Northampton court claim - Lowell

[dee-jay]

Hi all
I have received a claim from Northampton county court

Issue Date: 08.01.21
Have you Acknowledged the Claim?: I've acknowledged and intend to defend
Total Amount Claimed : 600
Claimant’s Name: Lowell Portfolio
Solicitors Firm: Lowell solicitors
Original Creditor: Freemans catalogue
Original Debt Cataloague
Particulars of Claim: states I entered into an agreement with freemans under reference ********* (the agreement) - the defendant failed to maintain the required payments and the agreement was terminated. The agreement was later assigned to the claimant on 25.02.2019 and notice given to the defendant.
Is the debt Statute Barred - unsure

Any Other Information or Background Details:
I really don't recall ever having this catalogue account and have just printed request for CCA and CPR 31:14 which I will post tomorrow.
Guess I'm just wondering what to do next

also received a notice of claim issue from Lowell solicitors - dated 13.01.21

also noticed no mention of any default date or default notice on the court claim so where do I request this info?

[dee-jay]

Help please
my defence is due to be submitted in a couple of days
I have just received a letter from Lowell solicitors following my request for CCA and notice of assignment
the letter says they have requested their client provide a copy of agreement and statements as requested but they’re unable to control the time frame for this
they have attached the notice of assignment letter but this is written by Lowell and not the original creditor

When I’m filing the defence do I need to mention a default notice, or lack of as this was not mentioned in original claim?

[dee-jay]

Need to do defense tomorrow
Can anyone advise please????

[MIKE770]

Celestine

[MIKE770]

Do not mention default notice at this stage

[Celestine]

Did you get your defence submitted ok? This is a very typical defence position and our guides and templates should have seen you through ok, but feel free to keep us posted of progress. Lets see what response you get to your requests.
If this account is totally unknown to you, you need to check your credit file and try and establish what might have happened, especially as the age of the account has a dramatic effect on CCA compliance. (newer accounts tend to have most documents in order).

[dee-jay]

Submitted defense and now just waiting to hear - I know my ex took some credit in my name so unsure if this is due to that
I’ve found the debt on my credit file but it’s just under Lowell

[Celestine]

How old is the alleged account? What year was it opened?

[dee-jay]

I’ve just received an Email from ‘complex’ team at Lowell





Account Information
Our Client: Lowell Portfolio I Limited
Lowell Reference Number: xxxxxx
Claim Number: Xxxxxx
Original Company Name: Grattan PLC and Freemans PLC
Original Account Number: xxxxxxx
Current Balance: £577.16

WITHOUT PREJUDICE SAVE AS TO COSTS

We have reviewed your Defence in detail and note you have requested further information and documents to evidence that the claim is valid.

The Agreement was subject to a legal assignment of the debt dated on 25 February 2019 pursuant to Section 136 of the Law of Property Act. A Notice of Assignment was served to your current address on this date which confirmed that our client Lowell Portfolio 1 LTD are the legal owners of the account. Please find enclosed a copy of the Notice of Assignment.

In accordance with CPR 16.2 the claim form submitted clearly states the nature of the claim, contains the statement of value in line with rule 16.3, contains a statement of interest accrued on that sum and adheres to all other requirements.

Grattan Plc have provided us with the following information:

• The Agreement commenced on 16 May 2013. The account relates to reference number xxxxxx and was set up via an online application using email address xxxx
• The Agreement was terminated on 17 May 2016.
• Regular statements would have been sent to you whilst the Agreement was live.

Please find enclosed the Statements confirming how the outstanding balance was accrued and a copy of the reconstituted Agreement.

Our client sent you numerous letters in an attempt to resolve this matter prior to the issue of the claim but none were responded to including our Letter of Claim. All correspondence was sent to your current address which you confirmed yourself within your Defence. Our client made active attempts to resolve this matter by sending you correspondence and offering discounts, none of which were responded to until after legal proceedings were issued. This evidence will be disclosed should this matter proceed to a court hearing.

However, our Client is keen to resolve this matter amicably and to avoid further legal action which would incur further costs and fees which we would ultimately seek to recover from yourself should the matter proceed to a formal Court hearing before a Judge.

Our client has instructed us to make a final attempt to agree a settlement on this matter. If a settlement is reached, upon receipt of cleared funds, I will then notify the court that the claim has been settled and our client will close their account.

Our client is willing to settle this account for either:

1. A lump sum payment of £400.00 or
2. Four instalments of £125.00, totalling £500.00 or
3. A reasonable payment plan

This offer is open until 1 March 2021.

If you have any questions, you are welcome to contact us on the details below. If you are at all unclear, we recommend that you seek independent legal advice. Free legal advice is available from the Citizens Advice Bureau.

We look forward to hearing from you shortly.

do I contact them?

[Celestine]

Its interesting that a 2013 account requires a reconstituted agreement - most companies had got digital agreements sorted by then, so it's certainly a clue that documents are not necessarily easily available. How do they know the account was terminated on 17 May 2016? I presume they have not supplied the default notice?

[dee-jay]

No mention of a default notice
they have sent copies of statements from the original account and a credit agreement (not signed)