Assistance with Summons and Bailiffs

Questioner

My husband received a summons from Van Arkel bailiffs. This was simply sent by post and not registered. He has to appear in court because of an invoice that was not paid according to Vodafone. Intrum Justitia initially handled it. We never received any letters from them. This was in 2010. Last November (2011) I contacted bailiff Ruitenbach from Van Rosmalen bailiffs. I told him that we had paid the invoice that was still outstanding, but the mobile phone was never reconnected. My husband then contacted Vodafone and they confirmed that we had paid, but the connection never happened. We also did not receive any more invoices. It was not until 2011 that we received a message from Van Rosmalen. Mr. Ruitenbach indicated that I had to send an email to their office with these details and then he would contact Vodafone and Intrum Justitia. We also gave our correct address at that time. Now the summons contains letters from Intrum Justitia from 2012 that are addressed to our old address, which we did not receive. We do not agree with paying a bill that we did not receive, because the telephone is no longer connected and we still have not seen the original invoice. While I asked for it in 2011. What can I do about this.

Lawyer

If you are summoned and you do not respond, you will be convicted. You must therefore respond to the summons. If you need help with this, you can ask one of the lawyers on this site for help.

Lawyer

Defend yourself in court and present the arguments you mention in your report to the court. If it concerns a large claim, I advise hiring a lawyer. Otherwise, it may be a consideration, in terms of the cost/interest ratio, to try it yourself and see where the ship runs aground.