CCBC Claim Form Lowell BW Legal - Old Vodafone account

[concerned user]

First of all I have read a similar thread about this but I thought it best to start a new topic for my experience.

 

Received the letter last Saturday (22nd Feb) it reads:

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The Claimant's Claim is for the sum of 708.11 being monies due from the Defendant to the Claimant under a non-regulated Communications agreement between the Defendant and Vodafone Limited under account reference ********** and assigned to the Claimant on 31/03/2013 notice of which has been given to the Defendant.

The Defendant failed to maintain the contractual payment under the terms of the agreement and a default notice has been served and not complied with.

The claim also includes statutory interest pursuant to section 69 of the County Courts Act 1984 at a rate of 8.00% per annum (a daily rate 0.35 from the date of assignment of the agreement to the date of issue (17/02/2014) being an amount of 38.88.

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The history is that I did have an account with Vodafone but I told them verbally that I wanted to end the contract due to poor service signal in my area. I paid the first 3 months prior to this.

 

I can't remember exactly what happened next, I did stop using the phone. They continued to bill me which I just kept ignoring (In Hindsight this was a poor thing to do)

 

So they passed it onto Lowell. I spoke to lowell on one occasion telling them the story above but they didn't seem interested & were demanding money. I ended up putting the phone down on them.

 

They continued to harrass me by phone for the next 11 months, each time I ignored them saying it wasn't me. I was hoping the problem would go away which again in hindsight was a stupid thing to do.

 

So if you were me what would you do? I have absolutely no defence by way of letters, so is it worth defending or not?

 

Thanks in anticipation.

[unclebulgaria67]

If you did not record a form dispute with Vodafone it may be difficult. We do have a rep from Vodafone on CAG, so if you wanted any help getting info about the account with them, they may be able to assist you.

 

Follow this link, if you want any help from the Vodafone rep ( they are quite helpful)

 

Vodafone

 

Once you have all the info about the debt that Vodafone have recorded and what you are legally responsible for, you can decide what to do. Even if you stopped using the phone, you will still be liable for the contact, because you did not go through the formal complaints process about the poor signal.

[concerned user]

If you did not record a form dispute with Vodafone it may be difficult. We do have a rep from Vodafone on CAG, so if you wanted any help getting info about the account with them, they may be able to assist you.

 

Follow this link, if you want any help from the Vodafone rep ( they are quite helpful)

 

Vodafone

 

Once you have all the info about the debt that Vodafone have recorded and what you are legally responsible for, you can decide what to do. Even if you stopped using the phone, you will still be liable for the contact, because you did not go through the formal complaints process about the poor signal.

 

Many thanks for your response unclebulgaria.

 

I have taken a look at that thread you linked to. I have put WRT135 - CAG Forum in the subject line. What should I say in the message? Tell them to take a look at my thread on here?

 

Also what should I do in the meantime about this court letter? Just leave it until I have heard back from vodafone?

[Lee Vodafone Company Rep]

Hi concerned user,

 

Thanks for making me aware of this and for following the advice provided by unclebulgaria67.

 

I've received your email and will get back to you as quickly as I can.

 

Kind regards,

 

Lee

 

Web Relations

 

Vodafone UK

[concerned user]

Hi concerned user,

 

Thanks for making me aware of this and for following the advice provided by unclebulgaria67.

 

I've received your email and will get back to you as quickly as I can.

 

Kind regards,

 

Lee

 

Web Relations

 

Vodafone UK

 

Thanks a lot Lee

[unclebulgaria67]

Many thanks for your response unclebulgaria.

 

I have taken a look at that thread you linked to. I have put WRT135 - CAG Forum in the subject line. What should I say in the message? Tell them to take a look at my thread on here?

 

Also what should I do in the meantime about this court letter? Just leave it until I have heard back from vodafone?

 

You have 19 days (calendar days) from the date the court claim is issued ( which is shown on the claim form) to acknowledge the claim and say what you want to do with it. So unless you have left it too long before posting to CAG, you should have a bit of time. Hopefully Lee from Vodafone will be back to you, before you need to do the acknowledge of the court claim.

 

You could send a 31.14 letter to BW Legal asking them to disclose the documents they have mentioned in the particulars of claim e.g agreement, default notice. BW legal could well have issued the court claim, when the don't have the documents from Vodafone, so requesting them may be a smart move. Here is a link about the 31.14 letter.

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?387484-LEGAL-CPR-31.14-Request-Request-for-information-when-a-Claim-has-been-issued.

 

It is up to you what you want to do. If it were me, I would send the 31.14 letter to see what BW legal disclose and I would see what Lee from Vodafone comes back with. If Lee comes back with information which you are happy with and you owe the debt, then you may try to settle the debt to avoid the CCJ. If you can't afford to pay the debt and cannot defend the court claim, then you will have to accept the CCJ, for which you can agree to make affordable payments.

Edited February 27, 2014 by Andyorch
Link replaced with current version from the library

[concerned user]

Thanks again for the wonderful advice.

 

I'm still not happy that I'm being forced to pay for something which I haven't used.

 

I will wait to see what Lee comes back with.

 

I have a bit of time to play with regarding the court letter, issue date was 18th Feb, then you add the 5 days service to it don't you? So I'm fine if I send it back early next week when I've decided what to do.

[unclebulgaria67]

Thanks again for the wonderful advice.

 

I'm still not happy that I'm being forced to pay for something which I haven't used.

 

I will wait to see what Lee comes back with.

 

I have a bit of time to play with regarding the court letter, issue date was 18th Feb, then you add the 5 days service to it don't you? So I'm fine if I send it back early next week when I've decided what to do.

 

Yes it is basically 5 days for service and then 14 days extra to do the acknowledgement which you can do online. So you have to the 8th March to this, which should be plenty of time for you to decide what you do with this.

 

Trying to defend a claim on the basis of poor signal coverage where you live won't work, because you have no record of a long running complaint with Vodafone. Whether you used the phone or not, the contract was still valid for the period you signed up for. By not paying, you breached the contract. A lesson for all future dealings. Follow a companies complaints procedure and make use of the relevant ombudsman if you need to. You may then have been able to get out of the contract if Vodafone could not provide the service.

[concerned user]

There is a part in the template CPR 31.14 letter where it says I have admitted ackknowledgement of service, is it ok to omit that from the letter seeing as I haven't done that yet?

 

Will they still be required to send me the info they hold on me if I do?

 

Also what is the case number, I'm assuming it's the Claim no. on the court letter?

 

Sorry for all the questions this has got me flustered & I want to make sure I'm doing everything right.

 

 

EDIT:

 

Yes it is basically 5 days for service and then 14 days extra to do the acknowledgement which you can do online. So you have to the 8th March to this, which should be plenty of time for you to decide what you do with this.

 

Trying to defend a claim on the basis of poor signal coverage where you live won't work, because you have no record of a long running complaint with Vodafone. Whether you used the phone or not, the contract was still valid for the period you signed up for. By not paying, you breached the contract. A lesson for all future dealings. Follow a companies complaints procedure and make use of the relevant ombudsman if you need to. You may then have been able to get out of the contract if Vodafone could not provide the service.

 

So I'm stuffed basically. Oh well, let's see what happens.

[AndyOrch]

Please use the latest link I have provided in post #6 for CPR 31.14

[concerned user]

Please use the latest link I have provided in post #6 for CPR 31.14

 

Thanks, but the question still remains, do I have to omit this part:

 

"I confirm having returned my acknowledgement of service to the court in which I indicate my intention to contest all of your claim."

 

Seeing as I haven't done so yet? Or just leave it in there?

[AndyOrch]

Well if you are defending it will have been acknowledged by the time they get round to looking at it...

[concerned user]

Well if you are defending it will have been acknowledged by the time they get round to looking at it...

 

I don't think I can defend it as I haven't got a leg to stand on according to Unclebulgaria(Who I agree with)

 

I forgot to ask about the case number again, will that be "Claim no" on the court letter?

[AndyOrch]

Any claim issued by this crew must be defended...your defence will become apparent as this proceeds purely by the way they treat you.

 

Yes case number is claim number.

 

Regards

 

Andy

[concerned user]

Any claim issued by this crew must be defended...your defence will become apparent as this proceeds purely by the way they treat you.

 

Yes case number is claim number.

 

Regards

 

Andy

 

Many thanks, Andy.