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!

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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?

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

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?

Thanks Andy, sorry for delay in replying - have had a few days away from computer. Am just about to get the consent order ready for posting. I forgot to mention that their letter states WITHOUT PREJUDICE SAVE AS TO COSTS. The consent order states "There be no order as to costs." Is it possible they will try to recoup their costs from us? Or does this mean that we each bear our own costs, as suggested when we were negotiating earlier on?

No problem dx. I'm grateful for any input. My OH is very optimistic - I have become a bit more cynical about any of their offers!

Hi Dx, I'm a bit confused. I thought this was to discontinue the court claim, nothing to do with payment.

"Tentative celebrations! in the blacksofa household this evening! Restons continued to send a letter each month chasing for an agreed settlement. I finally got fed up with them, on Monday I sent Andy's letter above (post #90). I left out the red part - saving it for future use if necessary. Today we received a reply stating they "were not aware of the correspondence sent to us by Arrow" and as our "original offer of £XXX was made before November 2014" that "it was because of that offer they were trying to negotiate" Yeah, right. Last two paragraphs of their letter are as follows: In any event, our client is willing to agree, by way of consent, that proceedings be discontinued. Enclosed is a draft consent order for your perusal. If you are happy please sign and return to our office by ..... Upon receipt, we will file a countersigned copy with the Court. The attached consent order (sorry, no scanner, so I have typed it out, with all personal details removed) is: IN THE COUNTY COURT AT NORTHAMPTON Claim No. XXXXXXX (CCBC) BETWEEN: ARROW GLOBAL LIMITED Claimant and MR BLACKSOFA Defendant CONSENT ORDER (this is in a "box") UPON the Claimant and the Defendant in person having agreed. IT IS ORDERED BY CONSENT THAT:- 1. Proceedings issued on Date Month 2014 under claim number XXXXXXXXX be discontinued. 2. There be no order as to costs. Dated this day of February 2015 Signed .......... Signed ........... Their name and address Mr Blacksofa's name and address Solicitors for the Claimant Ref: XXXXXXX The second page repeats the same information down to "CONSENT ORDER", and then has their name and address and "Solicitors for the Claimant" at the bottom. It looks good to me. Does it appear legitimate? Is there anything else I need to do, or ask for, before sending it back? Do I contact the Court as well, or simply get Mr B to sign it and return it to Restons ASAP. Should I open another bottle? Thanks.

OK, I'll have a word with the OH because it is technically his debt. Their latest letter has one of their 'deadlines' of response by 10th December. I'm leaning towards a wait and see if they follow it up or not. I would like to feel that I'm not going to get a 're-opened' court claim or similar in the lead up to Christmas though.

Right, yes, I can see that only Restons could stop the court claim, but surely if Arrow are not pursuing collection activity, then that should extend to instructing Restons to do the same. Not trying to be argumentative, but I'm a bit confused as to the 'relationship' between the two of them.

..but aren't Restons acting on behalf of and under instruction from Arrow?

Hmmm, yes I see what you're saying. I don't really want continuous letters from them though trying to negotiate a settlement. What about writing to Arrow stating that Restons appear to not be aware of their letter as they are continuing collection activity, and asking them (Arrow) to instruct Restons to stop said activity? Then they can discontinue or leave stayed as they wish, as long as they stop writing!

I much prefer your letter to mine Andy, but then that is to be expected! Can I ask why you wouldn't respond, as I'm assuming they wouldn't discontinue without being pushed, or is there an advantage to leaving the claim stayed?

Do I also need to write to Arrow, asking that they instruct Restons to cancel the court claim, and cease any further collection activity?

This morning we received a letter from Restons - rejecting my last offer and asking for a settlement of 2 and a half times as much, with a lump sum, followed by monthly instalments until paid off. Also, the credit file to be marked as partially settled/satisfied Cheeky, in view of Arrow's letter, so I plan to treat this with the contempt it deserves, and not answer it directly. I am thinking a letter along the lines of: Ref number: xxxxx Dear Sir, Further to our communications regarding the above reference number xxxxxxx. I have received a letter from Arrow Global, dated 19/11/2014, their reference number xxxxxx, in which they state that they are "unable to obtain a copy of a Consumer Credit agreement from the originating creditor" and that they "can confirm the this account will not be subject of collection activity until such time as the document becomes available and we provide you with a copy of the same." *****NOW IN HERE - I want a paragraph asking/insisting that as they are acting on behalf of Restons, that they withdraw the court claim and cease any further contact and collection activity, as per Arrow's letter, but I'm not quite sure of the best way to word it, to make it legal and also strong enough!***** Please confirm you have taken the above action by ***** DATE IN HERE - how long is reasonable? **** Yours etc., Do I need more than this, or is that enough? Should I be quoting any other legalities? Any help appreciated, as always.

Ah right, thanks Andy. In that case I will just wait and see. I was wondering if I should write to them withdrawing the offer, but think I will save the stamp!

At the moment I am waiting for them to respond to my settlement offer (I only increased it once and since then I have stuck fast!) If they now accept that, can they go ahead with the Tomlin order quickly and thus legally circumvent my change of mind, or do I have to sign the Tomlin order before it is valid? After getting this far, and Arrow finally admitting that they don't have an agreement, I would hate them to get an agreed Tomlin for payment just on a technicality!

Makes sense Dx. I will keep an eye on the thread to see if he comments. Not sure if he comes on to the forum at weekends.

Yep, that is what I'm thinking DX, but I want to be sure that whatever I write to them covers all the bases legally.