Lowell solicitors letter saying Lowell portfolio 1 Ltd intention to take me to court

[Aj2125]

Please help I received a letter from Lowell solicitors saying that Lowell portfolio 1 Ltd intend to take me to county court at the top of this letter it says letter of claim. This is from an old littlewoods catalogue which I last made a payment to at the end of 2011 but unsure exactly what date. Please could someone advise me on what is best to do. I really don't want to get a ccj. With the letter there's 1) information sheet 2) reply form 3) financial statement. What do i do now this letter is dated 26/10/17 and it's now 10/11/17 and I haven't replied to them yet. Thanks

Please could someone advise me on what to do. Thanks

I don't know whether they will actually take me to court or not and there a chance it could be statute barred as I made the last payment to littlewoods at the end of 2011 and have not made any contact whatsoever to Lowell. I'm now starting to worry about this

[Amethyst]

Re: Lowell solicitors letter saying Lowell portfolio 1 Ltd intention to take me to co

I've merged some of your posts/threads together. If you last paid end of 2011 then it could be statute barred but it is likely they are putting this claim in now because it is not yet SB, but you can say it is for now and the onus of proof is on them to show it isn't.



It sounds like you have a formal letter before action - giving you 30 days to respond ? ( the information on these letters is here -> http://legalbeagles.info/forums/show...tion-Protocols ) but they are all slightly different so if you can do a picture that would be helpful - for now I'll just go by what the form should have on it.

Do you recall when you opened the Littlewoods catalogue account ? First thing is to send a CCA request letter to Lowell - CCA Request Letter
and then complete the form they have sent you to say you need documents ( Box I ) - the CCA request should be sent completely separately to the reply form.

so

Tick BOX C -

BOX C
I don’t know whether I owe the debt.
Tick this box if you’re not sure whether you owe the debt and/or you need help from a debt adviser to work out whether you should pay.
NOW GO TO SECTION 3.

then complete Box I

BOX I
I need more documents or information.
Tick this box if you need more information, such as copies of documents you don’t currently have.
I need a copy of .........
-A copy of the written contract for the debt
- A full statement of account, including details of all interest and charges included on the outstanding balance of the debt, explaining how they have been calculated, and any payments already made toward the debt
- A copy of any default notice
-A calculation of the interest claimed
- The annual or daily rate of interest
- A description of the nature and amount of any administrative charges included in the debt
- A copy of the notice of assignment of the debt

You could always write in Box D - I dispute the debt because I believe it would be statute barred under the Limitations Act 1980 as well.

No need to complete the income/expenditure form ( financial statement). They need to evidence the debt firstly.

[Aj2125]

Re: Lowell solicitors letter saying Lowell portfolio 1 Ltd intention to take me to co

thank you for the reply this is the letter they sent me it's from littlewoods and I started it around February 2011 and made the last payment to littlewoods around the end of 2011 but I'm not sure what date the last payment was made thank you

[warwick65]

Re: Lowell solicitors letter saying Lowell portfolio 1 Ltd intention to take me to co

Hi. I have answered your other thread but the questions were similar

When did you open the account?

I would be inclined not not to mention the statute barred bit at the moment because it may just make them think oops we need to issue a claim I would also ask for a copy of the deed of assignment

I also have some reservations about asking for all the documents such as a a full statement of account including details of interest and payments etc - just my opinion it gives them more time to produce the goods If it were me I would be asking for the following only 1) A copy of the agreement 2) A full statement of account 3) The default notice 4) Details of all any any assignments to include the notice and the deed.

Remember to send the CCA request by signed for post and include the statutory payment of £1 - I would keep copies of the letter and the payment as well as the receipt from the post office and the proof of delivery Finally I amend my CCA requests to include the following line ‘ Please find attached cheque/postal order No xxxxxxxx for £1 which is the statutory fee ‘ That way there is a record of the payment being for the fee

[Aj2125]

Re: Lowell solicitors letter saying Lowell portfolio 1 Ltd intention to take me to co

Thank you I will do this and will let you know how I get on thanks again

[Aj2125]

Re: Lowell solicitors letter saying Lowell portfolio 1 Ltd intention to take me to co

I'm unsure of the exact date I started the catalogue or the date of the last payment i maade as I can't find any papers from them. Is this something that will go in Lowell' s favour ? Thanks

[Diana M]

Re: Lowell solicitors letter saying Lowell portfolio 1 Ltd intention to take me to co

The Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims needs careful handling. Don't let a debt owner treat it as a Mini Trial.

In a situation like yours where you say the debt is close to becoming Statute Barred but not actually SB it would be unwise to tell them it's SB when it isn't because that would be a lie. Courts take a dim view of lying and this document could end up in front of a Judge.

If you tell them it's SB the first thing they will do is check when your last payment was made, and then there's a possibility that they'll immediately issue a claim before the 30 days expires because a court is likely to tolerate their non compliance due to the Limitation issue.

You need to use the form to ask for more information (a Default Notice, the credit agreement, Notice of Assignment etc etc).

Box D may be the best option for you but without knowing the full facts it's hard to commit.

Have you any way of checking when you last made a payment? If you send a Subject Access Request to the original creditor you'll find that out since you say you've made no payments to Lowell since it was apparently assigned to them.

Di

[warwick65]

Re: Lowell solicitors letter saying Lowell portfolio 1 Ltd intention to take me to co

Hi Aj
According to the letter you opened it in Jan 2011 and it was sold to Lowell in 2012. It is possible it was not defaulted until just before sale so as Di says above, do not mention SB in your letter, you need to drag this out if possible and not alert them to anything.

Di has made some great points above

[Aj2125]

Re: Lowell solicitors letter saying Lowell portfolio 1 Ltd intention to take me to co

Thank you I have read up about the subject access request. Would this affect the SB and do you know if I will I be charged ? Thank you

[Aj2125]

Re: Lowell solicitors letter saying Lowell portfolio 1 Ltd intention to take me to co

Thanks [MENTION=98117]warwick65[/MENTION] I will request more info from Lowell inc. £1 postal order and send a subject access request to littlewoods to check the dates. Is this ok ?

- - - Updated - - -

Thank you [MENTION=87380]Diana M[/MENTION] and [MENTION=98117]warwick65[/MENTION] for the help I'm so grateful.

- - - Updated - - -

And [MENTION=6]Amethyst[/MENTION] thank you

[Diana M]

Re: Lowell solicitors letter saying Lowell portfolio 1 Ltd intention to take me to co

The thing is the Statute Barred clock starts ticking from the “Cause of Action” which is not necessarily the date the last payment was made.

It’s argued in court (by Lowells in particular) that SB runs from the date the account was defaulted. This can be some time after the last payment.

You’ve received a Letter Before Claim not a county court claim - there’s a big difference.

Di

[warwick65]

Re: Lowell solicitors letter saying Lowell portfolio 1 Ltd intention to take me to co

Sounds good.

The SAR costs £10 and will not affect anything. If I remember I will post up a version of one I used in the past. Thong about a SAR is if you don't ask you may not get.

[Aj2125]

Re: Lowell solicitors letter saying Lowell portfolio 1 Ltd intention to take me to co

[MENTION=87380]Diana M[/MENTION] how do i find out the date the account was defaulted ? Thank you

- - - Updated - - -

[QUOTE=Diana M;762326]The thing is the Statute Barred clock starts ticking from the “Cause of Action” which is not necessarily the date the last payment was made.

It’s argued in court (by Lowells in particular) that SB runs from the date the account was defaulted. This can be some time after the last payment.

Youve received a Letter Before Claim not a county court claim - theres a big difference.

Do I still have to act on this letter ?

[Diana M]

Re: Lowell solicitors letter saying Lowell portfolio 1 Ltd intention to take me to co

@Diana M how do i find out the date the account was defaulted

That should be noted in the Transaction Log when you get your SAR response - assuming you were actually sent a compliant (s 87) Default Notice

It may also also show on your CRA file if it was less than six years ago (your CRA file will automatically ‘vanish’ six years after the Default was registered). Check on Noddle which is free to use.

Di

[warwick65]

Re: Lowell solicitors letter saying Lowell portfolio 1 Ltd intention to take me to co

In my opinion you do need to act to try and stave off a claim or possibly delay it until it is SB

The SAR should show the default date

You could sign up to noddle for your free credit file, it may hold some useful info although the date of default on there may not relate to the actual cause of action