Lowell/Hamptons Statutory demand *** Set a Side & Dismissed***

[unclebulgaria67]

You need to know when the last payment was made for this debt. If Lowells have had it since 2007, the chances are that the last payment was before this. It is not unknown for Lowells to try for bankruptcy on statute barred debts. If it is statute barred, then you would set aside the SD on that basis.

 

Suggest that you send Hampton Legal a CCA request by recorded delivery and ask for details of the last payment made in regard to this RBS account.

[unclebulgaria67]

If it is RBS, surely you have some details of what type of RBS account you had. If RBS were the only company that would have received payments, then contact RBS. They can probably tell you the last date of payment and send a copy of statements.

 

If you want to make a CCA request to Lowell, just send it to their address, with a note that the original creditor is RBS. I suspect that Lowell can find the debt details using the name and address details.

 

If you find that payments have been made within 6 years and you want to avoid bankruptcy, then you can just enter into a repayment arrangement based on current affordability. If you entered into payments, it does not mean you could not challenge the amount of the debt. e.g unfair charges, PPI .

[unclebulgaria67]

You could just wait for the statutory demand and then send the CCA rquest to Lowells. You have 18 days to set aside the SD and in most cases it is successful. I would suggest that you do this, as if you don't then at any time Lowells could issue a bankruptcy petition.

 

So no panic yet. Wait for the SD, request the CCA/ find out the last payment details and apply to set aside the SD within the 18 days allowed.

[unclebulgaria67]

I would not trust Lowell with the last payment information. Ask them for details of the last payment, but I would suggest that you also find out from the original creditor (RBS) who should be able to provide a statement of account fairly quickly. I doubt Lowells have the CCA. You should apply for the set aside anyway, as there is no cost for doing so. As and when you need any help with the set aside form info, just post back. There are plenty of threads on here with details of what forms to use and what to write.

 

No panic yet. You can definitely avoid bankruptcy from this, but at some point you may need to enter into an affordable payment arrangement if Lowells come up with all the information that prove the debt is properly payable to them.

[unclebulgaria67]

Would it be worth sending a subject access request to Lowell at this stage? Just to help build up a bit of a portfolio to help us decide how to proceed as we have NO paperwork on this at all up to now.

 

An SAR to Lowells is a waste of time, as these companies don't often hold much information. An SAR is generally only useful to the original creditor to obtain all the statements, copy of original CCA, default notice etc.

[unclebulgaria67]

Thanks - so if I go for the set aside and it gets dismissed then they can't go straight to bankruptcy proceedings. We can say ok, fair enough please accept £x per month towards this debt?

 

Thanks ever so much for this, really appreciate all help x

 

Sometimes the debt companies don't bother to contest any set aside. If the SD is set aside, then the bankruptcy threat is then over for the time being. They could issue another SD at some point, but they should really apply for a CCJ using normal court processes, if they can't get payment for a debt that is legally payable.

 

With these things, you just have to deal with one thing at a time. Just make sure that once you have the SD, you make sure you get the set aside into the court within the 18 days required.

[unclebulgaria67]

Ok. So just to clarify then - I should wait until they have had their statutory time limit to produce the CCA and then send in the set aside forms as that will be the grounds? Or can I do it beforehand under other grounds?

Or should I stop my stressing until Monday and then ask for help from here on applying for a setting aside ?

 

Yes wait to see if Lowells reply to the CCA request. I would give it say 14 days for Lowells to respond and in 14 days time get the set side submitted to the court. There is no need to do it now.

[unclebulgaria67]

What enquiries have you made about the last date of payment and PPI ? I suspect that you will be asked.

[unclebulgaria67]

None :/

 

We sent a SAR request to the original creditor but it was returned to us as my husband forgot to sign it. He has not sent another one off he told me just now. I will get him to send that off tomorrow.

 

This is bad then....

 

You are asking for a set aside on basis of statute barred and PPI, but have not made the effort to make the enquires. I think you will struggle to get the set aside.

 

As the hearing is on Tuesday, I would suggest that you get on the phone tomorrow to the original creditors the debt was with, to find out the last date of payment. Also see if you can speak to the complaints department dealing with PPI and get a complaint registered. Do remember to take the full name of the person you speak to and record time/date. If can do this, then at least you have something to say to the judge and you might get the set aside.

 

If you don't get the set aside, you can still look at these issues and deal with Lowells as is necessary. It can be many months before they would go forward with a bankruptcy petition and if it were necessary for you to pay Lowells, you could enter into an arrangement with them to avoid bankruptcy.

[unclebulgaria67]

No complaining about mis-selling of PPI is not acknowledging anything, other than you have paid for something that you did not want or was not relevant.

 

If successful with the PPI complaint, it would come off the debt amount.

 

The whole point of getting the last payment info and PPI complaint, was that the judge would see that there were issues, so bankruptcy was totally inappropriate. Creditors should be using normal court procedures to deal with debts and only use bankruptcy as a last resort.

[unclebulgaria67]

Can we use that as a defence then? Because the first we had heard from Lowell was when they contacted us to say they wanted to deliver a SD. It is not a last resort when as far as we were concerned all of our debts were in order. Surely they should have gone down the CCJ route? Hopefully we can get the final payment info and log the CCJ complaint tomorrow so will have something to show the judge. With a bit of luck we may get some SAR info back in time as when they sent us the form back with no signature it was within a week. Wishful thinking maybe...

 

Unfortunately no rule to prevent these companies going straight for bankruptcy. All the OFT have said is that if companies choose to issue SD's as a way of collecting debts, they must show that they are actually moving forward with bankruptcies. Lowells have made people bankrupt as evidenced by a numbers of posts to CAG.

[unclebulgaria67]

Should we fail to get the debt set aside then, will we still be in a position to negotiate before they apply for bankruptcy

 

Yes. But make sure the debt is not statute barred first and also get the PPI complaint going.

 

In the cases I have seen on CAG, Lowells have gong for the bankruptcy about 5/6 months after the SD was served.

[unclebulgaria67]

It is not about whether Lowells have a credit agreement. It is whether they can produce a copy of the original credit agreement you had with the original creditor.

[unclebulgaria67]

Ah right, ok then. In court on Thursday, do they need to provide a statement of account showing the latest payments to prove that it's not statute barred?

Thanks

 

If you have asked for this and this is the basis of the set aside, then yes they should provide the information to the court. Don't be surprised if they are allowed more time to provide it, as it would seem some judges will be helpful to creditors. Other threads suggest that Lowells don't often turn up with the information.

[unclebulgaria67]

Suggest that you contact the court and push for the set aside to be granted. Also update them with the PPI reclaim, if this relates to the debt set aside.

[unclebulgaria67]

As there is now a hearing, you will have to attend and deal with the set aside. If you fail to attend and they do, the next step will be a bankruptcy petition.

[unclebulgaria67]

One other quick question, what happens if they turn up to court on the 19th with all the relevant paperwork? Are they still allowed to use it as the 21 days have passed?

 

Yes I think they can, as I think I read that the previous hearing was adjourned, so this next one is just a continuation. It would be up to the judge to decide based on what is produced. This is not really my area of knowledge, so hopefully someone will be along to explain what court procedures you may be able to use to help.

[unclebulgaria67]

Well done. This tread can be moved to legal successes now.