Jump to content


Lowells claimform - old Very shop direct CAt Debt - Some of the debt is Faulty Goods


lucyl1
style="text-align: center;">  

Thread Locked

because no one has posted on it for the last 1081 days.

If you need to add something to this thread then

 

Please click the "Report " link

 

at the bottom of one of the posts.

 

If you want to post a new story then

Please

Start your own new thread

That way you will attract more attention to your story and get more visitors and more help 

 

Thanks

Recommended Posts

Hi,

 

I am new here, any advice would be really appreciated as I have never been sued before.  I don't know what to answer on the claim form.  I do owe them some money, but I don't want to pay for items that are faulty as well.  Plus I tried to explain to them that I could not pay but they ignored me and sued me anyway.  I just don't know what to do.

 

Name of the Claimant ? Lowell Portfolio 1 Ltd

 

Date of issue –  24/03/21

 

Particulars of Claim

 

What is the claim for – the reason they have issued the claim?

 

1.The claim is for the sum of £1500 due by the Defendant under an agreement regulated by the Consumer Credit Act 1974 for a shop direct account with an account reference of XXXXXXX. 

 

2. The Defendant failed to maintain contractual payments required by the agreement and a Default notice was served under s.87(1) of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 which has not been complied with. 

 

3.The debt was legally assigned to the Claimant on 20/07/20 notice of which has been given to the Defendant. 

 

The claim includes statutory interest under s69 of the County Courts Act 1984 at a rate of 8% per annum from the date of assignment to the date of issue of these proceedings in the sum of £90.00. 

 

The Claimant claims the sum of £1590.00

 

What is the total value of the claim? £1590
 

Have you received prior notice of a claim being issued pursuant to paragraph 3 of the PAPDC (Pre Action Protocol) ? They sent me a letter on 25th Jan headed Particulars of Claim.  I emailed them back on 2nd Feb trying to talk about it with them, but they ignored it.
 

Have you changed your address since the time at which the debt referred to in the claim was allegedly incurred? no
 

Did you inform the claimant of your change of address? na

Is the claim for - a Bank Account (Overdraft) or credit card or loan or catalogue or mobile phone account? Online Catalogue
 

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

Do you recall how you entered into the agreement...On line /In branch/By post ? online
 

Is the debt showing on your credit reference files (Experian/Equifax /Etc...) ? yes
 

Has the claim been issued by the original creditor or was the account assigned and it is the Debt purchaser who has issued the claim. It has been assigned to Lowells
 

Were you aware the account had been assigned – did you receive a Notice of Assignment? no, but I have had letters from Lowell asking for money
 

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

Have you been receiving statutory notices headed “Notice of Sums in Arrears”  or " Notice of Arrears "– at least once a year ? no
 

Why did you cease payments? I did not have enough money to pay them.  I lost my job and I now have several debts that I just can not afford to pay
 

What was the date of your last payment? December 2019
 

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

 

Yes, I mainly bought large items from them over a period of time.  One of these items was a cooker (bought in September 2019).  The cooker started to rust on the top hob part.  It was clearly in a damaged state within a couple of months of buying it.  Plus one of the items that I bought from them was a Henry Hoover (bought in July 2019), this stopped sucking up anything.  I have checked the hoover for the filters and the bag etc and I can not see why it is not sucking at all.  I called and asked to get these repaired or replaced and they refused to help me until I made payments which I could not afford to make.  I have written to them explaining that I need to sort it out and that I would make payment as soon as I could but I needed to fix the items or they would be out of the return period and I would still be paying.  I was ignored.
 

Did you communicate any financial problems to the original creditor and make any attempt to enter into a debt management plan? Yes, I wrote and emailed them to say that I had no money and that I was trying to organise myself.  I had not just stopped making payments for no reason.  I hope to sort my finances as soon as possible.  I told them that I had sold my TV and laptop etc to pay my rent arrears and that I was still barely able to pay my current rent.  
 

Link to post
Share on other sites

Please would you review the question which I have highlighted above and clarify your answer.

We will need to ask you some questions about these faulty items.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Please could you lay out a bullet pointed chronology of the story behind the cooker and also the Hoover.

Please deal with them separately.

Like to know the date purchased, money paid, when you first alerted them to the problem, whether this was in writing, how they responded to you and a copy of their response if anything.

Where are these items now?

These items will need to form part of a counterclaim.

You say that you do admit some of the money – how much do you admit?

Link to post
Share on other sites

Hi and thank you.  Below is the details about the hoover and cooker:

 

Hoover:

 

I bought this in July 2019.

It stopped working in January 2020.

 

Cooker:

 

I bought this in September 2019.

It started to rust in December 2019.

 

I phoned Very about both of the items at the same time in January 2020.  The person on the phone only asked me about the late payments, they were a little rude.  Because of this I wrote a letter to Very at that time to explain the situation.  I did not receive a reply.  I wrote to them three more times, but all I ever got back was letters saying that I am behind on my payments.  I still have copies of all the letters.

 

I still have both the hoover and cooker at my house.

 

The rest of the money I think that I do owe for items that I have that are OK.  I would like to argue the court fees because they would not talk to me they ignored my letters and emails (but I guess that is my tough luck).

 

Sorry, I forgot to add that I entered into the agreement after 2007.  I think I started it in 2017.

Link to post
Share on other sites

It's a good thing that you wrote them and put it on record. It is essential that you confirm things in writing and keep copies. Always best to record your calls with these people.

 Read our customer services guide.
Send Very and also Lowell an SAR. Send it off today. I expect that they have got email links which allow you do this. Make sure you keep copies of everything.

Secondly, take photographs of the damage and contact Very and also Lowell and inform them that the items which you bought on XXX date and which started to show defects within a very short time have never been dealt with despite the fact that you have written to them on XXX date. Tell them that for the avoidance of doubt, you are explaining the defects again and this time you are including photographs of the rust damage on the cooker.

Do you still have the Hoover?

 

Tell them that they are in breach of contract and that owing to your own personal circumstances you failed to follow it up at the time although you did give them notice but that they are still in breach and this will form part of your defence to the forthcoming county court action which they have started.
Send these letters separately to the SAR because they aren't able to receive a letter and understand that there are two issues – the general complaint and also your statutory subject access request. Keep them separate.

It's very important that you get these requests straightaway and if they failed to respond within the time then we will add that to the trouble that we are going to cause for them.

You are very vague on the amount of money owed. You don't tell us what the Hoover cost you but on the basis that it is completely not working and that it broke down within a very short time of purchasing it, I think we can probably dismiss that cost completely from the claim. We will deal with it.

We would like to see pictures of the rust on the cooker. Has the amount rust been increasing? In other words is it a deteriorating condition or has it stabilised?

What was the value of the cooker? What make and model was it?

If you are going to admit some of the money owed – how much are you admitting and are you able to pay anything?
 

Link to post
Share on other sites

the counterclaim would surely be nothing to do with the claimant and will fail, Very (shop Direct ) sold the debt and are you target for any separate claim regarding faulty goods at another time should that be necessary.

 

pers i'd just treat this as a std Lowell Cat Debt claim, mentioning these faulty items as facts in our std defence, but that would also be partial admittance so would guarantee a CCJ, as lowells mostly drop these cat debt claim just before the hearing date it might be better to treat it as a std claim.

 

what did you take this catalogue out please 

please don't hit Quote...just type we know what we said earlier..

DCA's view debtors as suckers, marks and mugs

NO DCA has ANY legal powers whatsoever on ANY debt no matter what it's Type

and they

are NOT and can NEVER  be BAILIFFS. even if a debt has been to court..

If everyone stopped blindly paying DCA's Tomorrow, their industry would collapse overnight... 

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • dx100uk changed the title to Lowells claimform - old Very shop direct CAt Debt - Some of the debt is Faulty Goods

I agree with what you're saying above but when Lowell buys the debt, they take on the rights but they don't take on the duties. I would be out for causing trouble for all of them which include sending SARs to both of them just in case one of them doesn't comply in time which would provide a useful little bit of extra leverage.

I would also think about joining very as a part 20 defendant to a counterclaim.
I know it's a bit complicated in a bit disproportionate but I think it is the approach which is most likely to set them back and to have a rethink about what they are doing. And also to negotiate on a scheme of instalments without the interesting without any court costs.

Link to post
Share on other sites

sorry i now see 2017. as the start date of the A/C.

were the 2 faulty items purchased on the BNPL scheme whereby you had nothing to pay for 12mths? though they won't make the total of the £1500 claimed sum.

 

might be best to follow the std route for now of AOS, CCA and CPR regarding the court claim ...and p'haps put in a proper consumer rights act complaint to shop direct regarding the faulty hoover item, to get that returned and removed from the outstanding balance?, then a repair one for the cooker?, but that won't ofcourse remove that balance from the claimed sum.

 

 

might be a quicker result than (also) firing off SAR's as they will take at least 30days, which will pass the defence filing date? and still won't resolve the full balance. The OP did not refuse to pay because of the disputes, but generally could not pay..

 

just musings.

 

dx

 

 

please don't hit Quote...just type we know what we said earlier..

DCA's view debtors as suckers, marks and mugs

NO DCA has ANY legal powers whatsoever on ANY debt no matter what it's Type

and they

are NOT and can NEVER  be BAILIFFS. even if a debt has been to court..

If everyone stopped blindly paying DCA's Tomorrow, their industry would collapse overnight... 

Link to post
Share on other sites

Yup. I think we need to see how much the OP puts her hands up to and see whether she can afford any of that. For me, the ideal thing would be to pay the admitted amount and then to glue everybody up on counterclaims and SARs so they realise the load of hassle it is and decide to engage outside the court process

Link to post
Share on other sites

I think she's entitled to a proper breakdown of the alleged debt as well in the claim

Link to post
Share on other sites

lowells on a cat debt of such a recent age normally send a complete detailed breakdown of the debt inc statements/bills etc as part of the CPR return, but ofcourse will have to do so anyway in their disclosures at witness statement time but thats part is months away, if it ever gets that far,

 

they tend to discontinue most Cat debt claims just before the hearing date if there are issues, but i'm worried these sums don't make the full balance even if they are 'resolved' by whatever method and they will continue the claim .

please don't hit Quote...just type we know what we said earlier..

DCA's view debtors as suckers, marks and mugs

NO DCA has ANY legal powers whatsoever on ANY debt no matter what it's Type

and they

are NOT and can NEVER  be BAILIFFS. even if a debt has been to court..

If everyone stopped blindly paying DCA's Tomorrow, their industry would collapse overnight... 

Link to post
Share on other sites

Yes you're right. We've already been told that some of the debt is admitted and that in fact the reason that they didn't attend to the faulty items was because apparently the account was already in arrears.

However that is no legal basis for refusing to address the issue of retailer responsibility in respect of defective items

Link to post
Share on other sites

Hi,

 

thank you for your replies.  Sorry if I am leaving bits out, it is not on purpose, I am just so nervous.

 

I have attached a couple of photos of the cooker.  It started off a little bit and has gotten bigger quite quickly.  Its a Hotpoint cooker, so I would really have expected it to be of better quality.

 

The cooker cost just under £400 and the hoover was £130.

 

I need to go through the statements, but I did receive all of the things that I ordered.  I think that they added a few late fees etc on and now they have added court costs.  The bill is £1500 (without court costs).  This amount includes the cooker and hoover.

 

I am sending off a SAR right now.

 

What do you think is the best thing for me to do?  I really do not want a CCJ because I won't be able to afford to pay it and I am scared that the bailiffs will come round.  I really have nothing left for them to take.  The only thing that I have not sold is my mobile phone but that's so old I would be lucky to get £30 for it.  Other than that I have already sold my laptop and TV etc to pay for my rent.  

 

Thank you

IMG_0194.jpg

IMG_0193.jpg

Link to post
Share on other sites

sure..let's get the basics done. doesn't hurt how we deal going fwd....

 

 

pop up on the MCOL website detailed on the claimform.
[if mcol is not working return after the w/end or the next day if week time]
.
 register as an individual on the Gov't Gateway Site
 note down your details inc the long gateway number given, you might need it later.
 then log in to the MCOL Website
.
 select respond to a claim and select the start AOS box.
.
 then using the details required from the claimform
.
 defend all
 leave jurisdiction unticked
 you DO NOT file a defence at this time
[BUT you MUST file a defence regardless by day 33 ]
click thru to the end
confirm and exit MCOL.
..
get a CCA Request running to the claimant

https://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/topic/332502-cca-request-consumer-credit-act-1974-updated-january-2015/

..

Leave the £1 PO unsigned and uncrossed

.

get a CPR  31:14  request running to the solicitors [if one is not listed send to the claimant]
...
.[use our other CPR letter if the claim is for an OD or Telecom Debt]
.

https://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/topic/332546-legal-cpr-3114-request-request-for-information-when-a-claim-has-been-issued/

.

on BOTH type your name ONLY
Do Not sign anything
.
you DO NOT await the return of ANY paperwork 
you MUST file a defence regardless by day 33 from the date on the claimform [1 in the count]

..............


 

please don't hit Quote...just type we know what we said earlier..

DCA's view debtors as suckers, marks and mugs

NO DCA has ANY legal powers whatsoever on ANY debt no matter what it's Type

and they

are NOT and can NEVER  be BAILIFFS. even if a debt has been to court..

If everyone stopped blindly paying DCA's Tomorrow, their industry would collapse overnight... 

Link to post
Share on other sites

And by the way – to clarify – you are sending two SARs – one to Very and one to Lowell. Even if they knock them back, send them.

Also, don't forget the letters that you are sending to both of them highlighting the fact that the items which you bought were not of satisfactory quality.

Although strictly speaking Lowell is entitled to recover all of the money. In fact if some of the money is really owing because the items were defective – and there should have been refunds or replacements, then the position is that the debt which Lowell purchased from very was incorrectly sold to them by very.

You have a paper trail which shows this but if we find what very has on their files and particular if that confirms everything then they were fully aware of the situation and that will tend to put them in conflict below because the debt should not have been sold.

Two x SARs

two x letters of complaint referring to the defects and the fact that they were not addressed.

In fact you can point out in the letter to Lowell that very were fully aware of the defects and of their responsibilities the retailer but they failed to honour those responsibilities and they were in breach of contract and they have sold the debt to Lowell on that basis.

Make sure this letter to Lowell is sent recorded delivery – send them an email as well.

Link to post
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, lucyl1 said:

I am scared that the bailiffs will come round.

even if you did 'lose' the court case and get a CCJ, there is no right of forced entry at all on CCJ debts subject to a consumer credit agreements, so forget about that, .....and ofcourse lowells, A DCA are NOT bailiffs and have no more legal powers than you or i on any debt no matter what it's type.

 

were these items buy now pay later? in otherwords, looking at the info you have, what you owed 'very' shot up very sharply around the time each had been with you for 12 mts?

 

get the things in my last post done, then we know the basics are out the way regarding the claimform. and we can discuss going fwd without that worry you are being distracted from doing them else you'll get a CCJ by default.

 

as i suspected the items only account for a few £100's and will still leave upwards of say £800 owing even if they were both 'resolved'

dx

please don't hit Quote...just type we know what we said earlier..

DCA's view debtors as suckers, marks and mugs

NO DCA has ANY legal powers whatsoever on ANY debt no matter what it's Type

and they

are NOT and can NEVER  be BAILIFFS. even if a debt has been to court..

If everyone stopped blindly paying DCA's Tomorrow, their industry would collapse overnight... 

Link to post
Share on other sites

Hi,

 

thank you for your replies.

 

I have just filled in the court thing on MCOL.

 

I have also printed off both SAR requests and I have typed up letters to go to Lowell and Very.  I will post them on Tuesday when the post office opens so I can send them recorded delivery.

 

I have seen somewhere on here that sometimes Lowell drop the case before it gets to court.  Do you think that there is any chance of this?  Is the fact that I am arguing the amount rather than defending the claim (because I am not in a position to do that) going to make it less likely?

 

Thank you for making me feel clearer about this.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Maybe you could add to your letter to Lowell that if they persist in the action while the issue against very is outstanding, then you will add very as a part 20 defendant to a counterclaim.

I think you should suggest to Lowell that they might want to contact very about this alleged debt because there are issues outstanding which very have failed to address and they are in breach of contract.

Point out that all of this will be raised in your defence and also it will become an issue in court

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • Recently Browsing   0 Caggers

    • No registered users viewing this page.

  • Have we helped you ...?


×
×
  • Create New...