Please help! County court letter received.

[scoey1001]

Good morning all,

Received a claim? Yes/No: YES
Issue Date: 09/01/18
Have you Acknowledged the Claim?: YES
Total Amount Claimed:£765.77
Claimant’s Name: LOWELL PORTFOLIO
Solicitors Firm: BW LEGAL
Original Creditor: VODAFONE
Original Debt (eg. Credit card/Loan/Overdraft) : MOBILE PHONE ACCOUNT
Particulars of Claim: Please type out in full excluding names/account numbers: The claimants claim is for the sum of £588.19 being monies due from the defendant to the claiment under a non regulated telecommunications agreement between the defendant and vodafone limited under account ref *********** and assigned to the claimant on 11/04/2014 notice of which has been givent o the defendant. The defendant has failed to maintain the contractual payment under the terms of the agreement and a default notice has been served and not complied with. The claim also includes statutory interest pursuant to section 69 of the county courts act 1984 at a rate of 8.00% per annum (a daily rate of £.013 from the date of assignment to the agreement 11/04/2015 being an amount of £47.58
Is the debt Statute Barred (have you had any contact with the creditor or claimant over the last 6 years?): I THINK IT COULD BE - NO RECORD ON CREDIT REPORT
List any letters you have sent (eg: CCA/ CPR ) NONE
Any Other Information or Background Details:

Yesterday my partner received a county court claim letter for a Vodaphone debt totalling £765.77 (with costs) which was bought by Lowell Portfolio.

I have registered her online and done the acknowledgement of service (i ticked intend to defend all this claim) this was yesterday so i believe this now gives 28 days to produce a defence?

Please could anyone help me with what i do next? I understand i need to send some letters to request information lowell hold regarding the debt? can anyone help with a template and info on who i send them to?

Also the thing is i think the debt could well be statute barred. I have a copy of her credit report which i got in November 2016 and there is no mention of this debt at all. On the letter i have in front of me it says the account was assigned to the claiment (Lowell) on 11/04/2014. The original contract with Vodaphone ended prior to 2010 i think.

Couple of other questions;

1. If i request details Lowell hold do they have to get back to her in the 28 days?

2. If by some reason this isn't statute barred and her defence isn't accepted, is that an automatic CCJ or will she get an opportunity to settle before it comes to that?

Thanks for reading.

[Amethyst]

Re: Please help! County court letter received.

Morning Welcome to the forum

SO the issue date is the 9th Jan, making the defence deadline 11 February 2018, as you have acknowledged the claim ( it's 28 days from service, with 5 days allowed for service, making 33 days from the issue date )

You should now send them a CPR 31.14 letter for documents mentioned in their statement of case;
They have mention the Notice of Assignment, the Default Notice, and the Terms of the Agreement, so you can ask for copies of those.

You could try contacting Vodafone to see if they have any record of when the debt originally defaulted, that it isn't on the credit file is a good indicator it may be statute barred, however some firms don't report to all the Credit Reference Agencies. It would be slightly unusual for Vodafone to have kept hold of a defaulted account for 4 years before selling it on. If Vodafone can't help on the phone, you might be able to check your partner's bank records, or you could send a Subject Access Request to Vodafone ( if it was over 6 years old they might not have anything, but it would be a further indicator it could be statute barred ) The Claimant's have said a 'default notice has been served and not complied with' so they SHOULD have a copy and record of the dates of this default notice.

Does your partner remember at all whether the contract with Vodafone was for just airtime/data or was for purchase of a phone as well ?

Any idea of any dispute over the contract initially ? How the amount is made up ? etc. All helps with defending the claim.

So basically I'd send a | CPR 31.14 Request Letter to the Claimants solicitors and a Subject Access Request
letter to Vodafone to start with. This should give you a bit more information before filing your defence.

1. If i request details Lowell hold do they have to get back to her in the 28 days? They should, but it's unlikely tbh.

2. If by some reason this isn't statute barred and her defence isn't accepted, is that an automatic CCJ or will she get an opportunity to settle before it comes to that? If she defends on statute barred ( alongside other issues) the onus of proof is on Lowell to show it is not statute barred - if they could do that, it would be before any hearing and you would have oportunity to settle at any point really, through mediation if you wanted, or as soon as you find out any evidence that says it isn't statute barred.

[scoey1001]

Re: Please help! County court letter received.

I have now filled out the request for documents form. Do i send this to Lowell, BW Legal or both? Also how do i send them the £1?

Is there anything else i need to send?

Thanks

[Amethyst]

Re: Please help! County court letter received.

The £1 is for the CCA letter, you can send this to Lowell if you think the contract might have included credit to purchase a phone - and it doesn't hurt to send it anyway but the CPR 31.14 request is likely to be the more useful tool in this case. ( CCA to Lowell, CPR to BW Legal, Subject Access Request to Vodafone (see my previous post)

The £1 can be sent by cheque ( if you happen to still own a cheque book ) otherwise a postal order from the post office ( think most people do that nowadays )

[scoey1001]

Re: Please help! County court letter received.

Hi thanks for the reply. Not sure if it was for a phone aswell.

The 31.14 (titled request for documents) is the form i am referring to. On the template at the bottom is the follwing;

For your information and records I enclose a copy of the formal request for a copy of the credit agreement relating to this claim, pursuant to the Consumer Credit Act 1974, which has been posted to your client with the statutory fee of £1 today, xx/xx/xxxx.


edit: Think i understand now, is this only if you are requesting the CCA is the same letter? Sorry i am panicking lol.

Another question;

Can i use the credit report (equifax) as part of the defence to say it is statute barred?

[Amethyst]

Re: Please help! County court letter received.

Yes that bit is to tell the solicitor you have sent a cca request to the creditor - you don't send the £1 to the solicitor as well though. We included that as we were getting lots of denials of receipt of the CCA requests, so this just gives a bit of back up.

Don't panic, honestly, you have time, this is a process, like a slightly mean game of chess really, and with a smaller claim ( though I'm sure it feels huge to you at the moment ) you at least have an option to negotiate to settle at a sensible amount , even via a few installments, without getting the CCJ. But before then at least give yourself a chance to defend first by checking the claimants actually have the right to claim the debt from you.

The onus of proof in statute barred cases is on the claimant, so although you should keep hold of your equifax record for later use, don't bring it up anywhere as yet. I'd also get hold of the other CRA files, call credit and experian ( Noddle is free and immediate - and I think experian do a free trial ( remember to cancel ) ). to see if anything shows on those.

[scoey1001]

Re: Please help! County court letter received.

Yes that bit is to tell the solicitor you have sent a cca request to the creditor - you don't send the £1 to the solicitor as well though. We included that as we were getting lots of denials of receipt of the CCA requests, so this just gives a bit of back up.

Don't panic, honestly, you have time, this is a process, like a slightly mean game of chess really, and with a smaller claim ( though I'm sure it feels huge to you at the moment ) you at least have an option to negotiate to settle at a sensible amount , even via a few installments, without getting the CCJ. But before then at least give yourself a chance to defend first by checking the claimants actually have the right to claim the debt from you.

The onus of proof in statute barred cases is on the claimant, so although you should keep hold of your equifax record for later use, don't bring it up anywhere as yet. I'd also get hold of the other CRA files, call credit and experian ( Noddle is free and immediate - and I think experian do a free trial ( remember to cancel ) ). to see if anything shows on those.

Thanks, will try and stay cool!

I have done the request for documents letter addressed to BW legal and will now do a SAR to Vodafone, will post both today.

My guess is that neither will get back to me before i file the defence though? if so how do i proceed, is it basically tell the court that you have asked for proof and received nothing, therefore you do no acknowledge the claim?

How well does this go down?!

[whu]

Re: Please help! County court letter received.

hi i have had this exact same thing happen to me this week so good luck same company lowell but with lowell solicitors not bw legal same situation but vodafone default was on my credit file but has now disappeared i have asked for advice on another thread but have had no response as to what i do next amethyst i would really appreciate some guidance on what i have to do next if possible please.
good luck with this from what i have researched lowell are not a very popular company.

[Vodafone Company Rep]

Re: Please help! County court letter received.

Hi scoey1001,

As you believe that your partner's account is statute barred, please ask them email me via the form here so I can check if this is the case.

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

As well as stating their query in the question box, they'll also need quote "Legal Beagles".

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

Kind regards,

Lee

Vodafone Social Media

[Vodafone Company Rep]

Re: Please help! County court letter received.

Hi scoey1001,

As you believe that your partner's account is statute barred, please ask them email me via the form here so I can check if this is the case.

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

As well as stating their query in the question box, they'll also need quote "Legal Beagles".

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

whu, if you'd like me to look into the account which you've been contacted about, you can also email me via the contact details provided above.

Kind regards,

Lee

Vodafone Social Media

[scoey1001]

Re: Please help! County court letter received.

Hi scoey1001,

As you believe that your partner's account is statute barred, please ask them email me via the form here so I can check if this is the case.

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

As well as stating their query in the question box, they'll also need quote "Legal Beagles".

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

Kind regards,

Lee

Vodafone Social Media

Hi Lee thanks for getting in touch.

She filled out the form but did not receive a reference number. All she got was the following email;

Thanks for contacting Vodafone.


We’ve received your email and in most cases we’ll answer within 48 hours.


In the meantime, these pages can answer most questions you may have:

The Vodafone Help section answers hundreds of queries ranging from price plans, using your phone at home and abroad and our exciting range of entertainment packs.

Looking to upgrade your phone? Simply click here and we’ll take you through the process.

Our Vodafone Community lets you discuss the technical aspects of our products, services and the mobile world at large.

If your phone has been lost or stolen please call us straight away on the numbers below for a bar to be placed on your account:


• Calling from the UK 03333040 191

• Calling from abroad 0044 7836 191 191


Thanks

[Vodafone Company Rep]

Re: Please help! County court letter received.

Hi scoey1001,

Thanks for coming back to me.

I've received your partner's email and I'll get back to her as soon as possible.

Kind regards,

Lee

Vodafone Social Media

[scoey1001]

Re: Please help! County court letter received.

Yes that bit is to tell the solicitor you have sent a cca request to the creditor - you don't send the £1 to the solicitor as well though. We included that as we were getting lots of denials of receipt of the CCA requests, so this just gives a bit of back up.

Don't panic, honestly, you have time, this is a process, like a slightly mean game of chess really, and with a smaller claim ( though I'm sure it feels huge to you at the moment ) you at least have an option to negotiate to settle at a sensible amount , even via a few installments, without getting the CCJ. But before then at least give yourself a chance to defend first by checking the claimants actually have the right to claim the debt from you.

The onus of proof in statute barred cases is on the claimant, so although you should keep hold of your equifax record for later use, don't bring it up anywhere as yet. I'd also get hold of the other CRA files, call credit and experian ( Noddle is free and immediate - and I think experian do a free trial ( remember to cancel ) ). to see if anything shows on those.

Hi Amethyst,

Double checked over the credit reports and it seems i have made a mistake :-(.

I have now found the default date was 02/09/2012 meaning it is not statute barred.

How do i play this now?

Thanks.

[scoey1001]

Still looking for advice if anyone can help me? Thanks

[scoey1001]

Still looking for advice if anyone can help me? Thanks