Hi, firstly thanks for reading my post.

The reason for urgency is that today I received a letter giving me 7 days to reply. It is dated 1st May, today is the 8th!

Lowells/ BW Legal originally tried to get money from me and I sent them the official template letter saying 'prove it'. They ran out of time. They have now started something different saying 'Notice of allocation to the Small Claims Track'. I am required by the court to complete Directions Questionnaire regarding settlement/Mediation.

They have included in their letter a copy of my alleged Littlewoods account statement. And a credit agreement that is UNSIGNED!!! They STILL have not proved that I owe this debt. (The questionnaire also asks if I believe the small claims track is the appropriate track, if that is of any help)

I need to email today. (its too late to post to court).

If it helps here is some further information:

-I last submitted my online defence on 3rd March 2015. They did not comply. No signed copy of agreement, no proof of debt being sold etc

-There was no further contact between us until 8th April.

-They are attempting to mediate. I don't know whether I should to the hearing or mediation or reject the small claims track attempt. I don't know what to put on the form

Please help me! Thank you

Hold on.. if it has got this far that there is a Directions Questionnaire.. then there would have been a claim form issued where you would have been required to submit a defence. The Direction Questionnaire is something that needs to be completed and returned by the date on the form. This is sent out by the court who like for the parties to attempt to sort things out before it actually hits the court.

You cannot reject the small claims track, the court would have decided that is the right one. Tick yes to mediation, it is unlikely the claimant will even want to go that route and it will look good for you.

Can you please provide the full story behind this claim starting from the beginning up to and including the issue of the claim and what you submitted as a defence.

Hi, I got worried as it was approaching end of working day, so I already filled in the form after frantically researching online!

Alleged Littlewoods debt, 4 years since last alleged payment

-BW Legal on behalf of Lowells sent a Claimform earlier this year.

-I defended it online and in writing. This is my entry on the Moneyclaim online website:

On the 16th of Feb 2015, BW Legal relied an acknowledgement letter

stating they had received my letter to them which stated the following:

I do not acknowledge ANY debt to your company or its clients.​

I require you to supply the following documentation before I will communicate further on this matter.

1. You must supply me with a true and signed copy of the alleged agreement you refer to. This is my right under your obligation to

supply a copy of the agreement under the legislation contained within s.78 (1) Co​nsumer Credit Act 1974 (s.77 (1) for rolling sum credit)

2. Your obligation also extends to providing a statement of account. I enclose a £1.00 postal order in payment of the

statutory fee. P​lease note that under no circumstances should this payment be set aside any alleged debt.

3. If this alleged debt was sold, please supply me with a signed true copy of the deed of assignment of the above referenced

agreement that you allege exists.

If it is your view that you are not the creditor, s.175 of the CCA 1974 applies in the case of a simple assignment,

and places a duty upon you to pass this request to the creditor. In the case of an absolute assignment, you are a creditor as defined by s.189.

If you contend that you purchased the rights but not the duties of any agreement, you are reminded that s.189 of the Act is clear

that an assignment is of both rights and duties.

4.You are notified you are obliged to supply these documents within 12 working days whether you are the original creditor or

not under S189 under CCA 1974

5. Non*compliance with my request is a criminal offence under the above Act and will result in a report being submitted to the

relevant statutory authorities.

6. As you are aware, a credit agreement that is not properly documented and signed by the customer is totally unenforceable

under the CCA and therefore is a complete defence to any court claim that is issued.

7. Furthermore you are reminded that under s78 sub section (6) whilst the default continues you are not entitled to enforce the

agreement in law.

If you are unable to supply the documentation requested, the £1.00 fee should be returned, y​ou should confirm this in writing at the

earliest opportunity a​nd the incorrect entry should be removed from all systems involved

I look forward to hearing from you.

BW Legal's reply stated they will seek the documentation

requested, but after this time I have yet to receive proof that

the alleged debt to them actually exists.

__________________

-NO RESPONSE!!!!

-8th April I received a BW Legal letter and court letter saying they want to mediate.

I was court ordered to fill out a Directions questionnaire

-in this letter was a copy of my alleged account statement plus an UNSIGNED credit agreement. As well as an offer for reduced payment

-I forgot to respond, received another court letter today and replied today to the court given email address.

After some research I wrote the following:

*no to mediation (apparently they run circles on the phone and can still drag you to court if they are unhappy with the outcome)

*no to small claims track with this reason:

"I have not received the documents requested as seen in my defence available to view online.

This is disclosure of documents mentioned or relating to their statement of case under CPR 31.14.

This legal compliance has been ignored meaning I am unable to further lodge my defence.

I will consider entering an application to the court to obtain this disclosure.

This case may be allocated to a track after compliance with their CPR 31 duties.

(apparently the small claims track cancels out my right to ask for those documents or something along those lines).

Did I do ok?

I wish you had come to us first before submitting a CCA request as your defence ??

The issuing of a claim does not prevent you requesting documents, in fact if you had come to us first then we would have advised you on the correct way to approach this.

I have left a message for those who have more legal knowledge than me to advise what you need to do.

I would also point out that it is no longer a criminal offence for the creditor to not comply with a CCA request, however in theory, without having complied with your request (had you made it prior to the issuing of the claim) it should prevent them from obtaining a judgment.

I am surprised that the MoneyClaim site permitted you to post the text that you say in # 4 above, as it is far too long ??

sounds like you've been visiting freemen of the land sites to me - not good.

dx

Oh dear!

The text was a direct copy and paste, so it is all on my account. I hope I can still defend this. and its not too late.

I'm not sure what that means but its made me feel even worse.

As you have been sent a Directions Questionaiire, it looks like things are still progressing. Please don't be too disheartened.. Someone will look in over the weekend.

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

Would you like to have a read of the link above and provide the answers to the questions asked, in this thread.

Thanks citizenB

when did you take out this catalogue? debt please

and fill out that link too

dx

I have been advised that you

Must submit the Directions Questionnaire by the date stated on the form.

Tick yes to mediation and yes to Small claims.

You will be advised further by the court.

Name of the Claimant ? Lowell Portfolio Ltd

Date of issue – ???????

What is the claim for –

The claim is for the sum of £4,700 (approx) being monies due from the defendant to the claimant (printed as: Lowell Portfolio)

under a mail order agreement regulated by the consumer credit Act 1974 bewteen the defendant Shop Direct Finance

under account ref: xxx and assigned to the claimant on xx/Jan/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 8.0% per annumfrom the date of assignment of the agreement to xx/Jan/2015. Signed BW Legal Services Ltd.

What is the value of the claim? £4,700 approx

Is the claim for a current account (Overdraft) or credit/loan account or mobile phone account? Catalogue [Littlewood-shop Diect]

When did you enter into the original agreement before or after 2007? - 2001 (no agreement signed)

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. - lowells

Were you aware the account had been assigned – did you receive a Notice of Assignment? -

Did you receive a Default Notice from the original creditor? - -I do not remember receiving a default notice

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

-I have definitely NOT received a yearly notice of default sums

Why did you cease payments? - Payments were made until July 2012)

What was the date of your last payment? (remained dormant for several years) - July 2012 payment made

Was there a dispute with the original creditor that remains unresolved? - -I do not believe there was an unresolved dispute I had raised

Did you communicate any financial problems to the original creditor

and make any attempt to enter into a debt management plan? - I do not remember if I communicated payment difficulties.

The CCA Request letter was sent. They responded (past the allotted time) with a copy of my account statement, and an UNSIGNED copy of a credit agreement. NOTHING ELSE.

-I defended the claim online.

-I received a small claims track directions questionnaire

-I rejected mediation (as they can reject the outcome and still go to court) I also wrote that I have not received the requested disclosure and feel it should not be allocated to ANY track until this information has been presented under CPR31.14.

--------------------------------------------------------

EDITED TO PROVIDE THE FURTHER INFO ASKED FOR

- According to the statement, after march 2001, the next activity was sept 2006.

- The detail on the statement is only for the last 3 years from the default date. Which is given as Jan 2013

- A purchase was made in Jan 2011 (Payments were made until July 2012)

how many years did the account remain dormant

and was it just a payment you made

or did you 'buy' anything?

if it was more than 6yrs dormant

amnd

you then got spoofed into paying

the account was already statute barred

and payment cant unbar it

can you fill that link out properly please?

I can see no POC etc etc

Sorry, whats POC? I'll get right onto the other info you asked for.

particulars of claim from the claim form please

Ok found it.

(Also, I have edited an earlier post to answer some further questions you asked) Thank you.

The POC/particulars of claim states:

The claim is for the sum of £4,700 (approx) being monies due from the defendant

to the claimant (printed as: Lowell Portfolio)

under a mail order agreement regulated by the consumer Credit Act 1974

between the defendant Shop Direct Finance under account ref: xxx

and assigned to the claimant on xx/Jan/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 8.0% per annum from

the date of assignment of the agreement to xx/Jan/2015.

Signed BW Legal Services Ltd.

and the question about how many years the account was dormant please

how many years did the account remain dormant

and was it just a payment you made

or did you 'buy' anything?

if it was more than 6yrs dormant

and you then got spoofed into paying

the account was already statute barred

and payment cant unbar it

seen the reply - thank you

I'm not sure how long it was dormant.

I believe it was less than 6 years.

BUT the statement they provided shows account opened march2001,

then transaction info for the last 6 years from default date of Jan 2013.

The 1 page statement shows next activity after opening to be a payment in Aug 2006.

date from to right of claimform please

Were you aware the account had been assigned – did you receive a Notice of Assignment? -

Were you aware the account had been assigned – did you receive a Notice of Assignment? -

I definitely did not receive a notice of assignment

Date to right of claim form is 26 Jan 2015

Thank you

Hi there,

After filling forms and rejecting pointless mediation, a court date has been set for Monday.

I originally asked them for the signed copy of agreement, notice of assignment, etc in the court forms but no surprise that I did not receive them.

I have received the witness statement and it's nonsense.

Please help me with the terminology I need to say to demonstrate that this debt is unlawful

and the relevant information has not been supplied because it does not exist!

Claimant's witness statement includes:

-Client: Lowell portfolio

-Balance: £5k approx

-My defence details which state that I made a request for the original agreement under consumer credit act. And that it if the agreement is not signed and documented it is unenforceable.

-Their response being that I entered the agreement, defaulted and the 'evidence' (I will list below) is clear proof that I used the services provided.

-they ask the court use its discretion under COR 3.4 to strike out the defence, alternatively the defendant should pay up plus interest.

-evidence:

1. an unsigned undated copy of a shop direct credit agreement (since when does a blank contract hold validity?)

2. A screenshot of a computer screen that shows'sundry' information being address, balance, account dates (opened, written off, item returned), catalogue name. (Anybody could input anybody else's information onto a spreadsheet. How is that valid?)

3.copy of summary of transactions from shop direct with items, prices, dates.

(Again, could be anybody's and I do not recognise the transactions

without proof that the debt was ever passed on)

4.a letter of assignment from Lowells saying the debt is passed onto BW Legal. ( still nothing from Littlewoods)

5. A letter from Lowell dated a couple of years ago saying we are your new debt collector

Their evidence is weak.

Please help me with what to say/not to say in court.

Thank you!

missnka, I have merged your two threads regarding the Lowell Claim.

It makes it a lot easier for those who are trying to help to have all the information in one place.

You need only respond to each point of their Witness statement, in your own.

I suspect your main defence is that despite having requested proof of the debt, they are trying to mislead both you and the court by producing template data which proves nothing. As you say , it could belong to anyone without your signature and proof that you have purchased those items.

When was this account opened ?

Looks like they are in default of your s78 (CCA request) - which, if the account was opened prior to 2007, should deny them the right to obtain a judgment.