Universal Credit - Paragon - please help?

[WILKINSS208]

i have won 4 claims already and i have received 8% interest with all of them before going to court. i did submit the court claim online, but never got to hearing stage. i have one at hearing stage in march.

[InKogneeToh]

i have won 4 claims already and i have received 8% interest with all of them before going to court. i did submit the court claim online, but never got to hearing stage. i have one at hearing stage in march.

 

Hi

 

OH! Okay fair enough, good luck with this one then! Just a word of warning - Paragon are tough cookies and normally don't take things lying down - I have first hand experience of this!!

 

Regards, Pam

[WILKINSS208]

so what happened with yours?

[InKogneeToh]

so what happened with yours?

 

Hi

 

My case was entirely different, it was concerning the enforceability of an agreement. I won, but only after 2 hearings and then an appeal!! Paragon employed expensive London lawyers to defend my claim and obviously paid out quite a bit for that. This was 2 years ago.

 

Regards, Pam

[WILKINSS208]

what are the hearings like as im at one in march with halifax

[InKogneeToh]

If it's a small claims hearing then it's usually fairly informal, although you still have to call the judge Sir or Ma'am and dress respectably. It's normally in the judge's chamber and you sit either beside or opposite the other party with the judge at the front.

 

Some judges are more friendly and helpful than others but they should all have more patience with a litigant in person.

 

Make sure you have all your documents in order and that you have rehearsed your claim well. Speak clearly and not to fast as the judge will be writing as you speak and don't ever interrupt him or the other party, they don't like that at all. You'll get your chance to say what you want to before the judge makes his decision. Try to make notes of what the other side says so that you can then question anything you disagree with or don't understand and make a note of the judges reasons for his final decision in case you may want to appeal.

 

Hopefully, it won't come to this though.

 

Regards, Pam

[WILKINSS208]

Yes I Have My Bundle Sorted In Order For Halifax And This Will Be A Tester Should I Get To That Stage With Paragon

[WILKINSS208]

i have sent the LBA today as no reply to 1st request - how fun!

[InKogneeToh]

Hi

 

Yes, they totally ignored me too, until I filed a claim - then they got busy with their London lawyers!! If you get the sort of resistance/apathy that I experienced you may need nerves of steel with this lot!

 

It is very important to send everything recorded to this company and keep a copy of everything sent and received.

 

Good luck.

 

Regards, Pam

[WILKINSS208]

did they pay out to you though?

[InKogneeToh]

Hi

 

I was not claiming bank charges, I was asking for the agreement to be declared unenforceable and they tried to get summary judgment against me first, which failed, but it still took a hearing and an appeal before I won my case.

 

All I am saying is be prepared for them to challenge your claim.

 

Regards, Pam

[WILKINSS208]

when you say challenge, what do u mean? what kind of things do they use? are they not the same as bank solicitors as have experience with them with bank charges

[InKogneeToh]

Hi

 

What I mean is that they will probably try anything to get your claim throw out, e.g wrong defendant, wrongly worded POC, lack of evidence etc. etc. They did this with me and I had to be very careful with my evidence and presentation.

 

Having said that, it's by no means certain that they will be the same with you. Just be prepared is all I'm saying.

 

Regards, Pam

[WILKINSS208]

they have only gone and sent a debt collector to my property to give me 5 days to respond or will get court warrant for prison for 14 days!!!! poor man didnt know what to do as paying them £35 per month until charges sorted out............how much will this call be £200 like last one?

where do i stand here?

[InKogneeToh]

they have only gone and sent a debt collector to my property to give me 5 days to respond or will get court warrant for prison for 14 days!!!! poor man didnt know what to do as paying them £35 per month until charges sorted out............how much will this call be £200 like last one?

where do i stand here?

 

Hi

 

Are you sure it was a debt collector and not a county court bailiff?

 

As this debt has a CCJ against it then the usual course is for the creditor to apply to court for enforcement (through court bailiffs) or for an order that you appear in court to explain your current circumstances.

 

What did the man say to you? Did he show any ID card or state who he worked for? What was the outcome of the visit?

 

Regards, Pam

[WILKINSS208]

it was a gentleman from court. he said i have never answered the court and will go to prison is dont pay.

i told him i had agreed a payment of £35 per month and paragon were going to cancel order but they havent. should i charge them £200 for stress like they charge us!

[InKogneeToh]

Hi

 

So if it was a court bailiff then Paragon must have applied to court for his visit. You must have received notification of this from either the court or Paragon!

 

You will need to go through your paperwork and see if this application for a bailiffs visit was requested before or after you had made the arrangement of £35 per month.

 

Also when you say Paragon said they would cancel the order, I presume you mean the order for a bailiff's visit because they can't cancel a judgment of the court (CCJ).

 

Once a debt gets to CCJ level it needs to be treated seriously. I don't think you can be imprisoned for a civil debt but you can for contempt of court! If the bailiff said you never answered the court then I can only guess that there has been an order(s) made under this CCJ that you have not responded to.

 

You can't reclaim any of the costs that Paragon have incurred by trying to enforce this judgement. You can make a claim to Paragon for a refund of penalty charges, e.g. late payment fees applied to your account but I personally don't think you will have much luck reclaiming the charges they have made for letters and phone calls as these are not penalties (even though they are excessive).

 

Regards, Pam

[WILKINSS208]

i received a letter "notice of application for attachment of earning order" on 7 december 2006

i rang paragon straight away and they agreed to £35 per month to clear the debt and they would inform the court.

i have been paying them without fail and have had no calls, letters from either then had the visit on 15 march from enforcement manager from court demanding forms filled in or i would go to court for 14 days.

i told the man this had been sorted out in december. he said paragon had obviously not informed the court as they were after me for forms.

i have since received a letter from paragon offering me £280 as a gesture of goodwill

i have wrote to say i will not accept this and i have also mentioned my visit!

[InKogneeToh]

Hi

 

Well good to see that this bailiff visit was obviously due to Paragon's error in not informing the court - let's hope they now sort it out.

 

Good luck with the charges claim.

 

Regards, Pam

[WILKINSS208]

i am sending a CCA away today as the CA i received had no signature in the book (my signature i mean)

do you think this will work

[WILKINSS208]

well they have replied and failed to provide the signed agreement. DEFAULTED NOW AS AFTER 1 MONTH.

 

now what do i do??

[WILKINSS208]

still no sign of the signed copy. how long should i wait??

[Clear Blue]

I sent a section 77(1) request to Universal Credit on the 30th October, this was addressed to 6 Greencoat Place, London. It has been sent back to me today with no covering letter or anything, so I assume it was undeliverable.

 

The agreement in question is branded Ocean Finance, but having read this thread I guess I should be sending my request to Paragon?

 

Can anyone supply me with a specific address?

 

Thanks

[Wolfhead]

Hi Wilkinss208,

 

We asked for a CCA agreement from Paragon and never heard back from them either. So we e-mailed our local Trading Standards office and they got in touch with Paragon and Paragon wrote back saying they hadn't got our CCA agreement and they closed our account. So it might be a good idea for you to go that down that route.

 

Hi Clear Blue,

 

Universal Credit were taken over from Paragon Finance and this is their address:

 

Paragon Personal Finance Ltd.

St Catherine's Court

Herbert Road

Solihull

West Midlands

B91 3QE

[Clear Blue]

Thanks very much.