Hi,

Yesterday I received a court claim for an old catalogue debt (Simply Be), and today a letter from BW legal confirming they had issued a claim and asking me to call them (I won't).

Would appreciate some help:

I have letters going back to January 2011 regarding this. As it was a catalogue company who added interest, the original letters are for a lower amount than the amount of this claim, but it is still the same account number etc. The higher amount did not appear on the letters until August 2011. Does this date of non payment from Jan 2011 make this statute barred, even though it was for a lesser amount at that time?

Brief run down of the time frame:

Jan 2011 - Aug 2011 - letters from Reliable Collections, chasing the account

end of Aug 2011 - letter from Simply Be, a Notice of Assignment, stating that "We give you notice that one of the above companies may be acquiring from Simply Be all its rights, title and interest' etc. There were six potential companies listed and it stated that the assignment would come into effect within the next 2 weeks.

Oct 2011 - letter from Frederickson, who were one of the 6 listed, stating that they had been appointed as JD Williams' agent to collect the debt. (Is that the same as an assignment?)

Oct 2011 - Nov 2011 - letters from Frederickson, then a couple from Lewis Debt Recovery in 2012

Feb 2013 - letter from JF Williams stating that they sold the account to Lowell on 20/12/2012

March 2013 onwards-letters from Lowell, Hamptons Legal and Red, both acting on Lowell's behalf.

Bizarrely, in Oct 2013, another letter from JD Williams to say they had sold the account to Lowell, on 20/12/2012!

This week - letter from Lowell, stating they had sent the account to BW legal, and a 'Letter of Claim', from BW,

threatening court action, (stating I needed to contact them to pay the outstanding amount, to avoid court action). Both letters were in the same envelope and dated the 20th February, but not delivered until 8th March, which is the same date as on the court claim. Finally the court claim yesterday and the letter from them this morning.

Court claim issue date is 8th March 2017

It states a default notice has been served, but I can't find one, and I have upwards of 40 letters in my possession, which have been received successfully.

The amount of the claim includes £35 court fees, £50 legal representative fees and statutory interest pursuant to section 69 of the County Courts Act 1984 at a rate of 8% per annum from the date of the assignment to 20/12/2013

Noddle shows the default date as 4/10/2011 although, as I say, nothing was paid to the account from Jan 2011.

Do I have a case to go straight for statute barred, and/or should I pursue other avenues?

hi ya

can you fill this out please

so we have the correct info to assist you.

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?419198-You-have-received-a-Claim-What-you-need-to-do.-**UPDATED-2016**

Name of the Claimant ? Lowell Portfolio 1 Ltd

Date of issue – . 8th March 2017

What is the claim for –

1.The Claimant's Claim is for the sum of £296 being monies due from the Defendant to the Claimant under a Home Shopping agreement regulated by the Consumer Credit Act 1974 between the Defendant and JD Williams & Company Ltd under account reference xxxxxxxxx and assigned to the Claimant on 20/12/2012 notice of which has been given to the Defendant.

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

3.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 of £0.06 from the date of assignment of the agreement to 20/12/2013 being an amount of £22.00"

What is the value of the claim? Total amount £403, including costs, fees, interest

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

When did you enter into the original agreement before or after 2007? After

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. Lowell

Were you aware the account had been assigned – did you receive a Notice of Assignment? Yes - see notes above in first post

Did you receive a Default Notice from the original creditor? No

Have you been receiving statutory notices headed “Notice of Default sums” – at least once a year ? No

Why did you cease payments? Change in financial circumstances

What was the date of your last payment? January 2011, possibly earlier

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? No, I don't think so - lot going on at the time, so not absolutely sure, but pretty certain 'no'.

Thanks

I would say your priority here is too find that last payment date out

this could be statute barred - and that will kill the claim dead.

go check your credit file [clearscore, noddle Equifax, etc etc use several]

see if they have payment details.

if not 1st thing Monday

get on the phone to JD William's and ask the last payment date.

dx

Thanks dx

Noddle only appears to go back to 2013, so will have to try the others I suppose.

Re phoning them, I thought that was to be avoided at all costs?

no the original creditor is ok

its nowt to do with them now.

Ah, sorry - mis read it! Can't find any definitive date on line. Will have to try a phone call.

Hi

I rang JD Williams this morning, who confirmed that the last payment on the account was made on February 14th 2011. I presume I am therefore good to go for statute barred.

What is my next move?

Do I acknowledge the claim and ask for the extension fortnight to defend? If so, how do I word the defence?

Do I contact Lowell/BW separately to advise of the stature barred status? I am aware of the statute barred letter (template on here somewhere), but as a court claim exists I assume I have to act upon that too, to not miss the dates.

They have an online portal - but I am presuming it would be better to send something in writing...

Finally, do I lodge anything online at Noddle etc., to correct the dates for this account, as I believe statute barred 'drops off' the records. (I may be wrong on that)

Many thanks,

Blacksofa

you are close to calling it sb'd

typically we say give it a month

you are boarderline

theres a couple of other threads like this

and its flip and twist what to do.

the sb defence will kill it dead yes.

but doesn't give you the chance to question paperwork if sb is not agreed by the judge

and you cant mix stuff with sb either

I think id be filing the std holding defence

for though the route is the same

as you don't need to fill the def for afew weeks anyway

so back to std procedure then..

pop up on the MCOL website detailed on the claimform.

.

register as an individual

note the long gateway number given

then log in

.

select respond to a claim and select the AOS box.

.

then using the details required from the claimform

.

defend all

leave jurisdiction unticked.

click thru to the end

confirm and exit MCOL.

.

get a CCA Request running to the claimant

leave the £1PO blank and uncrossed

.

get a CPR 31:14 request running to the solicitors

.

don't sign anything

.

.........

you mention your credit file and defaulted date above

don't mix SB date and defaulted date

they are NOT the same nor related.

All references to a defaulted debt must be removed from your credit files after 6 years

has passed from date of default, whether paid off, paying now or not.

.

{the WHOLE ACCOUNT WILL VANISH, never to return}.

.

{however, this does not mean the debt itself is not still owed

consider a CCA request.}

.

This is so that someone who continues paying something

- even after 6 years from default

- should not be at a disadvantage to someone who pays nothing after default

and ends up with a clean file after 6 years.

.

NOTE: {the bracketed text is not ICO guideline but my advise]

dx

Thanks for the info and advice dx.

Sorry not acknowledged your reply earlier - first chance I've had this week.

I take it then, that some judges choose to be a bit 'lenient' about applying the 6 years to the day?

That seems a bit unfair, but I suppose c'est la vie.

BW legal are currently sending me follow up letters and emails telling me that 'they' will enter a CCJ against me after 29th March

- although I thought that was down to the judge to grant/enter the CCJ, not them?

if I have understood this correctly, my timescale is to do the MCOL website part by 26th March, (8th March plus 14 days), then file defence by 9th April?

Ref the CPR 31:14 letter to the solicitor, this is a catalogue debt, so do I use the first option from the link? (ie: the one that is for loans/credit cards)

I will get these ready and in post on Monday, and tackle the MCOL website tomorrow.

Thanks again,

Blacksofa

I would be doing AOS CCA CPR now.. You are losing time..

On it at the moment DX.

Looking at the letter to the solicitors,

the PDF version has a change indicated in the paragraph about the agreement,

but the letter in the thread itself doesn't mention that,

so not sure if I need to make a change there or not?

The claim is from Northampton County Court Business Centre.

Also, I cannot find a 'case number' on the claim paperwork,

but I presume I use the claim number?

Blacksofa

Use the text the PDF is prob out of date

Claim no for CPR

Agreement no in the poc for the cca

Get AOS On mcol done!!

Am having problems with the MCOL website. It is letting me log on, but is returning a message at the next stage to say that either the claim number or password is incorrect. About to try for the 6th time.

forget it try again Monday.

that's quite usual for MCOL till someone resets it Monday AM

not an issue

dx

Thanks dx. Sounds a bit like me - except I need re-setting on Saturday mornings!

Blacksofa

Something has just occured to me..

. all the documentation for this account, claim etc., shows an abbreviated version of my christian name

(it is the name I am generally known by, but not the name I use officially on documentation etc).

Is it likely to cause any problems that I have registered with MCOL using my full christian name?

Also, I am considering whether I will need to 'sign' (digitally) my two letters in the format "full christian name (abbreviated version), surname", to ensure the solicitors/claimant do not try to suggest I am not the person I say I am!

If I just 'sign' with the abbreviated version, it will match the court claim etc., but will not match my MCOL registration.

Hope that makes sense. Possibly I am overthinking this.

blacksofa (blac) .... sorry, couldn't resist that!

over thinking

you can register with any name [as such] you like its the claim number that's important

Hi,

Updating this, and a few questions about what I do next...

I have received a response (5 identical letters all in separate envelopes) from BW Legal, dated 24th March, stating that they confirm my file has been placed on hold whilst they query this matter with their client, and they will contact me on receipt of response, within approximately the next 30 days.

Now I understand that this doesn't affect the court timeline and I still need to continue with my defence.

My final date is Sunday 9th April, but with my shift patterns this week, and bearing in mind that DX said the MCOL website is temperamental at the weekends until reset on Monday, I will need to do my defence (whatever it is) on Thursday afternoon evening, so if there is a problem with the website I can sort it out on the Friday. Hope that makes sense.

If I submit a defence and I then receive some paperwork from them, can I amend my defence to take that into account?

Also, I have just checked the tracking for the two letters - BW has obviously been received and signed for, but the Lowell letter is showing as

21/03/17 07:49 ON DELIVERY HUNSLET PDO

21/03/17 07:44 DELIVERED 21/03/17 HUNSLET PDO

There is no signature recorded and I am unable to find what these mean from the Royal Mail website - their full glossary of terms does not include PDO. Reading around the site, it appears to not have been delivered, so what do I do now?

I am wondering if I should email them a copy of the letter. They won't have the postal order obviously. Think I must be getting paranoid - wondering if they refuse to sign for them/collect them deliberately!

don't worry about the letters that's their problem,

see like threads in this forum

and the successes forum off it

holding/no paperwork defence

Ah, right, DX, so it's not up to me to 'ensure delivery' then? Any hints on what form of defence I should be attempting to read up on, or is it too early to say untill it gets nearer to the fling date?

use the top red toolbar search cag box

Lowell claimform cat debt

Defence draft

Well, I have had a read around and come up with the following... I have included a few questions, would appreciate any input. Thanks in advance.

Particulars of claim

1.The Claimant's Claim is for the sum of £XXX being monies due from the Defendant to the Claimant under a Home Shopping agreement regulated by the consumer credit Act 1974 between the Defendant and JD Williams & Company Ltd under account reference xxxxxxxxx and assigned to the Claimant on dd/mm/yyyy notice of which has been given to the Defendant.

2. 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.

3.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 of £0.06 from the date of assignment of the agreement to 20/12/2013 being an amount of £22.00"

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. Is this OK to include? How vague and generic does the claim need to be to qualify or would I be better with a different first paragraph?

2. The claim is denied with regards to an amount due under an agreement. The Claimant/Solicitor has refused to disclose any agreement or statements on which its claim relies upon.

Therefore the Claimant is put to strict proof to:

(a) show how the Defendant has entered into an agreement with the Claimant; and

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

© show how the Claimant has the legal right, either under statute or equity to issue a claim.

3.Paragraph 2 is denied in respect of a Default Notice. I am unaware of any Default Notice allegedly served.

Is this OK? As paragraph 2 also mentions “The Defendant failed to maintain the contractual payment under the terms of the agreement” do I need to clarify, or by not specifically mentioning that here, am I implying that I accept that part of that paragraph?

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

5. On the alternative, if the Claimant is an assignee of a debt, it is denied that the Claimant has the right to lay a claim due to contraventions of Section 136 of the Law of Property Act and Section 82A of the consumer credit Act 1974.

6. 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.

Do I need a specific paragraph ref the interest?

Do I need to mention the lack of yearly Notice of default sums?

Do I need to refer directly to the date I requested the CCA from Lowell’s or is that covered sufficiently in the above?

Thanks.

due by 4pm Friday..

not a bad attempt.

have a read of these..

https://cse.google.co.uk/cse?cx=partner-pub-0964707606882478:652l7hswbgv&ie=UTF-8&q=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.+&sa=Search+CAG#gsc.tab=0&gsc.q=The%20Defendant%20failed%20to%20maintain%20the%20contractual%20payment%20under%20the%20terms%20of%20the%20agreement%20and%20a%20default%20notice%20has%20been%20served%20and%20not%20complied%20with.&gsc.page=1

Thanks DX, I have waded through those threads and re-jigged as follows:

Defence draft

1.The Claimant's Claim is for the sum of £xxx being monies due from the Defendant to the Claimant under a Home Shopping agreement regulated by the consumer credit Act 1974 between the Defendant and JD Williams & Company Ltd under account reference xxxxxxxxx and assigned to the Claimant on dd/mm/yyyy notice of which has been given to the Defendant.

2. 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.

3.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 of £0.06 from the date of assignment of the agreement to 20/12/2013 being an amount of £22.00"

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. Is this OK to include? How vague and generic does the claim need to be to qualify or would I be better with a different first paragraph??

2. The claim is denied with regards to an amount due under an agreement. The Claimant/Solicitor has refused to disclose any agreement or statements on which its claim relies upon.

Therefore the Claimant is put to strict proof to:

(a) show how the Defendant has entered into an agreement with the Claimant; and

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

© show how the Claimant has the legal right, either under statute or equity to issue a claim.

3. Paragraph 2 is noted but not admitted: I am unable to recall the precise details of the alleged agreement or any default notice served in breach of defaulted payments. As the claimants plead in their particulars with precise knowledge of the default then they are put to strict proof to evidence such fact.

OR

3. Paragraph 2 is noted but not admitted: the claimant would not be aware of any alleged breach or in a position to plead such fact as an assignee as the defendant did not enter into any agreement with the claimant and the claimant is therefore put to strict proof to verify the alleged statement of its particulars.

with this... whichever works best...

4. Paragraph 2 is denied in respect of a Default Notice. I am unaware of any Default Notice and have never received the Default Notice allegedly served.

Is it ok to respond twice to the same paragraph – once to “note but not admit” and once to “deny” as I have done here?

5. On the 20th March 2017 (sent by next day signed for delivery), I made a legal request by way of a section 78 request to the Claimant. The Claimant has failed to comply and therefore is in default of this request and as such unable to request any relief until compliance.

6. On the 20th March 2017 (sent by next day signed for delivery), I requested information from the Claimant’s Solicitors regarding this claim, by way of a CPR 31.14 request. To date no documents pertaining to this request have been provided to me by the Claimant’s Solicitors.

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

8. On the alternative, if the Claimant is an assignee of a debt, it is denied that the Claimant has the right to lay a claim due to contraventions of Section 136 of the Law of Property Act and Section 82A of the consumer credit Act 1974.

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.

I can’t find anything specifically to challenge the interest. I suppose it is a moot point in view of the rest of it!

Regarding the date/time to file the defence, I will have to do this by Thursday am at the latest, due to work commitments.

Thanks.