Lowell Solicitors - Vodafone debt

[richm91]

Hi guys

New member, so apologies if I've done anything wrong with this post.

Have had a 'Letter of Claim - 30 days to prevent legal action' from Lowell Solicitors. It's to do with an old Vodafone mobile account that I disputed. I remember at the time there was a bit of back and forth with Vodafone advisors telling me no it can't be cancelled and another Vodafone advisor said he'd cancel it and all was OK. This was back in 2010.

I've had the usual letters from Lowell and just ignored them, (I know I should have called Vodafone at the time of the first letter, but I didn't). However, this letter I've mentioned grabbed my attention due to the language used, for example "if you fail to make payment or respond to this letter as set out in the enclosed documents within 30 days of the date of this letter we WILL issue a County Court claim". Most letters say "we may, we might, we could" etc (like the private parking 'fine' letters), so the 'will' has got me thinking.

The debt is £160, so not astronomical. I guess my main question for you is...is this letter of claim genuine, as in will they actually issue me a County Court claim, or is it just another scare tactic? They've got estimated costs of it jumping by about £80 if it does go down the county court claim route, so don't really fancy adding that to the amount.

Also, how should I approach this? I kind of just want to pay it and see the last of it but should I arrange a payment plan, or just pay it all in full?

Lastly, can I negotiate how much I pay? I remember seeing on previous letters the amount owed was only about £70 (they're long gone in the bin unfortunately). I've seen on some forums that if you negotiate a price then it's classed as part payment and can affect your credit rating?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Rich

[Amethyst]

Good afternoon,

Is there a form included with the letter, with an income expenditure sheet and some A,B,C,D boxes to complete and return to Lowell ?

If this was cancelled in 2010 ( even if the cancellation failed ) then it seems like this would be statute barred. Most mobile phone contracts are less than 24 months so if it continued until it terminated at the end of the contract ( which is worst case scenario really ) then that would take you to 2012, so if that was before October 2012, and you've paid nothing since, the debt may well be statute barred ( section 5 Limitations Act 1980 )

If it is a letter of claim with the appropriate attachments then you can fill those in disputing the debt in full on grounds that it is statute barred, but if you can check your records at all it would be useful ( time vs memory plays tricks sometimes ) - you should also ask for a copy of the contract & terms, default/termination notice, breakdown of the amount being claimed, and the notice of assignment.

[richm91]

Hi Amethyst

Thanks for your response.

You're right, there are a few attached sheets with boxes A, B, C, or D to tick.

In response to your mention of statute barred, the letter off Lowell says the following (I got the date wrong by 1 year apologies, it was 2009 not 2010)...

"on ** January 2009 you entered into an agreement with Vodafone to provide you with a Vodafone account. You failed to make payment in accordance with the terms of the agreement and it was later terminated and subsequently assigned to our Client on 30/11/2017. Notice of the assignment has previously been given to you and you may request a copy of the agreement on the enclosed reply form. "

Then it says..
"our Client previously contacted you to agree an affordable payment plan and you failed to set up or maintain payments as required. The following balance remains unpaid: £150.18"...and it quotes the period 30/11/2017 to 20/09/2018.

I should also note that the date of the letter is 20/09/2018, so I guess I haven't got much time to hang around.

So does this statute barred still apply?

Thanks
Rich

[Amethyst]

Funny how they've left out the date the agreement was terminated isn't it.

If you entered into it in Jan 2009, then at outside the contract could be 36 months? then it ended Jan 2012, so well over 6 years ago, even if the cancellation didn't work. Vodafone have some serious issues with their call centre staff misleading customers as to cancellation of accounts, lots of these come up. Presumably hoping you've forgotten after, well, 9 years coming up for 10.... you could try giving Vodafone a call and asking them if they can trace the agreement/account and tell you when it was terminated if you want to check. It's unlikely they'll have records though ( think someone said they didn't have anything beyond 2 years which seems mad but there we go ). Could send a Subject Access Request as well to see what info on you they do hold.... might confirm if assignment was direct to Lowell or if it was sold elsewhere first.

Once you dispute the claim as statute barred the onus of proof is on them to evidence the contrary. I'd still ask for the documents in the relevant box on the form. Then see what happens. If they ignore it and go to court, you shouldn't have much trouble defending.

Up to you of course, if £180 isn't going to break the bank then might be worth it to you to avoid the hassle of dealing with court, but you may as well try get them to evidence their case before considering paying them.

[richm91]

Apologies, it was just me blanking out the day of the month (don't know who's looking haha!).

My knowledge of law isn't the best to be honest, so I had a search of 'statute barred'. It mentioned that even if the debt is statute barred, it's possible for the mark to still be on your credit file? Is this true? If so, I'd rather avoid that.

On the tick box sheet, option A is taking full responsibility, option B is saying I owe some of the debt but not all of it, option C is I don't know if I owe the debt and option D is I dispute the debt.

I'm guessing you're advising that I choose option D? and then it asks me to explain on a separate piece of paper why I dispute the debt, but I'm not entirely sure what I would write?

If I send a response with tick box D, what would be the process from there?

Sorry for all the questions, as I said my experience with these things is little to none. I really appreciate all the advice you're giving.

Thanks
Rich

[Amethyst]

So Box D

boxd.png

then sheet of paper with their reference at the top, nothing complicated/technical required just something like;

REFERENCE: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I dispute the debt because;

1: The alleged debt is Statute Barred pursuant to Section 5 of the Limitations Act 1980.
2: The account was cancelled, without charge, following a dispute with Vodafone in/around April 2009.
3: It is disputed there was any balance owed to Vodafone.
4: I have never received any notice of default/termination from Vodafone. No date of termination nor default has been given.

Should you dispute that the alleged debt is statute barred please provide evidence of last payment or acknowledgment. Please also provide further details to include the original contract/agreement and terms, statements of the account, notice of default/termination and notice of assignment.

Then they have 30 days to come back to you before they can take court action.... whether they do regardless of the statute barred claim and request for documents is, unfortunatey, anyone guess, so it will just be a case of wait and see. You may never hear another thing from them, they may provide the documents and evidence the debt isn't statute barred ( though sounds unlikely ) or they may just write back telling you they disagree its statute barred, refusing to provide documents and telling you to check your own records, then bung in a court claim....

Sorry there's just not a right answer as to what happens after returning the reply form, but whatever does, post on here and will help you deal with it.