A certain water company makes a court claim....

[Andyorch]

From the website of a Certain Water co...

 

[Andyorch]

Defence

 

Paragraph 1 is not admitted with regards to the Defendant being arrears of the water charge dated 1st April 2011 to date. Numerous attempts were made to agree a payment arrangement

with the Claimant who chose to ignore all requests.This is in breach with the Water Industry Act 1991 section 150A (8).

 

4. As per Civil Procedure Rule 16.5(4), it is expected that the Claimant prove the allegation that the money is owed.

 

 

Notwithstanding the above payments have been made of £xxxx on xxth xxxx xxxxx (list amounts and dates paid.)

 

The Claimants have issued this claim in the full knowledge of payments recieved and have not acted within the Pre Action Protocol Ammex A pursuant to the CPR.

 

8)No relevant undertaker may commence proceedings before any court in respect of any charge in connection with the supply of water for domestic purposes or (as the case may be) the provision of sewerage services other than by the carrying out of trade effluent functions unless, not less than 28 days before doing so, the customer concerned was informed by it, in such form and manner as may be prescribed, of—

 

(a)its intention to commence proceedings;

(b)the customer’s rights by virtue of this section; and

©such other matters (if any) as may be prescribed.

 

It is requested that the claim be dismissed and sanctions be applied and fixed costs awarded to the defendant for not following Pre Action Protocol Annex A

By reason of the facts and matters set out above, it is denied that the Claimant is entitled to the relief claimed or any relief.

 

If you could complete the dates and payments and check for accuracy then copy and paste into MCOL and print receipt.

 

Regards

 

Andy

[smouk]

Wow! Stonking! Not sure about

Numerous attempts were made to agree a payment arrangement with the Claimant who chose to ignore all requests.

They were told on several occasions in 2011/12 of the difficulty we were experiencing and that payments would be erratic - but that's not the same thing.

 

Also, should I attach a copy of the letter of 21st June?

[Andyorch]

Wow! Stonking! Not sure about They were told on several occasions in 2011/12 of the difficulty we were experiencing and that payments would be erratic - but that's not the same thing. More or less just worded differently

 

Also, should I attach a copy of the letter of 21st June?

No you dont and cant attach any exhibits to a defence you are responding through MCOL

 

Andy

[smouk]

MCOL won't let me login with the claim no. and the supplied password. CCBC suggests doing it by email.

 

Balance is now £0!

 

Counterclaim. I was going to claim (6 x £18 = ) £108 plus expenses @ £35. Sound reasonable?

[Andyorch]

Have you registered? You have to register to use MCOL. :- https://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk/web/mcol/welcome

 

You can't counter claim costs ...you have requested it in your defence :-

 

" It is requested that the claim be dismissed and sanctions be applied and fixed costs awarded to the defendant for not following Pre Action Protocol Annex A "

 

Regards

Andy

[smouk]

Yup registered and all but the system doesn't recognise it. Didn't when I acknowledged either - sent the slips back registered post instead. Just for info, can you clarify "fixed costs"?

[Andyorch]

http://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/civil/rules/part45#IDAE50HC

[smouk]

Well, off it goes! Thanks for your help Andy!

[Andyorch]

Keep your thread updated smouk and we can go through the further process.

 

Regards

 

Andy

[smouk]

Received one hour later...

 

Good afternoon,

 

Thank you for your email. I can confirm that your defence has been received and processed. Please be advised that the defence has only been noted on the case for you, Mr Smouk.

 

Should you have any further queries, please do not hesitate to contact us.

 

Regards,

[smouk]

Okay, firstly, a sour missive has been received from a Certain Water Co saying that they're proceeding with the claim for the £125 for "unpaid fees and costs". It's mostly a summary of the POC with a little more flesh though it mentions sending two letters notifying that "litigation was being prepared" on 12th and 29th September. I'll be darned if I've seen them. They've also taken the trouble to provide a "schedule of transactions" going back ten years!

 

And secondly, an Allocation questionnaire (Small claims track) has arrived. It seems quite straight forward aside from [G Other information] so any guidance on what should or shouldn't be included here would be appreciated.

[Andyorch]

Ok so they will have no problem disclosing these 2 letters allegedly sent to provide proof they have conformed to Pre Action Protocol.On the AQ in G simply reiterate your defence as to why you disagree with the claim.Why you have not been approached before litigation and that a claim for this amount is ridiculous and a waste of time effort and Court resources.

 

Andy

[smouk]

Thanks Andy

 

I'll draft a few paragraphs together in the next 24 hours or so. Okay to run it past you here?

[Andyorch]

Absolutely no problem:thumb:

[smouk]

Obviously I want this brought to my local court (40 miles away FFS!) so I shall deal with that section too. Meanwhile, here is G:

 

Okay, ignore the sectional numbers, they're just for my reference - depressive, dyslexic....a winning combination if ever there was!

 

1.

This claim should be dismissed on the grounds that this action is unnecessary. We have made a substantial effort to settle this account and the account balance now stands at £0. The claimant, in seemingly ignoring our communication, has demonstrated intransigence and is intent on pursuing a claim for a relatively small sum, wasting time, effort and Court resources.

 

2.

Aware of our arrears situation we wrote to A CERTAIN WATER CO. on 21/6/2012. The letter reiterated our ongoing problem with erratic income (both of us being self-employed), the poor trading year of 2011/12 and the significantly improved trading year in 2012/13.

 

3.

Accordingly we set out a viable proposal for the reduction and elimination of the outstanding balance in stepped phases to culminate in a zero balance no later than March 2013 and, quite possibly, before end December 2012.

 

4.

We also advised A CERTAIN WATER CO. that we would not enter into any dialogue with any third party.

 

5.

No response was forthcoming from A CERTAIN WATER CO..

 

6.

We were however contacted on several occasions by XXX, a third party collection agency.

 

7.

In accordance with our payment proposal, payment of £000 was made to A CERTAIN WATER CO. on 23/10/2012.

 

8.

Nonetheless, this claim was issued by A CERTAIN WATER CO. on 19/10/2012 and was received by ourselves on 24/10/2012.

 

9.

No forewarning of the claim was received from A CERTAIN WATER CO., in contravention of items 6, 7 and 8 of the PRACTICE DIRECTION – PRE-ACTION CONDUCT.

 

10.

Contacting A CERTAIN WATER CO. by telephone on 25/10/2012, we were told that only a payment of the full amount of the claim - including court costs and solicitor's fees, and already an incorrect amount following the payment of 23/10/2012 - would prevent the matter proceeding to court.

 

11.

No record was available of our letter of 21/6/2012.

 

12.

Our proposed repayment planicon might possibly be acceptable to A CERTAIN WATER CO. - but only if it were to include the court costs and solicitor's fees. Furthermore, the plan would have to be returned to A CERTAIN WATER CO. as a component of the completed Court response pack.

 

13.

The member of staff concerned was unable to answer any of our questions directly and had to repeatedly refer to a "colleague".

 

14.

In accordance with our payment proposal, payment of £000 was made on 30/10/2012.

 

15.

Further payments of £000 and £000 were made on 2/11/2012 and 21st /11/2012 thus eliminating the outstanding balance - in advance of our original proposal and, quite probably, most other A CERTAIN WATER CO. customers.

[Andyorch]

A little too in-depth smouk

 

Reads like a second defence...the AQ is only to assist in the allocation of the claim to track.If anything it should be short sharp and succinct to get the DJ attention.

 

" This unnecessary claim now merely consists of court costs and solicitor fees the debt has been extinguished and was extinguished before the claimant commenced litigation but failed to respond to our correspondence and acknowledge payments.The Claimant has failed to adhere to pre action protocol and the claim consists purely because of the Claimants inapt attitude and bad customer service levels."

 

Regards

 

Andy

[smouk]

Okay, quick supplementary Q: When does litigation "commence"? At the filing of the claim?

[Andyorch]

Okay, quick supplementary Q: When does litigation "commence"? At the filing of the claim?

 

Yes

[smouk]

We have a court date - three weeks away - and an attempt at mediation (District Judge's recommendation) in the interim so I need to send all pertinent docs etc to A CERTAIN WATER Co. Anything specific I should be saying?....beyond the defence already filed plus supporting docs?

[Andyorch]

You will have very little to disclose smouk...only disclose what you have referred to and will rely upon to support your defence.Let them do the talking its their claim...you just defend your position.