Draft Civil Summons

onthebrink

I have an on going issue with a mobile phone company who are chasing me for 115 euro which I believe I do not owe. Today I received a Draft Civil Summons from a firm of solicitors acting on their behalf. Is there such a thing - I would have thought that you either get a summons or not.
Can anyone advise me? thanks

Fred Swanson

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onthebrink

Fred,
It has no court office stamp and the court date is to be confirmed which is why I had my doubts whether it was legal or not.
I don't owe any money as I terminated the contract which is why I have been ignoring the correspondence from the solicitors.

Fred Swanson

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Bepolite

Demands for payment of debt causing alarm, etc.

11.—(1) A person who makes any demand for payment of a debt shall be guilty of an offence if—

(a) the demands by reason of their frequency are calculated to subject the debtor or a member of the family of the debtor to alarm, distress or humiliation, or

(b) the person falsely represents that criminal proceedings lie for non-payment of the debt, or

(c) the person falsely represents that he or she is authorised in some official capacity to enforce payment, or

(d) the person utters a document falsely represented to have an official character.

(2) A person guilty of an offence under this section shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £1,500.

Does that not fall foul of the above? I'm not asserting it does, I'm just curious.

Greenmachine

return to sender with your own processing charge.

Fred Swanson

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Pat Mustard

Bepolite wrote: »

Does that not fall foul of the above? I'm not asserting it does, I'm just curious.

I wouldn't think so, especially since they are calling it a draft Civil Summons.

If they sent a fake court decree, they'll be in trouble though.

NoQuarter

No it certainly doesnt fall into the offence above. It says right there on it, "draft civil summons". They are just saying if you dont pay up, we have this drafted and ready to stamp and send to you. Simple as that.

nuac

I think what was sent was cod.

However the enquirer should set out his position in a letter to the claimant before a proper summons arrives. That may help credibility in court and with costs.

However it the claim arises from a transaction over six years ago, don't correspond

Sala

It's a draft because they don't want to pay the stamp duty. No point if you only owe them 115

amulet

sʞuɐɥʇ ¿uo ʇoƃ noʎ ʍoɥ ƃuıɹəpuoʍ ʇsnɾ ¡¡ʎuɐdɯoɔ əuoɟ əƃɹɐl ɐ ɯoɹɟ ƃuıpuɐʇsʇno llıq ɐ oʇ ənp ʎɐpoʇ əuo ɹɐlıɯıs ɐ ʇoƃ ı 'ɐʎʍoɥ

hullaballoo

amulet wrote: »

sʞuɐɥʇ ¿uo ʇoƃ noʎ ʍoɥ ƃuıɹəpuoʍ ʇsnɾ ¡¡ʎuɐdɯoɔ əuoɟ əƃɹɐl ɐ ɯoɹɟ ƃuıpuɐʇsʇno llıq ɐ oʇ ənp ʎɐpoʇ əuo ɹɐlıɯıs ɐ ʇoƃ ı 'ɐʎʍoɥ

Moderator: please do not use all CAPS. It is considered to be SHOUTING and it is not appreciated.

amulet

apolgies.

The_Minister

I never saw this the first time around.

Is this a common practice?

Fred Swanson

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The_Minister

Fred Swanson wrote: »

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That smells quite fishy to me in a way; you can put anything ina draft with no consequences.

I'm surprised the Law Society allows the practice.

Pat Mustard

There isn't anything dishonest about this practise.

The only reason that it doesn't happen more often is that sometimes it achieves nothing. It is probably better to get proceedings issued, served, and moving towards a hearing date.

Many insurers request draft proceedings from the plaintiff's solicitors before nominating their own solicitors to accept service of proceedings.