Capital 1 Debt Sold on to Lowell Financial

[bcarterproblems]

Hello this morning I received a Northampton County Court Claim form in respect of a credit card debt originally owed to Capital One which had subsequently been assigned to Lowell Financial. I have been going through a lot of problems health and otherwise over a period of years from 2008 to date and have never really recovered. Throughout this time paperwork has been difficult to contend with. Looking at others threads on the forum the first thing I should do is complete the form indicating that I intend to defend the claim. The debt they are claiming is £6k+ inclusive of £900 extra interest and costs! I am considering what letters I should send to gather the right information to defend this. Should a send a letter under sections 77-79 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974, or indeed request sight of documentaiton within the statutory limits using a 31.14 form. Should I send letters and the statutory fee of £1 directly to Brian Carter or to Lowell Financial. What will happen if Bryan Carter/Lowell do not provide the documentation requested, will the court make sure that they do so? What is the likely outcome based on other peoples experience. Trying to get my life under control again under huge duress. All help gratefully received to clarify this.

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Capital 1 Debt Sold on to Lowell Financial

Welcome to LB

Hello this morning I received a Northampton County Court Claim form in respect of a credit card debt originally owed to Capital One which had subsequently been assigned to Lowell Financial. I have been going through a lot of problems health and otherwise over a period of years from 2008 to date

When did you last make a payment?

and have never really recovered. Throughout this time paperwork has been difficult to contend with. Looking at others threads on the forum the first thing I should do is complete the form indicating that I intend to defend the claim. The debt they are claiming is £6k+ inclusive of £900 extra interest and costs! I am considering what letters I should send to gather the right information to defend this. Should a send a letter under sections 77-79 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974, or indeed request sight of documentaiton within the statutory limits using a 31.14 form.

Both. A CCA request under s.78 of the CCA and the CPR 31.14 request for documents referred to on the particulars of claim. :typing:

Should I send letters and the statutory fee of £1 directly to Brian Carter or to Lowell Financial.

The CCA request with the £1 fee goes to Lowell, the request under CPR 31.14 (no fee) to BC. :thumb:

What will happen if Bryan Carter/Lowell do not provide the documentation requested, will the court make sure that they do so? What is the likely outcome based on other peoples experience. Trying to get my life under control again under huge duress. All help gratefully received to clarify this.

Non compliance with your CCA request can be used in your defence. :thumb: As for the CPR request, you'll have the option to submit an application to the court (an unless order) or a defence based on lack of documents. You're still some way away from that stage but I'd suggest reading other Lowell/BC court threads (there are dozens of them! ) so you can see how things develop. :ranger:

[bcarterproblems]

Re: Capital 1 Debt Sold on to Lowell Financial

Welcome to LB
When did you last make a payment?

Both. A CCA request under s.78 of the CCA and the CPR 31.14 request for documents referred to on the particulars of claim. :typing:

The CCA request with the £1 fee goes to Lowell, the request under CPR 31.14 (no fee) to BC. :thumb:

Non compliance with your CCA request can be used in your defence. :thumb: As for the CPR request, you'll have the option to submit an application to the court (an unless order) or a defence based on lack of documents. You're still some way away from that stage but I'd suggest reading other Lowell/BC court threads (there are dozens of them! ) so you can see how things develop. :ranger:

Thank you for your response. I kept payments up to date with Capital One until 2012 when it was impossible to pay them any more - the balance had not changed in the space of four years as I was only affording the minimum payments.

When I look at the claim form it does not mention any documents they have to prove the debt - the only note is that it was assigned to/purchased by Lowell Portfolio Ltd and notice served pursuant to the law of property Act 1925, so it seems all I need to request are the documents under s78 and a copy of the notice of assignment?

I will also look at the other threads re: Lowell and Bryan Carter more closely -as you indicate there are a huge number of these.

Best to acknowledge online and keep a close track of all dates.

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Capital 1 Debt Sold on to Lowell Financial

Thank you for your response. I kept payments up to date with Capital One until 2012 when it was impossible to pay them any more - the balance had not changed in the space of four years as I was only affording the minimum payments.

I was just checking it was not SBd..

When I look at the claim form it does not mention any documents they have to prove the debt - the only note is that it was assigned to/purchased by Lowell Portfolio Ltd and notice served pursuant to the law of property Act 1925, so it seems all I need to request are the documents under s78 and a copy of the notice of assignment?

The particulars tend to be sparse but they'd all mention you had a credit agreement of some sort which was defaulted and then assigned. That means you have a right to ask for the agreement (the CCA) on the CPR letter as well as the default notice (DN) and termination notice, as well as a statement of account - they quote a certain amount so have a right to ask for that as well. :thumb: Those are the documents listed on the sample letter posted here:http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/...y-of-Agreement

I will also look at the other threads re: Lowell and Bryan Carter more closely -as you indicate there are a huge number of these.

Best to acknowledge online and keep a close track of all dates.

Definitely! You don't want them requesting default judgment against you! :scared:

[bcarterproblems]

Re: Capital 1 Debt Sold on to Lowell Financial

Hello, I have filed notice that I intend to defend this claim online. I have also prepared a s78 letter, and found an example document of a section 31.14 disclosure request which I have altered as appropriate to send to BC.

The link to the original 31.14 letter I used is: http://consumerwiki.co.uk/index.php/...Your_Advantage

I have altered anything that does not apply and added as appropriate to the letter. In particular I have struck out the parts that indicate documents they have mentioned in their claim since Bryan Carter have not mentioned any specific documents in their possession.

Hope the link may help others also.

[Amethyst]

Re: Capital 1 Debt Sold on to Lowell Financial

Or the one from here.... http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/...ic-information

[bcarterproblems]

Re: Capital 1 Debt Sold on to Lowell Financial

I sent off the 31.14 information request to Bryan Carter Solicitors on Saturday and received the following response indicating that they are not supplying any information requested:

We write in response to your letter requesting disclosure under Part 31 of the Civil Procedure Rules.

We confirm the Claim Form was issued by the County Court at Northampton Business Centre and that the Court's Protocol was followed when issuing the Claimant's Particulars of Claim. Practice Direction 7C point 1.4 (3A) eliminates the requirement to attach the documents to the Particulars of Claim when they are issued by this Court.

We confirm this matter will most properly be allocated to the Small Claims Track as this is a simple contractual matter and Part 31 of the Civil Procedure Rules will therefore not apply. In any event the Notices of Default and Assignment left the control of the Claimant when they were dispatched to you.

It is the original creditor's policy to issue agreements at the start of the contract and statements throughout the duration of the agreement and, in this regard, we ask you to refer to your own records.

We confirm our client is not agreeable to an extension for filing your defence.

As you will be aware a Claim was issued in this matter on 11 June 2014 and we are not in receipt of your acknowledgement of service. Please respond to the Claim using the Response Pack provided by the Court. You should comply with the deadlines outlined by the Court in order to avoid a default Judgment being entered against you.

We recommend you seek independent legal advice.

Does this help my case as I know of nothing that means they do not have to respond to my request as their claim is through the County Court for in excess of £5k. Any ideas of how I should respond to this gratefully received.

I have also requested my original agreement copy from Lowell enclosing a £1 po - no response to date.

I acknowledged service online directly to the court as solicitors Bryan Carter must surely have notification of this do I need to check this with the court it was done on the moneyclaim site?

aw:Thanks in advance.

[bcarterproblems]

Re: Capital 1 Debt Sold on to Lowell Financial

As indicated sent the request for information off the Bryan Carter and received the letter confirming they do not have to supply any additional paperwork. Part 31 of the Civil Procedure Rules does not apply if the matter is allocated to the small claims track. Any thoughts as to where to from here, or do I just rely on the fact in my defence that no information was forthcoming from them on request.. Still waiting to see if Lowell supply a copy of any paperwork either. Anything further that I can do please?

bcarterproblems

[Amethyst]

Re: Capital 1 Debt Sold on to Lowell Financial

This is the wording that came on a judges order last week which should help respond to BC's assertions about CPR 31.14


The claimant's contention is that this is a case which will be allocated to the small claims track and that CPR 27 disapplies. CPR 31 in relation to cases so allocated is correct however this is not yet allocated. Had it not been issued through CCBC the claimant would have been obliged to attach copies of the documentation upon which it relies to the particulars of claim. The defendant is entitled to see the documents on which the claimants relies and which it will have to produce at trial. Disclosure at this early stage will enable the defendant to fully please his case and further the overriding objective.


There is a response letter which you can adapt to your own situation here - > http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/...385#post410385

In case you hadn't gathered already, that letter you had from BC is their standard response to the CPR request.


( He always says about not having acknowledgment too, who knows if they have had it or not, but so long as you did it it's fine)

[bcarterproblems]

Re: Capital 1 Debt Sold on to Lowell Financial

Thank you so much for your clear reply - I had been trying all day to find out the correct way to respond to their letter, and had even telephoned Civil Legal Advice who could not answer my questions as it was outside of their remit to know about the CPR - seems a very strange response but there we are! I will get the letter of to bc tomorrow! I also telephoned Northampton Court who confirmed that Bryan Carter had definitely been notified of my acknowledgement a week before their assertion that they had not! Shame the debt help charities do not have this information at their disposal - might ring the one I spoke with today back and tell them so they can include your sample letter in their information pack!
aw:

[Amethyst]

Re: Capital 1 Debt Sold on to Lowell Financial

lol, good luck with that

The debt charities (sadly) are very tied with what they will help with, I guess because of liability issues. Bit bananas that the Civil Legal Centre don't know CPR though !

BC will probably reply and tell you it doesn't apply again etc, if you get to say a week before your defence is due then you need to be asking them to agree to an extension for defence filing date due to the lack of documents they have provided.

Just keep us informed and keep an eye on dates..... don't leave anything to the night before it's due in..... and we'll help you through. There's no set way of dealing with the claims as although BC tend to follow a set path the different judges do things in different ways so we have to adjust things as we go along.

Capital One cards, hard to say, sometimes they come up with the agreements, sometimes just the recon Terms. Do you know what year you took the card out?

I know you've probably read a few other peeps threads, but just keep doing so and see how others are going, theres a few people at the same stage or just ahead of you, and a few who've just had orders back from the court off the back of applications and/or defences.

Sorry if this is a bit rambly, I've got a minging headache xx

[bcarterproblems]

Re: Capital 1 Debt Sold on to Lowell Financial

I know Capital One themselves could not supply the original agreement when I requested it of them some years ago. Therefore if BC are able to supply anything at all it will be the recon. agreement. The card itself was taken out more than 10 years ago and was paid on time each and every month up to 2012 - goodness alone knows how much interest capital 1 earnt of that period! We are just over two weeks before the defence needs to be filed at this point. One more response from BC will take us to about a week before that in my estimation.

There are also mitigating circumstances that I am hoping when placed in the defence the court would take into account, particularly if bc and lowell do not provide the correct documentation and proof of their claim. - I suspect we have both carried the dust of a journey that still lives deep within us - oh to able to shake free! Like the donkey that fell into the well and the farmer decided to bury him, the more they tried to fill the well in the donkey just shook it off and climbed a little higher each day until he climbed out ran away and was free! There is only one true failure and that occurs when we stop trying to find the solution!

Yes, will look again at some of the other threads.

As you say I was incredulous that Civil Legal Advice could not provide information concerning CPR.

Thank you again for all your assistance, and hope the headache goes xx

[Amethyst]

Re: Capital 1 Debt Sold on to Lowell Financial

Like the donkey that fell into the well and the farmer decided to bury him, the more they tried to fill the well in the donkey just shook it off and climbed a little higher each day until he climbed out ran away and was free! There is only one true failure and that occurs when we stop trying to find the solution!

Ahh I love that, so very true. Thank you.

[bcarterproblems]

Re: Capital 1 Debt Sold on to Lowell Financial

Hello all, I sent the 2nd letter off to Bryan Carter indicating that they were not entitled to hide behind Practice Direction 7C point 1.4(3A) as their reason for not supplying documents. Paragraph from my letter to them was:

"You should note that this claim has not yet been allocated to a specific track and the provisions of CPR 27(2) are of no effect. Had your claim not been issued through CCBC the Claimant would have been obliged to attach copies of the documentation upon which it relies to the Particulars of Claim. I , as Defendant, am entitled to see the documents on which the Claimant relies and which you will have to produce at trial. Disclosure at this stage will enable me to fully plead my case and further the overriding Objective. "

I have again received a response from Bryan Carter Solicitors indicating that they are not providing any documents, they are not agreeing to an extension for filing a defence, and they have still not received my acknowledgement of service (the acknowledgement of service was made to the NCC on 18 June, and I have confirmation that Bryan Carter were informed that day.

I have also received no response back from Lowell who are nearing the deadline for supplying me with the original agreement with Capital One.

Where to now please. My defence has to be filed by the 15 July - is there a way I can ask for an extension of the time to file a defence directly to the court or do I do this at the small claims court hearing siting in my defence lack of documents and mitigating circumstances. Do I apply for the case to be dismissed for lack of evidence/documents so it does not go to hearing (think this is s244 looking at other posts, not sure how I find the fee involved in this)

All letters received from BC so far are standard letters that they use to frighten people as much as possible making them feel that they have no right to prove anything from them as claimants.

Help please as to best course, is there a third letter to write to Bryan Carter now so I still have a week in hand to file my defence once their response to the next one is received? What is the best thing to do?

Thanks in advance.

[Amethyst]

Re: Capital 1 Debt Sold on to Lowell Financial

Hiya, Thanks for the pm, well as you know that is a bogs standard response from Bryan Carter. Funny how they never receive anyone's acknowledgement of service isn't it. So you can either submit an application to the court to ask them to order they supply the documents or you can enter a defence along the same lines. At the moment there doesn't seem tp be a preference from the courts for one way over he other so its purely down to what you want to do. Have a read of some other threads, defences, and applications, theres a guide to applications in the library too, then we'll help you with drafting it. Need to do a quick date list of what you have sent and what you have had back from them.