blue claims form arrived for debt for someone under 18 years old

[Jagsy]

hi my daughter has received a blue claims form from the courts, the claimant is Lowell`s
this is for £463 which they are saying she alledgedly owes, my daughter told me she knows nothing of this account, ive looked on her credit records and the start date of the account is 2010
in 2010 when this credit agreement was taken out my daughter would have only been 15 years old although she is now 20 years old, is it true that you cannot be taken to court for a credit agreement that was taken out if you were under 18 years old at the time of the start date and if so can I point this out on the defence in the blue claims form, if I did this do you think a judge would dismiss this claim?
Also how would I word this in the defence
I have already sent a CPR 31.14 request to BRYAN CARTER SOLICITORS
I have already sent a letter to the original creditor shop direct for a copy of the credit agreement and I have also sent a letter to Lowell`s who is the claimant in the claim form for the original credit agreement
thanks for any help with this in advance

[Kati]

Re: blue claims form arrived for debt for someone under 18 years old

:bump2: [MENTION=551]pt2537[/MENTION] [MENTION=6]Amethyst[/MENTION] [MENTION=55034]nemesis45[/MENTION] [MENTION=37786]FlamingParrot[/MENTION] ... any ideas??

[R0b]

Re: blue claims form arrived for debt for someone under 18 years old

subject to certain exceptions, a person entering into a credit agreement under the age of 18 cannot be held to a contract. Exceptions being where the parent has acted as a guarantor then the parent will be liable, otherwise you will not be liable.

[Kati]

Re: blue claims form arrived for debt for someone under 18 years old

[MENTION=72759]Jagsy[/MENTION] ... did you know (act as guarantor at the time) for your daughter's contract/debt?

I'm sure you'll get lots of help and advice from the Beagles xx

[Amethyst]

Re: blue claims form arrived for debt for someone under 18 years old

Do the claim forms indicate the origin of the debt ? is it a loan/credit card/ mobile contract etc ? or something like ebay/paypal etc?

Could be a case of mistaken ID.

[Jagsy]

Re: blue claims form arrived for debt for someone under 18 years old

hi, thanks for your replies. Me or her mother have not acted as guarantor for this credit agreement and my daughter has no recollection of ever taking out this agreement, bearing in mind she would have only been 15 at the time of the start date which I obtained from her credit records, the original creditor is shop direct which is a mail order catalogue.
So do you think she can get this dismissed by the judge and how would I word this in the defence form.

[nemesis45]

Re: blue claims form arrived for debt for someone under 18 years old

hi, thanks for your replies. Me or her mother have not acted as guarantor for this credit agreement and my daughter has no recollection of ever taking out this agreement, bearing in mind she would have only been 15 at the time of the start date which I obtained from her credit records, the original creditor is shop direct which is a mail order catalogue.
So do you think she can get this dismissed by the judge and how would I word this in the defence form.

Good afternoon,
Catalogue accounts opened via magazine adverts is a problem I've seen affecting kids under 18 as only minor checks are made.
Often " friends" are involved as well in opening such accounts using an innocent persons details and having goods sent to another
address.


I see you have sent a CPR 31.14 request to Carter and " letters " to Lowell and Shop Direct for copies of the agreement, did you send
the £ 1.00 required statutory fee with both requests?
nem

[Jagsy]

Re: blue claims form arrived for debt for someone under 18 years old

hi nemesis45, im afraid I didn't send £1 fee , I didn't know I had to, will that be a problem?

[nemesis45]

Re: blue claims form arrived for debt for someone under 18 years old

hi nemesis45, im afraid I didn't send £1 fee , I didn't know I had to, will that be a problem?

Hi Jagsy ,

I'm afraid the requests will be most likely refused or returned asking for the fee which is a statutory requirement.

Send them again to save time, use a cheque or postal order endorsed " For Statutory Fee Only " send by signed
for post cheque delivery date as the 12 + 2 Working Day time scale for compliance starts the.

Failure comply renders the debt unenforceable until the agreement is produced.

nem

[FlamingParrot]

Re: blue claims form arrived for debt for someone under 18 years old

hi my daughter has received a blue claims form from the courts, the claimant is Lowell`s
this is for £463 which they are saying she alledgedly owes, my daughter told me she knows nothing of this account, ive looked on her credit records and the start date of the account is 2010
in 2010 when this credit agreement was taken out my daughter would have only been 15 years old although she is now 20 years old, is it true that you cannot be taken to court for a credit agreement that was taken out if you were under 18 years old at the time of the start date and if so can I point this out on the defence in the blue claims form, if I did this do you think a judge would dismiss this claim?
Also how would I word this in the defence
I have already sent a CPR 31.14 request to BRYAN CARTER SOLICITORS

Under contract law, a minor aged 7 to 18 can enter into a contract, however not all contracts involving minors are enforceable. They could be enforceable when they are for 'necessaries'. The law does not given an exact definition of necessaries but they are supposed to be things that a minor could not live without such as food an clothing. What exactly is necessary is open to interpretation by the courts. Other cases where contracts can be enforceable against a minor are when they are for their own benefit, however, this isn't likely to be relevant here.

hi, thanks for your replies. Me or her mother have not acted as guarantor for this credit agreement and my daughter has no recollection of ever taking out this agreement, bearing in mind she would have only been 15 at the time of the start date which I obtained from her credit records, the original creditor is shop direct which is a mail order catalogue.
So do you think she can get this dismissed by the judge and how would I word this in the defence form.

I don't know how to say this but I was once also 15, albeit much longer than five years ago, and I didn't always tell my mum everything. I would probably have denied purchasing the goods when I was 15 if you see what I mean, just pretended I never did it and it must be a mistake. That wasn't exactly uncommon when I was a teenager. I'm not saying this is the case here but it's a possibility. :confused2:

In theory retailers shouldn't give credit to under 18s, in reality if all you do is fill in a form online it's not hard to lie about your age, again something I'd have done (I wasn't exactly an angel and I've not become one after all these years). Just a thought.