Bryan Carter & Co. - Court Claim Issued, some advice please.

[mrgruff]

Hi all,

 

I have received a Court Claim from the above. It says the claimant is Instant Cash Loans Ltd t/a The Money Shop Re: Payday Express. Payday Express are a payday loan company.

 

I have no memory of this company at all, though it is possible I took a loan out at some point with someone and it's been sold. For background, I had personal issues around three years ago, for which I'm still engaged in a struggle to pay off with several creditors.

 

However, all the other creditors write to you before issuing proceedings. I have not had a letter before claim, and cannot trace the default letter.

 

So I called BC, they said the original debt was £200, with £50 interest, a £100 default fee(is this enforceable?) plus contract interest. It was from February 2008. On top of this, they are claiming court fee of £30, solicitors costs of £50 and statutory interest of 8%. However, they haven't sent a statement of account to me at all.

 

As such, I acknowledged service last weekend to get the 28 days underway. Then I posted a letter from this site (CPR 31.14 Request), and asked them for the agreement, default notice and deed of assignment - as I don't recongnise the claimant, and they referred to the agreement and my alleged failure to pay.

 

I am still waiting for a response, but is there anything I should do in the meantime? I do not want a CCJ, as this will ruin the chances of moving home later this year. I could probably offer a payment of some of the claim towards the end of this month if it will make this go away, but I am certainly not prepared to pay a £100 default on a £200 loan I can't remember!

 

 

Thanks all.

[NailPost]

You've acknowledged receipt of the claim online with the Court Service who are completely seperate from Carters and who are impartial in their dealings with both sides. This important step means Carter will not be able to get a judgement by default. A tactic which appears to be a major part of Carters gameplan with most claims. The claim will now be transferred to a county court more local to you and in order to obtain a judgement Carter will have to send someone to that court and persuade a judge that the case has merit. He won't be able to do that unless he has served you with all the evidence he intends to rely on in that courtroom. Your letter to him is your demand for those documents. It may very well be that the next you hear from dear old Bryan is a letter advising you he does not intend taking this any further. Should that occur don't let him off the hook. Claim your costs, complain to the regulators for his shoddy tactics. Plenty of encouragment and advice on here.

[mrgruff]

You've acknowledged receipt of the claim online with the Court Service who are completely seperate from Carters and who are impartial in their dealings with both sides. This important step means Carter will not be able to get a judgement by default. A tactic which appears to be a major part of Carters gameplan with most claims. The claim will now be transferred to a county court more local to you and in order to obtain a judgement Carter will have to send someone to that court and persuade a judge that the case has merit. He won't be able to do that unless he has served you with all the evidence he intends to rely on in that courtroom. Your letter to him is your demand for those documents. It may very well be that the next you hear from dear old Bryan is a letter advising you he does not intend taking this any further. Should that occur don't let him off the hook. Claim your costs, complain to the regulators for his shoddy tactics. Plenty of encouragment and advice on here.

 

 

Thanks for this, I gave them 14 days to comply with the CPR request I made on the 8th. I chased up again at the start of this week, but I haven't heard further. Having read around, I believe I need to issue a defence before the end of the 28 days. Is the fact that they haven't supplied me with the evidence a defence? If so, has anyone seen any defences that have worked that I can personalise? When should I serve this?

 

Any help would be great, bit worried about what to do!

[citizenB]

Can you please let us know the date of issue of the Claim form. You have a strict timescale that you will need to stick to.

 

Day of issue + 5 days for receipt + 14 days to acknowledge and if defending a further 14 days to submit a defence.

 

In total 33 days from date of issue on claim form till you have to put in a defence.

 

If you havent received a response to your CPR31.14 then you can request more time via CPR15.5.. have a read of the links below.

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?283443-Embarrassed-Defences-and-the-problems-with-them.

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?255329-CPR-part-18-vs-CPR-31.14-Confused-well-read-here

 

HTH

[mrgruff]

Thanks for that useful info.

 

The date on the claim form was the 2nd of February. I acknowledged service on the 7th - did it online on the 5th, but that was a Saturday. Wrote to solicitors with CPR request on the 8th. Chased on the 15th, no response as yet.

 

So, should I now write to them and request an extension as they have failed to acknowledge my previous request and provide the documentation they had pleaded in the POC?

 

I am very conscious of costs here, the original loan amount they are claiming is only £250 - so incurring a massively disproportionate costs order would be crippling for me.

 

That said, I'm pretty certain they shouldn't bring a case unless they have the supporting documentation?

[citizenB]

Ok, you should send the following letter to BC.. Your filing date at the present will be 7th March 2010

Your address

Bryan Carters address

Dear Sir or Madam

Re: Claimant v mrgruff

Case No: From Claim Form - top right hand corner

Your ref: Any ref B/C might have on the claim form or leave off

On (DATE) I received a claim form in respect of the above claim number. Acknowledgment of that claim was made on (DATE)

As you failed to provide documents supporting your claim with the claim form, I made a CPR31.14 request on (DATE). Royal Mail have confirmed this request was delivered to you on (DATE)

As you have failed to respond to the above request, I am now requesting under CPR 15.5, that you agree to an extension of time for you to provide me with the information I have requested and for me to submit my defence.

“Agreement extending the period for filing a defence

15.5

http://www.justice.gov.uk/civil/procrules_fin/contents/parts/part15.htm#IDAUXNTB

(1) The defendant and the claimant may agree that the period for filing a defence specified in rule 15.4 shall be extended by up to 28 days.

(2) Where the defendant and the claimant agree to extend the period for filing a defence, the defendant must notify the court in writing.”

If you do not agree to this extension of time and fail to provide the documents requested, then I will make application to the court for both.

I look forward to your reponse within 7 days.

Yours faithfully

XXXXXXXXXXX

XXXXXXXXXXX Sign over Grid

XXXXXXXXXXX

XXXXXXXXXXX

You can if you wish telephone Bryan Carter, verbally agree a new extension date.. but then DO confirm it in writing. Either way you must inform the court of the new filing date.

Head any letter you send to them with the heading

PLEASE NOTE THIS IS NOT A DEFENCE

Northampton took my copy CPR31.14 to be a defence ??

[mrgruff]

Thank you very much for that. I'll call and write to them tomorrow, and post any response.

Your advice has really helped to put my mind at rest - for now anyway!

[mrgruff]

Having spoken to BC re: last post, they have confirmed that they have withdrawn and issued a discontinuation notice today. Will wait for that and check it's legitimacy with Northampton BPC.

Thanks for help on this.

[citizenB]

Brilliant news. You should be able to check with Northampton just by telephoning them. Any hard copy of the letter you receive, please keep somewhere safe

 

Can you please let us know when it has been confirmed and I will change your thread title.

[mrgruff]

Just a note on this, I never received a formal withdrawal/discontinuance from BC. As such, I issued a defence stating that they had failed to comply with my earlier requests and they had stated that they were withdrawing in a phone call. Their time limit passed ages ago, action stayed.

I didn't have the energy to go after costs to be honest, though I'm well aware I probably could have had a go.

Thanks for the help.