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Received letter threatening court action - seems dubious
Hi
I have received a letter threatening to take me to court. I won’t go into the details of the dispute but the letter seems a bit fishy to me. The dispute only arrose on Monday and I had the letter by Wednesday.
Firstly it’s not written on any headed paper from a law firm. No sender address, just a non-geographic 08 tel number at the bottom which is answered by an answerphone message that simply says we are unavailable to answer the call (no mention of name of company, name of person etc).
The letter goes on to explain past legal cases which will apparently be used as precedence against me. This makes me think it’s been written by a university law student more used to writing an essay. Or is this normal for a first letter?
The letter state that if I don’t comply within seven days I will be taken to a county court yet the court mentioned is not one in my city but one in a neighbouring city, even though the plaintiff is based in my city and the letter was posted from my city.
It also gives a precise percentage of annual turnover that the plaintiff will be entitled to once he “issues governing letters to the county court”. I don’t know how such a precise figure can be stated at such an early point.
It is then signed by a person’s name with “Independent Law Advisor”. Shouldn’t it be Independent Legal Advisor? Again there is no mention of legal company name etc.
Any advice on this would be great!
I have received a letter threatening to take me to court. I won’t go into the details of the dispute but the letter seems a bit fishy to me. The dispute only arrose on Monday and I had the letter by Wednesday.
Firstly it’s not written on any headed paper from a law firm. No sender address, just a non-geographic 08 tel number at the bottom which is answered by an answerphone message that simply says we are unavailable to answer the call (no mention of name of company, name of person etc).
The letter goes on to explain past legal cases which will apparently be used as precedence against me. This makes me think it’s been written by a university law student more used to writing an essay. Or is this normal for a first letter?
The letter state that if I don’t comply within seven days I will be taken to a county court yet the court mentioned is not one in my city but one in a neighbouring city, even though the plaintiff is based in my city and the letter was posted from my city.
It also gives a precise percentage of annual turnover that the plaintiff will be entitled to once he “issues governing letters to the county court”. I don’t know how such a precise figure can be stated at such an early point.
It is then signed by a person’s name with “Independent Law Advisor”. Shouldn’t it be Independent Legal Advisor? Again there is no mention of legal company name etc.
Any advice on this would be great!
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Comments
Perhaps you didn't receive the letter and it appears to have got lost in the post?
Seems like a scam from what you have described. Don't be intimidated and seek free legal advice.
Until you have gotten legal advice do not respond to any correspondence in any way.
Also could you scan the letter and delete all identifiable information (yours and theirs) and upload it here?
Thanks for the replies.
The dispute is legit in so far as I am dealing with the person named in the letter. Like I say the issue only came up on Monday, by Wednesday I had this letter. Just don't think it came from a legit Solicitor.
The letter was sent registered post.
I've googled the tel number it comes up with no useful results (no mention of scams, no mention of law firms etc)
But really. A letter with no company name and registration details, partners, etc on it? No address? I suspect someone is trying to scare / push you into whatever action is beneficial to them but the SRA is likely to give you more guidance.
ETA: definitely do not phone the 08 number. Don't waste your time.
After all, you will find out very quickly indeed if the person really means to take court action. Unfortunately I think this is not illegal, although using repeated debt collectors to make threats is against a code of practce.
I would agree with you, the letter was registered which seems a bit odd when there was no letter heading. Someone trying to scare you I think. can you get anything from where it was registered? (post office)
To my way of thinking any one of us on here could use that title.We are after giving legal advice independently.
In recent years we have used solicitors more than I'd have wanted to....nothing bad thankfully.....just house sales a few times and dealing with a couple of wills which ALSO involved house sales (meaning even more solicitors:rolleyes:). And I have NEVER yet had a letter of any kind from even the lowliest one that wasn't on headed notepaper. Does not compute.
That alone would make me deeply suspicious.
Plus,for the person you have the issue with to have seen a solicitor,explained the details of the dispute,provided some sort of back-up evidence and.... after all that.... have had that solicitor prepare & send a registered letter between monday & you getting it on weds is a bit of push. They tend to look into the background a bit before wading in there all guns blazing.
So worth going to CAB with for advice,but I'm purty dang sure you are simply being prodded with an imaginary stick to scare you.
Whether it's from a "real" solicitor or not is kind of irrelevant - it's just a letter threatening court action. It's fairly unlikely that anybody would go to the cost and risk of starting court action this early in a dispute, so the mere mention of a court shouldn't have you quaking in your boots.
And nobody is entitled to anything merely by "issuing governing letters to the county court”, whatever that means - there would of course have to be a judgement issued by a court, and you'd first have an opportunity to defend the action.
Is the emboldened word your own typo or have you taken the spelling directly from the letter?
If it has been used in the letter, I would take this as proof positive that the writer has no legal training or qualification - the appropriate word is "precedents" (although the wording of the entire sentence sounds clumsy too).
The absence of a letterhead simply reinforces the above.
Both titles are meaningless.
Seems like a terrible attempt at some legal DIY from the person with whom the OP has a dispute.
Why not contact the SRA?
http://www.sra.org.uk
They should be able to advise you about the meaning of the "ILA" term.
That's just what I was going to post - whether or not the letter came from a legal professional is irrelevant. What matters is how valid the claim contained therein is.
If the OP considers the claim invalid (probably the wrong word) then they should either just ignore it, or, if the claim is based on a misunderstanding, write to the other party to clear it up.
you mention they had a 08***** number? and no sender adress they are most likely to be a debt company or simular demanding money.
Once my mum got a letter from a debt agency with Lloyds tsb headed paper!! but it was printer on cheap 99p paper and my mum new it wasnt real as it had a PO box number on the back of them envelope instead Lloyds head office or whatever they use
Bin in same situation. That does seem a bit quick and unprofessional. But CAB will be able to tell.
It is allowable for someone to call at your home to collect a debt. And to think that it is "illegal" to simply write to say that a person is contemplating county court action for a debt allegedly owed is totally, absolutetly and completely wide of the mark by a very wide margin.
Especially as it has no sender address either.
How can you respond, if you have no address to write to?
Keep the letter and await further correspondence.
Oh thanks for the information.
It says on the internet that they cant enter your home or call round with out your prior consultation
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/ManagingDebt/DebtsAndArrears/DG_10034289
www.adviceguide.org.uk/d_bailiffs.pdf
Statisticians have calculated that approximately 67.15%* of information on the Internet is incorrect.
This is best summarised as "Don't believe everything that you read".
* Jason's post is included in the other 32.85%)
Which is why you need to take account of the authorship of the page. YouGov or a Government Department would usually be 99.9% accurate, though you do need to check on what they don't say.
My invented statistic was meant to be humorous, but I forgot the smiley.
Sorry.
Yes, it would be very difficult for most businesses to make a living if it was illegal to threaten court action. I have had to resort to threatening court action a few times when clients have been reluctant to pay for perfectly good service.