Lowells/lowells sols claimform - Argos credit card debt.

[r710]

Hi,

 

I would be grateful for some advice without judgement.

 

My husband (sole trader) lost his business in May 2011 due to the recession.

 

He had numerous debts that he was then personally liable for.

It was a really tricky time for us for a number of other reasons also

and it was genuinely our intention to save for the bankruptcy fee but we had to move first (rental).

 

We then, I am ashamed to say, buried our heads in the sand, and ignored chasing letters

(which have only come sporadically) while we tried to get back on our feet.

 

On 11th Dec 20015, my husband received a Claim Form from the County Court Business Centre, Northampton.

Nothing to suggest it is not genuine.

 

 

Claimant is Lowell Solicitors. We have received letters threatening/warning of their intended action but we have had many that look similar,

that we clearly did not notice that whatever last one we received was final. Usually after a while, the debt just gets sold on.

 

He now has the option to agree and pay in full (£1842.27 - not currently possible),

to agree and ask for time to pay, to admit only part or to disagree.

 

My husband recognises the debt, although we cannot know who the original creditor was as the debts has been passed around since he defaulted.

 

 

The sum outstanding for Lowells shows as less, £1522, and states he defaulted in April 2012 -

which is not correct as he stopped paying them all at the same time in May 2011.

 

 

On the form Lowells claim is for £15657.27 plus fees.

 

Am I right that unless he is able to pay in full, he cannot avoid a CCJ?

 

If he was to offer to pay in instalments, would this info be available to his other creditors?

Wonder if it means the others will come after him in more earnest?

This was for a much lower sum than the others and his outstanding debt totals over £30k.

 

Is there any way to buy a bit more time?

Clearly we are now, maybe quite rightly, forced to address this and deal somehow with the whole lot,

but we will need to get some advice on what options, if any there are.

 

 

Maybe extra time won't matter if he is likely to end up bankrupt?

I presume the debt that leads to a CCJ can be included?

 

He's going to call Stepchange tomorrow but does anyone have any experience of this or advice for us?

 

Many thanks

 

r710

[dx100uk]

can you please fill this in

 

 

don't do anything with this debt

or

any of the others yet without further advice

 

 

we can deal with it.

 

 

leave stepchange alone too.

 

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?419198-You-have-received-a-Claim-What-you-need-to-do.-**UPDATED-December-2014**(1-Viewing)-nbsp

[r710]

Name of the Claimant ? Lowell Portfolio I Ltd

Date of issue – . 10 Dec 2015

11th Jan 2016 to submit defence

What is the claim for –

 

1) The def entered into a Consumer Credit Act 1974 regulated agreement with the Home Retail group under account ref ...... "the Agreement"

2) The def failed to maintain the required payments and a default notice was served.

3) The Agreement was later assigned to the Claimant on 1/7/14 and notice given to the def.

4) Despite repeated requests for payment, the sum of £1534.51 remains due and outstanding.

And the Claimant claims:

a) The said sum of £1534.51

b) Interest persuant to s69 County Courts Act 1984 at the rate of 8% per annum form the date of assignment to the date of issue, accruing at a daily rate of £0.336, but limited to one year, being £122.76

c) Costs

 

2)

 

What is the value of the claim? . Total £1842.27

Is the claim for a current account (Overdraft) or credit/loan account or mobile phone account? Credit account

 

When did you enter into the original agreement before or after 2007? Can't remember exactly. Pretty certain it must have been after 2007.

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? We would have but can't guarantee we have kept it.

Did you receive a Default Notice from the original creditor? As above, we would have. Kept some of the early letters.

Have you been receiving statutory notices headed “Notice of Default sums” – at least once a year ?

Probably, no reason to doubt we haven't. Ashamed to say we haven't actually been reading them but am sure we would have.

 

Why did you cease payments?

Business failed very suddenly due to recession,

stopped payments to all creditors as my husband couldn't manage the debt.

My husband intended at that point to go bankrupt but as moved into low paid employment,

he needed to save bankruptcy fee.

We then had to prioritise moving house due to being harassed by a neighbour

and then always something else came along that needed money.

Classic burying heads in the sand then followed as we seemed to be getting life back together.

 

What was the date of your last payment? He last paid around April 2011 but Noddle says defaulted in May 2012.

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 managementicon plan? No

Will now send a CCA Request to the claimant and a CPR31.14 (Loan/Credit version) to Lowells Solicitors Ltd.

But surely we have no grounds to defend?

 

What are your thoughts?

 

r710

[dx100uk]

is the ref number in the POC 16 digits please

 

 

please note the amended defence filing date

[r710]

Thanks for marking it in red. I couldn't change the colour.

 

Sorry, Reference is XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXX (19 digits). I thought this might be something that could be used to identify us.

 

4pm on the 11th. Noted.

Edited December 14, 2015 by Andyorch
Reference removed

[dx100uk]

ok that's an argos credit card

 

http://bin-iin.com/Discover-BIN-List.html

 

I see lowells sols are trying to pull the same stunts that cabot pull in Scottish claims

simply put the obscure group name of the creditor and randomly add a few extra digits at the end to further disguise the debt.

 

dx

[dx100uk]

don't forget to go ack [aos] the claim on mcol website

 

 

defend all

leave juris unticked

 

 

you say you've got the credit file?

 

 

what is the take out date of the card please

 

 

dx

[r710]

Sorry, I have a lot to learn..

 

"stunts"? - Is this not the foregone conclusion I think it might be?

 

don't forget to go ack [aos] the claim on mcol website - Acknowledge? What does aos stand for? Admit only some?

 

defend all - but on what basis?

leave juris unticked - right, I get that.

 

Credit file?

The original paperwork?

I think it's with paperwork in the loft.

I estimate that the card was taken out in 2009/2010.

I can search for this info tomorrow evening.

 

Thanks

[dx100uk]

Sorry, I have a lot to learn..

 

"stunts"? - Is this not the foregone conclusion I think it might be? don't understand what you mean here?

don't forget to go ack [aos] the claim on mcol website - Acknowledge? What does aos stand for? Admit only some?

Acknowledgement Of Service

 

defend all - but on what basis? - that's for later, you always defend all , else its a CCJ by default no matter what you do

leave juris unticked - right, I get that. good

Credit file? see noddle below

The original paperwork?

I think it's with paperwork in the loft.

I estimate that the card was taken out in 2009/2010.

I can search for this info tomorrow evening.

 

Thanks

 

ok doesn't matter what paperwork you hold,

the claimant must produce the signed agreement [if applicable]

and any other paperwork they intend to rely upon.

hence the CCA and CPR request.

 

sorry I saw you'd been here since 2006 and thought you knew your way around and how to use our search to help yourself a bit

 

its worthy to do that - you need to get yourself upto speed.

 

dx

[r710]

Apologies for my absence in responding. My dog got very sick and had to be put to sleep.

 

The CCA and CPR requests were sent on 16th Dec, first class recorded.

 

I will acknowledge the claim tomorrow online but feel very nervous saying

we (my husband) will be defending the claim without knowing on what basis it will be.

 

 

I understand that it may be that Lowells Ltd/Lowells solicitors fails to respond to CCA/CPR requests with necessary documents.

What else might be a defence?

 

I note that we have since receiving a "Notice of Claim Issue" from Lowells Solicitors.

It is dated 15/12/15 but was only received on Sat.

 

 

It offers the opportunity to make an arrangement to pay the outstanding balance of £1842.27 a

nd states that if my husband do not contact them or reply to the County Court Claim

.. they "may enter a CCJ" against him. It's right to ignore this at this stage?

 

Thanks

 

r710

[dx100uk]

Apologies for my absence in responding. My dog got very sick and had to be put to sleep.

 

The CCA and CPR requests were sent on 16th Dec, first class recorded. - good

I will acknowledge the claim tomorrow online but feel very nervous saying

we (my husband) will be defending the claim without knowing on what basis it will be.

 

 

- defence is for LATER..you MUST get MCOL done ...............

***YOU ARE GOING TO RUNNING OUT OF TIME***

DEFEND ALL. else a CCJ by DEFAULT.

 

I understand that it may be that Lowells Ltd/Lowells solicitors fails to respond to CCA/CPR requests with necessary documents.

What else might be a defence?

 

I note that we have since receiving a "Notice of Claim Issue" from Lowells Solicitors.

It is dated 15/12/15 but was only received on Sat.

 

It offers the opportunity to make an arrangement to pay the outstanding balance of £1842.27 a

nd states that if my husband do not contact them or reply to the County Court Claim

.. they "may enter a CCJ" against him. It's right to ignore this at this stage?

 

Thanks

 

r710

 

in otherwords they are already trying to get you to settle

..urm wonder ehy that is...

 

doesn't it strike you as strange that someone as big as argos

chose to sell a debt rather than crush him in court.

 

...urm wonder why that is.....

 

go get his creditfile from noddle below

 

tell us the date he took the card out.

 

dx

[r710]

Hi,

 

Responded on MCOL website on 24/12/15. Defending all.

 

According to Noddle, the card was taken out on 26/12/10.

 

We now have until 4pm on 11th Jan to submit defence.

 

Both the CAA request and CPR request were signed for on 18th December. Both were sent on 16th.

 

Can you please help me clarify what dates I (he) should expect to hear from them by?

 

The CAA is 12 working days, plus 2. Is this still Mon to Friday and excluding Bank Holidays? So by 8th Jan?

 

And within the CPR request it just states 7 days. Would this be 7 working days? So following the above by today 29th Dec?

 

It still seems to be that our defence may hinge on the info or lack of info provided back by Lowells/Lowells Solicitor, so we await a response from them.

 

Other than having a read up around defending a county court claim, is there anything else we need to be doing in the meantime?

 

Thank you.

[dx100uk]

reading around is a very good idea.

 

 

the cca/cpr timelimits are immaterial once a claim has been issued

 

 

your next deadline is We now have until 4pm on 11th Jan to submit defence.

[r710]

Thanks for your very prompt reply.

 

So our defence is that we don't have the info/paperwork described in the particulars at the time of acknowledging the claim, therefore we can't acknowledge the debt?

 

And I get the impression we are unlikely to be provided with it by the time we submit our defence anyhow?

 

Anything else it will address?

 

Regards

[dx100uk]

not exactly.

 

 

nothing to do with acking the debt or not.

 

 

you put the claimant to strict proof to produce the paperwork described in their POC.

cough up or go away.

 

 

dca's/debt buyer issue 1000' of speculative claims every day.

they hope for a non contested default rubberstamped judgement

where nothing is checked.

 

 

you found cag.

 

 

dx

[r710]

Right, so I've had a read around similar looking threads, and lifted and tweaked this for our defence..

 

DEFENCE

 

 

1. I, xxx of xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, am the defendant in this action and make the following statement as my defence to the claim made by Lowell Portfolio Ltd, the Claimant.

 

2. Except where otherwise mentioned in this defence, I neither admit nor deny any allegation made in the claimants Particulars of Claim and put the claimant to strict proof thereof.

 

3. The claimants Particulars of Claim are vague and fail to disclose any cause of action, they appear to be an abuse of the process in that they fail to deal with the basic rules of pleading in accordance with the civil procedure rules.

 

4. No documents supporting the claim in the particulars have been offered nor have any dates of agreement been stated which the Defendant needs to establish what agreement it is that this action is based upon and so the claimant's claim appears without merit.

 

5. On receipt of the claim form I, the Defendant, sent a CPR 31.14 Request (dated and sent on the 16th December 2015) for a copy of the agreement and any other supporting documents mentioned in the Particulars of Claim.

 

6. I have received no response to this request from the claimant.

 

7. As a result, the claim as pleaded does not contain sufficient particulars to permit me to file a properly particularised and pleaded defence. I am at a disadvantage to respond to this claim and to allow me to properly respond to the claim.

 

8. It is denied that I have an agreement with Lowell Portfolio Ltd.

 

9. If, which is not admitted, such an agreement exists, the precise terms and date of any such agreement are not admitted and was not available when the claim was processed. I do not have in my possession any such agreement and am not therefore able to comment thereon. The Claimant is put to strict proof as to the date and terms of such agreement.

 

10. Without admission that any cause of action is shown by the Claimant it is denied that I am indebted to the Claimant as alleged or at all.

 

AND the Defendant seeks an order that the Claimant’s action is struck out or otherwise is dismissed on the grounds that any claim cannot succeed.

 

Alternatively if the court decides not to strike out the Claimant’s case, it is requested that the court orders full disclosure of the requested documents pursuant to the civil procedure Rules.

 

The Defendant respectfully asks the permission of the court to amend this defence if or when the Claimant provides full disclosure of the requested documents and allows inspection of the original documents.

 

Statement of Truth

 

I believe that the facts stated in this defence are true.

 

Signed

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

Defendant

 

 

 

Can you please advise if that looks appropriate?

 

Do I need to mention the "Notice of Claim Issue" that we received from Lowell's dated 15th Dec? I presume it is no longer relevant at this stage.

 

I understand that we can respond with this defence via the MCOL website, no need to post anything in.

 

We just then wait to hear an outcome from the Court? How long should we expect this to take?

 

Thank you.

[dx100uk]

try a recent credit card claim thread

that's the old embarrassed defence and no longer used.

[r710]

Is this more appropriate?

 

Particulars of Claim

 

1) The def entered into a consumer credit Act 1974 regulated agreement with the Home Retail group under account ref ...... "the Agreement"

2) The def failed to maintain the required payments and a default notice was served.

3) The Agreement was later assigned to the Claimant on 1/7/14 and notice given to the def.

4) Despite repeated requests for payment, the sum of £1534.51 remains due and outstanding.

 

And the Claimant claims:

a) The said sum of £1534.51

b) Interest pursuant to s69 County Courts Act 1984 at the rate of 8% per annum form the date of assignment to the date of issue, accruing at a daily rate of £0.336, but limited to one year, being £122.76

c) Costs

 

DEFENCE

 

1. Paragraph 1 is denied.

The Defendant has no knowledge of, or has in their possession any agreement pertaining to the account number referred to in its Particulars of Claim.

 

2. Paragraph 2 is denied.

The Defendant, as stated in Paragraph 1, has no knowledge of, or has in their possession any agreement pertaining to the account number referred to in its Particulars of Claim and has never been served a Default Notice pursuant to the CCA 1974 .

 

3. Paragraph 3 is denied.

I am unaware of any legal assignment the claimant refers to within its particulars and I have no knowledge of who the claimant is

nor have I been provided with any Notice of Assignment pursuant to the Law of Property Act 1925.

 

4. Paragraph 4 is denied with regards to any amount due under any agreement.

The Claimant/Solicitor has refused to disclose any agreement or statements on which its claim relies upon.

 

5.Therefore the Claimant is put to strict proof to:

 

a) show how the Defendant has entered into an agreement with the original creditor; and

b) show how the Defendant has reached the amount claimed for; and

c) show or evidence a Default Notice /Notice of Sums in Arrears,

d) show how the Claimant has the legal right, either under statute or equity to issue a claim;

 

6.As per Civil Procedure Rule 16.5(4), it is expected that the Claimant prove the allegation that the money is owed.

 

7. Despite a request being made under the consumer credit Act 1974, for the signed agreement

and the other documents referred to in the Statement of Particulars, and on payment of the statutory fee of £1.00;

the Claimant remains in breach of the S.78 request.

 

8.A further request made via CPR 31.14, after the claim had been issued,

has also failed to elicit a copy of the signed agreement and other documents on which the Claimant claim relies upon.

 

9. Until such time the claimant can comply with the above S.78 request, the claimant is therefore prevented from enforcing or seeking the relief claimed or any relief.

 

 

Please advise. Thank you.

 

r710

Edited January 5, 2016 by Andyorch
Particulars of claim added for cross reference

[dx100uk]

looks better

but you have until 11th jan to file it

so sit tight

1.

in case they magic up anything

2. for members of cag far better suited than me to pass judgement on it with ref to your claimform

 

 

dx

[Andyorch]

Particulars added for cross reference purposes...defence is fine r710.

 

Andy

[r710]

Thank you. So reassuring to receive prompt replies.

 

Will wait until Sat and submit. Deadline is Monday. Clearly will come back for advice if Lowells comes up with anything in the meantime.

 

Much appreciated.

[Andyorch]

I personally would submit Friday......dont let this interfere with your weekend:-)

[r710]

Thanks Andy. It has indeed taken over and it will be nice to set it aside for at least a bit.

[r710]

Update - I received a letter from the Court back in Jan 2016 which stated they were giving Lowells 28 days to respond to our defence. The letter states that the claimant may contact us to attempt to resolve any dispute.

 

It stated after that, the claim will be "stayed". "The only action that the claimant can then take will be to apply to a judge for an order lifting the stay".

 

We haven't heard anything from Lowells since.

I presume we are unlikely to given that it suggests they didn't have the proof they needed to continue the claim,

but am concerned about this hanging over us indefinitely and the fact that this holds up the period for this one to be statute barred.

 

I've read that cases can stay "stayed" for years.

Is there anything that we could be doing to get this discontinued/dimissed?

 

I would appreciate any advice.

 

Thanks

 

r710

[Andyorch]

Nothing to discontinue or dismiss as a claim is no more than a speculative action until its allocated to track.

 

Just forget about it...nothing hanging over you

 

Andy