Lowells / Carter claimform for LLoyds Current Account OD***Claim Discontinued***

[mhf]

Hi, I could really do with some advice here please...

 

Some years ago before we met my wife had a Lloyds Bank account and a Credit Card,

 

the first was overdrawn and

the second had an outstanding balance.

 

Both were open / taken out way before 2007 and

 

due to personal circumstances at the time she had to pretty much start a new life.

 

..We think that the account and card stopped being used around 2007;

however neither was ever formally closed and they were left in a state of monies outstanding.

 

Some years ago we started to receive letters from different DCAs and

 

each time I sent the standard response requesting the signed CCA etc.

 

The way I figured an overdraft is an informal 'loan' and as such that

and the credit card both require a signed CCA?

 

we have never received a response to any requests and each time a new DCA got involved.

 

Recently a company called Lowells have been sending letters in;

 

initially we ignored them (foolish I know);

 

however they started to threaten legal action

 

i once again sent the standard request for the CCA and sent the £1 PO.

 

This was on 25th November 2013 and to this day no response has been received.

It was all sent recorded and I have proof of delivery.

 

Again the lack of response suggested this had gone away but

 

low and behold we get a letter from Bryan Carter expecting us to receive a Court Claim Form within 48 hours

and true to their word it landed on the mat today.

 

I have done some reading on this site and most cases seem to be around outstanding Catalogue balances

and in some cases only part of the money was being claimed,

in this case all of the debt is being claimed by BC.

 

Please can someone advise what my next move should be;

 

we still have no response to the CCA from Lowells

and although we cant prove it we believe this debt is over 6 years old

 

I wondered if the Statute Barred comes into effect here?

 

I opened an Experian account for my wife today and there is no reference to this on her credit file at all as a default account?

 

I am guessing that I should send a CPR 31.14 Request to BC and also acknowledge the Claim with the courts and contest it?

 

I have read so much on here today that my head is spinning so any assistance would be very gratefully received.

 

Many Thanks,

Mat

[Bazooka Boo]

Good old Bryan 'bloody' Carter,

loves his threats of court claims,

then splits them,

he wins two ccj's, horrible little man.

 

Yes Acknowledge the claim, and defend.

 

Not being on the credit file is a plus,

the only dead cert way of finding out if it is SB or not would be to submit a SAR to the bank,

however if it is over six years since the account was closed

then they probably wouldn't have any statements either.

 

CPR 31.14 will scare this little man off.......

[mhf]

Thanks for the reply Bazooka Boo.

 

Quick question,

if I acknowledge the claim immediately does it impact on my time to gather my defence?

 

I believe I have something like 5+14 days to acknowledge

and then another 14 to gather my defence and submit it. If

 

I acknowledge now does that immediately cut me down to 14 days for defence?

 

Thanks again!

Mat

[AndyOrch]

No.......its 33 days irrespective...can you type out their particulars (verbatim) less any identifiable data.

 

Regards

 

Andy

[mhf]

Hi. Thanks for the help so far....

 

The Claim Form states:

 

In the Northampton CCBC

Issue date 07 Feb 2014

 

Claimant:

Lowell Portfolio I Ltd

Re: Lowell Financial Ltd

Registered Office

Enterprise House

1 Apex View

Leeds

LS11 9BH

 

Address for sending documents and payments:

Bryan Carter Solicitors LLP

11 De Havilland Drive

Weybridge Surrey

KT13 0YP

 

08453133125

LOW/.....

 

Defendant:

My wife's name and our address

 

Particulars of Claim:

 

This claim is for XXXX.XX the amount due under an agreement between the original creditor and the defendant to provide finance and / or services and / or goods.

 

This debt was assigned to / purchased by Lowell Portfolio I Ltd on 24/06/2013 and notice served pursuant to the Law of Property Act 1925

 

Particulars

Re: Lloyds

A/C No ......

 

And the claimant claims XXXX.XX

 

The claimant also claims interest pursuant to S69 County Court Act 1984 from 24/06/2013 to date at 8% per annum amounting to XXX.XX

 

Amount Claimed: XXXX.XX

Court fee: 75.00

Solicitors Costs: 80.00

Total amount: XXXX.XX

Edited February 11, 2014 by Andyorch
Amounts removed

[mhf]

Sorry another quick question... Do I tick the 'I intend to contest jurisdiction' tick box? I have selected to defend all of this claim but am not sure about the jurisdiction one?

 

Thanks

[AndyOrch]

Thank you mhf...

 

Make sure you use the correct CPR 31.14 (Current Accounts) and or (Credit Card/Personal Loan)

 

Andy

[dx100uk]

Sorry another quick question... Do I tick the 'I intend to contest jurisdiction' tick box? I have selected to defend all of this claim but am not sure about the jurisdiction one?

 

Thanks

 

no

 

 

from the account number is this the current account or the credit card.

[mhf]

Hi dx100uk,

 

I have double checked and the A/C number references the Current Account and not the Card.

 

Many Thanks,

Mat

[mhf]

Some more queries for you please...

 

From my POC (which I have posted above)

I can see that the key words 'Agreement', 'Assigned' and 'Notice Served' are all used.

 

When I write the CPR 31.14 request do I still include a request for:

 

1. The Demand/Termination Notice (Notice served under Sections 76(1) and 98(1) of the CCA1974

 

2. Notices of Sums in Arrears under running account credit CCA2006 sec 86C

 

These are not specifically mentioned in the POC;

however can it be assumed that they should still exist and as a result I am entitled to request copies?

 

These of course may be items that were sent to my wife some time ago;

however its so long in the past now and much of this happened before we even lived together.

 

Do I also request a copy of the 'Notice Served' which from the POC suggests this is a notice served by Lowells to my wife?

 

One final one,

shall I also include a copy of the letter sent to Lowells back in November requesting a copy of the signed CCA,

which we have thus far had not response to?

 

Thank you once again for your on-going support with this.

Mat

[dx100uk]

you can only request what is specifically referenced to in the PoC.

- the paperwork they indicate they will rely upon.

 

dx

[AndyOrch]

Some more queries for you please...

 

From my POC (which I have posted above)

I can see that the key words 'Agreement', 'Assigned' and 'Notice Served' are all used.

 

When I write the CPR 31.14 request do I still include a request for:

 

1. The Demand/Termination Notice (Notice served under Sections 76(1) and 98(1) of the CCA1974 .Yes leave it in anyway it may give them a clue as to what they are actually suing for

 

2. Notices of Sums in Arrears under running account credit CCA2006 sec 86C. Yes because they are requesting interest which this notice facilitates its permittance

 

These are not specifically mentioned in the POC;

however can it be assumed that they should still exist and as a result I am entitled to request copies?

 

These of course may be items that were sent to my wife some time ago;

however its so long in the past now and much of this happened before we even lived together.

 

Do I also request a copy of the 'Notice Served' which from the POC suggests this is a notice served by Lowells to my wife? This refers to the The Notice of Assignment which you should already be requesting within the CPR 31.14

 

One final one,

shall I also include a copy of the letter sent to Lowells back in November requesting a copy of the signed CCA,

which we have thus far had not response to? No you can raise that within your defence

 

Thank you once again for your on-going support with this.

Mat

 

Regards

 

Andy

[mhf]

Thanks for the responses.

I have now written the CPR 31.14 and a SAR for LLoyds which will be sent off ASAP...

 

I have done some more reading on all this and have discovered that even though the CCA request was ignored,

this is largely irrelevant anyway as it is an overdraft on a current account that is being chased;

at least we think it is but the number being claimed doesn't add up to what state it was in,

in fact they are asking for over double!

 

Although I hope the SAR will clear this up as there is nothing on her credit file regarding any of this....

 

Another thing, which may be delving too deep into a legal mine field...

. This all happened some years back when she lived at her old address with her now ex-husband

she then moved in with me into my house that is solely in my name

(on the advice of certain people she had to do this quickly, most of her stuff was left behind)

and we have since married (around 7 months ago).

 

The DCAs have contacted her here;

however should this all go slightly wayward I don't want anything affecting this house.

 

Her ex still lives in their old house which her name is still on,

so if a charge order is placed can it not be placed there instead of here?

 

Bearing in mind her name is not on this house only her old one..

..in fact, although the accounts were not used since Oct 08

she wrote a letter to the bank in Feb 09 after the 'dust had settled' formally requesting the accounts be closed

and stated that they could place a charge at the old address if they so desired.

[dx100uk]

if your house in solely mortgaged/owned in your name, it is safe.

 

dx

[mhf]

Thanks dx100uk; I was worried that as we are married it might not have been! Eases things a little.....

[mhf]

Hi all. Just want to say thanks for all your help so far. I have got some more info / queries that I hope you can help with...

 

The original debt was an overdraft. Although I sent the DCA a CCA request in Nov we didn't have a response. Are overdrafts covered by a CCA, does this argument work at all? I have read differing opinion on this one...I sent a PO for £1 so have no idea is it was ever cashed although I do have a signature from Royal Mail for the CCA request showing it was delivered.

 

The account was taken out in 1992 and was marked in default in 2009 and the OC assigned / sold it on in 2013.

 

I have sent BC, who is acting on behalf of the DCA a CPR 31.14 request and I have sent a SAR to the OC; however they have 40 days to respond which is after the date that defence is due to be submitted so this may not help at all?

 

In all reality what are the hopes of successfully defending this, the fact its an overdraft concerns me based on what I have read?

 

I have also noticed that the OC has marked the account as 'Satisfied' although it is still 'in default' and there is no new account showing the DCA having taken it on. Does this matter at all?

 

Any advice / assistance greatly appreciated as always.

 

Mat

[AndyOrch]

Overdrafts are covered by the Credit Consumer Act but not with regards to requesting a CCA ...they are exempt except for part v.

 

Andy

[mhf]

Does this mean that certain paperwork still needs to be presented on their side to make this stick? Is it still worth a fight?

 

Mat

[AndyOrch]

No paperwork really required with regards to facility but with regards to the termination and enforcement you should have received a:-

 

2: The Demand/Termination Notice (Notice served under Sections 76(1) and 98(1) of the CCA1974..

 

You did use the CPR 31.14 Overdraft version?

[mhf]

I did indeed and it included the clause that you mentioned above. So now I guess we wait and see what BC come back with.....

 

Thanks Andy!

[AndyOrch]

I did indeed and it included the clause that you mentioned above. So now I guess we wait and see what BC come back with.....

 

Thanks Andy!

 

[mhf]

Hi All...we have received what looks like the standard response from BC...

 

Dear XXX

 

XXX V XXX

Account Number XXX

Outstanding Balance XXX

 

We write further to your letter dated XXX requesting disclosure under Part 31 of the Civil Procedure Rules.

 

We confirm the claim form was issued by the Northampton County Bulk Centre and that the Court's Protocol was followed when issuing the Claimant's Particulars of Claim. Practice Direction 7C point 1.4 (3A) eliminates the requirement to attach the documents to the Particulars of Claim when they are issued by this Court.

 

We confirm this matter will most properly be allocated to the Small Claims Track as this is a simple contractual matter and Part 31 of the Civil Procedure Rules will therefore not apply.

 

In any event the Notices of Default and Assignment left the control of the Claimant when they were dispatched to you.

 

It is the original creditor's policy to issue agreements at the start of the contract and statements throughout the duration of the agreement and, in this regard, we ask you to refer to your own records.

 

We confirm we are not agreeable to an extension for filing your defence.

 

We confirm we are in receipt of your acknowledgement of service.

 

As you will be aware a Claim was issued in this matter on XX. Please respond to the claim using the Response Pack provided by the Court. You should comply with the deadlines outlined by the Court in order to avoid a default Judgment being entered against you.

 

We recommend you seek independent legal advice.

 

Yours Sin......

 

Any assistance on where to go from here would be great!

The issue date on the Claim from the Court was 7th Feb, so if I am correct my defence needs to be submitted by:

 

7th Feb + 5 days service + 14 days (AoS sent) + 14 days = 33 days, so defence by Wednesday, 12 March?

 

Many Thanks,

Mat

[AndyOrch]

Keep your eye on the dates and start to prepare a defence.

[mhf]

Thanks Andy....I am not sure what defence there is though? BC didn't send any of the documents through as requested and the SAR with the OC remains as yet outstanding.... I dont even know where to begin with this one so a point in the right direction would be greatly appreciated.

 

Many Thanks,

Mat

[AndyOrch]

Take a look at other Lowells threads here in legal .....you cant miss them there are 1000,s ....all of which contain a defence or about to draft their own.

 

Andy