Howard Cohen court letter

[glitterball61]

I have today received paperwork from norhtampton county court on behalf of Howard Cohen solicitors saying they are pursuing a debt i have with Next Directory for £800. Whilst i admit to the debt, i previously received letters from next saying they had reduced my monthly payments (something i had not requested) and which i have paid religiously every month to them, sometimes a larger amount than they asked for. I have never missed a payment and can confirm this through my bank if needs be so i am puzzled as to why i have received this.
I would appreciate any advice as to what i should do next. I have read some very negative comments about Howard Cohen so i don't really want to ring them yet but i'm not sure who i should speak to.
Any help on this matter would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you

[WendyB]

Re: Howard Cohen court letter

What does the POC state. Particulars of claim, it's on the front of the blue N1 claim form you have received. i.e what is the reason given for them bringing the claim. You will need to acknowledge the claim, you have 14 days to do this. Have you had any correspondence previously warning of legal action? Are they claiming the whole sum owed, or part of it? They are probably committing abuse of process under CPR 38.7.

Have a look at this thread, it's not Howard Cohen (it's Bryan Carter - a pea out of the same pod) but it will give you the general gist of things, as it sounds as if it's similar. N1 served AGAIN - Bryan Carter - SORTED AGAIN !!! - Legal Beagles Consumer Forum

Come back and post more info or questions.

[glitterball61]

Re: Howard Cohen court letter

Thanks for replying Wendy,
The poc just says "The claimants claim is for the sum of 800.90 being the balance outstanding for goods supplied by Next mail order service etc, then says the defendant has defaulted in payment. How can i have defaulted when i have never missed a payment?
I have had no previous letters or anything so this was a big shock and didnt know whether i should ring Next or the court or what.
The balance has also gone up to 925.90, because there is 55.00 court fees and 70.00 solicitors fees. Just don't know what to do.

[WendyB]

Re: Howard Cohen court letter

You will need to acknowledge the claim, you have 14 days to do this, you can do it online. Tick the box which says you intend to defend all of the claim. You will then have a further 14 days to submit your defence.

There is probably some request you can make to Howard Cohen under the CPR rules which should let them know you mean business, but to be honest I'm not that up on CPR. I'll flag your thread up for some more input and advice.

The upshot, if this does ever get to court, is more than likely it will be thrown out. We may be able to "persuade" Howard to discontinue when we point out that he hasn't got a leg to stand on, though

[teaboy2]

Re: Howard Cohen court letter

CPR38.14 i think applies here you will need to request specific documents they intend to rely on in court to substantiate their claim - See qoute below.

Dear Sir,

Re: (Claimant's name) v (Your name) Case No:

CPR 31.14 Request

On (date) I received the Claim Form in this case issued by you out of the (Name) County Court.

I confirm having returned my acknowledgement of service to the court in which I indicate my intention to contest all of your claim.
[Prior to the issue of proceedings I had delivered a request for the production of the agreement mentioned in the Claim Form and on which you rely. That request was ignored] [delete if no such request was delivered]

Please treat this letter as my request made under CPR 31.14 for the disclosure and the production of a verified and legible copy of [each of the following / the] document(s) mentioned in your Particulars of Claim:

1 The agreement. You will appreciate that in an ordinary case and by reason of the provisions of CPR PD 16 para 7.3, where a claim is based upon a written agreement, a copy of the contract or documents constituting the agreement should be attached to or served with the particulars of claim and the original(s) should be available at the hearing. Further, that any general conditions incorporated in the contract should also be attached.

2 The assignment*

3 The default notice*

4 The termination notice*

5 [any other documents mentioned in the Particulars of Claim]*
* delete if not mentioned in the Particulars of claim.
6 Plus all statements of account showing alleged missed payments leading to the alleged default.

[Although your claim is for a sum which is not more than £5,000.00 and will in all likelihood be allocated to the small claims track for determination upon my delivering a defence, at this moment in time I have not delivered my defence and the case has not been allocated to a track. In consequence the provisions of CPR 27(2) are of no effect and you should not seek to avoid compliance with your CPR 31 duties by claiming otherwise]#
# delete if claim for a sum exceeding £5,000.00

You should ensure compliance with your CPR 31 duties and ensure that the document(s) I have requested are copied to and received by me within 7 days of receiving this letter. Your CPR 31 duties extend to making a reasonable and proportionate search for the originals of the documents I have requested, the better for you to be able to verify the document's authenticity and to provide me with a legible copy. Further, where I have requested a copy of a document, the original of which is now in the possession of another person, you will have a right to possession of that document if you have mentioned it in your case. You must take immediate steps to recover and preserve it for the purpose of this case.

Where I have mentioned a document and there is in your possession more than one version of that same document owing to a modification, obliteration or other marking or feature, each version will be a separate document and you must provide a copy of each version of it to me. Your obligations extend to making a reasonable and proportionate search for any version(s) to include an obligation to recover and preserve such version(s) which are now in the possession of a third party.

In accordance with CPR 31.15(c) I undertake to be responsible for your reasonable copying costs incurred in complying with this CPR 31.14 request.

If you require more time in which to comply with this request you must tell me in writing. You must tell me before the time for compliance with this request has expired. In telling me you require more time you must tell me what steps you have taken and propose to take in order to comply with this request and also state a date by when you will comply with this request. In addition your statement must be accompanied with a statement that you agree to an extension of the time for me to file my defence. Your extension of time must be not less than 14 days from the date when you say you will have complied with my request and you must state the new date for filing my defence.

If you are unable to comply with this request and believe that you will never be able to comply with this request you must tell me in writing.
Please note that if you should fail to comply with this request, fail to request more time or fail to agree to an extension of time for the filing of my defence, I will make an application to the court for an order that the proceedings be struck out or stayed for non-compliance and a summary costs order.

I do hope this will not be necessary and look forward to hearing from you.

Yours faithfully

PRINT NAME DO NOT SIGN BY HAND

now going by what you have said, am i right in assuming you purchased an item for £800 and have kept to the agreed monthly payments even when they themselves lowered the monthly repayments. And when they lowered them did you keep the letter as proof of this and did you pay the lower amounts of stick to the higher original repayment amounts? These are vital questions as it maybe NEXT have not realised you have been paying and they have made a cock up on their system. If am right though you can sue them for deteriment.

Check your credit file too and let us know if any default appears and when it was dated and the date you purchased the item.

I would also call NEXT to complain informing them you have made all payments on time. They may then realise they have made an mistake and cease the claim before it gets to court.

[SpringerSpaniel]

Re: Howard Cohen court letter

I would file the acknowledge of service but then defend the claim stating that although you admit the debt you deny being in default and you are up to date with an agreed payment plan.

You could put this in writing to the solicitors, suggesting also that you will be applying for their cliam to be struck out as an abuse of process, and seeking your costs for an interim hearing of this matter.

Make sure you keep copies of everything and send all correspondence by recorded delivery.

[glitterball61]

Re: Howard Cohen court letter

Thank you so much for your help, i will get onto it straight away and let you all know what happens. Thank goodness for this forum x