Propsed witness statment IN THE COUNTY COURT AT xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx BETWEEN: LOWELL PORTFOLIO I LTD CLAIMANT and xxxxxxxxxxxxxx DEFENDANT ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ WITNESS STATEMENT OF xxxxxxxxxx ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I, xxxxxxxxxx WILL SAY as follows: I make this Witness Statement in support of my defence in the claim. INTRODUCTION 1. It is my understanding that the claimant is an Assignee, a buyer of defunct disputed or bad debts, which are bought on mass portfolios at a much reduced cost to the amount claimed 10p to 15p in the £1 and to which the original creditors have already written off as a capital loss and claimed against taxable income. Lowell Portfolio I Ltd issue claims to circumvent and claim the full amount of debt to maximise profit. 2. As an assignee or creditor as defined in section 189 of the CCA this applies to this new requirement on assignment of rights. This means that when an assignee purchases debts (or otherwise acquires rights under a credit agreement) it also acquires certain obligations to the borrower including the duty to comply with CCA requirements (such as the rules on statements and notices and other post-contractual information). The assignee becomes the creditor under the agreement. This ensures that essential consumer protections under the CCA cannot be circumvented by assigning the debt to a third party. BACKGROUND 3. The Claim relates to an alleged Credit Card Agreement between the defendant and Newday LTD 4. Whilst it is accepted that the defendant has in the past had financial dealings with Newday, the defendant is unaware of what alleged debt the claimant refers, and the defendant has not entered into any contract with the Claimant. 5. On the 18th January 2023, I received a claim form from Northampton County Court Business Centre, Northampton, for the amount of £xxxxxx. The claimant contends that the claim is for the sum of £xxxxx in respect of monies owing under an alleged agreement with the account no xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx pursuant to The Consumer Credit Act 1974 (CCA). Contained within the claimants particulars the claimant states that the account was subject to assignment from Newday to Lowell on 22nd April 2021 with notice given. 6. The defendant made a formal written request to the Claimant for them to provide me with a copy of my Consumer Credit Agreement as entitled to do so under sections 78 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 on the 27th January 2023 along with the standard fee of £1.00 postal order. 7. The defendant received a reply with no CCA attached other than the documents which enclosed a statement and a credit card application form. A notice of assignment from Newday to Lowell was received separate to the above documentation CONCLUSION 8. To date no valid full copy of the executed agreement or terms & conditions have been disclosed. 9. Therefore the Claimant remains in default of the original section 78 request dated 27th January 2023 and pursuant to section 78 6a of the CCA1974 the claimant is not entitled, while the default continues, to enforce the agreement. The claim bought by the claimant is spurious and speculative. The claimant does not have possession of the correct valid paperwork and this is an attempt to mislead and convince the court that the claimant can disclose the legal valid documents on which its claim relies on. It is therefore requested that the Claimants Claim is struck out for the above reasons. STATEMENT OF TRUTH I, xxxxxxxxxxxxxx the defendant, believe the facts stated in this witness statement are true. I understand that proceedings for contempt of Court may be brought against anyone who makes, or causes to be made, a false statement in a document verified by a statement of truth without an honest belief in its truth. Signed: …………………………………………… Print Name: xxxxxxxxxxxxx Dated: DDMMYY

I've received a date of 2nd Feb for the hearing. I've never done a witness statement before, is there a guide to doing one anywhere ? Mat

Referencing fixed and defence submitted. Thank you very much for your help!

propsed defence, which I believe is due tomorrow 1. The Defendant contends that the particulars of claim are vague and generic in nature. The Defendant accordingly sets out its case below and relies on CPR r 16.5 (3) in relation to any particular allegation to which a specific response has not been made. 2. The Claimant has failed to comply with paragraph 5 (DISCLOSURE OF DOCUMENTS) of the PAPDC (Pre Action Protocol) by failing to supply whole or in part documents requested and indeed has offered no explanation as to why. It is respectfully requested that the court take this into consideration pursuant to 7.1 PAPDC. 3. Paragraph 1 is noted. The Defendant has had financial dealings in the past with Barclaycard. I am unable to recall the precise details of the alleged agreement or debt by which the Claimant refers within this claim. The Defendant does not recognise the reference number provided by the claimant within its particulars. The Defendant sought clarification by way of a section 78 request sent Royal Mail 2nd Class, dated 1/11/2023. To date the claimant has failed to sufficiently comply with my CCA request and is therefore in default and prevented from enforcing the agreement until such compliance. 4. Paragraph 2 is noted. The Defendant does not recall having received statutory notices in the form of a Default Notice required under s87(1) of the Consumer Credit Act 1974. The Claimant is put to strict proof to show and evidence the nature of any breach and Default Notice. 5. Paragraph 3 is denied. A notice of assignment was never received. The Claimant is put to strict proof that a A notice of assignment was issued to and received by the Defendant 6. On the 11/12/2023, the Defendant sent a request for inspection of documents mentioned in the Claimants statement of case under Civil Procedure Rule 31.14 to the Claimant. The Defendant requested the Claimant provide copies of the Agreement, Default Notice, Notice of Assignment. To date the claimant has not sent any of these documents in relation to this request. 7. It is therefore denied with regards to the Defendant owing any monies to the Claimant. The Claimant has failed to comply with PAPDC, is in default of my CCA request and has not provided requested information under my CPR 31.14 request. Given the reasons as outlined the Claimant has failed to provide fully or in part evidence of agreement / assignment / balance / breach, therefore the Claimant is put to strict proof to: (a) Show how the Defendant has entered into an agreement; and (b) Show and evidence the nature of any breach and Default Notice; and (c) Show how the Defendant has reached the amount claimed for; and (d) Show how the Claimant has the legal right, either under statute or equity to issue a claim. 8. As per Civil Procedure Rule 16.5(4), it is expected that the Claimant prove the allegation that the money is owed. 9. By reasons of the facts and matters set out above, it is denied that the Claimant is entitled to the relief claimed or any relief.

Which Court have you received the claim from ? CBNC Name of the Claimant ? LC Asset 2 S.A.R.L. How many defendant's joint or self ? Self Date of issue – 14-11-23 Particulars of Claim What is the claim for – 1. The Claimant ('C') claims the whole of the outstanding balance due and payable under an agreement referenced xxxxxxxxxxx and opened effective from xx/xx/2013. 2.the agreement is regulated by the consumer credit act 1974 ('CCA') was signed by the defendant ('D') and from which credit was extended to D. 3. D failed to comply with a default notice served pursuant to s87 (1) CCA and by xx/xx/2021 a default was recorded. 4. As at xx/xx/2022 the defendant owed barclaycard the sum of £8xxx. 5.By and agreement in writing the benefit of the debt has been legally assigned to C effective xx/xx/2022and made regular upon C serving a notice of assignment on D shortly thereafter. And C claims 1. 8xxxx 2. interest pursuant to section 69 county courts act at a rate of 8% per annum from xx/xx/2022 to xx/xx/2023 of 5xx and thereafter at a daily rate of 1.72 to date of judgement or sooner payment. What is the total value of the claim? 9250 Have you received prior notice of a claim being issued pursuant to paragraph 3 of the PAPDC (Pre Action Protocol) ? Yes Have you changed your address since the time at which the debt referred to in the claim was allegedly incurred? no Did you inform the claimant of your change of address? n/a Is the claim for - a Bank Account (Overdraft) or credit card or loan or catalogue or mobile phone account? Credit Card When did you enter into the original agreement before or after April 2007 ? after Do you recall how you entered into the agreement...On line /In branch/By post ? Online Is the debt showing on your credit reference files (Experian/Equifax /Etc...) ? yes Has the claim been issued by the original creditor or was the account assigned and it is the Debt purchaser who has issued the claim. assigned to debt purchaser Were you aware the account had been assigned – did you receive a Notice of Assignment? no Did you receive a Default Notice from the original creditor? no Have you been receiving statutory notices headed “Notice of Sums in Arrears” or " Notice of Arrears "– at least once a year ? no Why did you cease payments? Income reduced to pretty much zero during covid. attempted to negotiate payment plan after but was unable to agree amount I could afford! What was the date of your last payment? early 2020 Was there a dispute with the original creditor that remains unresolved? no Did you communicate any financial problems to the original creditor and make any attempt to enter into a debt management plan? yes ................................. I received a PAPLOC letter shortly before the claim to which I replied with the form on this site and a CCA request. The claim was issued a few days after they received the reply form and CCA request I've had an acknowledgement that my form was received but no further reply CCA Request has been completely ignored, they havn't cashed the £1 cheque. I've Acknowledged service on Moneyclaim website. Should I send a CPR 31 request as I've already requested documents in the PAPLOC form?

Well that was a lot less scary than I thought it'd be!! All over in under 5 mins! Case to be listed for a Dispute Resolution Hearing. Date TBA I have to file a witness statement 14 days before the date.

Yup there was no requirement for either side to submit draft directions. All part of the general plan to try to intimidate me and drown me in paperwork I guess. I've done the test CVP conference OK. and have the link for the live conference in my in-box. That has instructions not to join untill 10 mins before. I think I'm all set!

I received this today from Overdales. I'm assuming I agree to this as long as I can specify a few dates I'm not availiable ? Mat proposeddirections.pdf

I assume so. The covering letter just says "hearing Bundle". and references the claim number. What happens at a CMC? I assume no final decision will be made, the Judge will just be deciding what happens next? Do I need to do anything except show up and answer any questions ? I assume my argument is simply that there is no enforceable CCA in that bundle. Thanks Mat

I've received another huge bundle of paperwork from Overdales labeled "Hearing Bundle" it appears to be yet another copy of the same stuff they've already sent me 3 times. Doesn't appear to be anything new in it.

Yes it's showing as opened 14/11/18 on clearscore

The agreement has my correct name and address typed into the areas I've blanked out There is no IP address. I've just noticed that this bundle has an extra page in the credit agreement that wasn't provided before. it has a tickbox, and a date/time. the quality isn't my scanning, the original they provide is blurred It was signed up online, November 2018 extrapage.pdf

I received this from my local county court a couple of weeks ago, hung on to see what Overdales could come up with, and yesterday another bumper pack from Overdales containing another copy of the "Credit agreement", default notice etc that are already attached to this thread. Nothing new from overdales. cmc 17-5-23 10-00am 15 minutes.pdf

I was going more on previous experience of these mediation calls, where I managed to make the mediator angry by trying to discuss poor quality paperwork or anything other than how much I was going to pay the other side! His entire attitude was I had to pay something and all he would discuss was how much that something was. And he told me off for wasting his time before terminating the mediation

I'm not quite sure what to do next I have an appointment for mediation. the letter has some fairly strict instructions about negotiating in good faith. I'm pretty much flat broke, I don't have anything to negotiate with. And I don't really want to negotiate a settlement. Do I respond to the letter with the requested details? and what do I do when the mediator calls ? TIA

I've just got home from a week away and found this waiting for me! It seems my N180 form never made it to the right place. I've emailed another copy of it today, it just seems rather a coincidence that this order is dated the day before I went away, dates listed in the "when are you unavailable" section of the N180 Lowels had a copy of . . . . . n24.pdf

I blanked out email and mobile, everything else on the form they already have/know

OK Second attempt at scanning! Again the quality of the credit agreement is poor, but that's how they sent it to me Directions questionnaire returned, copy sent to Overdales as per the court letter that came with the DQ CreditAgreement.pdf DefaultNotice.pdf

Default Notice and first page of the credit agreement, the rest of it is 8 more pages of the same printout of the T&C, and creates a file too big to be uploaded. I'll scan it all as single page files if it's really needed The poor quality of the CA is not my scanning, what they send me is poorly printed a very blury! Mat CreditAgreementPage1.pdf DN.pdf As to the N180 form, I plan on replying I agree to small claims track Hearing venue my local county court no to mediation (it was a complete waste of time last time) One Witness, Me! Overdales have asked for a telephone hearing - is there anything I can put on the form to reject that idea?

I've had a few letters! From overdales, A copy of a Directions Questionnaire they have submitted. And a big bundle containing Loads of copies of statements. A copy of a default notice I'm pretty sure I've never seen before A ten page long "credit agreement" which appear to be a printout of the terms and conditions from their website with my name and address typed at the top! A copy of a Notice of Assignment again I don't ever recall seeing A copy of a nice friendly letter from Lowells introducing themselves as the new owner of the debt From the court, A Notice of proposed Allocation to Small claims track and an N180 form I need to complete and return by 4th April What of this lot do I need to scan and upload for you guys to see probably over 100 sheets, double sided so I don't really want to blindly scan and upload the lot? TIA Mat

small update Cheque for the CCA request has finally been cashed. Standard letter "We've passed your defence to the claimant" from County court business Centre received. I guess now I just wait and see if an AQ turns up ? Mat

Thank you very much dx100uk Defence filed with the amendment you suggested. The CCA request is now past it's 12+2 days - do I do anything with that ? Cheers MadMat

Proposed defence I've just noticed on checking the paperwork that the "we are looking into it letter" from overdales included a copy of a Notice of assignment, so I've not referenced that in the defence. 1.The Claim is for the Sum of £1400 Due by the defendant under a credit agreement regulated by the consumer credit act 1974 for a newday ltd account with an account reference number xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 2.The Defendant failed to maintain contractual payments required by the agreement and a default notice was served under s.87(1) of the consumer credit act 1974 which has not been complied with. 3.The debt was legally assigned to the claimant on xx-04-21 notice of which has been given to the defendant. 4.The Claim includes statutory interest under S.69 of the county courts act 1984 and a rate of 8% per annum from the date of issue of these proceedings in the sum of £xxxx The Claimant claims the sum of £1500 defence ............ (1) The Defendant contends that the particulars of claim are vague and generic in nature. The Defendant Accordingly sets out its case below and relies on CPR r 16.5 (3) in relation to any particular allegation to which a specific response has not been made. (2) Paragraph 1 is noted. I have in the past had financial dealings with Newday Ltd but do not recognise this specific account number or recollect any outstanding debt and have therefore requested clarification by way of a CPR 31.14 and section 78 request. (3) Paragraph 2 is noted. Although I have not retained a copy of it and I do not recall the precise details of the Default Notice I have requested a further copy from the claimant which they have yet to provide. (4) Paragraph 4 is denied, as they claimant has yet to fully comply. (5) On receipt of the claim form, the Defendant sent a request by way of a section 78 pursuant to the Consumer Credit Act 1974, for a copy of the agreement, the Claimant has not complied and provided a copy of the alleged agreement. (6) A further request made by via CPR 31.14 to the Claimants solicitor, requesting disclosure of documents on which the Claimant is basing their claim. The Claimant has not complied, but has stated a general extension of time to retrieve the documents, to date nothing has been received. (7) It is therefore not accepted with regards to the Defendant owing any monies to the Claimant and the Claimant is put to strict proof to: (A) Show how the Defendant has entered into an agreement and: (B) Show how the Defendant has reached the amount claimed for and: (C) Show the nature of the breach and evidence by way of a Default Notice Pursuant to section 88 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 and: (D) Show how the Claimant has the legal right, either under statute or equity to issue a claim. (8) as per Civil Procedure 16.5 it is expected that the claimants prove the allegation that the money is owed. (9) On the alternative, as the Claimant is an assignee of a debt, it is denied that the Claimant has a right to lay claim due to contraventions of section 82A of the Consumer Credit Act 1974. (10) By reasons of the facts and matters set out above, it is denied that the Claimant at this time is entitled to the relief.

I agree, I wouldn't do over these claims, but the big chunk of change I owe HMRC is a different matter. the BK or not will depend on how talking to them goes! MadMat

Which Court have you received the claim from ? MCOL Northampton N1 MCOL Northampton N1 ? Manual Claim CCMCC (Salford) ? New beta WWW.MONEYCLAIMS.SERVICE.GOV.UK ? If possible please scan redact and upload a full page copy of page 1 of the claim form. (not the response page or AOS) Name of the Claimant ? Lowel Portfolio 1 Date of issue – 14th Jan 2020 Particulars of Claim What is the claim for – the reason they have issued the claim? 1.The Claim is for the Sum of £1400 Due by the defendant under a credit agreement regulated by the consumer credit act 1974 for a newday ltd account with an account reference number xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 2.The Defendant failed to maintain contractual payments required by the agreement and a default notice was served under s.87(1) of the consumer credit act 1974 which has not been complied with. 3.The debt was legally assigned to the claimant on xx-04-21 notice of which has been given to the defendant. 4.The Claim includes statutory interest under S.69 of the county courts act 1984 and a rate of 8% per annum from the date of issue of these proceedings in the sum of £xxxx The Claimant claims the sum of £1500 What is the total value of the claim? £1600 Have you received prior notice of a claim being issued pursuant to paragraph 3 of the PAPDC (Pre Action Protocol) ? Possibly, I've been binning a lot of threatograms and junk from several debt collectors Have you changed your address since the time at which the debt referred to in the claim was allegedly incurred? No Did you inform the claimant of your change of address? N/A Is the claim for - a Bank Account (Overdraft) or credit card or loan or catalogue or mobile phone account? credit card When did you enter into the original agreement before or after April 2007 ? After Do you recall how you entered into the agreement...On line /In branch/By post ? Online Is the debt showing on your credit reference files (Experian/Equifax /Etc...) ? Yes Has the claim been issued by the original creditor or was the account assigned and it is the Debt purchaser who has issued the claim. DEbt Purchaser Were you aware the account had been assigned – did you receive a Notice of Assignment? Possibly, I've been binning a lot of threatograms and junk from several debt collectors Did you receive a Default Notice from the original creditor? Possibly, I've been binning a lot of threatograms and junk from several debt collectors Have you been receiving statutory notices headed “Notice of Sums in Arrears” or " Notice of Arrears "– at least once a year ? Possibly, I've been binning a lot of threatograms and junk from several debt collectors Why did you cease payments? I'm self employed, income dropped to zero during pandemic What was the date of your last payment? Early 2020, unsure of exact date Was there a dispute with the original creditor that remains unresolved? No Did you communicate any financial problems to the original creditor and make any attempt to enter into a debt management plan? Yes, had a 3 month payment holiday early in pandemic .................... I'd hoped I had my financial problems worked out, sadly the virus had other ideas. I'd really appreciate some help with any possible defence I can use here I've acknowledged service CPR and CCA requests sent 27/01 Had a vague "we're looking into it" reply from Overdales to the CPR No reply to the CCA, (they don't even appear to have cashed the £1 cheque) Other possibly useful information, I'm still in extreme financial distress, I could quite honestly admit the debt and show the court income/expenditure that proves I can't afford to repay anything ( my income is currently roughly half what it was pre-pandemic) I'm also behind on priority debts - Income tax and NI To be honest I'm seriously considering bankruptcy!