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Original poster

I fostered an elderly rescue dog and the rescue have sent me a £3k county court form?

199 replies

LostforWords2021 · 27/09/2021 14:45

On the 8th April 2020 a friend sent me a message asking if I had room to take in an elderly dog who's owner had died. He was poorly, overweight and due to be pts if a foster place couldn't be found.

I hadnt heard of the rescue before, a FB msg group was set up for us all to talk about the process. The rescue knew nothing about the dog, hadn't met him but did send a driver to collect him and drive him to us during the first lock down.

Apart from messenger I had no other contact for the rescue. I spent over £1200 on vet bills, food and comfort toys inc orthopaedic beds and natural remedies. I did sign a foster agreement.

It was agreed I would adopt him but I didn't receive a contact. Unfortunately the poor boy took a turn for the worst and the vet advised pts, which we did in Aug. During April and August they had a vet nurse on the group chat advising against the vets treatment, urging us to complain and sending us treatment cards via msg of what she would be doing at her surgery, it was very stressful.

I received a solicitor letter which I responded to - apparently, I wasn't authorised to get treatment or make decisions even though we agreed I had adopted him 1 month prior to becoming so poorly and kept them all up to date with what was happening.

Today I've received a county court money claim form and I don't know what to do next, I've attached a picture of the claim for a dog the rescue never met, never assessed or paid for anything towards his day to day care for the 5 months I paid for everything because I wanted to.

I do have some screen shots of conversations but the have deleted the main group chat and the vet is refusing an information request due to being to involved - we disagree with some of the comments made as we weren't made aware of what treatment they carried out due to lock down and not being able to be present with our dog.

I fostered an elderly rescue dog and the rescue have sent me a £3k county court form?
OP posts:
SW1amp · 27/09/2021 14:47

I’m sure there was a thread on this before…
Will try and search for it but basically it’s a borderline scam from the rescue place

Trying to remember how it ended in the other thread… am going to search now

Original poster
LostforWords2021 · 27/09/2021 14:49

@SW1amp

I’m sure there was a thread on this before… Will try and search for it but basically it’s a borderline scam from the rescue place

Trying to remember how it ended in the other thread… am going to search now

I should have linked to my prev thread:

here

OP posts:
FeatheredHope · 27/09/2021 14:50

This sounds awful!

SW1amp · 27/09/2021 14:51

Ahh it was your thread

Did you get any legal advice at the time?

I think the worst thing would be to ignore it as it could end in a judgement against you in your absence but I can understand your reluctance to spend money on solicitors to sort it out

They sound like total scammers

Royat · 27/09/2021 14:53

Who does the dog belong to if its owner had died? Is it like someone who 'inherited' the dog along with the owner's other possessions? It's not just a scam is it? So sorry you're going through this. X

Hellocatshome · 27/09/2021 14:53

So surely you go to court show all the receipts for all the vet bills you paid for etc and let them try to prove their case which they dont have against you? Or am I missing something that makes it more complicated?

TheChip · 27/09/2021 14:54

I dont think these foster programmes and shit have many legal rights.

I remember being friendly with a fosterer once and they basically said the forms were bull, the contracts are not legally binding and if people don't follow them there isn't much they can do anyway. But that's just what I heard, I dont know for a fact

ArcheryAnnie · 27/09/2021 14:55

What utter shysters. Good on you for caring for the dog, and making the difficult decisions when you had to.

Respond to the paperwork (it will not go away on its own) but do not give these utter arsewipes a penny.

Original poster
LostforWords2021 · 27/09/2021 14:56

We are looking at our house insurance to see if we have cover and at this point I would like to counterclaim for what we paid out for the old boy who was so lovely and we loved him.

I can't believe they want £3k for a poundy they delivered to my back gate, no home assessment or anything. We have always rescued and had to make a hard decision before and the rescues thank us for our help.

I can't find this one registered anywhere but I don't know what I'm looking for, never been in this sort of position before so feeling very out of depth.

OP posts:
Dillydollydingdong · 27/09/2021 14:58

Just fill in the defence form and send it back to the court. The value of the "property" was zero unless he was a pure breed and in excellent condition.
Any moneys paid out by the Claimant to prepare the dog were their decision and their responsibility.
Costs remain the responsibility of the Claimant if the value of the claim is less than.....(whatever the current max is - check it out).
It looks like this is a scam issued in the hope of extracting of extracting money from you. Make sure you defend within the deadline

dworky · 27/09/2021 14:58

Take this on social media, it needs exposing. Also more likely to reach appropriate advice.

FeatheredHope · 27/09/2021 14:59

I think the suggestion from the first thread of you taking legal advice is the key thing here. You need a professional here. A load of randoms on the internet is not the same.

Sunshinebuttercups · 27/09/2021 15:00

First thing to do:

Check your home insurance it sometimes has LEI insurance to cover these sorts of things. They may even cover under public liability insurance.

Are you a member of any union/professional body? Again, sometimes they will provide LEI.

If you don’t you could go to CAB, but the advisors are not legally trained.

Where are you in the country? Some law programs have legal advice clinics?

You have 14 days to acknowledge service (say you want to defend claim) and then a further 14 days to file and serve defence.

Hellocatshome · 27/09/2021 15:01

You dont need a solicitor just fill out the defense form. It probably won't even get to court. Once you file your defense and evidence they may drop it if not let it go to a hearing which will probably be a telephone call with the judge. If you can prove you paid for any expenses relating to the dog then I cant possibly see what they are claiming £3000 for. The fact their is no contract works in your favour here.

Staffy1 · 27/09/2021 15:16

Contact one of those newspaper columnists that give financial and legal advise.

Willow19C · 27/09/2021 15:17

What are they claiming money for exactly? I may have misunderstood, but didn't you pay the vets bills yourself?

ExConstance · 27/09/2021 15:38

I'm shocked! We have re-homed 3 elderly dogs from rescue and two of them are now sadly gone. The contracts usually say you should ask permission for euthanasia but it is not required if it needs to be done to end suffering. Yes, you must file a defence and a counter claim for the vet's bill to ensure they don't get judgement by default but the claim will not succeed, so sorry you have the stress of it all.

DobbyTheHouseElk · 27/09/2021 16:20

Sounds like a scam. I remember your previous thread. Don’t pay a penny and definitely counter claim.

prh47bridge · 27/09/2021 16:26

This will be a small claim. You don't need a solicitor for this although, if your house insurance covers you, I would consider using that. At this stage you need to acknowledge the claim and file your defence and/or counterclaim on form N9B - you may be able to do this online if they filed their claim online. Your defence is that all parties agreed you had adopted the dog by this date so the dog was no longer their property. However, you do need to check the foster agreement you signed to see if you are liable to their claim for the costs of rehoming.

Once you've filed your defence you will be offered mediation. This may allow you to sort the matter out with the rescue service without the need to go to court.

Based on the information posted here, I can't see that you are liable for the "loss of property" element of the claim as the dog was no longer their property once you adopted it. The only way I can see this part of the claim flying would be if they could show that you hadn't actually adopted the dog at this stage. It isn't clear whether you are liable for the costs of re-homing. The final item is costs. If they win, they can claim their court fees from you, but they cannot claim their solicitor's fees.

Original poster
LostforWords2021 · 27/09/2021 17:08

@Willow19C

What are they claiming money for exactly? I may have misunderstood, but didn't you pay the vets bills yourself?
Yes, we paid for everything including what meds the vet nurse thought he should be given but wasn't by our vet.

She even sent screenshots of medical records for other animals receiving the same treatment with much more pain relief etc

They have removed everything from the group chat now though

OP posts:
Hellocatshome · 27/09/2021 17:48

I wouldn't worry about the group chat. You have receipts (or can get them) fkr everything you paid for. They will have to show proof that this dog and their expenses relating to to the dog equals £3000. Which they won't be able to do because they dont. I would contact the court and check that this claim has actually been filed as it is relatively easy to fake the claim documents and it costs a not insubstantial amount to file a claim for £3000 so I wouldn't be suprised if they haven't and are just trying to scam you out of the money. If it is a correctly filed claim file your defense and follow the process.

FeatheredHope · 27/09/2021 18:09

So they truly haven’t paid a penny for this dog?

Willow19C · 27/09/2021 19:04

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Hellocatshome · 27/09/2021 19:06

They'll be hoping you are scared and pay to avoid court. Ignore. They'll lose court fees too

DO NOT IGNORE! This is terrible advice! If it has been correctly filed at court and you do nothing a judgement will be entered against you.

SW1amp · 27/09/2021 19:09

@Willow19C

They'll be hoping you are scared and pay to avoid court. Ignore. They'll lose court fees too :)
Absolutely do not do this It’s the worst advice I’ve read on here in a long time

A judgment can and probably will be made against you, and you’ll end up with a CCJ