Hoist/Lowell/Overdales - Help and advice needed

[ash14297]

I've got myself into a bit of a difficult situation with this and desperately need some help with what course of action to take.

Back in November 2020, Hoist Finance UK Holdings 1 Limited opened a court claim against me for an old Barclaycard debt. At the time, I filed an Acknowledgement Of Service intending to defend the claim.... I sent CCA requests to Hoist but now cannot remember whether I actually received anything from them, and I've since moved. This was mid-pandemic and with everything else going on, I had completely forgotten all about this!

Fast-forward to now, Hoist never pursued the claim but Lowell have since acquired the account from them. This is where it gets interesting...

On 05th May 2023, I received a letter from Overdales Solicitors advising that a CCJ was entered against me on 03/02/2021 where I was "ordered" to make payments of £x amount per month.
On 26th May 2023, I received another letter from Overdales stating "Second Notice of County Court (CCJ) Arrears" advising they are yet to receive payments as required under the terms of my "CCJ".

I do not believe a CCJ was ever granted by the court as Hoist did not pursue and there is certainly nothing on my credit file. The date Overdales are saying the CCJ was issued was when I was still living at my last property, and I never received anything else from the court.

I did some digging and was able to log into the Money Claim website, where I can see the original Claim Number which is still under claimant "Hoist Finance UK Holdings 1 Limited" . The only thing I can see on there is the last update was my AOS I submitted in November 2020.

I'm not sure where to start with this one, or what to do so any advice is much appreciated!

[MIKE770]

AOS on money claim would be last entry after which court system continues but not recorded on that site.

[ash14297]

I did wonder that - however, i am almost certain that no CCJ has been obtained on that claim. I’ve checked all my credit records (and the combined one from CheckMyFile) and there is nothing.

[ash14297]

Also, TrustOnline has no record of the case number. I’m really not too sure what to do with this!

“Case number invalid or not found on the public Register”

[echat11]

When was the account opened?
When was the last payment made?
When was the debt last acknowledged in writing?

Ring the Court up, see what they have on their records.

Consider writing to Overdales, make sure you get Proof of Postage, ask them to provide the CCJ documents, (only give them information that they have provided to you), a 'fairly' straightforward request. If there is no CCJ, then you need to lodge a formal complaint with Lowell's. Complaints procedure will be on their website.

Remember a Court will only ever ask you to pay what you can afford to pay, so if it is £1 a month so be it, fill in an income and expenditure form, remember their is a cost of living crisis which must be included in your calculations.

[ash14297]

When was the account opened?
I can’t remember exactly but it would’ve been around 2011/2012

When was the last payment made?
Again, I can’t remember exactly but it would’ve been no later than 2016. In theory this debt is statue barred as of today, but I suppose technically that clock was stopped when Hoist first opened the claim in 2020.

When was the debt last acknowledged in writing?
I haven’t directly acknowledged the debt in writing, only the AOS.


I’m worried by contacting the court to see what they have on their records would somehow implicate me further as I only ever submitted the AOS?

I will respond to Overdales as recommended but is there anything specific I should be asking them to provide at this point?

Where do I stand if they are saying a judgment was made when in fact it wasn’t? Will they attempt to take over the original claim?

[echat11]

a) I’m worried by contacting the court to see what they have on their records would somehow implicate me further as I only ever submitted the AOS?

You are saying nothing happened with Hoist, but somehow a CCJ been granted, the only way to find out, what is what is to call them. DCA / solicitors try all sorts of 'ruses'. You can't 'implicate' yourself by requesting information. If you are nervous about doing this, wait until Overdales responses to you.

b) I will respond to Overdales as recommended but is there anything specific I should be asking them to provide at this point?

Simply state that there is a CCJ against you, could they kindly provide a copy of the CCJ documents.

c) Where do I stand if they are saying a judgment was made when in fact it wasn’t? Will they attempt to take over the original claim?

Well, you file complaints against both Overdales and Lowell's, follow their complaints procedure on their website, get a final response complain to the FOS and SRA. They might try.

[ash14297]

Thanks very much. I’ll do exactly as advised… I guess I was just concerned that I’d get into further trouble contacting the court on a claim that I submitted an AOS on but never went any further.

To be honest, I’m a bit worried about this one. I’ve worked so hard to settle an outstanding CCJ with Amex and get my financial situation back on track. This has just thrown a curveball many years later and I’ve probably only got myself to blame by simply forgetting about it - it’s a relatively large sum of money that I can’t afford (it was never affordable in the first place, but that’s a different matter). I guess I’ll wait and see what responses I get - I’m dreading the thought of having another CCJ after just getting back on the right path.