Lowell Claimform - old very CAT debt

[AndyOrch]

You still need to respond to their para 1

 

1) the Defendant entered into a consumer credit Act 1974 regulated agreement with Shop Direct under account ref XXXXX

(The agreement)

 

Something along the lines of ......

 

1.Paragraph 1 is noted and it is accepted insofar that I have once held a contractual relationship with Shop Direct.I do not recollect the details nor am I aware of any outstanding balance that the claimant refers to and have therefore sought clarity from the claimant given that that they are the assignee of this alleged debt and have very little knowledge of what they are claiming and do not appear to be able to disclose any further details by way of CPR 31.14.

[im4347]

Hi Andy

 

Is the following amended defence ok.....

 

1) the Defendant entered into a consumer credit Act 1974 regulated agreement with Shop Direct under account ref XXXXX

(The agreement)

2) the defendant failed to maintain the required payments and a default notice was served and not complied with

 

3) the agreement was later assigned to the Claimant (Lowell Portfolio Ltd) on 16/9/2016 and notice given to the defendant

 

4) despite repeated request for payment the sum of £700 remains due and outstanding

And the claimant claims

(a) the said sum of £700

(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 £0.147, but limited to 1 year, being £27.xx

© costs

 

Defence

 

1. The Defendant contends that the particulars of claim are vague and generic in nature. The Defendant accordingly sets out its case below and relies on CPR r 16.5 (3) in relation to any particular allegation to which a specific response has not been made.

 

2. Paragraph 1 is noted and it is accepted insofar that I have once held a contractual relationship with Shop Direct. I do not recollect the details nor am I aware of any outstanding balance that the claimant refers to and have therefore sought clarity from the claimant given that that they are the assignee of this alleged debt and have very little knowledge of what they are claiming and do not appear to be able to disclose any further details by way of CPR 31.14.

 

3. Paragraph 2 is denied I have never received any Default Notice from the original creditor nor the claimant

 

4. Paragraph 3 is denied I am unaware of any legal assignment or Notice of Assignment allegedly served over 9 months ago.

 

5. On the 25th June 2017 ( sent by recorded delivery) I requested information pertaining to this claim by way of a CPR 31.14 request and a Section 78 request. The claimant has failed to date to respond to the CPR and remains in default of the section 78 request.

 

6. It is therefore denied with regards to the Defendant owing any monies to the Claimant, the Claimant has failed to provide any evidence of assignment/balance/breach requested by CPR 31. 14, therefore the Claimant is put to strict proof to:

(a) show how the Defendant has entered into an agreement; and

(b) show and evidence the nature of the breach and service of a valid default notice;

© show how the Defendant has reached the amount claimed for; and

(d) show how the Claimant has the legal right, either under statute or equity to issue a claim;

 

7. It is therefore denied with regards to the Defendant owing any monies to the Claimant, the Claimant has failed to provide any evidence of assignment/balance/breach requested by CPR 31. 14

 

8. As per Civil Procedure Rule 16.5(4), it is expected that the Claimant prove the allegation that the money is owed.

 

9. On the alternative, if the Claimant is an assignee of a debt, it is denied that the Claimant has the right to lay a claim due to contraventions of Section 136 of the Law of Property Act and Section 82A of the consumer credit Act 1974.

 

10. By reasons of the facts and matters set out above, it is denied that the Claimant is entitled to the relief claimed or any relief.

[AndyOrch]

[im4347]

Thanks Andy.

 

I know this is a silly question, but 14 days from the order dated 16th June is 30th June, when should i submit my defence?

 

IM

[AndyOrch]

Do it tomorrow......you dont have to wait until the death (29th)

[im4347]

Hi All

 

I have received directions questionnaire from Lowell with regards to a settlement/mediation on 7th July.

 

I have also received a notice of proposed allocation to the small claims track/Mediation from court dated 19th July and have till 7th Aug to respond.

 

I have further received a letter from Lowell dated 20th July to acknowledge the receipt of the CPR request which was done 25th June and receipt of the defence dated 28th June.

 

They have stated in the letter that having reviewed the CPR request and that they have directed it to the original creditors (Shop Direct) and waiting their response.

 

They have attached the alleged 'Notice of Assignment' and an alleged letter notifying me that the account was sold to them.

 

They have also stated that that their client is keen to resolve the matter and will consider any payment or settlement proposal and in the event a settlement cannot be reached it is likely that they will be instructed to continue dealing with the claim a defended matter through court.

 

Any advise would be highly appreciated.

 

Regards,

IM

[dx100uk]

so you've the N180 - yes to mediation the rest is obv

 

and lowells have done their usual trick of sending their WS early to try and unsettle and intimidate the defendant.

you'll need to scan that ALL UP

to ONE MULTIPAGE PDF please

click UPLOAD

[im4347]

Hi Dx

 

Thanks for getting back to me, please see attached documents as requested.

 

 

Regards,

IM

Lowell Docs.pdf

[dx100uk]

sorry I thought they'd sent their witness statement too.

ok well get your N180 done

yes to mediation 1 wit you

the rest is obv.

 

 

dx

[AndyOrch]

Not got to witness statement stage yet...this is to allocate the claim to track...then directions.

[im4347]

Hi all

 

The mediation directions for the appt has come through and I need to arrange it by tomorrow, one of the points is:

 

- I can confirm that I have enough information about the claim to allow me to enter into negotiations and that I do not require any further evidence from the other party before I can mediate

 

They haven't sent me anything else apart from the last documents I uploaded.... if I answer no to this then I'm not legible for telephone mediation..... what do I do?

 

IM

[Old Cogger]

straightforward if you haven't got the documents to requested then mediation needs to know, and they will state at that point mediation not suitable and pass the case back to the court for next process

[im4347]

thanks Old Cogger, yes I haven't received much of the requested documents in my defence except those in my earlier post.......

 

Why did they send the mediation process so soon if they know they haven't sent the requested documents.... Also in the letter they said they would rather come to an arrangement rather than go ahead with proceedings....

 

Do I just call the mediation line and tell them that I don't have the requested documents from them and the time has lapsed for both the CPR requests?

 

Regards,

IM

[dx100uk]

mediation is nothing to do with

nor is it controlled by - the claimant

its a std court process

you simply tell mediation you have not received all the requireddocuments to properly defend the claim

end of

it will fail

and be referred to the court for allocation..

[im4347]

Hi Dx

 

Thanks for getting back to me, appreciate it.

 

 

I get it why I have to say no to mediation as I haven't got the DN, etc,

only an alleged letter to say they own the debt now

and an alleged letter to say the the debt was assigned

but none of them are on letter headed paper etc.

Please see my previous post with the attached letters. (24th July)

 

Really didn't want to go down the court route..... but it looks like I haven't got a choice....

 

Any advice would be highly appreciated.

 

Regards,

IM

[AndyOrch]

Mediation is not really supposed to be about what documents they have disclosed or yet to disclose.....disclosure is later in the process after allocation of the claim.Mediation was meant to narrow any differences and try to agree a mutually acceptable settlement without the need of the claim proceeding to trial.

 

Somewhere along the way the Mediation service now ask do you have all the documents to proceed...knowing full well what I have stated above that disclosure only happens last thing before the hearing.

 

So I think its rather a tick box exercise now to please the courts and state that its not suitable for mediation but we tried...and we will get paid for our services irrespective.

 

Irrespective of any documents...if you know you owe the debt and would rather try to reach an agreement without it proceeding further..then try...if you cant at least you tried....but mediation should not be withdrawn because documents are not yet to hand....if you can agree a 5k debt down to 2k and they accept it and withdraw the claim...thats a result.....if they wont accept then it goes to trial...they disclose all the documents at the right stage of proceedings and you lose...you have to pay 5K with costs and get a CCJ on your file for 6 years.

 

 

Worth a go but its your decision.

 

Andy

[dx100uk]

doesn't mean its going down any court route yet..

we've seen 100's of claims left stayed or disc's because of the lack of an enforceable agreement and the other docs you've asked for.

[im4347]

Thank you Dx & Andy for replying, I have to let the mediation team know by tomorrow (Tuesday).

 

I understand that they can't expect me to have all the documents to hand as it's not a full on hearing in court,

 

 

the debt allegedly is £700, if I go ahead with coming to an arrangement then I am in one respect accepting the debt...

.. on the other hand if I let the mediation go and go through a full hearing there is that 50:50 chance that they don't continue

or I end up with more costs and a ccj...

. so confused..

.. this account was only opened in Dec 2015....

 

IM

[dx100uk]

lets look at the ODDS here

 

as the A/C was only opened in 2015

then, if they get their act together

then a reconstructed agreement will be acceptable as enforceable

as no doubt too, you signed up online for it, so simply a tick box.

 

however,

they've produced, to date, nothing other than a debatable NOA, ....

 

no statements etc either.

 

the balance, or a large proportion of it will be I expect...

interest on the goods

as I will guess they were on buy now pay later

whereby you had XXmts to pay without Interest, but never met that deadline?

 

have you any ideas yourself , what you ordered and under what terms?

[im4347]

Hi Dx,

 

The above account is about right of how it happened, but it wasn't interest free, it was on regular monthly payments if I remember correctly until I had my miscarriage and things got difficult...

 

IM

[dx100uk]

can you not still access the online VERY account at the website

statements might be a useful tool here...

lets see whats been added?

[im4347]

I'll check to see if I can still log on.....

 

IM

 

I can still log on! The last statement it shows is for Aug 2016 but it's just for the outstanding balance same as the claim....

 

IM

[dx100uk]

well lets look at a few possibilities here

you indicated last payment was march 2016

were you paying what the y wanted you too

or was it less than required?

 

 

they sold the debt 6mts later in sept 2016

so i'd suspect you atleast 6mts of £24 [2X£12 late/over limit fees]

at their int rate and maybe before

that alone could be worth £200 in negotiations with them at mediation.

 

 

see the point i'm making

 

 

you owe 'something' but that should only be for the goods you have not fully paid for.........

[dx100uk]

posts crossed so download all the statements

what did you order and when?

 

 

dx

[im4347]

I can't see no transaction history or full statements just the balance....

 

Yes it must have late charges/over limit charges added clearly..... as the balance is over the credit limit....

 

 

IM