Lowell/Vanquis Claim - Please help!

[Mangie18]

Amethyst yes please! happy to post before 1pm too! Should I mentioned anywhere that I received their response to my CPR? Which was the notice of assignment and another copy of the CCA?

[Mangie18]

Amethyst Thanks again for all your help, will await your amended version of WS.

[Amethyst]

Okay we don't have a massive amount to defend on here do we, only really the default notice issue. But it is still worth putting this in and seeing if Lowell send theirs to you or discontinue instead.... if they send a WS you will have to seriously look at whether you can continue to defend on just the default issue or if it would be more beneficial to try and negotiate an out of court settlement using the default notice lack of as your negotiating point ( unless they find it for their witness statement ).

The customer notes in the Vanquis SAR - do they mention any of the 'financial difficulty' type options that are listed in that credit agreement ?
Also presumably you don't dispute the actual transactions - it's just a case that things got too difficult to keep on top of so you just stopped ( understandable and draws a line under things )


Right....



IN THE xxxxxxxxxxxxx County Court
Claim No. xxxxx


BETWEEN:
xxxxxxxx
Claimant
- and –
Defendant
xxxxxxx
_________________________________
WITNESS STATEMENT OF xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
_________________________________

1. I, xxxxxx, of xxxxxxxx, being the Defendant in this case will state as follows;
2. I make this Witness Statement in support of my defence in the case claim no. xxxxxxx.
3. The claim is for an alleged debt owed under a regulated Consumer Credit Agreement for a running credit account between myself and Vanquis.
4. I have held a Vanquis credit card account in the past. I believe the credit limit of such card was around £250.
5. No breakdown of how the debt has arisen or been calculated has been provided to me. I believe a number of charges were added to the account which simply made the payments unaffordable.
6. On the 10^th January 2019 I received a 'Letter of Claim' in accordance with the Pre-Action Protocols for Debt Claims from the Claimant.
7. In response, I sent a formal request on 19th January 2019 [EXHIBIT A] enclosing a postal order for the £1 statutory payment, for a copy of the original agreement pursuant to s.78 Consumer Credit Act 1974 to the Claimant.
8. I received no response from the Claimant until 29th March 2019, where a copy of an agreement and a transaction list was received [EXHIBIT B]
9. The claimant stated that they would put the account on hold for 30 days for me to obtain more information.
10. On 4^th April 2019 I sent a Subject Access Request pursuant to the Data Protection Act 2018 to Vanquis, to obtain copies of any data they held relating to me or the account.
11. I received a response from Vanquis on 23rd April 2019 [EXHIBIT C]
12. The response included a copy of the agreement and some customer notes and transactions. It did not include any notice of default or termination nor any copy of an executed agreement.
13. The agreement appears to be dated June 2015. I have not seen this agreement previously. It appears to be very generic and covers multiple different products. I understand the agreement may have been entered into online however I do not have any record of receiving a copy of such in a durable medium or being made aware which of the many different interest and charging rates applied to my account.
14. I received the claim in this case on 9th May 2019 and acknowledged the claim with intent to defend in full.
15. I sent a formal request for copies of documents mentioned in the Claimants Statement of Case pursuant to CPR 31.14 on the 21st May. I did not receive a reply from Lowell until 12th June. When they provided a copy of the notice of assignment and the agreement previously provided.
16. The Claimant fails to plead any cause of action in their statement of case. They simply allege that “The defendant failed to maintain the required payments and arrears began to accrue”. They do not state what the required payments were nor that the agreement was subject to termination or default. They do not even state what the arrears were.
17. It is denied that Vanquis or the Claimant served any Default notice on me pursuant to s87 Consumer Credit Act 1974. The Claimant is required to prove that a compliant Default Notice was served. The Claimant is required to prove that the any Default notice relied upon complied with the requirements of s88(4A) Consumer Credit Act 1974 and that the notice was in the prescribed form as required by The Consumer Credit Enforcement Default and Termination Notice Regulations 1983.
18. In addition it is denied that Vanquis or the Claimant served any notice of Termination on me.
19. Absence of a valid default notice gives the debtor a complete defence to any claim. (Doyle v PRA Group (UK) Ltd [2019] EWCA Civ 12) [EXHIBIT D]
20. The Claimant is required to prove that a compliant Default Notice was served upon me.
21. The claimant states the agreement was “assigned to Claimant on 29/09/2017”. They have provided a copy of the notice of assignment however I do not recall receiving this previously.
22. I do not believe the Claimant has to date evidenced that they are entitled to the sums claimed.

Statement of Truth

I, xxxxxxxxxxxxxx, the Defendant, believe the facts stated within this Witness Statement to be true.


Signed

[Mangie18]

Thank you so much, I will get this posted tomorrow! Just check the customer notes and none of the options were mentioned.

[Amethyst]

I did write a bit saying how it was strange you weren't offered any of the extensive list of options for people in hardship /financial difficulty but it just sounded a bit Ranty and didn't really add anything to the statement - then I wondered if they had actually offered any of those options ... that's all... the agreement really does seem very generic and all encompassing - yes it contains the prescribed terms but the one that directly applies to your specific account seems indecipherable - I'm not sure that's been argued to any great degree or success before though.

So I left it out lol.

[Mangie18]

Amethyst All sent this morning! Thank you for your help! I assume if they fail to serve the WS or late in serving then the case may be struck out?

[Mangie18]

Amethyst Spoke too soon! Seems they have just served a WS, in the pack they have included the default notice.

[Amethyst]

Arses. Does it all look in order? Gives at least 14 days to pay the arrears and tells you what the consequences of not doing so will be? The dates add up ( it's from Vanquis and dated before the date of assignment to Lowell ? )

[MIKE770]

vanquish usually does not have actual date issued on the actual notice only side letter???

[Mangie18]

Amethyst MIKE770 Dated, I am very sure this was never received!

[Mangie18]

Amethyst*Hi, I have just check and Lowells have now paid the court fee and it seems the court hearing is going ahead in March. Did you have any tips for the day?

[MIKE770]

await next court requirement ( they tend to push until the last minute if they can frighten you then discontinue just before they loose deposit) no guarantee though

[Mangie18]

MIKE770 Thank you for your response! I have not had further correspondence from Lowell since they submitted their pack. The court has just advised they would not be sending out any other correspondence, and to just turn up on the stated date on the previous letter?

[MIKE770]

Amethyst*

[Mangie18]

Amethyst*Hi, do you have any tips for my upcoming hearing?
Thanks!