Lowell/Carter/lowell sols - claimform - Vanquis Card 'debt'

[ladyh0]

I hope Someone can help me as I am in a panic and angry at myself for being so stupid:-x

 

I was served with Proceedings for an old vanquis card which Lowell took over and Bryan Carter issued proceedings.

 

I filed defence and did everything I needed and the matter was allocated to small claims

at my local county court for hearing on 30th March.

 

I had problems with both Lowell and Brian Carter in that although I knew I had a balance outstanding on the account

and was prepared to negotiate a settlement

 

I did request copy credit agreements as I believed there may be PPI on the card

(I had recently had a few successful claims paid out so knew that this card must also have PPI)

Also they were claiming almost 4000 when the credit card only had a credit limit of 1000.00.

 

I have never received any paperwork relating to the amounts or copy credit agreement.

I received the directions Order for the hearing

 

about 2 weeks ago I received a letter from Bryan Carter saying they were no longer instructed

and they had returned the file to their client.

 

Yesterday I received an order from the court stating that my defence had been struck out

as I had failed to comply with the direction of the Order dated 25th January.

I checked over this Order and I could not see anything at all that I had to comply with.

 

Today I received another order stating the hearing had been vacated

and the claimants could apply in writing for judgement detailing clearly the claim they are making.

 

I checked and checked over the Order and could not see anything I had not complied with.

I have been so careful with dates etc to make sure everything was filed on time.

 

tonight I have checked through the file that I have been keeping my paperwork in

and I even checked the envelopes the letters etc cam in ....

.lo and behold in the envelope that the directions order was in

(as well as a leaflet on the Court services ) was a second order ahhh.

 

I cannot believe I missed it I took the original order out which is 3 pages

and left the leaflet in and obviously the second court Order.

I felt like crying I was so annoyed with myself.

 

this Order states that I have to file a statement of truth by 18th February!!!!

 

I am gutted and just want to know if this is the end

and Lowell will get a judgment against me for thousands over what I owed initially

and get away with ignoring their legal obligation to provided paperwork

 

any advise would be great.

Thanks Guys

[martin2006]

We do have people who are excellent in this area, dont panic, one will be along soon

[ladyh0]

ohhh thank you so much for the quick reply

[AndyOrch]

So you failed to comply with the directions and didn't serve your standard disclosure or witness statement ...so your defence was struck out.Did the claimant serve on you their witness statement and standard disclosure..I bet not?

 

Andy

[ladyh0]

Hi. Thanks for the reply. I had no disclosure as I have no paperwork and yes the order only tomd me to file a statement of truth. You are correct Lowell did not serve anything at all

[AndyOrch]

With court directions they tend to vary in the wording...and unless like we at CAG who deal with them day in day out...to the litigant it can be confusing...but all claims follow the same procedure.

Claim is issued...you either admit and pay or you defend.The claimant decides if they wish to proceed..if so the claim is allocated to track and local court.Directions are issued...and all directions instruct both parties to do standard disclosure and provide a witness statement (statement of truth).

 

Most posters here don't even read the notice of allocation or are aware of court directions...so we always point out that its imperative they comply by the dates stated otherwise they face sanctions being imposed (defence being struck out one of them).

 

But whats good for the goose is good for the gander, if the claimant as also failed to comply then the claim should also be struck out.

 

So back to your problem....have you checked with the court that the claimant has filed with them and just not served you..if not please do that first thing tomorrow.

 

Back to the Order...which you say you only received yesterday...which tells you to file a statement of truth by the 18th Feb ?

 

What date is on the order?

[ladyh0]

Hi. No not checked with the Court yet as only got the Order when I got in from work lasr evening but I will go there this morning and check. Sorry the Order I got yesterday was the one saying Lowell could write in and ask for Judgement

[AndyOrch]

"Yesterday I received an order from the court stating that my defence had been struck out as I had failed to comply with the direction of the Order dated 25th January. I checked over this Order and I could not see anything at all that I had to comply with. Today I received another order stating the hearing had been vacated and the claimants could apply in writing for judgement detailing clearly the claim they are making."

 

So in effect the court has given you two warnings to comply ?

[ladyh0]

No I am a bit confused. They gave me no warnings the 2 orders you have quoted above were to tell me defence had been struck out and Lowell could write to enter judgement

 

I received the first directions order dated 25th January which gave directions of hearing date time etc and this order stated that the parties had to file all documents that they wish to rely on 21 days before the hearing. I had no papers as tbe requests I made to Lowell and Bryan carter were ignored. On 3rd March I received a letter from Bryan Carter saying no longer instructed

 

I have telepboned the Court this morning and tbey say it shows Lowell paid the application fee but cant tell me if they filed anythibg as the file has been archived because the case is closed. So does that look as though that is it ?

[AndyOrch]

Well without knowing the finer details of the claim or your proposed defence...and in view of the solicitor change (which again I assume they never notified the court) the claimants have now been instructed to request Judgment.

 

 

The Order that states that you have to file a statement of truth by 18th February that was dated 25th Jan..what date did you receive that?

[ladyh0]

Yes the Order that asked me to file by 18th Feb was dated 25th January

and it came in the same envelope as the main directions order

 

I just didn't notice it I just took out the main Order and left in the envelope a leaflet about Court services

and mediation and the second order was amongst these .

 

..my fault I know but I thought the main order (which was 3 pages long) was the directions I had to comply with

and this order was standard directions for filing anything I was to rely on 21 days before the hearing so I cannot understand why another order was made asking me to file a separate statement.

 

The credit card was taken out in or around 2009.

I had bad credit but had paid off everything and was trying to sort my credit rating

so I got one of these credit builder cards from Vanquis.

The credit limit was only 1k and I did use it and made regular payments.

 

In 2011 my marriage broke down and I left my home.

With everything that was going on I just forgot about the card.

 

I eventually received a letter from Lowell (they had been writing to my previous address

and I think my ex husband gave them my new one)

 

I contacted them to make arrangements to pay off the balance.

Next thing I heard was from Bryan Carter.

 

in the meantime I had contacted Lowell for a copy of my CCA as I had a feeling I may have had PPI

when I got the letter from Bryan Carter I made the request to them also.

 

Not reply form either and next thing I received Court papers claiming £3,800.00!!!

 

My defence is that although I am prepared to discharge the balance on the account

what they are claiming is excessive and I have no idea how they come up with this figure from an initial 1k.

 

after I had filed by defence I made another request for paperwork

but never received anything and following this second request

 

I then received a letter from Bryan Carter on 1st March saying they were no longer acting

and had returned the file to Lowell.

 

I had no idea what to do, I had no paperwork and it was my intention to attend the hearing and explain to the district judge.

[AndyOrch]

Okay in view of the above and assuming that the claimants have still to request judgment (beit Carter or Lowell's own in house Sols) it may be possible to approach the claimant and suggest a consent/tomlin order with view to arranging a payment plan on the understanding they do not request judgment (stay the claim).

 

Even if you could set a side the judgment on grounds of the claimant also not complying with directions and yourself requesting relief from sanctions....I do not see a possible a defence apart from the total amount claimed is in question. Which is something else that could be negotiated by way of the Consent/tomlin order) ?

 

Regards

 

Andy

[ladyh0]

many thanks for that. I will write to them direct today to see if they will agree to this

[AndyOrch]

It may be of interest that Mr Carter has now closed down his website (18th March 2016) and hopefully his practice also

[ladyh0]

Hi.

By way of update I wrote to Lowell's and asked about Consent/Tomlin Order and sent by signed for post but not received a response. If they do enter judgment am I still able to pursue PPI claim and also what about the fact that they have not complied with my CCA request? Thank you

[dx100uk]

yes you can still do PPI at any stage

[ladyh0]

Thank you.

 

Is the fact that I have made 2 CCA requests that they have not complied with now not relevant ?

 

As I said previously this card only had a credit limit of 1k

and their court claim was for almost 4k

 

I have never had any documentation setting out how thy have come to this figure.

 

I have no problem repaying what I owe but no the obscene amount they are claiming..

 

Many thanks

[dx100uk]

what defence did you file?

[ladyh0]

My defence was that I had no documentation relating to the amount of the debt claimed,

that I had tried to negotiate with the Claimants solicitors (Bryan Carter)

as I believed that the amount claimed was excessive

and obviously made up of charges and possible PPI (although I know PPI is probs a separate issue) but an extra 3k!!!

 

But it appears they had "sacked" BC before the hearing

 

so I had no idea where to go.

 

as stated on my OP I did make CCA requests to both Lowell and BC ....both ignored

[dx100uk]

post up your defence please

redacted

exactly as you sent via MCOL please.

 

 

PPI+Charges wont cut it.

[ladyh0]

Thank you. I didn't sent it via MCOL I work for a law firm so sent it through our internal post (DX) (I am a family lawyer which makes it so crap that I missed the extra Order as stated above) I can only post defence when I am in work on Monday

[dx100uk]

 

and you made all those so very basic and fundamental mistakes.....

[ladyh0]

No I didn't think I did

 

I sent my defence in,

I got a mediation referral which they told me that this could not go ahead

as I did not have the documentation, because BC or Lowell did not give me what was requested

 

The Court Order came transferring to my local Court

and it had usual direction for providing documents relied on etc...

 

..I had none, Lowell provided nothing, but my defence was struck out ...

 

. Lowell never complied with the disclosure

i.e. statement of amount they were claiming, copy CCA etc.

 

I know I missed the "extra Order"

but for the life of me cannot understand why that was made.

 

I had filed my defence, had no more documents to add (had none) and Lowells had file bog all..

 

....please do not judge me :hail:

[dx100uk]

not here to judge

here to stop you being fleeced blind..

 

 

if lowells have not sent any docs to back up their claim

than IMHO

that is your defence

[ladyh0]

I know nobody is here to judge

but honestly that was my defence.

 

I had a debt of maybe 1k but they file for nearly 4k.

 

I have had no documents from Lowell (their solicitors were BC)

and they wrote to me about 1 month ago saying no longer instructed .

 

I called Court asking for information about defence being struck out

she tole me

" file has been archived but Lowell had filed some paperwork but she could not say what"

 

I was advised in this thread to ask for a Consent/Tomlin Order

and I am happy to pay what I owe but not some inflated amount (extra 3k )

and I have sentt a letter to Lowell so fingers X:|

 

Many thants