help iv been given a court decree, how can i prove this is not my debt

[monica25]

hi, i really need someones help here please

 

to cut a long story short, i got a copy of my credit file as i had been refused credit, and i noticed that i had a default from hillesden securites in april 2005. i wrote to them recorded delivery and requested my details ie credit agreement default notice etc, as have no idea what this is.. they replied advising nolan mcleod are dealing on their behalf and all correspondence is through them, however they will send the requested docs out to me.. i then contact nolan mcleod for details of this debt and they said someone would get back to me the next day... however later that day 2 sherrif officers came to my property and put a charge for payment through my door for the debt to nolan mcleods..

 

i then contacted nolans again and was able to speak to the girl dealing with it, she advised that in july 2008 they had sent me a court summons and because i didnt reply to this, they lodged a decree against me..i checked my credit report again under court information and right enough there it was...

 

they advised me it was for a welcome finance account i had in 2003, i advised them that my father paid that debt off jsut before i had my daughter in 2004 so i did not have any debt. they said they have no recollection of this, and to either pay up or do a minute of recall..

 

yesterday, i received the docs out from hillesden securities, the debt was in february 2003 and was taken out at an address iv never even heard off, notes confirming they called my employer at optical express who confirmed i was not on the sick - i have never worked here and was at uni in 2003.. however at the back, there is a copy of the default notice, which was sent to my parents address which is CORRECT. that is the address i lived at at this time, this default is date 13 august 2003. there is also 2 witness with their telephone numbers, i have never heard of these people and dont even recognise the area code as being anywhere near my area.

 

I contacted nolans again and advised there seems to be an error, and explained, he advised that he will speak with hillesdens to see what they say and then get back to me, i raised my concern that i had 14 days to do something with this court thing and he advised he would write to me and i would ahve 7 days from date of his letter to respond or take legal action..

 

i must admit however, that My signature does look very much like the signature in the application form, however it is not MINE

 

can anyone please advise the best thing going forward what to do here if hillesden continue with this, as surely a judge must have seen these same docs when he granted the decree?? also i checked the registry trust website and there is nothing showing for my address, i saved a copy to my email address.

 

any help with this woulld be much appreiated

[MARTIN3030]

Welcome to the site.

Will move this from here into a suitable forum.

[monica25]

thanks Martin, Sorry I was unsure where to put it

 

 

c=

[IdaInFife]

hiya....

 

what you need to do straight away is a minute of recall.

 

 

you need 20 and 20a in this link

 

Small Claims Forms

 

that you did not reside at the address the papers were served at.......

 

 

also that you are not the person on the agreement as you have never resided at the address this was taken out at and you do not know tyhe witness'etc........try and get some proff of your residence at that time if possible via council tax

[monica25]

thanks for getting back to me so quick:)

 

I do live at the address where they say they sent the summons to, but have never recived any summons and they advised they dont always send them recorded delivery as i requested proof of signature...

 

yes i was on electoral roll at my parents house at this time and can also provide the company name where i was working so they could surely check thru that?

 

what about the signatures and my parents address? is this not something i could report as fraud? should i wait and see what nolans say after advising hillesdens of the information i have provided them with? either way tho, there is an account open with my name,dob and NI number, im sure this could be investigated by the police before the court hearing?

[monica25]

anyone else, the 14 days are up on monday - aaghghghhgh

[seriously fed up]

I know the 14 days will be up on Monday but its Easter Monday so the courts are closed, therefore you have until Tuesday - "every little helps"

The problem I think you are going to have is that with them having the decree the onus of proof is on you to show this was wrongly dealt with. Therefore you will need to show that on the date the account was opened you didnt live at the address included on the documents - so as Ida has suggested, council tax or something. Likewise it would be good if you could produce evidence showing where you have lived, at least since you were 18 to the date the decree was issued.

It does look, on the basis of what you have said that they have made a bit of a mess of this, but that is for the hearing in court. What you have to do by Tuesday is to prepare a minute of recall that casts enough doubt on the original decision that the case is reopened. I would suggest there are five heads or argument that this should eb done

 

1. you did not reside at the address shown on the claim at the time the account was opened, and had never lived there. Not sure about fraud here - I can understand why you would think this, but more likely just incompetence
   
2. you have never worked for the employer they refer to in their notes, suggesting a confusion with another client?
   
3. you know nothing of the two witnesses who appear to live nowhere near your address at the time
   
4. you received no claim - you might want to refer to the multiplicity of addresses here. ButI would be surprised if court forms werent sent recorded delivery - or served by a Sheriff Officer. They need to be put to strict proof here
   
5. the debt had been paid to the original creditor before the action was raised.
   

Thing to remember here is that at this stage you are merely trying to create enough doubt in the original decision to get it recalled and the case reopened. Its only once we get past that stage that the issue of proof is going to be relevant - so when the case is reopened you would need evidence of where you lived at the time the account was opened, that you were at Uni and not in employment at the time (that should be quite easy); does your father have bank statements showing the debt to have been paid? They will insist they did issue the default notice, but with the dodgy addresses they dont look too good.

So get the form in by Tuesday. Proof comes later. Its better to have your argument right at that stage, but it should be possible to vary it later on - and what really matters is getting your form in by Tuesday, which will be to your local Sheriff Court (copy to Nolans for info)

[IdaInFife]

as SFU says you need to deal with a recall first and then you can dig depper

[IdaInFife]

or deeper even

[dundeelaw]

How are you getting on?

 

Have you been to the Police yet?

 

If you believe there is somethiing seriously wrong (like Fraud) by anyone, contact the Police and get a Crime Number. The court will surely put a hold on the civil case until the Police have carried out their investigations which would mean examing all of the doucuments of the Finance Company, taking witnesses statements from their witnesses, contacting Optical Express and get their records on whomever the finance comapny are talking about.

[monica25]

hiya

 

thanks, yes iv done all that, on the application form the account details were also on their for the laon to be paid into, it was saying it was with the bank of scotland. I ve got a letter from the head office stating this account does not exist, not in my name or anyone elses.. the solicitors hav put it on hold while hillesden are investigating this.. im hoping to have an answer back this week... if it does not come back in my favour I have sought legal advice and I am intending to sue Welcome Finance as I am been punished for someone elses debt.. the lawyer in question seems quite reasonable so Ii think he will need sufficient evidence and proof from welcome that this is mine rather than me tating its not before going further..

 

Thanksfor your help.

 

Monica