Lowell claimform - old T-Mobile Debt

[AndyOrch]

Good to go

[Mr Standfast]

Lowell have now sent me their filled in copy of document N180 Directions Questionaire (small claims track).

 

I haven't heard from the court yet and regarding this and the court hasn't sent me anything since I filed the defence.

 

In the document Lowell are agreeing to Small Claims Mediation Service, agree to small claims track. No expert evidence and no witnesses.

 

Do I wait to hear from the court now?

[AndyOrch]

Yes you wait...... but in the meantime check on line at the status and see if its being allocated..or whether Lowell are just getting ahead of themselves...which they have a habit of doing.

[Mr Standfast]

Just checked on MCOL the last thing showing is the defence I sent them on 9th of October, no sign of allocation or anything else. So I guess they are getting ahead as you say.

[Mr Standfast]

We've now had a copy of the Directions Questionnaire from the court to fill in.

 

Also a letter from Lowells as follows:

 

Dear XXXXXXX

Our Client: Lowell Portfolio Limited

Defendent: XXXXXXXXXXXX

Lowell Reference Number: XXXXXXXXX

Claim Number: XXXXXXXXXXX

 

We refer to the above matter.

We note the contents of your defence and have now received a response confirming the agreement was taken out through T-Mobile. The billing address which you entered the agreement at was XXXXXXXXXXXXX. The last payment of £27.88 was made on 25 June 2012 via card and the account was terminated on 26 November 2012. The direct debit was set with the account holder XXX XXXXXXX and the bank account number was XXXXXXXX with sort code: XX XX XX. Furthermore the outstanding balance is the sum of £418.27.

In the circumstances we now look forward to receiving your repayment proposals for our client’s consideration so that further legal action may be avoided.

This letter is drafted without prejudice, with the legitimate aim of saving costs and the Court’s time. Our client is satisfied that there is a valid claim and wish to proceed through the litigation process if no arrangement can be agreed upon.

As you have filed a Defence to the above claim, the options available for repayment are as below;

 

1. You can make proposals to settle the claim by way of a one off lump sum payment. This would then be considered by our Client and if acceptable, upon receipt of the agreed funds we would write to the Court and request the Claim be marked as settled. We would also ask that any pending hearing is vacated.

2. If you are not in a position to offer to repay the outstanding balance in full you wish to consider a Tomlin order where both partied agree that the outstanding balance of £266.05 can be repaid by way of instalments either per month week or fornight. However if you default on the agreed payments our Client would be at liberty to enter a Judgement against you. Please note there is a court fee of £100.00 for the Tomlin order which would be added to the outstanding balance making it £518.27

 

Note our payment methods below (details follow payment options)

 

Due to the pending action, we should be grateful if could contact our offices within 14 days from the date of this letter to confirm your intentions.

 

Should you fail to agree to the above, we reserve the right to produce this letter at any hearing as evidence that costs of attendance could have been avoided, and should therefore be borne by you regardless of the outcome.

 

Please contact our offices on 0113 335 3334 to discuss your proposals

 

We look forward to hearing from you,

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Lowells Solicitors Limited

 

 

I've blanked out the personal details, they are correct as far as I know. I don't understand why the balance is referred to as £266.05 in the para about the Tomlin order. The last part of letter regarding using it in court seems quite threatening. Do I need to respond to this or just fill out the DQ?

[dx100uk]

just fill out the N180.

 

that's the usual letter they sprout out

 

the debt is all fees till end of contract which they cant justify..

 

re:

8. Subject to the above, should the alleged amount claimed include an early termination charge(s) amounting to the total balance of the remaining contract, OFCOM guidance clearly states that any Early Termination Charge, that is made up of the entire balance of the remaining contract, is unlikely to be fair, as it fails to take into account the fact that the provider no longer has to provide and pay for their service.

[AndyOrch]

Firstly what do feel about the contents of the letter ?

 

They seem to have all the required information to proceed to trial ...is the above all correct?

 

Disregard the £266.05 its obviously a typo...its the claim form total plus £100 for the TO should you wish to accept this offer.

 

Andy

[fkofilee]

This letter is drafted without prejudice

But we reserve the right to show it in Court... Yadda Yadda...

Contradicts itself?

 

How much of the outstanding amount is ETFs?

[AndyOrch]

This letter is drafted without prejudice

But we reserve the right to show it in Court... Yadda Yadda...

Contradicts itself?

 

How much of the outstanding amount is ETFs?

 

Which they could if its marked " Without Prejudice Save as to Costs "

[Mr Standfast]

I don't know how much is terminations fees when my gf rang EE (T-Mobile) they wouldn't give her any information as I reported above.

 

The information they put in the letter is correct.

[dx100uk]

ofcourse you do its obvious

go read post 31

 

dx

[Mr Standfast]

I'm sorry I'm not an expert in this stuff. So is that the reason for the amount of £266.05 and the difference between that and the £418.27 all early termination fees?

 

So I fill out the DQ agreeing to mediation and naming our local County Court?

[dx100uk]

yes

 

Yes to Small Claims Track

1 witness... you

name you local county court

copy to solicitor

you can leave off email and phone on their copy

[Mr Standfast]

An email has arrived regarding mediation from the Small Claims Telephone Mediation Service giving information about the process and asking the following

 

Please read the following 3 statements:

Yes No

 

1. For mediation to be successful there needs to be some flexibility from all parties and a willingness to listen and consider each other’s positions. Can you agree to this?

 

2. 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

 

3. I am available to mediate on one of the following days

(You must tick at least 1 of the following, you may tick more than 1 if applicable)

I am available between 9:30 & 13:30 on a Monday

I am available between 9:30 & 13:30 on a Tuesday

I am available between 9:30 & 13:30 on a Wednesday

I am available between 9:30 & 13:30 on a Thursday

I am available between 9:30 & 13:30 on a Friday

 

 

I can answer yes to 1 and 3. I presume that as they have not sent me a copy of the "Agreement" mentioned in the claim or original copies of the default notice or the notice of assignment I need to answer No to that one?

[dx100uk]

correct

[Mr Standfast]

Replied to mediation and they have replied as follows:

 

Good afternoon,

 

 

 

Thank you for your email.

 

 

 

As you are unable to answer yes to all the checklist questions mediation is not be suitable and the claim will be transferred to a local court to proceed. A notice of transfer will be sent by post and, once the case has been reviewed, that court will notify you in writing of any further action that is required.

 

 

 

If you require any further information about mediation please contact us at the below details, if you require any information about any other aspect of the case please contact the local court. You can use the below link to find the contact details

 

 

 

https://courttribunalfinder.service.gov.uk/search/address

 

 

 

 

 

So now wait to hear regarding Court hearing I presume.

[AndyOrch]

Yes...Notice of Allocation is the next document you will receive...this contains all the directions and dates for both party to comply with and date of the hearing.

 

Andy

[Mr Standfast]

I've been away in Scotland staying with my daughter and just got back to find the Notice of Allocation has arrived while I was away. My gf, who this is on behalf of can't remember the day it actually arrived but kept it for my return.

 

The date is set for 13th of February and the Claimant had to pay the court fee of £55 by the 16th of January. It states that "each party must deliver to the other party and to the court office copies of all all documents on which that party intends to rely at the hearing no later than fourteen days before the hearing".

 

Also the original documents must be brought to the hearing.

 

Lowell have already responded and have sent me a copy of their Claimant's Witness Statement.

 

Can I upload a scan of this document for someone to look at? I was thinking of a zip file and pdf copied included so someone can advise me on it.

 

Thanks for any help on this.

[AndyOrch]

Please do (redact any identifiable data first)

 

 

Andy

[Mr Standfast]

I've attached a zip of the witness statement from Lowell. I couldn't get pdf to work so have uploaded as jpegs.

 

There are a lot of copies of the items mentioned in the witness statement. Do you want an upload of those as well?

Claimant WS .pdf

Edited December 18, 2017 by dx100uk
file converted to PDF and properly redacted - dx

[AndyOrch]

The copies of items mentioned are called exhibits which the witness statement relies upon as its evidence in support of their statement...what date are you to submit your statement and exhibits ?

[Mr Standfast]

It says on the Notice of Assignment "each party must deliver to the other party and to the court office copies of all all documents on which that party intends to rely at the hearing no later than fourteen days before the hearing" so 14 days before 13th of Feb which is the date of the hearing.

 

Is it better to do it before they have to pay their fee to the court though which is on 16th of January?

[AndyOrch]

Notice of Allocation...not Assignment...I would wait and check to see if they pay the hearing fee...although they have gone to the trouble of drafting a WS and complying with directions so its a safe bet they will pay the hearing fee and this will proceed to trial.

 

Andy

[Mr Standfast]

Is the defence viable given their witness statement?

 

My gf is really not up to appearing in court, she is housebound, can I attend in her stead?

[AndyOrch]

No you cant attend instead of.....but you can submit a witness statement and inform the court and claimant that you wont be in attendance....