lowell/cohen Claim Form - Orange 'debt'

[issie56]

Hi

 

This is my first post, so hopefully I am doing this right.

 

In January 2012 I took out a mobile phone contract with Orange.

The monthly bill was £10.50 per month, paid every month by direct debit and no missed payments.

The Contract was for 24 months.

 

 

Due to a fall in income, I decided to ask Orange for a mobile dongle and end my contract for home internet with Sky Digital.

This was fine and no problems with Sky.

 

 

Because the dongle was really good, I decided to ask Orange to install home broadband for me.

They agreed and this was set up on June 16 2012.

 

 

However, the internet did not work, so I rang them and they sent an engineer.

He spent a long time messing about with it, assuring me that it was fixed

and would be working within 2 hours. This never happened

 

 

I rang Orange again to cancel my home broadband service, explaining that it would not work.

They tested the line and said nothing was wrong with the line, but I had not internet.

 

 

Eventually, after been passed to several different people, it was agreed to cancel my internet.

Cancellation according to the contract was to be done prior to the internet being set up.

 

 

However, as they did not set it up propertly and it did not work,

it was agreed that I would not have to pay any cancellation charges and I cancelled my direct debit.

 

 

I contacted Sky to take over my internet from Orange, explaining that the internet had never worked.

Sky had no problem setting up within a couple of days, explaining to me that they still had the line

(further proof that Orange could not possibly have supplied me with home broadband services

as Sky still had the line, albeit suspended).

 

 

I telephoned to pay my normal mobile phone bill,

shocked to find out that I had a huge amount to pay,

this was for installation of my broadband that I didn't recieve

and cancellation charges that I was told I would not have to pay since I never received the service.

 

 

I asked if I could pay my mobile phone, but they had bunched all the accounts together

and so would not accept the payment on its own.

 

 

Obviously, I did not pay as I did not owe that amount.

I was told by the customer advisor they would rebill me.

In the meantime the suspended my mobile phone access due to there being this balance

for my internet on the account.

 

 

I rang to complain, pointing out once again that I never received the services for my broadband

, the engineer had failed to install it and therefore I did not owe them any money

other than my mobile phone charges that there was not dispute about.

 

 

They promised to look into it and agreed that I should not be pay for internet I never received.

I have the direct debit on my statement in July 2016 that I paid to Sky for my services,

again showing that Sky had been able to set up my internet immediately

because they still had the line and that Orange never had my telephone line

and so could not have supplied me with internet services.

 

 

At the end of August I received a demand for payment of my account,

for the internet sevices not received, my mobile phone payments

(now in arrears because they would not accept payment for this alone).

 

 

I rang again, complaining about the bill, they said they would look into it

and I again asked if I could pay my mobile phone contract,

but they said they needed the full amount on the account

and couldn't seperate them out.

 

 

The following month, I recieved a letter stating that my mobile phone account had been cancelled by them

for non-payment and that I now owed £322 (I can't remember the exact figure).

 

 

I couldn't be bothered to ring them any more, as they had made frequent promises to sort this out

and hadn't and they not my had cancelled my phone contract as a result of the business with the internet.

 

I never heard anything else from them.

I have moved around a lot in the past five years due to my ex partner.

 

 

On the 9th October 2015, I received a County Court Claim which I am defending.

I sent back the Acknowledgement of Service Form online to them.

 

 

I now have until the 9th November to send my defence.

I am sure I have a good chance of winning this.

I am going to deny all of the particulars of the claim as I don't agree with this.

 

 

I have no idea what it is they are referring to.

I rang Cohen Cramer Solictors for information, they just said it 'has to do with a mobile phone account'.

So I am left second guessing.

I never received any default notices (although they could have been sent to a previous address)

. I never received any notice of intended court action by Lowell,

they insist they sent it, but I did not get it!

 

I don't want to mess up my defence,

I want Lowell to prove the claim and believe I should have sent them a CPR31.14 form,

however, I only found out about this today and I don't think there is time to send this now

and place my defence with the court by 9th November deadline.

 

 

I know for sure that Lowell will not let me extend the time to submit my defence,

they are awkward.

 

 

My main questions at this point is:

1. Can I file my defence form and send the CPR31.14 to Lowell anyway

or do I have to had a response from Lowell re the requests made in the form before filing my defence.

 

2. Could I file my defence anyway (I need a bit of help with this)

and then ask Lowell for the evidence and produce this in court.

 

3. Am I too late with the CPR31.14 form.

 

I am going to the CAB on Monday to ask them to help me put my defence forward.

But, I want to put the onus on Lowell to supply evidence,

which will include a copy of the contract with Orange,

all default notices sent to date, and transcripts of telephone conversations

between myself and Orange which will prove my case.

 

 

Lowell said they sent me notification that the debt had been legally assigned to them on the 27/08/2014.

I never received such notification.

I am going to deny this and ask for proof of where it was sent to.

 

I would be very grateful to anyone who can help me with this.

I have a heart problem and this has exarcerbated it and slowed things down.

 

Many thanks in advance.

[dx100uk]

easily defended no need for CAB at all.

 

 

yes get that CPR running

 

 

can you fill this out please

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

 

 

and copy the questions back to a msg box

and then answer each question

 

 

no need to go thru all the dispute issue again mind!

[issie56]

Hello dx100uk

 

Thank you for your really helpful comments, and for getting back with a reply so quickly!

I will post the CPR form by recorded delivery on Monday to the solicitors actings for Lowell.

 

Here is the information you asked for:

 

Name of the Claimant ? - Lowell Portfolio LTD

 

Date of issue – - 09/10/2015

 

What is the claim for – the reason they have issued the claim?

 

1.The claim is for the sum of £352.88 due by the Defendent under non-regulated Orange account

with an account reference of ********.

The Defendent failed to maintain contractual payments required under the terms of the account agreement.

The debt was legally assigned to the claimant on 27/Aug/2014,

notice of which has been given to the defendant.

 

 

2.The claim includes statutory interest under S69 of the County Courts Act 1984 at a rate of 8% per annum

from the date of the assignment to the date of issue of these proceedings in the sum of £28.23.

The claimant claims the sum of £381.11.

 

What is the value of the claim? - Amount of claim = 381.11 + 35.00 court fee + 50.00 Legal Representatives Costs = £466

 

Is the claim for a current account (Overdraft) or credit/loan account or mobile phone account? - a mobile phone (I think? it is not clear on the claim form).

 

When did you enter into the original agreement before or after 2007? after 2007.

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. - lowells

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

- No, I had no idea the account had been assigned, not correspondence was received by me regarding this

 

Did you receive a Default Notice from the original creditor?

No, only a demand for final payment for the amount owing (that I didn't owe).

 

Have you been receiving statutory notices headed “Notice of Default sums” – at least once a year ?

No, I have not received any Notice of Default sums at any time and never once a year.

 

Why did you cease payments?

I didn't cease payments. They wanted me to pay more than my mobile phone charge and I didn't owe any more than this so did not pay. I offered to pay for my mobile phone contract, there was never any dispute about this on my part and I would have continued with my payments had I been allowed to pay for this as a seperate account.

 

What was the date of your last payment? May or June 2012, I can't remember as I no longer have the bank account that I made payments from and no statements as they were on-line. Orange should have a record though. I must have made a payment for June otherwise they would not have set up a new account for internet. I have the agreement with dates for this.

Was there a dispute with the original creditor that remains unresolved?

Yes, there was a dispute regarding how much I owed. They were trying charge me for internet I never received and cancellation charges of the same, which I did not owe because I cancelled as I had no internet and Sky confirmed that they still had the phone line.

 

Did you communicate any financial problems to the original creditor and make any attempt to enter into a plan?

- No, I was not in any financial difficulty. I wanted to pay for my phone contract as usual, but was prevented from doing so by the outstanding amount for my internet and they suspended my phone use so I got 02 to take over in July or August (I have evidence of this in a bank statement)

I hope this is enough information for you to help!

 

Many thanks again

[issie56]

Hi

 

In answer to the question - ' When did you enter into the original agreement before or after 2007? - it was after 2007. Sorry I forgot to answer that question:|

[dx100uk]

all pretty std stuff then

 

 

should be easy to defend

 

 

there are numerous mobile phone claims here or in the successes forum.

 

 

have a browse and also use the search cag box of the top read toolbar.

 

 

dx

[issie56]

Hi Dx

 

Thank you for your help so far.

 

 

I have drafted CPR31.14.

I received the original claim on the 14th of October, the claim was dated 9th October.

 

 

I sent the acknowledgement of service as stated in an earlier post.

However, I am unsure as to what date my defence deadline is.

 

 

I know I have 28 days if I am defending.

So given the above dates when would my defence be due at the latest?

 

 

Also, should I send the CPR by same day delivery to ensure I am giving them a full seven days to reply?

Or could I file my defence anyway without their response.

 

 

There response will define what I will write for my defence.

If I don't receive the documents requested from Lowell I will file a defence anyway denying all knowledge of the debt

until I receive this information from Lowell.

 

 

I am currently wading through other peoples posts re Orange all of which have been very helpful.

I am presently quite ill and claiming ESA so on a very low income,

but this site is fantastic and really given me confidence in putting forward my defence,

I slept properly for the first time in weeks.

 

 

As soon as I am able to I will definitely be donating to keep the site going.

[dx100uk]

Tuesday 10th nov by 4pm

def deadline

 

 

matters not if they reply as such

 

 

holding / no paperwork def in many of the threads you've read here

 

 

dx

[issie56]

Hi dx

Thank you! I will post tomorrow for next day delivery,

giving them a full seven days to get the documents back to me before the 4.00 pm deadline on the 10th.

 

 

I am submitting my defence online on the morning of the 10th,

I did it online with my acknowledgement of service and it showed as being submitted at the exact time and date

I pressed the submit button.

 

 

I have this prepared, just a case of submitting it to the court.

I have asked Lowell for all correspondence including verbal transcripts from the period 16th January 2012 to 27th August 2014 when they said they were assigned the debt.

 

 

Cohen and Cramer person I spoke to was quite sure Orange would be able to supply this information as they have to keep things on file for 6 years.

 

issie56

[dx100uk]

you shouldn't be speaking to the fleecers on the phone.

 

 

post up your def here get it checked

 

 

no good giving Cohen and Cramer a date range

 

 

leave the CPR as it is

 

 

you are using our one from the legal section of the library?

 

 

dx

[issie56]

Hi

I tried to access the library, a message came up and asked me to register, I thought I did this yesterday when I joined. I am currently logged in. Do I need to do anything else? How do I register further to access the library?

issie56

[issie56]

Hi this is what I would be sending tomorrow to Lowell.

 

Also, I did not receive any letter from them at any time stating that the account had been assigned to them,

however, because of my frequent house moves they may have sent it to the wrong address.

 

Should I state this in my defence?

u

Thank you for offering to look at my defence before I send it.

I was as bit worried that with input from CAB I would get it wrong!

 

I also did not receive a letter from lowell stating they were going to take court action.

They said they sent it when I rang them, but I didn't get it.

 

Surely if they sent something like this they would have sent it recorded delivery?

 

Obviously, I can't prove they didn't send it, they said the have a copy of the letter they sent on file and this is proof!

 

I am going to put in my defence no correspondence has been received by me regarding this account since the end of August 2012.

 

issiem56

[dx100uk]

Post removed please don't post templates in the open forum

The current account CPR in the legal section of the library

Will do

You must be logged in

 

The fact the you failed to inform you creditors you moved

Negates the argument you didn't get letters

 

Dx

[issie56]

Hi

The reason I didn't tell Orange I moved was because I didn't have a debt with them

and no letters from them since August 2012.

 

 

I told other all my other creditors, bank etec.

 

 

Should I leave out on my defence that I moved home.

 

 

I always had my mail redirected and never received anything from Orange!

 

 

I still can't get into the library,

 

 

I am getting the message I need to be registered.

I checked and I am registered?

 

 

I am currently logged in

[dx100uk]

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?387484-LEGAL-CPR-31.14-Request-Request-for-information-when-a-Claim-has-been-issued.

 

 

moving home does not feature in our holding/ no paperwork def.

 

 

please use that.

 

 

however a good few days away yet.

 

 

dx

[issie56]

Hi

Thanks! Sorry for being dim (getting old) do you mean not to say about moving home, but okay to say I didn't receive paperwork? I guess the onus is on them to prove they actually sent me any correspondence?

 

I will post my defence before the 10th for some feedback before sending. Thank you for your help! Much appreciated

[Guest]

yes, if defending, they'll have to show that the letters were sent. probably to the last known address in the absence of anything else. but if just re that, then maybe, as dx says, prob not a whole defence in itself, rather just re an actual amount owed taking off the charges/arrears etc due to non receipt of statements.

and/or re any breach of contract if applicable.

[dx100uk]

post 49 here as an example

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?415775-Bryan-Carter-on-behalf-of-Lowell-(mobile-phone-debt)***Claim-Discontinued***

 

 

dx

[dx100uk]

just been pointed out used the wrong CPR link in post 14 [npw corrected]

 

 

you should be using this one

 

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?387484-LEGAL-CPR-31.14-Request-Request-for-information-when-a-Claim-has-been-issued.

 

 

sorry

 

 

dx

[issie56]

Hi dx / Ford

 

Thank you for the update!

Don't worry about the form dx, I think I have completed the right one

here is my completed form that I am going to send off today for next day delivery.

It will have to be signed for at their end, so although they won't get it until the 3rd and my defence is due on 10th by 4 pm

, could they argue I did not give them reasonable time to find the documents, that will be exactly 7 days?

 

 

template removed - please do not post templates in the open forum. - dx

 

I would be really grateful if you could check this over for me before I send it out this afternoon.

 

 

I am not sure about item 6 that I am requesting?

 

 

What do you think - I want all correspondence, but as my defence will not acknowledge the debt will this negate this defence?

 

 

I won't send out my defence without you guys checking it first.

 

Many thanks

issie56

[issie56]

Sorry, I mean item 5!

[dx100uk]

that should be ok don't worry if it wrong

 

 

if you go read other claim threads you'll see lowells/ whomever rarely respond to a cpr

the timescale is no issue to your defence

[issie56]

Hi

Thanks!

 

Will send my defence for you to look at in the next few days.

 

Many thanks

issie56

[issie56]

Hi Dx

 

Please can you advise. I have just received through the post from Cohen and Cramer a letter that is very confusing! Here is the letter quoted verbatim.

 

Headed Notice of Pending Court Judgement

 

Dear Ms XXXXXXXXXX

 

Our Client: Lowell Portfolio Ltd - Account Number xxxxxxxxx

Court Name: Northampton Claim Number

Amount Due: £466.11

 

You are aware that we have issued legal proceedings against you in the Northampton County Court.

 

As you have failed to respond with proposals for payment or provide any valid explanation why the debt should not be paid,we are now instructed to enter judgement against you.

 

If a County Court Judgement (CCJ) is entered it will remain on the judgement against you.

 

If you do not pay the judgement in accordance with terms ordered by the court it may be enforced using any of the following methods

 

Warrant of Control - A County Court Bailiff may visit you at home

Attachment of Earnings - Your employer being ordered to deduct payment from wages

 

In order to prevent judgement being entered you should make payment of £466.11 within the next 7 days.

 

Please contact our client's agent to arrange this:-

 

Lucas Credit Services - Tel: 01274 957062

Email:[email protected]

 

Please see the reverse of this letter for details of how to make payment to Lucas Credit Services for this account.

 

Please note that having a judgement registered against you is a serious matter and you may wish to seek independent legal advice.

 

Yours faithfully

 

Cohen and Cramer

 

I printed of the PDF of the acknowledgement of service and have this filed. This was done on the 21st of October 2015. Their letter is dated 29th October 2015. I have checked my online account with MCOL and my defence is definitely there. Should I send a copy of this to Cohen Cramer with my CPR31.14 today as proof. It is water marked so they can see it is genuine. Should I contact Lucas Credit Services by email and attach the acknowledgement of service and point out that I have until 10th of November to file my defence? Really distressed! please can you help.

 

issie56

Edited November 2, 2015 by Andyorch
Name removed

[issie56]

Surely this is harassment! I am following everything correctly!

[AndyOrch]

Ignore its intended to rile you and for you to start writing/phoning...as you are thinking of doing above.