Lowell/? claimform - disputed o2 mobile 'debt'

[mlc123]

Hi

 

Hope I can get some advice on what to do.

 

I have received a county court claim from Lowell re an O2 debt.

I cancelled my contract early as I was so angry at being barred from making calls,

after I had made an agreement with them to pay a bill over 2 months, rather than just the one.

I was on a fixed monthly contract but somehow my data or calls overan one month and I was massively charged.

 

 

I knew my DD would be rejected,

so contacted them immediately and they offered me a 2 month repayment

( half the debt immediately, and the remaining half on the next bill). I agreed.

 

 

About 1 week later, they barred my outgoing calls.

I rang them, and they said they didnt know whay it had happened, so put my calls back on.

 

 

2 days later it happened again, just the outgoing calls were barred,

I did online chat and they put my calls back on again.

 

 

About 3 days later my calls both outgoing and incoming were barred.

I went online chat again and they said I had no agreement to pay over 2 months.

I told them to listen back to their phonecalls, and see the online chats and that they would hear/see it all agreed.

 

 

This person just said that the person who agreed it had no authority to do so, and that was the end of that

.....they would not put my calls back on.

 

I was so mad, as at the time, I was a community support worker, and my phone was a neccesity in that type of job.

 

In my absolute anger,

I told them to cancel my contract, as I had been with them for years, and never once not paid a bill

( except this time, but I had contacted them straight away before the bank had even seen a DD for this bill).

 

 

Obviously I could not use the phone as calls were barred, so I just waited for the next bill to arive and I paid the the next bill, in full, for that month

and the remaining of the previous month as agreed.

 

 

I had been advised by the first person to cancel my DD to avoid my bank charging me for a returned DD,

so both my initial payment and this final payment were made manually by debit card.

 

I gather this claim is for my 'outstanding contract charges' because I cancelled early.

 

 

When O2 started to chase me I sent letters and emails to explain the whole saga, but not once did they reply to me.

I think I was 5 months into this contract out of 18 month.

 

I am being asked to pay

£326.20 + £21.88 interest + £35 court fee + £50 legal representatives costs.

 

The details read

1) the defendant entered into an agreement with O2 under account reference xxxxxx ('the agreement)

2)the defendant failed to maintain the required payments and a default notice was served.

3)the agreement was later assigned to the claimant on 30/1/2015 and notice given to the defendant.

4)despite repeated requests for payment, the sum of £326.20 remains due and outstanding.

And the claimant claims a)the said sum of £326.20, b)interest pursuant to s69 county courts act 1984 at the rate of 8% per annum from the date of assignment to the date of issue, accruing at a daily rate of £0.071, but limited to one year, being £21.88, c)costs

 

 

On the form is named

Claimant

Lowell Portfolio I Ltd, with a leeds address

 

Address for solicitors

Lowell solicitors Ltd, with a northampton address

 

What is the best way for me to proceed?

Any help much appreciated.

[AndyOrch]

Hi mlc123 and Welcome to CAG

 

I will move your thread to our Financial Legal Issues in view of receiving a Court Claim.

 

Regards

 

Andy

[AndyOrch]

If you could read and respond to the following link...posting your responses here along side the questions asked.

 

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

 

Regards

 

Andy

[AndyOrch]

Posting on behalf of the OP

 

 

Name of the Claimant ? LowellPortfolio I Ltd

 

Date of issue – top right hand corner of the claim form – this in order toestablish the time line you need to adhere to.

 

Date of issue 3/12/2015 + 19 days ( 5 day for service + 14 days to acknowledge) = 21/12/15+ 14 days to submit defence = 4/1/2016 (33 days intotal) –

 

^^^^^ NOTE : WHEN CALCULATING THE TIMELINE - PLEASEREMEMBER THAT THE DATE OF THE CLAIM IS DAY 1 [example: Issue date 01.03.2014 +19 days (5 days for service + 14 days to acknowledge) = 19.03.2014 + 14 days tosubmit defence = 02.04.2014] = 33 days in total

 

What is the claim for – the reason they have issued the claim? Please type out their particulars of claim(verbatim) less any identifiable data and round the amounts up/down.

 

The details read

1) the defendant entered into an agreement with O2 under account referencexxxxxx ('the agreement)

2)the defendant failed to maintain the required payments and a default noticewas served.

3)the agreement was later assigned to the claimant on xx/1/2015 and noticegiven to the defendant.

4)despite repeated requests for payment, the sum of £326 remains due andoutstanding.

And the claimant claims a)the said sum of £326, b)interest pursuant to s69 countycourts act 1984 at the rate of 8% per annum from the date of assignment to thedate of issue, accruing at a daily rate of £0.0xx, but limited to one year, being£22, c)costs

 

What is the value of the claim? £326

 

Is the claim for a current account (Overdraft) or credit/loan account or mobilephone account? Mobile

 

When did you enter into the original agreement before or after 2007? After2007

 

Has the claim been issued by the original creditor or was the account assignedand it is the Debt purchaser who has issued the claim. DebtPurchaser

 

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

 

Did you receive a Default Notice from the original creditor? Yes

 

Have you been receiving statutory notices headed “Notice of Default sums” – atleast once a year ? Notsure. Will check.

 

Why did you cease payments? June2015

 

What was the date of your last payment? June 2015

 

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

 

Did you communicate any financial problems to the original creditor and makeany attempt to enter into a debt management plan? Only when the Bill involved came to light, but nothing after I cancelled the contract.