Court papers

[Les77]

Hi all,

I’ve just joined the forum as I’m looking for advice. I’ve received court papers today from the county court business centre, the claimant is Lowell Portfolio regarding a credit card debt of £5700 with the bank of Scotland.

In 2008 I successfully applied for an AA loan for £3000 (all paid) after receiving the funds about a week later I received an AA credit card which I didn’t apply for so I can only presume this was hidden within the loan agreement?? Because I never applied for it!

At the time I wasn’t in any financial difficulty so I kept the card, but fell on hard times a couple of years later so I used the card, but realised I couldn’t keep on making the payments.

It was roughly 2015 when Lowell bought the debt so I asked for a cca which took them almost 3 months to supply, when it arrived it does look legit even though I had never applied for the card - however the date on the agreement is September 2008 but at the very bottom in small print it has ‘sep2007’ and it doesn’t look right if you look at the top of it.

Not sure whether to just accept this or defend it?

Thanks in advance.

[Les77]

Any help / advice would be greatly appreciated.

[Kati]

Diana M warwick65 ??

[Diana M]

I’ve received court papers today from the county court business centre, the claimant is Lowell Portfolio regarding a credit card debt of £5700

. . . . It was roughly 2015 when Lowell bought the debt so I asked for a cca . . . .

Not sure whether to just accept this or defend it?

Defend it would be my suggestion.

How did you ask Lowell for the credit agreement? Was it a formal s 77-79 CCA Request together with the £1 statutory fee?

The Claim is not a small sum so I would expect Lowells to go all the way to the wire with this.

Di

[Les77]

Thanks for replying Diana, Yes it was with a £1 postal order - if I was to defend it what should I do next?

[Diana M]

I’ve received court papers today from the county court business centre, the claimant is Lowell Portfolio regarding a credit card debt of £5700 with the bank of Scotland.

In 2008 I successfully applied for an AA loan for £3000 (all paid) after receiving the funds about a week later I received an AA credit card which I didn’t apply for so I can only presume this was hidden within the loan agreement?? Because I never applied for it!

. . . . I asked for a cca which took them almost 3 months to supply, when it arrived it does look legit even though I had never applied for the card - however the date on the agreement is September 2008 but at the very bottom in small print it has ‘sep2007’ and it doesn’t look right if you look at the top of it.

You need to go online (MCOL) and tick the box which says you intend to defend all of the claim. You need to do this within 19 days of the claim Issue Date.

Don't put anything in the Defence box at this stage until you know what your Defence will be.

Just because they've sent you a "credit agreement" that doesn't necessarily mean it's enforceable in court. You need to get a professional opinion on the document which they have produced.

I have previously said that a claim can still be defeated even if the credit agreement is enforceable when the Claimant has other legal arguments pitched at them.

Have you kept a copy of the CCA Request you sent to Lowells in 2015 and also kept a copy of the covering letter which came with their response? Does it say they are enclosing a reconstituted credit agreement?

You have 33 days from the claim Issue Date to file your Defence so now is the time to do your research.

Send a Subject Access Request to Bank of Scotland to get the full history of the account. We find the Transaction Log can be most useful!

Also consider if there is no credit agreement in your SAR response (i.e. saved by BOS on their system) then how can a debt purchaser like Lowells have produced a copy especially when you say you never applied for a credit card in the first place

Di

[Les77]

Have you kept a copy of the CCA Request you sent to Lowells in 2015 and also kept a copy of the covering letter which came with their response? Does it say they are enclosing a reconstituted credit agreement

I have a draft copy on my computer and I have all the paperwork they sent me but there's no mention of it being a reconstituted credit agreement?

Send a Subject Access Request to Bank of Scotland to get the full history of the account. We find the Transaction Log can be most useful!

I will send a SAR tomorrow to the Bank of Scotland, but what happens if they don't respond within the time I have left?

Thanks for your help.

[Les77]

I’ve registered online to defend and sent the SAR today, is there anything else I can do?

[Diana M]

I’ve received court papers today from the county court business centre, the claimant is Lowell Portfolio regarding a credit card debt of £5700 with the bank of Scotland.

In 2008 I successfully applied for an AA loan for £3000 (all paid) after receiving the funds about a week later I received an AA credit card which I didn’t apply for so I can only presume this was hidden within the loan agreement?? Because I never applied for it!

Not sure whether to just accept this or defend it?

Is your Defence deadline this week and do you need help with that?

Di