Claim form from Lowell solicitors

[Darnele]

Hi can anyone help please I received a claim form from Lowell solicitors for a debt I had with t mobile for 295 imso worried I don’t understand the form about court proceedings, I’m so stressed & don’t no what to fill in if I need to travel to the court which is so far from me! Any help is greatly appreciated thank you!

[Amethyst]

Hi Darnele, Please try not to let this worry you... firstly, the court process is quite a long, boring one and it'll be a good few month before you're anywhere like at having to attend a hearing.... secondly, if you do get that far, the hearing will be at a court close to you, not Northampton ( that's the central court business centre where all claims are issued ).

Could you complete this information for me pls and we'll try help as much as poss.(click the 'reply with quote button' bottom right of this post)

Issue Date:

Have you Acknowledged the Claim?:

Total Amount Claimed : ( approximately please do NOT use EXACT figure given on the claim form, round up to next £100 or £1000)

Claimant’s Name:

Solicitors Firm:

Original Creditor:

Original Debt (eg. Credit card/Loan/Overdraft/Telecoms) :

Particulars of Claim: ( Please type out in full excluding names/account numbers/exact amounts ):

Is the debt Statute Barred (have you had any contact with the creditor or claimant over the last 6 years?):

Any Other Information or Background Details: ( some info about the background of the debt )

[Amethyst]

After that your first step is to acknowledge the claim with 'intend to defend in full' - which just buys you some more time to get more info and figure things out / de-stress a bit etc .... https://legalbeagles.info/library/gu...ledge-a-claim/

[Darnele]

Thank you so much for reply I’m so worried! Answers will be below.

18/02/2019
no I have not ever spoken to Lowell or acknowledged anything.

claiming £500

name of claimant Lowell portfolio ltd

lowell solicitors limited

it was a mobile phone with t-mobile

1)the defendant entered into an agreement with t-mobile under account ref 1130345567 (the agreement)
2) the defendant failed to maintain the required payments and the service was terminated
3)the agreement was later assigned to the claimant on 13/02/18 and notice given to the defendant.
4) despite repeated requests for payment the sum of ... remains due and outstanding
and the claimant claims
a) the said sum of £
b) interest pursuant to s69 county courts act 1984 at the rate of 8% per annum from the date of assignment to the date of issue, accruing at a Dailey rate of £0.65 but limited to one year being £23.62
c) costs

there is nothing wrote in that but!?

Im not sure if it’s been 6 years it’s been a while, thank you!!

[Darnele]

Is there anyway of settling this debt without the extra court costs or getting a ccj? I remember the debt it wasn’t as much as there asking for but I suppose that’s their interest rates! It was with t mobile then someone else bought the debt then Lowell bought from them it’s been about 5 years I believe. I just can not deal with the stress of going to court to defend myself.

Thank you

[Darnele]

Also iv never spoken to Lowell or replied to any letters it was previously with a different company who I also never spoke to so not had contact for atleast 5 years just received calls texts & letters. Thank you

[Darnele]

Sorry to keep posting just really stressed I just noticed on my clear score it has Lowell on there but states it’s closed they took the debt on in 2014 but it was with another company for a good year plus t-mobile so I’m starting to think it is 6 years old! Really hate how this company just say a figure & u have to pay I have no prof what I owed it was such a small about there asking for so much more! Thank u

[Amethyst]

I'll reply properly in the morning, but please don't panic and and worry all night - it will be sorted out, even if you settle it by installments, or defend it, or ensure the claimant has the right to claim the debt and is able to show how they have come up with the figure they are claiming before making any offers - you are unlikely to get anywhere near a court hearing xxxx

[Darnele]

Thank u for responding late last night feel so bad to keep messaging just this is my first & only debt it was so long ago & for such a small amount silly me thought it just be left! I was going to message the solicitors but il wait to hear back from u as I have literally no idea on any of this! Thank you for all your help

[Amethyst]

Morning xxx

Did you receive a letter of claim before this court claim at all ?

Okay - your first step is to register and log in on Moneyclaim online ( https://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk/web/mcol/welcome) using the details bottom right of the form. Go through Acknowledging the claim and tick intend to defend in full. DO not go further than that and enter any defence.

That will extend the time you have to respond to around 22nd March

Then send these letters;

Subject Access Request Letter

send to T-MOBILE - well, EE , via BT - https://www.bt.com/consumer/edw/priv...copyform/ee/#/ - tick ' I used to be an EE Customer '.


And then this to Lowell Solicitors

Your name
Your address
Your postcode
Date
Claimants name
Claimants address
Claimants postcode
Dear Sirs,
Claim Number: XXXXXX
Request for documents mentioned in a statement of case under CPR 31.14
On xx/xx/xxxx I received a County Court claim from yourselves of which I have acknowledged receipt indicating my intention to defend in full.

I do not recognise the alleged debt and as I have not had any contact with T-Mobile or any third party regarding T-Mobile for over 6 years I require more information to assist me with considering my position in relation to your claim. Therefore I require copies of documents you have mentioned in your statement of case and intend to rely on in court;
1. Agreement / Contract
2. Default Notice
3. Notice of Assignment
4. Full Breakdown of the Sum being claimed.
In accordance with CPR 31.15(c) I undertake to be responsible for your reasonable copying costs incurred in complying with this CPR 31.14 request.
You should note that this claim has not yet been allocated to a specific track and the provisions of CPR 27(2) are of no effect. Had your claim not been issued through CCBC the Claimant would have been obliged to attach copies of the documentation upon which it relies to the Particulars of Claim.
I, as Defendant, am entitled to see the documents on which the Claimant relies and which you must produce at trial. Disclosure at this stage will enable me to fully plead my case and further the Overriding Objective.
You should ensure compliance with your CPR 31 duties and ensure that the document(s) I have requested are copied to and received by me within 7 days of receiving this letter.
If you require more time in which to comply with this request you must tell me in writing and confirm your agreement to an extension of the time allowed for me to file my defence as allowed under CPR 15.5 so I may notify the court.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Yours sincerely
Your Name

[Amethyst]

Now, I'm just going to write a bit of the court process so you can see how it works .... might be a bit of a ramble so just ask any questions if you're not sure xxx

You receive the claim

You have 14 days to acknowledge

Then, once acknowledged you have 28 days to file a defence ( there's extra days allowed for posting so it's actually 33 days overall from the date printed on the claim form )

YOu send letters asking for more information so you know if you want to defend it or try negotiate a settlement. They reply saying bugger off and maybe sending some documents that mean sod all to man nor beast.... Occassionally they'll send the agreement and show how the amount claimed has been worked out / arisen - with phone contracts you need to agreement to see the original term and any early termination clauses etc. But not often they bother, hence sending the SAR to TMobile.

Once your defence is filed, the claimant has 28 days to come back to you to say if they want to continue.

If they do then the court sends you a Questionnaire, and you say you are happy to Mediate, and tell Northampton CCBC where your local court is.
If they don't, the claim is put on hold until such time as they do.

The court sends all the documents to the local court.

The local court then sends out 'directions' and possibly a hearing date. This usually takes about 6 weeks to come through.

The hearing date is usually a couple months down the line.

The claimants then pay a hearing fee, if they don't, they get struck out and the claim ends.

If they do then 14 days before the hearing both parties exchange 'witness statements' and evidence.

This is normally the point where you know if you will have to negotiate settlement or go to a court hearing. Sometimes the claimant just decides its not worth the effort and discontinues the claim. Sometimes they magically provide all the documents that they insisted earlier they didn't have/need etc.

Then, if you carry on, you go to the court hearing, judgment is made, either for or against you, and you have 28 days to pay the amount in full to avoid having a CCJ registered against you.


Sooooo, if it goes all the way with no hold ups/stays etc, you might have a court date in 4-6 months, but you are constantly reveiwing the claim as you receive ( or not ) documents and information from the claimant and from TMobile under the SAR and you can decide to try settle/negotiate installments at any point through the process by talking directly with Lowell. They don't WANT a CCJ - they want to be paid and it's not in their interests normally to go to court to get an installment order of £10 a month for years. But you should make sure they do have the right to make the claim and the amount you are being asked to pay is correct, owed and not statute barred.

[Darnele]

Omg that is amazing the way u have explained!!! Honestly so great full and feel a lot more at ease I just thought I’d be straight in court paying loads of extra fees for a tiny debt I had! Can I email theses over to the companies instead of trying to print letters & sending as I go away tomorrow until Monday so extra stress of trying to pack & sort this if I can email will it just be there standard email on a site as there’s none on the claim form?

I had recieved letters about maybe going to court but I’d red up & people said for such a small amount it wouldn’t be worth while them taking me to court & it’s just threats! How wrong I was wish I’d trusted my gut as I hate debt wish I’d just paid the £100 odd debt. Thank you again!!

[Darnele]

It’s asking me for my EE number to submit but I don’t no it can I put anything as there have the account number? Thank u

[Amethyst]

We've seen court claims brought for £15 debts before so yes, trust your gut xxx

If the EE form won't let you go any further without putting in an account number then you might have to email your request to them - use this as a guide what to say -Subject Access Request Letter

The letter to the solicitors really wants to go in the post if at all possible, it's best to keep litigation communications on paper... annoyingly backward as that is, you don't want to accept service by email just incase something ends up in spam/junk folders that needed acting on... so if you can print and post that'd be cool - and sending on Tuesday will be fine btw so no huge panic today xxx

[Darnele]

Omg that’s crazy!! I have the account number just not the phone number as it was like 5-6 years ago I might try submit with a random number as they have the account number to access but il also send the other thing u attached thank you