Respond to the Letter Before Action
Your creditor will have sent you a ‘
letter before action’ (also known as a letter of claim) because they want to start legal action. The letter before action will give you a specified period to respond depending on whether you are an individual, a sole trader, or a limited company. If you are an individual you should receive a reply form included with the letter before action. You need to complete and return this to the creditor within the time specified.
Once a claim has been issued, reply to it as early as possible, even if you disagree you owe the debt. If you don’t reply, you might be taken to court for a debt you don’t owe. It will be harder to challenge the decision at a later stage and might end up costing you money to correct it.
If you need longer than the time specified to fill in the defence form, fill in and return the ‘acknowledgement of service’ form, which gives you additional time to respond. We will help you to fill in forms correctly.
You need to explain why you don’t think you owe the other party money, or why you don’t agree with the amount being claimed. You may also dispute the claim because you feel your creditor hasn’t acted properly, and you should explain why. For example, if your creditor hasn’t warned you of the debt or they’ve started legal action too quickly.