubt such a campaign, taking on all the courts and making allegations that would seriously annoy the court service will be successful.

 

The bulk center is doing no more than pandering to the finance industry. as in the face of no help whatsoever except for sites like these most defendants are left high & dry

The bulk centre is solely a place to process claims in bulk. Anything beyond that has nothing to do with the bulk centre. It is more administrative than anything else.

 

Certain claims may be disqualified on technicalities but that would happen in default. This is not a prejudice against anybody. The bulk centre serves to assist anybody issuing a large amount of claims, be it creditors or Solicitors. Unfortunately it's more creditors and DCA's, but that's the way of the world at the moment and nothing to do with the CCBC.

[JonCris]

LP In your opinion the bank charges campaigns have not been successful.

 

Millions in penalty charges refunds + more being paid as I write

 

Banks spending millions in legal costs

 

Banks in high court trying to justify their charges & losing

 

So just what is your idea of successful??

[JonCris]

The bulk center have many times found for a creditor without any documentation other than an N1

[legalpickle]

LP In your opinion the bank charges campaigns have not been successful.

 

Millions in penalty charges refunds + more being paid as I write

 

Banks spending millions in legal costs

 

Banks in high court trying to justify their charges & losing

 

So just what is your idea of successful??

My idea of successful - and indeed many others - is a change. Not a technical change in terms and conditions so that they aren't penalties, but a change in behaviour. Without this it isn't successful.

 

 

The bulk center have many times found for a creditor without any documentation other than an N1

Did the debtor defend the claim? If not then obviously. A judgment in default is given solely on the basis of no defence. The claim can be the most frivolous and vexatious claim, but no defence submitted within the time necessary will result in a default judgment.

 

If otherwise, I find that hard to believe. I have sat in on CAB meetings and assisted many people, and know several others who have also assisted many people. Not once - out of several hundred cases in my area that I or somebody I work or deal with has been involved in - has a claim within which a defence has been filed - at any court - not been transferred to their local court - except in error, where the court didn't receive the defence and these were set aside upon application.

 

The odd court incompetence is inexcusable, but unfortunately, we are all human and it happens.

 

What you are alleging is that Northampton CCBC is biased against debtors. I fail to see how. I hate DCA's as well, I agree that many claims shouldn't be initiated and DCA's depend on it intimidating the debtor and paying or the debtor making a mistake, but these are not faults of Northampton CCBC, but DCA's and creditors.

 

Not that the courts service are amazing. They make mistakes quite often, but this is not biased to either side - from my extensive experience. Yes, Northampton CCBC probably makes more mistakes with logging of defences than any other court - but it issues more claims than any other court, so this is the rule of odds.

 

How hard would it have been for you to edit your previous post and put the posts together? This would have saved space in the thread, and if it gets long make it easier for others.

[JonCris]

Clearly your unaware of the concerns even within the legal profession of the CC's & their repeated failures

 

Also the county courts were never intended to just rubber stamp applications which is what they now do even those undefended

[legalpickle]

Clearly your unaware of the concerns even within the legal profession of the CC's & their repeated failures

 

Also the county courts were never intended to just rubber stamp applications which is what they now do even those undefended

This campaign is supposedly about Northampton CCBC, not all County Courts! You are moving off to issues relating to all County Courts.

 

There is nowhere - to the best of my knowledge - in the CPR and PD's that says a court, and thus a judge, must examine a whole claim before allowing it to be processed. That would undoubtedly make the backlog of hearings even worse, because the judge's would also need to be available to deal with the issue of claims.

 

If a party does not submit a defence to a claim within the time that is allocated in accordance with the CPR & PD's, then that party is liable to have a CCJ against them. There is nothing here that the court is at fault for.

 

Don't take me wrongly. I am not saying that the courts are perfect, they are far from perfect. But for a campaign, the problems and goals must be clearly stated - or your at risk of becoming like Barack Obama and shouting for change but with no stated goals. After looking into it and before acting, the methods to reach those goals must be identified.

 

So far, nobody on this thread has stated the problems with Northampton CCBC that they are trying to campaign against. All problems mentioned are "problems" with the court service in general and legal aid.

 

There are many concerns about the County Courts, especially their organizational skills, however I can't see anywhere in this thread that establishes that that's the problem. If that's the problem then the campaign is about all County Courts, not Northampton CCBC and whilst many might hate it, I would recommend joining forces with creditors and Solicitors, as they have the same concerns!

 

You are raising a new issue when you hit on applications, which is nothing to do with the CCBC as the amount of applications it can deal with are minimal as claims that proceed to hearing leave the CCBC, so most applications that it receives are to set aside judgment which would be transferred to the Defendant's local court.

 

So, I repeat, what exactly is this campaign all about and what are you trying to achieve?

[djc]

What are we fighting for?

 

To change the way Northampton cc bulk centre processes cases. I would suggest not, what an unenviable task that would be.

 

To change the way DCA 's and other creditors go about thier business, i would suggest not. As i believe they are more help than hindrance to our more informed members.At present the paper trail of original documents and other data leaves much to be desired, lets leave it there.

 

So where does this leave us. I would suggest the following for your consideration ( any other suggestions most welcome).

 

PRIME OBJECTIVES

 

A/

Getting the CAG website and the free advice available recognised by greater numbers of potential litigants in person.

 

How can we do this, by canvassing the Northampton cc bulk centre to provide a circular help sheet/or some other vehicle of communication provided by CAG that will be included in defendents envelope.

 

B/

CAG to provide a step by step guide to enable defendent to respond to County court claim Summons/claim. Followed by making them aware of the specialized advice in gaining access to our website, that is available to them.

 

At this stage i am refraining from cluttering up this response with other issues that have been raised for fear of widening the debate beyond our possible control. But please feel free to express any subject or proposed actions that you feel maybe relevant to this proposal. Including being a 'devils advocate' in disguise of 'santa'.

 

To answer legalpickle Who requests, PLEASE EXPLAIN

 

1. What exactly you are campaigning against?

Ignorance of CAG forums and the help available!

 

2. Who exactly are you campaigning to?

CAG members to broaden and enrich the uneducated of the help that is available to larger numbers of possible new members!

 

3 What exactly are your proposals?

Still working towards them do not have all of the answers but hopefully with the assistance of this great site and individuals input we may achieve some of our goals.

 

Keep posting.

 

djc

[legalpickle]

What are we fighting for?

 

To change the way Northampton cc bulk centre processes cases. I would suggest not, what an unenviable task that would be.

What changes would you want on the way they process their cases? And I mean a) Specifically Northampton CCBC. b) All local courts.

 

To change the way DCA 's and other creditors go about thier business, i would suggest not. As i believe they are more help than hindrance to our more informed members.At present the paper trail of original documents and other data leaves much to be desired, lets leave it there.

I agree 100%, but the "campaign" thus far does not focus on this. This is a valid part of many consumer campaigns but would take a far more organized team - and not 20 consumer organizations working individually but together [and I believe it could be proven if this was possible by my proposals below] - and a lot more than a few messages in CAG - without meaning any disrespect - to make a major change in this area.

 

So where does this leave us. I would suggest the following for your consideration ( any other suggestions most welcome).

The above and the below to me aren't implying the same objectives. I agree with most of the above and most of the below, and have expanded further on.

 

PRIME OBJECTIVES

 

A/

Getting the CAG website and the free advice available recognised by greater numbers of potential litigants in person.

 

How can we do this, by canvassing the Northampton cc bulk centre to provide a circular help sheet/or some other vehicle of communication provided by CAG that will be included in defendents envelope.

 

B/

CAG to provide a step by step guide to enable defendent to respond to County court claim Summons/claim. Followed by making them aware of the specialized advice in gaining access to our website, that is available to them.

 

At this stage i am refraining from cluttering up this response with other issues that have been raised for fear of widening the debate beyond our possible control. But please feel free to express any subject or proposed actions that you feel maybe relevant to this proposal. Including being a 'devils advocate' in disguise of 'santa'.

 

To answer legalpickle Who requests, PLEASE EXPLAIN

 

1. What exactly you are campaigning against?

Ignorance of CAG forums and the help available!

 

2. Who exactly are you campaigning to?

CAG members to broaden and enrich the uneducated of the help that is available to larger numbers of possible new members!

 

3 What exactly are your proposals?

Still working towards them do not have all of the answers but hopefully with the assistance of this great site and individuals input we may achieve some of our goals.

 

Keep posting.

 

djc

 

Extremely valid campaign, however it is nothing to do with Northampton CCBC as I have now successfully pointed out !

 

I propose the below working route to reach this goal, before any work can really begin - with a coordinated effort - on serious lobbying.

 

I know that Manchester County Court sends to all parties a sheet with a list of contact numbers and fax numbers for all departments within the court, and to individual parties together with the Notice of Hearing, especially defendant's a letter from the PSU [Personal Support Unit] introducing themselves and offering their assistance for the hearing.

 

I think it would be valid to nominate competent people from within the site team and of the main contributors to all the main sites - MSE, CAG & others - to compose a 2-3 page letter with links to useful websites and contact details of useful organizations, such as CAB as well as a more in depth guide on a website dedicated to that [the latter of which would be contributed to by professionals and a wider group].

 

The same group would nominate two people in each area across the country to present a proposal to each County Court that this 2-3 page letter [no more than 4 pages] be sent to each and every party of proceedings with claim forms and any other documents dispatched. Each local focus group would report back to the small forum on their successes, or - hopefully not - failures.

 

The main group would also simultaneously work to try and get the Court Service - from the top - to ask the courts to distribute this letter or leaflet and also try and deal with problems that the local focus teams may encounter. They would also contact or form a slightly larger team to contact Northampton CCBC.

 

A guide could also be published which would be sold for a nominal fee to cover all publishing costs which would compromise the best advice from these sites and professional advice.

 

The main group would also set up "lobby groups" to lobby with the Information Commissioners Office ["Information Commissioners Office"], Financial Services Authority ["FSA"], Financial Ombudsman Service ["FOS"], Credit Services Association ["CSA"], Civil Court Users Association ["CCUA"] and any other relevant organizations that could possibly change polices to the consumers favour. This however would be a longer term campaign that would definitely require a lot more efforts, not that I am demeaning the efforts that would be required to handle the other operations.

 

I think that the best route to advertising the work of CAG and all other such groups is by having the courts sending out such a letter or leaflet that would be mass published. The main costs of such a campaign would be publishing the leaflet. A book published and a comprehensive guide hosted would also cost - the latter of which would be minimal and I would be happy to donate that value through my own hosting company [i couldn't afford to offer free hosting to a massive forum, especially the size of CAG but a static site with a forum of some 500-1,000 people could easily be hosted on my facilities for free].

 

There are 216 County Courts in England & Wales, 72 Sheriff Courts in Scotland and 19 Courts in Northern Ireland. There would need to be 3 guides and 3 leaflets published as different information is relevant.

 

I propose 2 local people per local group = 432 for England & Wales, 114 in Scotland and 38 in Northern Ireland. An extra 2 people would be added to the Northampton CC team to cover Northampton CCBC, which would mean a total of 616 people in local groups spread out across the UK, whose work would be;

1. Getting their local court to agree to distribute the leaflet/letter to each party besides for companies ending in 'PLC' [as Limited companies could also require this advice considering the amount of small businesses that are Limited].

2. Monitoring the agreement with their local Court.

3. Making sure their local Court has enough leaflets/letters to distribute.

4. Reporting back to the main forum on their progress.

It could be that some teams could cover two or 3 local courts due to their proximity to the courts, but I am erring on the side of caution.

 

There would also need to be a team of probably about 4 people in Northern Ireland, 12 people in Scotland, 12 people in Wales & 30 people in England to monitor the progress in each of those local teams, split up by regions.

 

Then the letter/leaflet would need to be prepared which would probably take a focus team of 10-15 people backed up by another 6-8 people each in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Their work would be preparing the leaflet and making sure it was published correctly and sufficient copies distributed to the regional and local teams.

 

Then I reckon there would need to be a full-time focus team of 20 people preparing 1 guide and another 5 people each from Northern Ireland & Scotland to prepare the relevant sections for the main differences in law and procedure in those states. This focus group would require people with intense legal knowledge involved.

 

Another group in the advertising chain, would be the head co-ordination group of about 15 people with the responsibilities of;

- Regional Coordination

- Local Coordination

- State Coordination

- Publishing

- Legal Advice & Support Team - would work with making sure all is correct and up to date

- Funding

- Court Service Coordination

- Groups Coordination - working with all the consumer groups, making sure that on this topic they work together.

 

I believe that this a very good idea, and could really work. However it needs to be done in a militaristic style so it doesn't fall to pieces like so many other valid campaigns.

 

Stage 1: 2-4 movers to be in charge of steering group.

Stage 2: Set up of website and sections for contact to volunteer to be involved.

Stage 3: Movers coordinate with other consumer organizations to prepare group to prepare guide - first in online format, then to be published.

Stage 4: Movers to set up group to prepare leaflet.

Stage 5: Set up of teams and launch of website to facilitate contact between the teams.

Stage 6: Publishing of leaflets and get to work on distributing leaflets.

Stage 7: Publishing of guide in print format and advertising to sell it, both on the main site and through all consumer organizations that are part of steering group - first. Then to offer for sale elsewhere.

 

Note: The only teams that would be required to have legally qualified people in them would be those involved in preparing the guide. Everything else requires organized movers, with some a few with knowledge in: web programming, web design, graphic design, publishing, layout and mainly people with good hearts, lots of motivation, ability to follow instructions whilst still making their own opinions heard but most of all to be teamworks and not corrupt politicians or solely after their own interests but to have the interests of the consumers at heart!

 

I realize this post is massive, but I think it's very relevant if anything is to be done and so that people realize what actually needs to be done.

Edited September 17, 2008 by legalpickle

[palomino]

One thing we should be fighting for is to have all claims and judgments sent out by recorded delivery.

 

I know the Royal Mail is perfect however I have had four claims dealt with by Northampton. Counting four claims and four judgments that is eight pieces of mail supposedly sent out. I have received two - one claim and one judgment (not for the same case).

 

I found out about all of this retrospectively when I obtained a a report from Registry Trust and then by phoning Northampton armed with the case numbers from the RT report. I have had three cases where judgment was entered by default because I knew nothing of the case.

Somehow this is all my fault...

[citizenB]

One thing we should be fighting for is to have all claims and judgments sent out by recorded delivery.

 

 

I clipped a report from the newspaper a couple of weeks ago. This highlighted the amount of post that was "lost" by Royal Mail and also the amount of compensation they have had to pay out.

 

I agree that documents as important as claims and judgements (and where DCAs and creditors are concerened Default and Assignment notices) should be sent by a form of postal service that requires a signature from the receipient.

[djc]

Hi! everyone may we apolgise for apparent delay in getting back to acknowledge your posting and views. unfortunately we are having to spend a great deal of our time supporting bereaved parents and we are absolutely whacked.

 

legalpickle has created a sound piece of well thought out work and has gone the extra mile in putting it across.It certainly merits a far more detailed response than we are capable of providing at this moment.

 

palomino are the creditors treated the same way?We would expect that Northampton cc may well resist any increase in postage applied to record deliveries, but then we could ask for the claimant to pay it.

 

Legalpickle during the last few days, belting up the motorways, we were considering if we could find a cheaper or alternative choice, in reaching those persons who would directly benefit from being made aware of C. A. G. other than or at the same time as leaflet dropping.We came up with trying to bring on board one of the tv media stations/programmes that are looking out for a possible documentary fact based programme. we believe with the correct approach at the right level of introduction we are capable of putting it across that it is of enormous public interest when you see the aftermath of the credit crunch is not only impacting the banking fraternity but honest hardworking people that deserve better treatment and help.

Trying hard not to bring politics into this discussion but it is extremely difficult.

 

Has the site team any views on this or are they just seeing where this is leading to?

 

your views and other members welcome.

 

djc

Edited September 23, 2008 by djc

[djc]

we have been trying to find how many CCJ's etc are issued by northampton bulk centre cc. whilst there are approximately one million issued each year for the UK but are unable to find the details of northampton.

 

anyone have this statistic

 

regards

 

djc

[FunkyFox]

we have been trying to find how many CCJ's etc are issued by northampton bulk centre cc. whilst there are approximately one million issued each year for the UK but are unable to find the details of northampton.

 

anyone have this statistic

 

regards

 

djc

 

 

If the information is not readily available a Freedom of Information Request to HMCS should do the trick. As k as many questions as you like.

 

FF

[djc]

thanks for the information funkyfox

 

we have been into this site and its great unfortunately when you enquire of northampton bulk centre cc the system screws up and delivers a message of internal errors. we will give it a few more hours and keep trying

 

thanks once again

 

djc

[legalpickle]

One thing we should be fighting for is to have all claims and judgments sent out by recorded delivery.

 

I know the Royal Mail is perfect however I have had four claims dealt with by Northampton. Counting four claims and four judgments that is eight pieces of mail supposedly sent out. I have received two - one claim and one judgment (not for the same case).

Also, a valid issue, but again I believe that this would have to start by being done at a local level, preferably focused on the larger courts and the bulk centre first. It could be done in the same route as my idea.

 

However, obviously, like most ideas it lacks the people to move it forward. However valid these ideas are - and I think they are very valid - I seriously doubt anything will happen.