I'm not sure I'm in the right forum but could someone offer me some help.

I've received a letter from Cohen Cramer solicitors that is a notice of pending legal action.

Their client is Lowell Portfolio I Ltd but the original debt was with Shop Direct.

It's been 3 years since I defaulted

I've had previous letters that I've ignored but never anything about legal action. The debt is for £213.

Please could someone advise me what I should do next

I'm worried about the legal action.

I've never had any contact with anyone about the debt or requested any documents from them.

Many thanks

When did you originally take out the Shop Direct account ?

You could send Lowell a CCA request, as they really have to comply with that before any court claim could proceed.

I'm not sure exactly when I opened the account I think it would have been 2007/2008.

go check your credit file?

dx

I'm not sure exactly when I opened the account I think it would have been 2007/2008.

As dx suggests check your credit report for opening date of SD account.

It is relevant to you, because of the changes in legislation. For CCA's taken out pre April 2007, the claimant creditor would need to supply the original CCA that was issued, if you defended any court claim. For an account taken out from April 2007, they would still need to comply with the CCA request to be able to succeed with a defended court claim, but due to change in legislation they don't need to supply the original CCA document.

As it is quite likely a court claim would be issued at some point, sending a CCA request to Lowell might prove worthwhile.

I've checked my credit report and the account was opened November 2009.

The default amount was only £129 so is the rest interest that's been added?

Would it still be best to send the CCA request?

Thanks

Could be interest and charges added since.

Yes you should send the CCA request.

Up to you, but if you can afford to repay the debt, you could tell Cohen Cramer that the debt is actually £129 according to Shop Direct and you will settle that amount. If you do this, send a without prejudice headed letter making the offer to settle for the correct amount of £129.

Do you know whether the £129 includes penalty charges for late payment ? If it does, then perhaps the amount you really owe is less than £129 and if you get hold of details from SD, you can offer a lower amount related to what the true debt should be.

whats the defaulted date?

I'm not in the position to be able to repay the amount at the moment.

That's why I'm getting worried.

Is it likely they will start legal proceedings or is it another way of trying to get people to pay?

threat-o-gram...

You defaulted 3 years ago and the default is £129. That amount will probably include late payment fees over a number of months, so the actual true debt may be less than £100.

If you are worried about dealing with a court claim and possibly getting a CCJ, why don't you get hold of statements of account from SD. Then send a without prejudice letter offering to settle the true debt amount of £x over the period you need to afford to repay it.

As dx says, it might just be a threat-0-gram and they don't issue a court claim. But given that Lowell do authorise for a lot of court claims to be issued, they might issue one amd then you have more hassle dealing with it. Your choice really.

whats the defaulted date?

January 2014 although I'm sure the last payment I made before then.

You defaulted 3 years ago and the default is £129. That amount will probably include late payment fees over a number of months, so the actual true debt may be less than £100.

 

 

If you are worried about dealing with a court claim and possibly getting a CCJ, why don't you get hold of statements of account from SD. Then send a without prejudice letter offering to settle the true debt amount of £x over the period you need to afford to repay it.

 

As dx says, it might just be a threat-0-gram and they don't issue a court claim. But given that Lowell do authorise for a lot of court claims to be issued, they might issue one amd then you have more hassle dealing with it. Your choice really.

OK thank you, would I need to contact shop direct for the statements? Sorry for all the questions this is all new to me.

OK thank you, would I need to contact shop direct for the statements? Sorry for all the questions this is all new to me.

Yes

you could also send an sar.SD will probable buff you away if you ring

saying contact lowells

an sar is a legal doc they cant refuse.

is your online account still working

one here with a claimform found it was even after 3yrs since SD sold the debt on.

he got all the statements free that way.

dx

I've managed to get into the account but there's no infomation or statements on there.

I've managed to get into the account but there's no infomation or statements on there.

You could phone SD and see if they will provide copies of a few statements, going back far enough so you can see what the true debt amount is.

If they refuse, you could send Cohens a without prejudice letter just saying that you are looking into the matter further and have sent a CCA request to Lowell for more information. Then send Lowell the CCA request and when you make the request ask them to also supply copies of statements from SD.

That should stop any court claim being issued for now and it might take awhile for Lowells to complete the CCA request.

Remember when sending letters to companies, to keep copies and to get proof of posting receipt from post office. If you have not done this before, at the post offive counter, if you ask for proof of posting, they will just write or print a slip recording that you posted a letter to x company.

I have a CCJ from Lowells and have learnt the hard way how to beat them and since then have managed to wipe 2 debts (Shop Direct and Next).

A few points

1. Do not ignore the pre legal action threat, they are serious!

This is Lowell's MO.

Wait until the debt is about to disappear from your credit file, then ruin you for another 6 years with a CCJ. Such a nice bunch !!

2. They are utterly and completely useless at coming up with any of the CCA requirements. It's probable they will either not have the CCA details, or send you a botched agreement meaning the debt is unenforceable in a court , rendering a CCJ impossible.

3 Wiped Debt 1 :- Lowell sent me a pre legal judgement, I CCA'd them , 3 reminders and many phonecalls later they still were making excuses. I filed a complaint that they were breaching the CCA and Data protection and they needed to wipe my debt or i would report them to FOS and Information Comisisoner. Letter received , account closed, all traces wiped from my credit file.

4 Wiped Debt 2:- Same, but this time after 5 months they came up with a signed agreement in response to my CCA. Sadly for them that was the only legible part, there was no date and no date on the Terms and conditions. I wrote back saying the agreement was unenforceable and they had tried to mislead me into believing this was the original not a recon agreement and I would report them to FOS. Account closed, debt wiped double quick!

Conclusion. The simple act of sending a CCA will stop any chance of a CCJ with Lowell, and depending on how they respond may wipe your debt from credit history. Burying your head in the sand and ignoring them will result in a CCJ and your credit being damaged for 6 more years!