Lowells/? - Claimform - old CAT 'debt' - poss SB'd

[robfromuk]

Hey Everyone!

 

Really hope someone can help me!

 

 

I'm currently 27 years old, between the ages of 18-21 I ran up a lot of debt and

I have foolishly / stupidly buried my head in the sand ever since and not taken any action to sort the mess out.

 

 

I had a gambling problem (that I have since fixed) and I ran up around £15k of debt through

credit cards / loans / payday loans / catalogues / mobile phones etc).

 

 

I fell into a spell of depression / anxiety and as such I currently only work part time on a low income which just about covers my expenditures.

 

Up until recently I had had letters in the post relating to my debts but nothing more - no action as such.

 

 

However last week I received my first CCJ.

 

 

The CCJ is from Lowell relating to a Shop Direct account that I had in 2008.

The date of the Shop Direct account from looking at my credit report is December 2008,

 

 

I received the CCJ in January 2015

- I have not made any payments / written communication at all within the last 6 years.

 

 

My query is could it possibly be statute barred?

 

Whilst I am not looking for the easy way out

- I am trying to figure out the best way to sort my debt out as a whole

- if the debtor hasn't taken any action in the time limit specified and it is now not enforceable then that suits me fine.

 

A few questions if I may:

 

1) Is the debt Statute Barred?

 

2) Is it right that if I defend the claim I will have to attend a court hearing? This worries me if I am honest.

 

3) Is it also right that I would have to pay a £155 fee to defend the case?

This is something I read online and I would struggle to pay for this.

 

4) If the debt were potentially statute barred and I sent the two template letters off a

nd acknowledged to the court that I intend to defend the debt

and the debtor writes back and confirms that indeed it is enforceable

and I have my dates wrong

can I still go ahead and make an offer then or is it too late?

 

Sorry for all the questions, really worried here!

 

Hope someone can help

 

Many Thanks,

 

Rob

[dx100uk]

ok 1st fill this out

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?419198-You-have-received-a-Claim-What-you-need-to-do.-**UPDATED-December-2014**(1-Viewing)-nbsp

 

paste the results here.

 

I take by CCJ - you mean a claimform, not a CCJ.

 

you past/reason for debts means nowt, forget it.

 

you don't have to pay to defend

 

get the CCA request & CPR as per what you've read already

 

the rest can wait.

 

yes could be SB'd

go get your credit file please too.

 

dx

[robfromuk]

Yes I meant a claim form sorry

 

Name of the Claimant ? Lowell Portfolio 1 Ltd

Date of issue – . 5th January 2015

What is the claim for –

 

The Claimant's claim is for the sum of £575

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 Shop Direct Finance Company under account reference xxxxxx and

assigned to the claimant on 08/06/2009 notice of which has been given to the Defendant.

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.

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 0.10 from the date of assignment of the agreement to 08/06/2010 being an amount of 36.60. (NOTE: I dispute the date)

 

What is the value of the claim? £575.26

Is the claim for a current or credit/loan account or mobile phone account? No

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. Assigned and debt purchaser issued.

 

Were you aware the account had been assigned – did you receive a Notice of Assignment? Yes

Did you receive a Default Notice from the original creditor? I can't remember if I am totally honest.

 

Have you been receiving statutory notices headed “Notice of Default sums” – at least once a year ? Not that I can recall.

 

Why did you cease payments? I don't believe I ever made any payments.

What was the date of your last payment? Not Applicable.

 

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

 

Sorry I am really novice-y about this - only read about the two letters, don't actually know what they are. What is a CPR?

 

Thanks for your help!

[AndyOrch]

As the claim was issued on the 5th you need to acknowledge service by Fri 23rd.

[dx100uk]

why 23rd andy?

 

 

dx

[AndyOrch]

19 days

[dx100uk]

can I have my brain back...

 

 

sri very strong winds all night..been up comforting the daughter

 

 

only just got power back since 3am

 

 

dx

[robfromuk]

I have been able to find out an old debt letter from Lowell which relates to this CCJ claim

and the Credit Agreement Date is 19th October 2008.

 

I am confident that I have not made any payments / written communication in the last 6 years.

 

Does this stand me in good stead?

 

Can I confirm that Statute Barred date is from the credit agreement date and not from the default date?

 

Many Thanks

[dx100uk]

credit agreement date?

 

 

SB runs typically from 1-3 month after your last payment

 

 

what is the default date from your credit dile?

 

 

get the CCA request and the CPR off

 

 

and ack [AOS] the claim on MCOL site

 

 

dx

[robfromuk]

Have acknowledged the claim on the website. Have sent off for CCA and CPR.

 

The credit agreement date (when I signed to accept the credit I guess) is the 19th October 2008.

 

 

The default date however is the 8th of June 2009.

 

 

It would appear from looking at bank statements that I made NO PAYMENT at all

- shortly after taking the catalogue out I was unfortunately made unemployed.

So no payments / written communication.

 

If the 6 years is from the default date then I am stuffed and I will have to pay it, if it's from when I took the credit out then I might be OK - that's my query?

 

Many Thanks.

[dx100uk]

can you not look online at the account statement [cat account]?

 

 

if you made no payments whatsoever

but [obviously] purchased goods

it will be from your last 'order'.

 

 

dx

[robfromuk]

Update:

 

When I fill in the defence what should I be putting?

 

 

Any advice?

 

 

Should I just put that I believe the debt to be statute barred or should I mention dates?

 

 

Should I include any paperwork to back my claim at this stage?

[dx100uk]

by 4pm 6th Feb you need to file your defence

 

 

UNLESS you can 100% prove you never made a payment or ordered anything

for 6yrs prior to the issue of the claimform

 

 

I would suspect you will file the holding/no paperwork defence

based on YOUR PoC from the claimform

 

 

examples are widely available here in the same forum you are in

or in

 

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/forumdisplay.php?190-DCA-Legal-Successes

Edited January 31, 2015 by Andyorch
Altered defence due date

[robfromuk]

I hope you don't mind me posting once more about this issue.

 

 

I sent off the defence claiming statute barred and heard nothing for 3 1/2 weeks,

 

 

I finally received a letter from the claimant confirming they intend to continue with the case.

 

I have now received a letter from the court itself called "notice of proposed allocation to the small claims track" - it says:

 

TAKE NOTICE THAT

 

1. This is now a defended claim.

 

The defendant has filed a defence, a copy of which is enclosed. (This bit has been crossed out, presumably by the court)

 

2. It appears that this case is suitable for allocation to the small claims track.

 

If you believe that this track is not the appropriate track for the claim, you must complete box C1 on the Small Claims Directions Questionnaire (Form N180) and explain why.

 

3. You must by 2 April 2015 complete the Small Claims Directions Questionnaire (Form N180) and file it with the court office and serve copies on all other parties. (Does this mean I have to send a copy to the claimaint?)

 

The directions questionnaire included mentions "mediation"

- whereby I can try and sort this out over the telephone with the claimaint and therefore possibly preventing a hearing

- is this something that could be worthwhile?

Or should I just go straight for the hearing option?

Is the mediation over the phone likely to be a waste of time?

 

That's pretty much it

- I have heard NOTHING at all from the claimaint in response to my requests for information

including a request for a copy of the original credit agreement

(despite sending a recorded letter about 6 weeks ago with the £1 included)

- what should I do about this?

 

Thanks again for your help.

[dx100uk]

simply read the N180 carefully and follow its directions

yes to mediation

though quite correctly its pointless