2 cap one, 1 catalogue witness statement due today, please help

[Bobraf]

Hi,

I received a claim form from Lowell for 3 debts rolled into 1 and wondered if you could help advise me please?

 

I got into difficulty for one reason or another a few years ago, then the last few bits caught up with me a couple of years ago, and this is related to most of this.

 

I responded straight away to court and notified them of my intent to defend. I didn't send off the CCA and CPR requests as I did respond to the pre action protocols. They sent 3 of these over the past few months, each time I responded and they replied to 2 of them. Should I have sent these requests again?

 

They sent all account breakdown for all 3 accounts, agreements for the two credit cards, but the catalogue (Next) they've just sent a weird photocopy of a leaflet with my address at the time and no agreement. The solicitors also sent me a random statement from a completely unrelated account. 

 

I also had put in an Irresponsible Lending Complaint with Capital One, however I didn't actually send it until after I'd received the court claim

 

I am working on my defence, and would really appreciate it if you could look over it when I've finished it. Can I ask, is there anything I should put regarding my IRL complaint in this? Or that completely irrelevant to this claim?

 

Thanks in advance for your help and advice

 

 

Which Court have you received the claim from ? County Court Business Centre, Northampton. I responded on MCOL

 

Name of the Claimant ? Lowell

 

Date of issue – 9th August 2022

 

Date to submit defence = Friday 9th

 

Particulars of Claim

 

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

1) The Claim comprises the following Agreements the Defendant entered into:

a. Capital One (Europe) with reference ***** and current balance of £1600

b. Capital One (Europe) with reference **** and current balance of £1900

c. Next Retail Ltd with reference **** and current balance of £1200

 

The agreements were terminated and payments were not maintained and subsequently assigned to the claimant.

 

And the claimant claims:

a) The total of the said sums being £4700

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, but limited to one year being £400

c) Costs

 

What is the total value of the claim? £5011.39
 

Have you received prior notice of a claim being issued pursuant to paragraph 3 of the PAPDC (Pre Action Protocol) ? Yes, 3 times over the past few months and I responded to each
 

Have you changed your address since the time at which the debt referred to in the claim was allegedly incurred? Yes since one of the accounts was opened, but I kept up to date with my addresses with the original creditors before Lowell
 

Did you inform the claimant of your change of address? The claimant no, because I had kept the original creditors up to date

Is the claim for - a Bank Account (Overdraft) or credit card or loan or catalogue or mobile phone account? 2 credit cards, 1 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. Debt purchaser - Lowell
 

Were you aware the account had been assigned – did you receive a Notice of Assignment? Yes because I received letter of claim from lowell, until then I don't recall receiving anything informingme
 

Did you receive a Default Notice from the original creditor? Not that I recall for the catalogue, I think I did for the credit cards
 

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 got into financial difficulties, mainly due to overdraft fees, largely caused, embarrassingly, by some gambling issues that I had for a while, I just stopped paying everything because I couldn't afford everything after the overdraft fees
 

What was the date of your last payment? 2019
 

Was there a dispute with the original creditor that remains unresolved? I have put in an irresponsible lending complaint regarding the credit cards, however I didn't actually post it until after I received the claim form
 

Did you communicate any financial problems to the original creditor and make any attempt to enter into a debt management plan? No
 

 

[dx100uk]

Lets see the supposed agreement s dont need statements.

 

plenty of merged debt claimform threads here from lowells.

 

Dx

[Bobraf]

Morning,

 

Would it be possible for someone to have a look over my defence please? It is due by Friday. 

 

I've mentioned within it that two of the accounts are currently under dispute, but I wasn't sure if I should or not.

 

Thanks in advance, I really appreciate it

 

Particulars of Claim:

1) The Claim comprises the following Agreements the Defendant entered into:

a. Capital One (Europe) with reference ***** and current balance of £1600

b. Capital One (Europe) with reference **** and current balance of £1900

c. Next Retail Ltd with reference **** and current balance of £1200

 

The agreements were terminated and payments were not maintained and subsequently assigned to the claimant.

 

And the claimant claims:

a) The total of the said sums being £4700

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, but limited to one year being £400

c) Costs

 

 

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.

 

1.  Paragraphs a and b are noted and it is accepted insofar that I have had financial dealings with Capital One Bank (Europe) Plc in the past, but 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 by way of a CPR 31.14.

 

In addition to this, the Capital One accounts referred to are currently under dispute via a complaint to Capital One 

2.  Paragraph c is noted. I have had a catalogue agreement in the past with Next Retail.  However, I do not recognise the account number or outstanding balance referred to by the claimant.  I have requested clarity by way of a CPR 31.14.

 

3.  I have not received  Default Notices from any of the above original creditors.

 

4.  I am unaware of any legal assignments or Notice of Assignments allegedly served for any of the above creditors.

 

5.  The claimant would not be aware of any alleged breach or in a position to plead such fact as an assignee as the defendant did not enter into any agreement with the claimant and is therefore put to strict proof to verify the alleged statement of its particulars.

 

6. Having made requests for copies of each agreement referred to within its particulars by way of a section 78 request pursuant to CCA1974

 

the claimant has responded with various copies of reconstituted agreements and random terms and conditions which appear to be unconnected.

 

Some are void of the required prescribed terms and lack proof or clarity to which were manual or online applications etc. with the necessary  on line verification tick box confirmation of what IP address was used.

 

Some request that the agreement be detached and signed and returned for execution.

 

It is therefore denied that the claimant has fully complied with my requests and what has been disclosed is the actual executed copy of the agreements relied upon.

 

It is my understanding that the claimant remains in default and prevented from enforcing the agreements that it refers to within its particulars of 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, for the above three agreements referred to, therefore the Claimant is put to strict proof to:

 

(a) show how the Defendant has entered into the various agreements; and

(b) show how the Defendant has reached the amounts claimed for; and

(c) Show and evidence the nature of breach and service of each Default Notice for the above 4 agreements pursuant to sec87 (1) CCA1974

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

 

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.

 

[dx100uk]

Can we see the return a please 

One mass pdf only 

 

Dx 

[Bobraf]

Yes, it'll probably be this evening before I can do it though, is that ok?

 

Shall I leave out the statement pages?

 

[dx100uk]

Yep dont need statements

 

Dx

[Bobraf]

I have only included one capital one agreement, because the second is exactly the same, just different dates (one was 2014 and the other 2018).

 

Also, they sent me about 3 of the pre action protocol, to which i replied to two of them, so half of what they sent me is from each one.

 

The Next agreement looks like a leaflet rather than an agreement to me, and the capital one one's don't have IP addresses

 

 

 

 

CPR etc upload Redacted .pdf

[dx100uk]

next default notice date please no good removing dates and £figures as we cant check if the DN's are compliant.

[Bobraf]

Sorry, I wasn't sure how much to take out, I kept going back over it and removing a bit more..

 

Next default date is 9/7/2019

 

Is there any other missing information that we need to add at all?

[dx100uk]

The default notices appear ok but no next agreement and cap1 stuff is missing things like ip addresses etc. But dont be too specfic.

 

You need to rework the defence a bit to rectifying those.

 

Dx

 

 

[Bobraf]

I'm not sure what to change. I'm not great with legal speak, but I thought that points 6 and 7 referred to those missing bits. Do I need to put more?

 

[dx100uk]

Ah hang on 

So the docs are not from a CPR return by them but from various loc replies? 

 

Dx

[Bobraf]

I'm not sure what loc means?

They sent me 3 ish pre action protocol letters, and I responded to two of them as you recommend on here, so the documents are a mix from both of their responses

[dx100uk]

Letter of Claim

[Bobraf]

Ah. I'm not sure if anyone is about, but my defence is due in before 4pm, if anyone sees this could you possibly have a look and tell me if this defence is ok to submit as I'm not sure how to change it, and I'm getting worried about time.

[dx100uk]

dont worry about the timing .

 

can you please answer my question.

WHERE did the docs they have returned come from, as a result of your CPR return Or before that as a result of previous LOC replies.

[Bobraf]

Sorry I thought I had.

 

They sent me the letter which gives me a month to respond before they can take me to court, I think this is the letter of claim?

 

They sent one, I followed the guidance on here and sent a CPR request to their solicitor and CCA request to Lowell. 

 

They sent some, but not all documents.

 

Then they sent another letter of claim. And I responded with the same cpr request and cca request. They sent more documents in response to that.

 

Then they sent another letter of claim which I didn't respond to as I'd already done it twice.

 

Then solicitors sent me a letter saying here's the documents that you were waiting for, but it wasn't linked to any of these accounts,

 

I've actually no idea what it was because it wasn't an account i have ever had, and it was from Lowell, but said the original creditor was JC Aquisition.

 

It had nobody's name on it, just some account info and spending, but nothing to do with me at all, And nothing to do with these accounts. It was random.

 

Then a few days later I received the claim form.

 

I didn't sent another CPR request after the claim form, as I'd already sent off two in response to their letters of claim

 

The documents I've uploaded came from the two lots of documents that they sent as a response to my requests after their first two letters of claim.

 

I pieced them together as between the two responses they sent me all of the uploaded stuff, plus statements which I didn't upload

[dx100uk]

You were not advised by anything here to send a CPR 31:14 in response to an LOC. !!

 

Your defence needs work, you most certainly should not be including that long sentence telling them why the agreements might be crap 

 

You also need to clarify the date(s) when CCA/CPR were sent and that these were sent previous to the claimform in response to numerous letters of claim 

 

You also should not be now mentioning the default notices, they have complied. 

 

 

 

[Bobraf]

Hiya,

could anybody help me please?

 

I submitted a defence etc last year, then moved house etc in the middle, and I need to submit my defence today (I got my dates wrong, I thought it was next week and only just found out when I phoned the court because I’d received Lowell’s witness statement)

 

I’ve done loads of research and am just trying to work out writing my witness statement.

 

I uploaded all documents on my last post that I’d received after my letter before action etc, and they’ve included all of those again in their witness statement. I don’t recognise my balances on any of the 3 accounts.

 

I think my main arguments are that:

a) I had put in a complaint with capital one. The complaint was only submitted a few days before the court proceedings were issued, but they were in before.

 

Lowell have never asked for proof, but have gone on a lot in their ws that I didn’t provide any proof and that they don’t believe that it was. My response came back a while ago, but I’ve not been able to take it to the ombudsman yet as there were ongoing legal proceeding against me.

 

b) the agreements are missing info.

In their witness statement they say that the capital one agreements are originals, and that the catalogue one is reconstituted, but neither have much info on, they have my name, address and date and nothing else.

 

c) I don’t know if this counts, but there are a lot of errors within their witness statement, for example they’ve referred to the catalogue account as capital one in one place, and they say they’ve sent all info to my address which they’ve stated wrong, but right in other places

 

could anyone help me please?

I’m really nervous, and I’m trying to write mine now, but could anyone check it over? 
also, it’s dues in today, is there a time limit on that?

[FTMDave]

I've merged your latest message with what i think is your main thread.  If I've got that wrong then let us know and we'll un-merge!

 

As a Litigant-in-Person you will be allowed a little leeway by the courts and can file your Witness Statement a couple of days late.  However, obviously you do need to get a move on.

 

If you post up what you've written, the regulars will certainly read through it and suggest any necessary tweaking.

Edited February 13, 2023 by FTMDave
Extra info added

[dx100uk]

need to see their whole witness statement please (minus statements)

 

also post up the court directions that mention exchanging ws's , so we can be sure you have the date right. (all pages)

 

we also need a copy of the defence you sent before we can help.

 

[Bobraf]

Here is their witness statement and my Defence,

 

I have a problem getting my hands on the court directions due to it being in the office where my partners in meetings but I will get it asap

 

Overdales.pdf Defence.pdf

 

I'm really panicked now. I cannot find the court directions letter at all. Is it a problem that I can't find it?

 

If I post up what I've done with my witness statement so far could someone have a look over it for me please?

 

Also, I'm not sure if I should be mentioning within it that the capital one accounts were under dispute at the time. I had put in an IRL claim for both, but Lowell say in their ws that they don't believe me. I don't know whether to mention it again or to just leave it be?

 

[dx100uk]

yes your WS is due today date 13th ....but you are a LiP so...

 

On 07/09/2022 at 20:29, dx100uk said:

The default notices appear ok but no next agreement and cap1 stuff is missing things like ip addresses etc

 

i think you need to include a copy of your IRL complaint to cap1 and divert the judge away from the agreements/paperwork as they hold all the cards , you had numerous defaults/bad credit markers at the time of take out. but ofcourse thats a complaint with the OC not the claimant. 

 

the next account CCA is not a CCA its an application form and devoid of all the required prescribed terms.

 

best you can do IMHO.