Claim form from Lowell solicitors

[Darnele]

Hi sorry to message again I’m going to get the email over to EE today before I go away, will it just be any email address I find on google or do u have any for that that the SAR needs to go to?

Thank you you in advance x

[Amethyst]

The data protection email is cpo@bt.com ( apparently - it's in their privacy policy ) so you can email your request to there.

[Darnele]

Hi

I have sent the email SAR to BT (EE)
Printed the letter off for Lowell Solicitors

Do I need to send a letter to Lowell Portfolio the claimant with £1 cheque states this on the letter to solicitor but I can’t seem to find a link of the letter to claimant .

Thank you

[Darnele]

Sorry think I copied the wrong letter for solicitor getting confused the one above does not ask for £1 ect so il re do & send that to Lowell solicitors x

[Amethyst]

The CCA request is the one that needs the £1 - and that goes to Lowell Portfolio .... as this is a telecoms agreement based claim it's not really applicable but doesn't hurt to send it.

The CPR request for the Solicitors doesn't need the £1 .

If you note the draft I posted further back on your thread, I'd removed the part that mentions you have also sent a CCA request...there is no £1 needed with this.

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

[Darnele]

Ok perfect thank you! I will get that letter sent off tomorrow! x

[Darnele]

Hi it’s been 7 days today iv not heard from Lowell solicitors after the letter I sent, I had an email from t-mobile stating they can help but don’t know how long that’s takes! What do I do if come 22nd March when I need file my defence I have no information from anyone to go off of?

Filing my defence do I just go back into that online thing n tick boxes or do I have to put a statement case across thank you x

[charitynjw]

Hi it’s been 7 days today iv not heard from Lowell solicitors after the letter I sent, I had an email from t-mobile stating they can help but don’t know how long that’s takes! What do I do if come 22nd March when I need file my defence I have no information from anyone to go off of?

Filing my defence do I just go back into that online thing n tick boxes or do I have to put a statement case across thank you x

Hi

As you've acknowledged the court clam you have 33 days (max) in which to file an appropriate defence to the court.
We suggest that it is best to wait until that deadline is close, as you are then best placed to deal with it, just in case you do receive any replies to your request(s).

If, as is often the case, you receive diddlysquat, you can file a 'no documents received' defence'

Example - https://legalbeagles.info/library/gu...-court-claims/

If you file it online via MCOL,, that's pretty instantaneous.
If you post it via land mail, allow a few days for postal delivery & get proof of posting.

[Darnele]

Thank you for your reply!
Wow getting lost reading the defence I need to Change & send in so confusing.
if I want to offer a settlement do I speak to Lowell Portfolio the claimant or Lowell solicitors? I’m a single mum not currently working so would struggle to pay want there asking, if it did go to court is there more costs to be added? Thank you x

[Amethyst]

DOn't give up just because you're feeling a bit lost with the defence... we'll give you a hand with it.

You have a couple weeks left, so see if you have received anything from lowell by say the 18th March, and if not, we can give you a hand to amend the example defence. Think most of the information needed for the defence is on here anyway so it should be pretty straightforward - so don't panic !

I'll put something together now for you, just so hopefully it looks less scary, but don't submit yet xxxx

IF you decide you want to settle then best way is to telephone Lowell directly and discuss with them, you don't want to make an admission and offer to pay as you will then have a CCJ against you for the next 6 years, so try get either a full and final settlement figure so the claim is withdrawn, or installments under a 'consent order' which leaves the case on hold in case you miss paymets later ... but, personally, I'd at least wait until they reply to your defence !

[Amethyst]

So here is a bit of an EXAMPLE - should only need to add the right claim number I reckon....and hopefully it all makes sense to you.... Paragraphs 9 and 10 will want to be amended IF they provide any info before submitting the defence to court. It basically says, their claim is a bit rubbish and vague and there's simply no evidence of anything....

1. I received the claim [Claim Number] from the the County Court Business Centre in Northampton on or around 20/02/2019.
2. Each and every allegation in the Claimants statement of case is denied unless specifically admitted in this Defence.
3. This claim appears to be for an alleged debt owed under an agreement between T-Mobile and myself. The Claimant's Particulars of Claim are very vague and does not appear to be compliant with CPR 16.
4. I did have a mobile phone that used the T-Mobile network some years ago. I believe this was in 2011 however as the Claimant has not stated the date the agreement was entered into in their Statement of Case, and I do not recognise the account number they have given, it is impossible for me to say for certain.
5. It is my contention that any debt would now be Statute Barred purusuant to s.5 Limitations Act 1980 in that I have neither acknowledged nor paid anything towards the alleged debt for over 6 years.
6. The Claimants statement of case states that the account was assigned to Lowell Portfolio on 13/02/18. The Claimant does not say who assigned the debt to them and I do not recall receiving a notice of assignment. I put the Claimant to strict proof of legal assignment of the agreement from t- Mobile to Lowell Portfolio.
7. The Claimants statement of case states that I failed to maintain payments and the agreement was terminated. They do not give any detail of the terms of the agreement, what payments were not made or when the account default or was terminated. They should also evidence any charges that might have been added to the account. They are put to strict proof.
8. On the 25/02/18 I sent a request for inspection of documents mentioned in the claimant’s statement of case under Civil Procedure Rule 31.14 to Lowell Solicitors. I requested the Claimant provide copies of the agreement with T-Mobile, Default Notice, Notice of Assignment and a Full breakdown of the sum being claimed.
9. Lowell Solicitors has not sent any of these documents to me.
10. In that letter I also asked the Claimant if we may agree to extend the time period allowed for filing of my defence pending receipt of documents (as allowed under CPR 15.5), but they have have failed to respond at all.
11. Additionally, on the 22nd February 2019, I sent a Subject Access Request under the Data Protection Act /GDPR to T-Mobile ( now called EE ) to try and find out more about this alleged debt and agreement. I am awaiting a response from them.
12. Under Civil Procedure Rule 16.5 (4) Where the claim includes a money claim, a defendant shall be taken to require that any allegation relating to the amount of money claimed be proved unless he expressly admits the allegation. Therefore, it is expected that the Claimant be required to prove the allegation that the money is owed as claimed.
13. I request the court orders the Claimants to provide the necessary documentation in order for me to fully plead my case else the Claim should stand struck out.
14. In the event that the relevant documents are received from the Claimants I will then be in a position to amend my defence, and would ask that the Claimants bear the costs of the amendment.
15. It is denied that the Claimant is entitled to the relief as claimed or at all.

[Darnele]

Honestly so great full for all your help!! It’s so appreciated! I get very worried & stressed & u put me at ease every time thank you!! I will wait till 18th & go from there! Speak to u soon & thank u again!! Xx

[Darnele]

Hi iv not received anything from Lowell solicitors I did recieve info back from EE but it just states what I had paid to them & the date the debt was sold to Lowell, it won’t let me upload picture of letter

it says 23/02/2018 this debt was sold to Lowell

02/10/16 close of cancelled /written off BAN Reason regular
BAN was cancelled by the CSMCLOSEBANS Batch process
29/03/2015 cancellation of CTN /BAN reason: non payment 1 CTN Cancelled
13/12/2014 suspension of CTN/BAN resin non payment I/O bar all CTN(s) suspended

the other part states I paid direct debit 27.98 from 10/03/14 to 08/10/2014 but nothing about what was left to pay or anything.

What should i do I do from here please thank you u again for all the help!! Xx

[charitynjw]

I'll ask our loverly Amethyst to have a look & maybe decipher the gobbledgook!

[Amethyst]

Hi iv not received anything from Lowell solicitors I did recieve info back from EE but it just states what I had paid to them & the date the debt was sold to Lowell, it won’t let me upload picture of letter

it says 23/02/2018 this debt was sold to Lowell

02/10/16 close of cancelled /written off BAN Reason regular
BAN was cancelled by the CSMCLOSEBANS Batch process
29/03/2015 cancellation of CTN /BAN reason: non payment 1 CTN Cancelled
13/12/2014 suspension of CTN/BAN resin non payment I/O bar all CTN(s) suspended

the other part states I paid direct debit 27.98 from 10/03/14 to 08/10/2014 but nothing about what was left to pay or anything.

Account suspended for non payment in Dec 2014
Account cancelled for non payment in March 2015
Account terminated Oct 2016.

Sooo the claim is for £295 - do we have an opening date - first payment on 10/3/14 ? sooo 295/27.98 = 10 months so if you stopped payments 10 months early and it was an 18 month contract @ 27.98 a month that would work out about right for a termination fee ( 4 months missed payment plus termination fee of the remaining 6/7 months )

so seems likely in Feb/March 2015 you took out an 18 month contract at £27.98 a month. Stopped paying in December, they closed the account in March, and the contract end would have been Oct 16 so the £295 is the monthly charges not paid from Dec 15 to Oct 16.


If that then means nothing to you push them to evidence it, what the original contract was and how the £295 is made up, but if it does then it might just be worth making a negotiated settlement or installment to avoid it going through to a CCJ in court. Really depends how much effort/stress you want over a relatively low sum.