Please advise, after sending my last letter to DLA last week. Stating I have had legal advice and I do not have to send them any details of my I & E. I received their answer, which was not to my surprise. They will not tolorate this anymore and are taking me to court. I have been receiving letters like this for 4 years now, so I want to prepare myself incase this is not another threat. Any help on the next step I take would be much appreciated, thank you all so much for all the help and guidence I have received in the pass.

-- Hope Davies (hopedavies@hotmail.com), July 24, 2001

Answers

I remember seeing somewhere on this site that persistent threats of court action, without actually carrying them out is harrasment. This may also contravene your human rights under the European Convention, as it is causing you distress.

I hope someone else may be able to clarify this for you.

Good Luck

-- Not Likely (AbbeyBasher@aol.com), July 24, 2001.

Hi,

Can I clarify a couple of points here? Not wishing to sound pedantic, but...

Hope, you haven't actually received 'legal advice' not to fill in an I&E form, unless a lawyer has told you so. What this site does is offer opinions, and one of them is that you don't have to fill them in as a condition of getting the lender to substantiate its claim against you.

Mr or Ms 'Basher', you have likely seen opinions further down this Q&A board that in certain circumstances repeated, empty, unsubstantiated court threats may well constitute harrassment, under the relatively new harassment law (not the Human Rights Act or the European Convention on Human Rights). Any help researching this would be very welcome.

If anyone requires legal advice, they should go to a legal specialist (normally a solicitor), or at least to a Citizens' Advice Bureau in the first instance. Although you may have to tell them about this site!

All best,

-- E Scott (eleanor.scott@btinternet.com), July 24, 2001.

We have got our DLA solicitor to admit in writing that they have no legal right to ask for a completed I&E form! If you ask them direct questions they have to answer. Keep plugging away.

-- Trish Urmston (trish5493@aol.com), July 31, 2001.