** SORTED ** Lowell vs me. Catalogue. Help please :(

[Immortal]

Ok here goes.. Does this sound ok and if so ill do it now..


In the Northampton County Court Business Centre
Claim No: XXXXXX

LOWELL PORTFOLIO I LTD
Claimant
And

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Defendant




DEFENCE

1. I received the claim XXXXXX from the Northampton County Court on XXXXXXX 2018
2. Each and every allegation in the Claimants statement of case is denied unless specifically admitted in this Defence.
3. This claim appears to be for a Catalogue Account agreement regulated under the Consumer Credit Act 1974.
4. It is denied that the Defendant has previously entered into an agreement with XXXXXXXX for provision of credit.
5. The Claimants statement of case fails to give adequate information to enable me to properly assess my position with regards the claim.
6. The Claimant’s Particulars of Claim fail to state when the agreement was entered into.
7. The Defendant contends the alleged debt is statute barred by virtue of Section 5 of the Limitations Act 1980 in that no payment or acknowledgment has been made for over 6 years
8. The Claimants statement of case states that the account was assigned from XXXXXXX to Lowell Portfolio I Ltd on XXXXXXX. The Defendant does not recall receiving notice of this assignment.
9. It is denied that Littlewoods served any Default notice on the Defendant pursuant to s87 Consumer Credit Act 1974. The Claimant is required to prove that a compliant Default Notice was served upon the Defendant.
10. On the XXXXXX 2018 I sent a request for further information under Civil Procedure Rule 18 to Lowell Solicitors Ltd and I requested the Claimant provide copies of;

1.The agreement, including the specific Terms at the point the alleged Agreement was made and any subsequent changes.
2.The deed of assignment.
3.All notices of assignment.
4.The default warning letter.
5.The default notice.
6. Termination Notice.
Lowell Solicitors Ltd has not sent any of these documents to me.

1. On the XXXXXXX 2018 I sent a formal request for a copy of the original agreement to Lowell Solicitors Ltd pursuant to section 77/78 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 along with the statutory £1 fee.
2. The Claimant has failed to comply with s77 (1) / s 78 (1) Consumer Credit Act 1974 and by virtue of s77 (4) / s 78 (6) Consumer Credit Act 1974 cannot enforce the agreement.
3. Under Civil Procedure Rule 16.5 (4) Where the claim includes a money claim, a defendant shall be taken to require that any allegation relating to the amount of money claimed be proved unless he expressly admits the allegation. Therefore, it is expected that the Claimant be required to prove the allegation that the money is owed as claimed.
4. I request the court orders the Claimants to provide the necessary documentation in order for me to fully plead my case else the Claim should stand struck out.
5. In the event that the relevant documents are received from the Claimants I will then be in a position to amend my defence, and would ask that the Claimants bear the costs of the amendment.
6. It is denied that the Claimant is entitled to the relief as claimed or at all.

Statement of Truth
The Defendant believes that the facts stated in this Defence are true.
Signed : XXXXXX
Dated : XXXXXXX 2018

[Amethyst]

Okay There' s nothing fatal in it so don't worry, but if you didn't send a CPR 31.14 request and you plead in the Defence you did, it weakens your case somewhat. Always best to read, and try and understand, these kind of templates before sending them off xxx ( Not having a go at you, many, many people do that same )

Basically the ONLY consequence now of not responding to a formal CCA request is that until you reply to it, the debt is unenforceable except by the order of a court. It seems wrong but there isn't any restriction on continuing to apply interest and charges ( if allowed under the agreement ). However if they don't send you an annual statement, they can't charge interest until they do. All needs a bit of an overhaul legislation wise really. But that's me rambling and completely irrelevant to your case... lol.

[Amethyst]

Sorry crossed posts, yes that looks better. Maybe use a) b ) c) for the sub list of CPR 18 items.

Do you have any idea when you opened the Littlewoods account originally btw ? Pre 2005/6 they weren't exactly great at getting people to sign agreements.

[Immortal]

Hi again, may sound like a cop out but I really cant remember. They are saying I opened it just over 6yrs ago. This is all alien to me so find all the legal jargon a nightmare. Really really appreciate your help and will keep you updated. Do you think they will still pursue it?

[Amethyst]

6 years is a long time so don't expect to remember exactly. It sounds like they are saying then that you opened the account 6th Dec 2011 - so probably ordered something, then made a small payment on Dec 12th ... then never did anything else with it.... as it was pre-Christmas you might have ordered something with best of intentions and just forgotten about it after making a single payment - it happens. But they will need to evidence that.

They sent you a transaction list I think you said, does that say what you bought, does that ring any bells at all ? It's not beyond the realms that someone did it without your knowledge either so it is worth thinking back if you can. However if you really don't know, they will have to provide the information - the agreement is likely to be an online tick box type though so if it was 2011 it is likely to exist.

Anyway, get your defence in for now.... it's all a bit vague, which is perfectly normal at this stage of a bulk debt purchaser moneyclaim...so don't worry on that score.

Then maybe tomorrow you could send a Subject Access Request to Littlewoods directly to see what actually happened with the account. Subject Access Request Letter

it might come in useful further along. It does cost £10 though and they have 40 days to reply, but should help you see if you will have a defence ...either CCA, agreement, ID theft. staute barring etc... in the end if all documents show up or whether you need to think about negotiating.

[Immortal]

Hi,

Its been done now. Really hope they drop it as useless with this sort of stuff. Will keep you updated !

[Immortal]

Hi again,

I have received a "Notice of proposed allocation to the small claims track" and also a directions questionnaire. Do I put yes to "the small claims is the appropriate track" and also I am saying no to mediation.

Also , I have received a letter of Lowell stating "As you have filed a defence, this matter is now progressing through the small claims track. Our client is keen to resolve this matter amicably before it reaches the court hearing, saving costs and time for both parties. Our client is willing to settle this matter amicably and will consider any payment proposals you put forward"

Am I right in thinking this shouldn't progress as they have failed to send me the documents I have requested in the 12 working days and this is just a last attempt by them to get me to commit and pay?

What if this does carry on when I have ignored this letter off them, can they still win despite them not sending me the things I have asked for?

Any help really appreciated,

Matt

[MIKE770]

under £10,000 small claims area, lowells cannot be too sure here??? maybe/maybe not, documents if you have asked for them then mediation stage you would agree to mediation and when mediation contact and ask you if you have everything you need to mediate - no documents you state no, they will then state not suitable for mediation and will pas back to the court for next stage,

Lowells are known to continue court procedures right up to the near last minute, and in many cases Discontinue just before the time to get their fee back passes, in the hope you give in, there again is the case where they have the proper paperwork and go to court, they do hope as most people do not fight then and they get default judgments (the dirty tricks game of so called legal services)

[Immortal]

So agree to mediation then? Also if they drop out last minute can I not ask to claim
against them for the inconvenience and money it will have cost me in travel and loss of earnings? They have just actually called me and asked me to confirm my details over the phone. I replied “if you are who you say you are then you already have them. He said he wanted to discuss the letter they sent and I just said “not interested. If you have anything to say, put it in a letter”.

[Amethyst]

Yes you can agree to Mediation, then if it comes to the mediation appt and you still have no documents just tell the mediator that and it'll likely be cancelled.

[Immortal]

Would it look bad on me if I don’t agree to mediation? Would I have to attend mediation to say “no docs do not doing it”?

[MIKE770]

you have to show willing to mediate save as to court time, mediation is just a mediator and you on one end of the phone and the solicitor on the other end - mediator ask you a question i.e. do you have the necessary documents to mediate you say NO if not then they will sate mediation failed and pass the case back to the court ,read other threads and you will see Lowell etc do that all the time

[Immortal]

Hi to update.. Just come off the phone to mediation and Lowell claim the following.. It’s not statute barred as the 6yrs goes from the default date and not the last payment I had apparently paid (dec 2011). They have sent all the documents I asked for on Monday. I was led to believe that statute barred is 6yrs from the last time somebody acknowledges it and not the default date? Also funny how they wait till 2 days before the mediation, to serve the requested documents. Advice please!

[Immortal]

To confirm I have received no documents from them. I also asked the mediator to drop this and if not then I will be complaining to the financial ombudsman. They came back with “no and if that’s what he wants then that’s fine”

[thedirtyhound]

I thought that all documents must now be supplied as part of the pre-action protocols before a claim can be issued? What seems to be an increasing tactic is that DPCs are issuing claims blindly, then some months later manage to come up with the documents coupled with an application for summary judgment. (Obviously not in this particular case). But I see the whole thing as an abuse of legal process. Claims that are issued without full disclosure being beforehand should be struck out as an abuse of legal process in my view. What do the professionals think?