County Court Claim Form from Bryan Carter Solicitors

[beerye]

Hi, this is first forum post here. I received a letter from Bryan Carter yesterday announcing they had issued litigation proceedings in the County Court. Today I received the Claim Form with an issue date 15 JAN 2014. I am in a state of shock and not 100% sure what to do next.

The POC is below:

THIS CLAIM IS FOR XXXX.XX THE AMOUNT DUE UNDER AN AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE ORIGINAL CREDITOR AND THE DEFENDANT TO PROVIDE FINANCE AND / OR SERVICES AND / OR GOODS.

THIS DEBT WAS ASSIGNED TO / PURCHASED BY Lowell Portfolio I Ltd
ON 07/08/2012 AND NOTICED SERVED
PURSUANT TO THE LAW OF PROPERTY ACT 1925

PARTICULARS
Re: Lloyds
A/C No XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

AND THE CLAIMANT CLAIMS XXXX.XX

THE CLAIMANT ALSO CLAIMS INTEREST PURSUANT TO S69 COUNTY COURT ACT 1984 FROM 07/08/2012
TO DATE AT 8% PER ANNUM AMOUNTING TO XXX.XX

I was in financial difficulties about 5 years ago and I'm afraid this may have caught up with me.

Any help and advice how to proceed next would be great.

Thanks

[PlanB]

Re: County Court Claim Form from Bryan Carter Solicitors

Hello beerye and to LB.

Post up as much information about this debt as possible. Most important is when did you open the account (before or after April 2007 matters most of all) and is it a Lloyd's credit card, personal loan or bank account.

[beerye]

Re: County Court Claim Form from Bryan Carter Solicitors

Hi Plan B,

Thanks for your reply. I think it was a bank account opened way before 2007.

B

[cherrybaby]

Re: County Court Claim Form from Bryan Carter Solicitors

Hi Beerye

I am in a very similar situation with bryan carter and really hoping for some advice on these people.

Good luck to us.

[FlamingParrot]

Re: County Court Claim Form from Bryan Carter Solicitors

Thanks for your reply. I think it was a bank account opened way before 2007.

That's good news! :thumb:

It means you should send the CCA request letter below to Lowell a.s.a.p. It should be sent recorded delivery with a PO for £1 and signed using a computer font rather than your real signature. They have 14 days to respond. :thumb:

Send Brian Carter a copy without the £1 fee.

Dear Sirs,

Account or Reference No.:

I hereby formally request a copy of my Consumer Credit Agreement, pursuant to s.77-79 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 (CCA1974).I require you to provide me with a true copy, or reconstituted copy of the credit agreement relating to any account you deem to be mine, together with any other documentation the Act requires you to provide. I expect you to comply fully and properly with this request, within the statutory time limit (12 + 2 days).

If it is your view that you are not the creditor, s.175 of the CCA1974 applies in the case of a simple assignment, and places a duty upon you to pass this request to the creditor. In the case of an absolute assignment, you are a creditor as defined by s.189. If you contend that you purchased the rights but not the duties of any agreement, you are reminded that s.189 of the Act is clear that an assignment is of both rights and duties. Your attention is drawn to ss.5(2), 3(b), 6 and 7 of the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (CPUTR).

In line with recent OFT Guidance (issued Oct 2010) surrounding Unenforceability, I presume you're aware that the OFT has stipulated that 'sections 77-79 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 outline the information creditors must provide to debtors under fixed-term, running account & Hire Agreements'. This simply means that under these sections a debtor can pay £1 to get:

• a copy of their agreement
• copies of some of the other documents mentioned in their agreement
• a statement of account

If this information is not provided within 12 working days the debt becomes unenforceable. This means a creditor cannot:

• make the debtor pay the debt before they're supposed to
• get a court judgment against the debtor

So, in line with the OFT Guidance, and the Consumer Credit Act, please find attached my £1 payment, which is the statutory fee - note that these funds are not to be used for any other purpose.

Yours faithfully,

[FlamingParrot]

Re: County Court Claim Form from Bryan Carter Solicitors

Today I received the Claim Form with an issue date 15 JAN 2014. I am in a state of shock and not 100% sure what to do next.

The POC is below:

THIS CLAIM IS FOR XXXX.XX THE AMOUNT DUE UNDER AN AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE ORIGINAL CREDITOR AND THE DEFENDANT TO PROVIDE FINANCE AND / OR SERVICES AND / OR GOODS.

THIS DEBT WAS ASSIGNED TO / PURCHASED BY Lowell Portfolio I Ltd
ON 07/08/2012 AND NOTICED SERVED
PURSUANT TO THE LAW OF PROPERTY ACT 1925

PARTICULARS
Re: Lloyds
A/C No XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

AND THE CLAIMANT CLAIMS XXXX.XX

THE CLAIMANT ALSO CLAIMS INTEREST PURSUANT TO S69 COUNTY COURT ACT 1984 FROM 07/08/2012
TO DATE AT 8% PER ANNUM AMOUNTING TO XXX.XX

Brian Carter are issuing claims like they're going out of fashion!

First of all, you need to acknowledge service of the claim (you can do it online) and state your intention to defend in full. Once you do that, you'll have a total of 28 days to submit your defence.

You should then send a CPR 31.14 request letter to Brian Carter, by recorded delivery. They should respond in 7 days (they never do) or else you can request an extension to file your defence. From what I've seen here time and again, they NEVER supply the documents mentioned on their POCs, nevertheless you need to send the letter as part of the process: :thumb:

^^^You don't mention how much they are claiming, I'm assuming it's below £10k, otherwise you'd have to remove the paragraph that starts with: "Although your claim is for a sum which does not exceed £10,000.00..."

Dear Sirs,

Re: XXXX v YYYYY
Case No: xxxx

CPR 31.14 Request

On [DATE] I received the Claim Form in this case issued by you out of the Northampton County Court.

I confirm having returned my acknowledgement of service to the court in which I indicate my intention to contest your entire claim.

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 documents mentioned in your Particulars of Claim:

1. The Agreement. Together with the relevant terms associated with that account, 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 notice of assignment.
3. The default notice, compliant with 87(1) of the Consumer Credit Act 1974.

Although your claim is for a sum which does not exceed £10,000.00 and thus in all likelihood it will be allocated to the small claims track once I deliver my defence, however as I am unable to lodge my defence at this moment, the case has not been allocated to a track for determination upon delivering a defence, as a consequence the provisions of CPR 27(2) have no effect and you should not seek to avoid compliance with your CPR 31 duties by claiming otherwise.

You should ensure compliance with your CPR 31 duties and ensure that the documents 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 as a result to a modification, obliteration or othermarking, or feature, each version thus 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, and all version(s) and include an obligation to recover and preserve such version(s) that 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

[cherrybaby]

Re: County Court Claim Form from Bryan Carter Solicitors

Thanks, will be sending these on monday.

[beerye]

Re: County Court Claim Form from Bryan Carter Solicitors

Thanks I'll send these on Monday. No, the claim doesn't exceed £10,000.

What would happen if they do produce an agreement and notice of assignment? Because I am defending this would it go to a CCJ or would I have the chance to settle?

Thanks again for your help.

B

[FlamingParrot]

Re: County Court Claim Form from Bryan Carter Solicitors

Thanks I'll send these on Monday. No, the claim doesn't exceed £10,000.

What would happen if they do produce an agreement and notice of assignment?

The world would probably stop spinning! :grin: Seriously though, I have yet to see a single instance where BC have produced ANY DOCUMENTS at all!

Because I am defending this would it go to a CCJ or would I have the chance to settle

You are not defending yet, just stating your intention to defend. You are requesting sight of the documents to be able to prepare a defence. As far as settlements go, you have right up until the court doors to agree a settlement. :juge:

[beerye]

Re: County Court Claim Form from Bryan Carter Solicitors

Hi cherrybaby,

Good luck to you too.

B

[beerye]

Re: County Court Claim Form from Bryan Carter Solicitors

Thanks FlamingParrot,

I feel a lot calmer now. Thanks for your comments.

B

[Totoro]

Re: County Court Claim Form from Bryan Carter Solicitors

Hi Plan B,

Thanks for your reply. I think it was a bank account opened way before 2007.


B

If this is for a bank account, I'm not sure the above CCA template is relevant?

[beerye]

Re: County Court Claim Form from Bryan Carter Solicitors

Hi,

I have received a reply from BC to the CPR 31.14 request:

---

We write further to your recent letter requesting disclosure under Part 31 of the Civil Procedure Rules.

We confirm the Claim Form was issued by the Northampton County Court Bulk Centre and that the Court's Protocol was followed when issuing the Claimant's Particulars of Claim. Practice Direction 7C point 1.4 (3A) eliminates the requirement to attach the documents to the Particulars of Claim when they are issued by this Court.

We confirm this matter will most properly be allocated to the Small Claims Track as this is a simple contractual matter and Part 31 of the Civil Procedure Rules will therefore not apply.

In any event the Notices of Default and Assignment left the control of the Claimant when they were dispatched to you.

It is the original creditor's policy to issue agreements at the start of the start of the contract and statement throughout the duration of the agreement and, in this regard, we ask you to refer to your own records.

We confirm we are not agreeable to an extension for filing your defence.

We recommend you seek independent legal advice.

---

Claim form date: 15 Jan
Acknowledgement of service: 19 Jan

What should I do next?

Thanks,
B

[beerye]

Re: County Court Claim Form from Bryan Carter Solicitors

'We confirm we are not agreeable to an extension for filing your defence.'

Does this mean I have 14 days from 19 Jan to write a defence? I am still waiting for the reply to my CCA request.

Any advice what I should do next?

Thanks,
B

[Totoro]

Re: County Court Claim Form from Bryan Carter Solicitors

Not to sure about time frames for submitting a defence, hopefully my replying will bump this up for you and someone with knowledge in that field will come along.

As for a reply to your CCA request, what type of account is this for as you mention possibly a bank account, so is it for an overdraft? It's just the template letter in the earlier posts is mainly for loans and credit cards. I'm sure there will be a template somewhere on the site for overdrafts quoting The Consumer Credit (EU Directive) Regulations 2010