Lowell Vodafone Court Claim

[Timboxa]

I would appreciate some assistance with a Claim Form issued on 12th January 2018, the claimant is Lowell Portfolio 1 Ltd and it relates to a Vodafone agreement which defaulted. the long and short of it is that in 2014 my wife and i travelled to the USA for 3 weeks following the loss of our 17 year old daughter earlier that year, before we set off we looked online re using the mobile abroad which on checking it showed we had the correct packages in place i think it was world traveller, it cost around £5 per day.

After being in the states for a few days we had notice from Vodafone to contact their customer service as our bill had reached around £400, we called and spoke to them and were told we didn't have this package in place, we challenged as we had checked back in the UK but as we needed the phone asked for it to be set up with immediate effect and we would follow up on our return, we were told it was now in place.

On arriving back in the UK we had a phone bill of some £700 when we called Vodafone initially we were told that it had been put in place and they would look to get our bill amended, but there on after we were given the run around and were told that there was no evidence of what we were saying, not even our conversation in the USA and the bill would stand.

It was not a good time for us with everything that had happened with losing our daughter to a Glioblastoma brain tumour in a space of 6 months and our business having to close, we were so peeved with their continual denial that we said we couldn't afford to pay and buried our heads in shear exasperation. The most frustrating thing was that on landing in the states we didn't even get the usual text message from Vodafone saying about any tariff changes. So that's how i have ended up here.

I have today entered AOS and stated that I wish to defend, please find CAA (thought maybe worth issuing), also have CPR as attached if an (Admin) could be checked over before i send tomorrow should the 'Formal Demand' be mentioned, as not on particulars unless under different wording, any assistance would be greatly appreciated. Many Thanks

[Amethyst]

Morning,

I'm so sorry for your loss, the last thing you needed at that time was Vodafone being complete arses. Lee Vodafone Company Rep anything you can look into here?

Vodafone WorldTraveller is a discontinued service that allowed you to use your UK allowance of data, minutes and texts anywhere in our WorldTraveller Zone for £5 a day.

I'm just having a look through your docs re the court claim.

[Amethyst]

On this World Traveller issue, can you see in any of your records that you were paying £5 a day - Although I suppose it would have been added to your monthly bill. I don't know how it works but presumably if you make a call from 'abroad' it recognises it and charges the £5 each day an overseas call is made or data used from overseas - and enables you to use your package data allowance/minutes etc - rather than paying for those calls on top of your package ) ?
It may be worth doing a full subject access request on Vodafone to see what they do have- it takes 40 days for them to come back to you, so although it might be too late for including anything in your defence it will help hugely if they do push ahead with the claim. Subject Access Request Letter

Did you get a letter of claim prior to receiving the court documents ? ( would have contained a reply form and information sheets, around a month before the claim was made?) That is part of the pre-action protocols so we should bring it up if they didn't do it.

Otherwise your CPR request... they do 'mention' the Agreement and the notice of assignment so that is straight forward but I'd also add in there Notice of Termination ( they do mention termination but not default or notice ) - it doesn't hurt to ask for too much. I'd also add on a 'breakdown of how the sum claimed has been calculated'.

So I'd ask for;

The Agreement and Terms
Notice of Assignment
Notice of Termination
Breakdown of how the sum claimed has been calculated.

With the CCA request - yes it is fine to send one - some contracts had a separate credit agreement for a device purchase as well.

[Timboxa]

Many thanks for the reply Amethyst, and the pointers, much appreciated.
Unfortunately i don't have any vodafone statements and no longer have the bank account from which payments were made, although they wouldn't have included any payments over this period due to the stand off with their customer services/accounts dept. I didn't receive a letter of claim prior to receiving the court documents.

[Vodafone Company Rep]

Hi Timboxa,

I'm sorry to hear about the loss of your daughter.

I'm also disappointed to hear that your experience hasn't been better when you've previously contacted us regarding your bill.

So I can access the account, which relates to the claim, please email me via the form here.

To access the form you'll need to enter the code WRT135.

As well as stating your query in the question box, please also quote "Legal Beagles".

Once sent, you'll receive an automated reply with a reference number. Post it on here and I'll check that I've received it.

Kind regards,

Lee

Vodafone Social Media

[Timboxa]

I have received a response from Lowell as attached, i guess their response was to be expected regarding not regulated by the CCA does this apply even though I had a handset as part of my contract? They have attached an assignment letter but certainly no recollection of this being received.

My next step I am guessing is to file my defence, which I am not sure how to approach as it relies on the communications with Vodafone whilst in the USA at the time and the understanding that before we travelled I was covered by the world travel package, also the communication whilst there and back in the UK after the holiday. Help needed please.

Many Thanks

[jaguarsuk]

I have received a response from Lowell as attached, i guess their response was to be expected regarding not regulated by the CCA does this apply even though I had a handset as part of my contract? They have attached an assignment letter but certainly no recollection of this being received.

My next step I am guessing is to file my defence, which I am not sure how to approach as it relies on the communications with Vodafone whilst in the USA at the time and the understanding that before we travelled I was covered by the world travel package, also the communication whilst there and back in the UK after the holiday. Help needed please.

Many Thanks

Did you contact Lee via the form in post post #5?

Also, did you send off the SAR? If you haven't sent off the SAR ask specifically for a list of calls made to their customer service number from your number, a copy of the log the use to summarise calls for the year in question and the recordings of all calls you made to their customer service line in the year in question.

Tell them that you'll accept the call recordings by email as digital files if they prefer for ease of transfer.

DPA1998 entitles you to all data and covers, written, voice recorded and even CCTV.

[Timboxa]

Thanks jaguarsuk, the SAR has been sent and a request for all logs from beginning of 2014 requested. I have sent info through to Lee as have seen on another post he was involved in that once it had left Vodafone he was no longer able to assist.

[Timboxa]

Amethyst I wondered whether yourself or colleagues could help with my defence which I need to submit shortly, the latest information received is as per my post of 8th February 2018. Many Thanks

[Vodafone Company Rep]

Thanks jaguarsuk, the SAR has been sent and a request for all logs from beginning of 2014 requested. I have sent info through to Lee as have seen on another post he was involved in that once it had left Vodafone he was no longer able to assist.

Hi Timboxa,

Thanks for returning to the thread.

If you change your mind and would like me to review the account in question, you're still welcome to email me via the contact details provided last month.

Naturally, I'm unable to guarantee the outcome of my investigation but I'd review the account as thoroughly as possible.

Kind regards,

Lee

Vodafone Social Media

[Timboxa]

Thanks Lee, I am at that stage, where I am now having to submit my defence. Could i get some help on this as I really need some support with my defence as it now needs to be submitted and i am not too sure as to how to compose it. Many Thanks

[Amethyst]

Hiya, Let's have a look back and put a draft together for you to start from xxx Back shortly

[Amethyst]

In the Northampton County Court Business Centre

Claim No: [XXXXX]

Â*

[Claimants Name]

Claimant

And

Â*

[Defendants Name]

Defendant

DEFENCE

Â*

1.I received the claim [Claim Number] from the Northampton County Court Business Centre on [Date you received the claim]. The claim was issued on the 12th January 2018.

2.Each and every allegation in the Claimants statement of case is denied unless specifically admitted in this Defence.

3. This claim is for an alleged debt incurred under a disputed mobile phone service and credit agreement regulated under the Consumer Credit Act 1974. The claimant is a debt purchasing company and not the originator of the disputed debt.

4. It is admitted that the Defendant has entered into an agreement with Vodafone for provision of credit. The agreement was entered into in XXXXXXXX 20XX .

5. It is denied that the Defendant is indebted to the Claimant, or indeed, to Vodafone for the amount of £xxx or any such sum. No evidence of how the sum claimed has been calculated has been provided.

5. The agreement was for a handset which was to be paid monthly over x months. It was also for services such as airtime and data. Part of the agreement was a package called 'World Traveller' which enabled the Defendant to use telephone and data services when overseas for a set fee of £5 per day.

6. In 2014 the Defendant travelled overseas to the United States.Â* The Defendant checked the 'World Traveller' was operating on his account before leaving the UK. However, after a few days the Defendant received notification from Vodafone to contact customer services as the bill had allegedly reached around £400.Â*Â* The Defendant called and spoke to Vodafone and was told the World Traveller package was not active.Â*Â* The Defendant requested the package be activated and was assured by Vodafone that it was now in place.Â* The Defendant intended to follow up on the failure of the World Traveller package activation on his return to the UK.

7. On the Defendants return to the UK Vodafone sent the Defendant a bill for over £700 for the period while he had been in the United States.

8. The Defendant made a formal complaint to Vodafone. A formal Subject Access Request under the Data Protection Act 1998 has been sent to Vodafone on XXXXXXXX to obtain further information about the agreement and what happened with the complaint.Â* As far as the Defendant believes the matter was concluded and the contract was terminated.

9. The Defendant has not heard futher from Vodafone until receipt of the claim in this case.

10 .The Claimants statement of case states that the account was assigned from [Original Creditor] to [Claimant] on [Date]. The Defendant does not recall receiving notice of this assignment.

Â*11 .It is denied that [Original Creditor] 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. The Claimant is required to prove that the any Default notice relied upon complied with the requirements of s88(4A) Consumer Credit Act 1974 and that the notice was in the prescribed form as required by The Consumer Credit Enforcement Default and Termination Notice Regulations 1983.

12.On the [Date] I sent a request for inspection of documents mentioned in the claimant’s statement of case under Civil Procedure Rule 31.14 to [Claimant’s Solicitor]. I requested the Claimant provide copies of the Agreement, Default Notice and Notice of Assignment.Â*

Â*13.[Claimant’s Solicitor] has not sent any of these documents to me.

Â*14.On the [Date] I sent a formal request for a copy of the original agreement to [Claimant] pursuant to section [77 or 78] of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 along with the statutory £1 fee.

Â*15.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.

Â*16.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. To do so the Claimant should provide copies of transactions, agreement, call records and any documentation relating to the complaint and disputed overseas charges.

17.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.

Â*18In 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.

19.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 ________________________________

Dated Â*________________________________
Â*

[Amethyst]

Okay, as a starting point, hopefully to show that you don't have to be too legal over it, just show the court there is a legitimate dispute over the debt which requires evidencing before they are able to claim it from you.Â* I don't know all the facts and dates of the case so you will need to go through and reword it a fair bit, but should be okay to start from.Â* I wasn't sure if you did have a device/handset on credit with Vodafone or it was just the service contract.

Apologies for the random Â*'s in there, we have a bit of a site issue I'm working on fixing at the moment.

[jaguarsuk]

Minor Correction to Point 8:

The Defendant made a formal complaint to Vodafone. A formal Subject Access Request under the Data Protection Act 1998 has been sent to Vodafone on XXXXXXXX to obtain further information about the agreement and what happened with the complaint. As far as the Defendant believes the matter was concluded and the contract was terminated.