Lowell Solicitors / Provident Personal Credit Limited

[needguidance]

Good day everyone.

I am looking for any help and or advise that anyone can give us.
I would first like to say that I have no idea where to start with anything.

We have received a Claim Form in the post from County Court Business Centre, by Lowell Solicitors Limited.
This is regarding to a outstanding debt from 2013.
They are claiming that the debt owed is for £1900, plus fee's bring it to just over £2200.
We phoned Lowell Solicitors asking why is this the first we have heard from them, they replied saying they have been sending out letters.
The only letters we have received from Lowell Solicitors is the Claim Form and a letter the following week.

Quick history:
We did take out a £1000 loan with Provident Personal Credit Limited in late 2013.
All payments where made via cash to a door collector.
Payments continued for some time, and it was the same collector each time.
Then out of the blue without any warning another new unknown collector to us started taking the payments.
If anyone here has had dealings with Provident Personal Credit Limited would know that all payments are put in a little booklet.
This new collector did not leave the booklet with us, but kept it with them-self.
Payments carried on like this for some time then the collected stopped showing up.
After a few months of hearing nothing we tried to go into our local brokers, only to find that it was no longer there.
As quite some time as since passed, I do not call in detail what we did after that.
I do recall that we did get in touch Provident Personal Credit Limited, but there was no record of any payments being made by the 2nd collector.
We disputed that we had been paying but as we did not have the booklet we could not prove it.
They said they would look into matters and get back to us if required.
Everything then went quiet until we got the Claim Form.
We are still living in the same house as when we took out the loan, but heard nothing.

We don't know where to go from here.
If we do own something on this account we are willing to pay, but the amount would be in dispute due to the missing payments by the 2nd collector.

Thanks in advance.

[bettyb]

Really sorry to hear this Betty Sounds like an absolutely ghastly Judge, I guess they are even more impatient and intolerant than usual with all the Covid disruptions.
Would you mind posting this update on your own thread also please?

thanks Celestine, will do, and yes I barely got to speak, she snapped what time it was and how busy they were! Still completely shocked at how unfair it felt, not because it didnt go my way, but because it was so rushed and she did not fully read the affidavits or witness statements.

[Celestine]

nima88 how did you go?? I failed to get default judgment set aside! The only time I got to speak was to state my defence points and that i deserved to be heard by the court. Judge had not read any case notes before she started proceedings. But she came with a precedent case to read as to why it wont set it aside. I only recall something about wasting court time. When she asked for my comments at the end, I questioned the lack of CCA and the remediation and she snapped and told me to get legal advice ! "You are dismissed" then a dial tone. It was brutal. I am very shellshocked.

Really sorry to hear this Betty Sounds like an absolutely ghastly Judge, I guess they are even more impatient and intolerant than usual with all the Covid disruptions.
Would you mind posting this update on your own thread also please?

[bettyb]

nima88 how did you go?? I failed to get default judgment set aside! The only time I got to speak was to state my defence points and that i deserved to be heard by the court. Judge had not read any case notes before she started proceedings. But she came with a precedent case to read as to why it wont set it aside. I only recall something about wasting court time. When she asked for my comments at the end, I questioned the lack of CCA and the remediation and she snapped and told me to get legal advice ! "You are dismissed" then a dial tone. It was brutal. I am very shellshocked.

[nima88]

I am also in the same situation. I've read Lowells witness statement on page 2 and it is almost identical to mine. I received significant help on another forum putting together a coherent witness statement. I am pushing a hearsay defence since the debt or alleged debt has moved from Provident to Vanquis to Lowell. Fabricated documents and an electronic credit agreement against a local cash application.

Lowell have not produced any original documents everything is reconstituted. They state a default not is not required but they were informed one was sent to me and they have including it in their witness evidence. The formal notice of default they have submitted has my name and address with an incorrect postcode from York, it should be Birmingham. The payment date on the formal default notice is dated 2019. It should have been dated 2 years previously if it was indeed created and issued in 2017 which is what they state. I've pushed a fabricated document in my defence and hopefully this puts all their other evidence at risk as they have proven themselves as willing to fake documents regardless of whether the default notice is required or not. I've read many times over it is required.

Unlike your case, Lowell produced an electronic agreement without my signature. I applied to Provident in 2015. I remember at the time learning about them through a friend who knew the collector. As far as I'm aware, my loan application was completed locally. When I asked for my credit agreement, I expected a physical copy with my signature. When I didn't get one, I sent a SAR to Provident. After sometime and filing a complaint to them, they advised I made an electronic application through my email. They claim it was a new application process that came into effect May 2015.

Whilst I'm aware credit agreements are enforceable without an ink signature, it is reasonable to expect a physical agreement for a door step cash loan. I'm not sure if Provident have made all new applications electronic but certainly in 2015 you didn't need an email address to get Provident. Lowell state "the defendant upon entering the door step loan". I am hoping to dispute this against their electronic agreement admission in the previous paragraph.

Like you, Lowell mention the whole Vanquis "Fresh Start". Fresh start can imply several things. They've called it an initiative. I've pointed out in my defence I'm not aware of what it refers to. As this is not Lowells initiative, I don't see them being able to comment on it further. This may be of some relevance to the case (I hope so).

My hearing is tomorrow through BT conference call. I'm nervous simply because my current situation would not allow me to pay within 30 days if I lose; not without taking more credit. And if the CCJ registers quickly, I won't be able to get that credit. And even if I do get it, I can't afford repayments straight away since Coronavirus has taken my livelihood. Such a nightmare. I wish you both the best of luck.

[bettyb]

I have pretty much the exact same situation! Including date and teleconference hearing! I hope you managed to figure it out. I am going through my cc statements trying to find errors, as I was briefly told by a legal expert that I was being overcharged the advertised interest rate for starters.
Nobody complied with my CCA and SAR requests either. The requested documents were only provided to me at the same time as they submitted them to the court, and they obviously continued charging me at this dubious interest rate while ignoring compliance...

[needguidance]

Following on from post #24 on 8th February 2020.

Exhibit RC1: Copy of Fixed Sum Loan Agreement, dated 12/08/2013. Correct address.
Total ammount of credit £1000.00, duration of the credit agreement 110 weeks, Repayments 110 weekly payments of £20.00, total amount you will have to pay £2200.00, the flat rate of intrest is 56.7% per annum (fixed), Annual Percentage Rate of Charge (APR) 137.8%.

Exhibit RC2: Copy of Account Statement, dated November 2019, Wrong address.

Exhibit RC3: Copy of letter from Vanquis Bank (Fresh Start), Wrong address.
We are Vanquis Bank Limited, a specialist credit card provider. Your outstanding debts with Provident Personal Credit Limited were sold to us on 23 October 2015. As we now own the accounts, you now owe the outstanding balances to us.

Exhibit RC4: Copy of letter from Vanquis Bank, dated 01/02/2017, Correct address.
We're writing to inform you that Vanquis Bank Limited sold your Vanquis account to Lowell Portfolio I Ltd on 21/12/2016.
This means that Vanquis Bank Limited no longer own your account and your account is now owned by Lowell Portfolio I Ltd. The total balance sold was £1900.00.

Exhibit RC5: Copy of letter from Lowell Solicitors, dated 05/07/2019, Correct address.
Letter of Claim - 30 days to Prevent Legal Action
We act for Lowell Portfolio I Ltd and we are instructed to recover your debt of £1900.
What do I need to do now?
You have 30 days from the date of this letter to either make a one-off payment of £1900. agree a payment plan or respond to this letter as set out in the following enclosed documents.

.

[needguidance]

I did reply with more information but it seems that post is gone, unsure of why.

Anyway, going over the SAR documents from lowell:
I once again can confirm that the received SAR pack did not contain a copy of original Default Notice from provident.

The pack only had letters dated between February 2017 and August 2019.
and letters dated between start of October 2018 and end May 2018 where sent to a wrong address.


Best Regards.

[needguidance]

Thank you PT2537.
I will look over all received documation again today, to see if includes the original Default Notice from provident.

Thanks again.
Best Regards.

[pt2537]

The case of the Doyle v PRA Group is clear that a creditor must serve a default notice, it is not just a procedural requirement, it is part of the cause of action, it is an ingredient that must be there before the claim goes to court.

If they havent mentioned the default notice, and more importantly they havent disclosed one then their claim fails end of discussion

[needguidance]

Thank you for your reply.

Due to my location and covid-19 the courts sent a letter stating that I do not have to attend in person, but will go ahead virtually via "skype for business" or "BT MeetMe"
The current court date is set for 29th July 2020.

I can confirm that I have received a copy of the credit agreement, statement of payments, and other documents. but I really do not know what I am looking at.
As already said before a number of documents have incorrect address.
I have lived at the current address since december 2005.

I have gone over the documents received via the subject access request, lowell solicitors, etc, I don't seem to see a copy of the original default notice from provident.
There is a copy of a letter from Vanquis bank stating that the debt had been sold to them from provident.

I did start another post here: "Questions regarding default notice and statute barred" hoping to find out more infomation on the subject.

Thanks again for your time.

Best Regards.

[Celestine]

Hi -
Have you received anything from Provident re. SAR?
Have Lowell supplied a copy/recon of the agreement?
I’m guessing you haven’t received a court date yet because of Covid? What communication have you received in last couple of months?

[MIKE770]

Celestine*

[needguidance]

I would welcome any feedback or advise on the above and where to go from here.

I would it be better to start a new topic post for building my defence, and going to court?
The due court date is currently 20th April 2020, but with the current covid-19 lockdown, I am unsure where we stand.

Thanks again for your time.
Best Regards.

[needguidance]

Is anyone here able to advise on how to defend my case, and what I need to do, and what to expect at my day in court.

Thanks again.