When the bank (or other Plaintiff) comes against you with a summons then your next step is to file a notice of intention to defend which is a fairly basic document that just says you will defend.
Now, theoretically you defend a summons with a plea where you admit or deny what the bank has said. However, usually what happens is that when you file your notice of intention to defend, the bank files an application for summary judgment instead. So there is no point in filing a plea at this stage.
Instead, we have to file an ‘answering affidavit’ where you go through the bank’s application for summary judgment and show that you have a prima facie case. In other words, some reason why they should go to the expense of at trial If you have no defence then there is no point, in the court’s view.
If you get passed that stage, then you have a bit of time (maybe as much as a year) before the trial comes around.