Lowells/Cohen Claim Form - old merged? provident doorstep loan debt

[swisstoni]

Can anybody help me with the Witness Statement above... I've got to get it in by next Weds as I go away and would miss the deadline otherwise... Thanks in advance

[AndyOrch]

There is no particular standard for the contents of a witness statement...its a statement in your own words in support of your defence ...paragraphing the relevant points in detail as to why you dispute the claim.

 

The form and layout is correct as are all the relevant points pursuant to the CCA974...as long as you have made a response to each of their points and countered it where necessary there is little further advice to offer.

[swisstoni]

Ok, thanks Andy - Just getting a little nervous now!

[swisstoni]

Final question from me I think before I submit my witness statement - I'm using section 87 and 88 of the CCA, would I have to print this off and state it as an exhibit?

[AndyOrch]

Yes

[swisstoni]

Thanks Andy

[swisstoni]

All documents now sent - Will report back after the Court Hearing on the 12th of September... Thanks for all your help guys

[swisstoni]

Court Hearing tomorrow

- To be honest,

i'm bricking it as i've never been through anything like this before.

 

 

Is my defence that there was no default notice sent which they've admitted in their disclosure a strong enough reason for me to win the case or is it at the Judge's discretion?

 

 

I feel i'm going to get turned over by their solicitor....

[AndyOrch]

Depends on the calibre of the DJ...but if you stick to it and quote sections 87/88 of the CCA1974 and ask how a court can override credit consumer law (assuming he does not accept it) it would be difficult for him to reply ?

 

We had a thread in court last week and the DJ did not want to get embroiled in legalities and was going to decide the case on probabilities ...so he adjourned and requested the claimant provide dispatch notes from 2006 on wards to support the claim....and asked the defendant to recall what homes he has lived at since that date...provide bank statements from 2006 on wards and try to recall if he ever had this catalogue account ?????

 

Best of luck for tomorrow toni and please provide an update....good or bad.

 

 

Regards

 

Andy

[swisstoni]

Lost the case and no right of appeal. Judge wasn't interested in anything I had to say. Just said, can you provide any evidence to show the loan was paid off... She said I can't just turn up relying on a 'technicality' to say there was no debt...I'll post a full transcript later when I've calmed down!

[AndyOrch]

Wasn't the same Judge as the thread I referred to above ?

 

Hardly a technicality being sued for a debt that has been paid off...but as I said earlier in your thread if you had that proof thats all you would need to succeed

[swisstoni]

Right, here goes.....

 

Turned up at the court 30 mins earlier and booked in,

was asked to take a seat and the court official knocked on the door of an adjacent room and said to the person inside Mr xxxxxxx is here...

 

 

A couple of minutes later, a lady came out of the room and stated she was the 'court agent' and asked if I was being represented.

I replied no and she asked if i'd like to step into the consultation room to run through a few things with me.

 

 

She went through my defence and my witness statement and asked several questions about it,

whether there was any other evidence I was submitting on the day,

did I have any proof of my DMP,

could I confirm the witness statement was mine as i'd not signed it...,

could I confirm it was my signature on the copies of the Provident agreement,

what I was relying on as evidence,

would I like to make a settlement offer 'out of court' etc. etc.

 

 

It was about this point that the penny dropped that she was Lowell's solicitor.

I hadn't suspected earlier as it was supposed to be a man as per the witness statement

I'd shown her my hand and told her verbatim what I was going to say......

 

 

About 1 hour later,

I was called into court and lo and behold, yes, it was the same woman that was representing Lowell's.

 

 

The District Judge had the same surname as myself (an unusual one) and stated to Lowell's solicitor that whilst this was the case,

we were not related and didn't know each other and asked me to confirm the same. She then went through the procedure to myself for me to understand the procedure and stated that there would be no right of appeal and her decision was binding on both sides.

 

Lowell's solicitor then explained she was the appointed agent and would be using the supplied witness statement for her case...

this was accepted by the DJ. She then outlined her case and explained that Lowell's do not issue default notices and at the time of legal assignment and as such, there was no oness on Lowells to issue on as per s87/88 of the CCA. She then proceeded to talk about the payments made and referred to the spreadsheet,

 

 

The DJ said that under the statement of truth or word to that effect, that she was prepared to accept them as an accurate reflection of payments made...

The DJ then asked me if the attached agreements bore my signature, to which I confirmed they did, then she asked me If I accepted I had loan products from Provident.

 

 

I said I only ever had 1 loan from Provident and the 2 agreements were 1 paying off the other leaving me with a little bit more cash...

She aked did I have proof that this was the case, and I replied that i'd asked for copies of the agents' collection book to further my case but I hadn't been supplied this to show that this had happened.

 

 

The DJ then said, so you can't show me that one loan paid off the other,

I said not until I recieve the payment book, No.

 

 

She then said the payments made are in the claimants evidence,

can you show me where in these payments,

it shows the paying off of loan 1..

I said I don't accept these as an accurate reflection of the payments made by myself or by my DMP.

She said well I do as they're the only evidence of payments supplied to the court today.

 

 

I then made reference to the notice of allocation and the erroneous account numbers contained within the letter..

The DJ said, Mr xxxxxxx, i'm not going to go any further unless you provide some evidence rather than a technicality of not supplying a default notice and account numbers that you do not understand,

 

 

you have admitted you had a debt with Provident,

you cannot show this court that the debt was paid,

therefore I strike out the defence and award the case to the claimant.

 

 

She then asked did the defence solicitor have any costs,

she stated fees of £295 which was duly allowed.

 

 

the court fee (although I thought this had already been included along with the solicitors fees or is that just for the initial witness statement preparation?) and something else about interest that I didn't quite catch...

 

 

The sum total is now over £3000 with 14 days to pay or else the CCJ is enforced...

Gutted is an understatement...

 

 

I firmly believe now that if you're attending court,

to get legal advice and/or to take someone legal with you who understands the process of what can and can't be said..

 

 

.I didn't know when I could speak, interject, ask questions etc. etc.

An expensive lesson learnt today.

Night Night and Goodbye...

[dx100uk]

judge lottery sadly.

and not taking the advice to speak to no-one before hand unless you wish to come to an arrangement.

[AndyOrch]

" I firmly believe now that if you're attending court,

to get legal advice and/or to take someone legal with you who understands the process of what can and can't be said.."

 

We cant win them all but we win most......Today's Victories..

 

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?469967-Lowell-claim-form-old-Creation-Finance-credit-Card***Claim-Dismissed***/page5

 

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?345419-Link-Kearns-claimform-MBNA-Virgin-Credit-card-debt-***-Claim-Dismissed-with-Costs***

 

The initial claim was for £2445..I assume thats the debt and not court fees and Sols fees...so they have stung you for further costs for today.....if you hadn't defended you would have had to of paid it 28 days after the claim was issued anyway (28th May)

[swisstoni]

Just for clarity, on the initial claim form, they have claimed £2200, a court fee of £105 and legal representative costs of £80, yet today, i've been ordered to pay more legal representative fees and another court fee..is this correct? I trust i'll get a breakdown in a letter...?

[AndyOrch]

No...its fixed costs in Small Claims Track... and the costs on the claim form.

[AndyOrch]

The judge can allow costs for counsel attendance on top but from the figures you have provided it does not appear to be fixed costs...

 

Initial claim £2445 inc court fee and Sols fee

 

So he allowed over £500 costs for today ?

 

How long was the hearing ?

 

Did they provide you with a bill of costs before the hearing ?

[swisstoni]

The hearing was about 30 minutes and no, I wasn't provided with a bill of costs

[swisstoni]

Letter from the court today sanctioning the CCJ and i've got till the 29th of September to pay up the £3000 odd pounds - I don't have this money, where do I go from here? Is it negotiate with Lowells or back to the court?

[Patma]

So sorry to hear what's happened. Is there no possibility of an appeal swisstoni?

 

Back in post 84 Andy said......

 

"if you stick to it and quote sections 87/88 of the CCA1974 and ask how a court can override credit consumer law (assuming he does not accept it) it would be difficult for him to reply ?"

 

I'm absolutely no expert but I can't help wondering if that could be grounds for an appeal.

See what Andy reckons.

[dx100uk]

variation order time?

[Patma]

What's one of those dx?

[dx100uk]

N245 I think

https://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?406098-LEGAL-N245-Application-for-suspension-vary-an-order-**Correct-as-at-Feb-2017**

[swisstoni]

...and just a thought, don't you have 30 days to pay the amount? I've been given 17 days if you count the court date as day 1....

[AndyOrch]

...and just a thought, don't you have 30 days to pay the amount? I've been given 17 days if you count the court date as day 1....

 

Well you cant pay it one go I assume so irrelevant...courts pay by dates can be forthwith or 16 days or 28 days...depends on the judge...submit the n245 as soon as possible so it can be processed before the 17 days expires.