County court papers received out of blue from lowell

[Scigal]

Hello, the kind folks over at MSE sent me to you guys, I'm worried out of my mind right now.


Post just arrived.theres a county court claim from Northampton. Claimant is lower portfolio, on behalf of capital one credit card.


The claim is over £1000. I haven't used a CC in years, I'm am 99% certain i don't owe anything. I have had no letters before action, absolutely,nothing to suggest I would get court papers.


I don't know what to do. My credit rating according to creditexpert is excellent.


Please help


I havent had a. CC in 10 yrs, not sure ive had one with Cap1. If so then it would have been around 2000 when I was a student and would have been in my maiden name.

[maverick67]

Re: County court papers received out of blue from lowell

Does it say anywhere on the paperwork when the supposed debt occurred? - my understanding is that if it is over 6 years old then it cannot be chased.

[Scigal]

Re: County court papers received out of blue from lowell

Hello thanks for replying. It doesn't give any dates, it only give cap1 and a credit card number - under particulars of claim

I have looked on my credit expert file, there's been no searches, but it does show a Lowell company and a default in2008- no where near the amount they are asking for. I know for a fact i didnt have a cc in 2008. But I do recall writing to someone to ask for a prove it/ copy of a CCA along with the £1.

[maverick67]

Re: County court papers received out of blue from lowell

But I do recall writing to someone to ask for a prove it/ copy of a CCA along with the £1.

Have you kept records of that? - did you send it recorded delivery?

[Scigal]

Re: County court papers received out of blue from lowell

Yes the letter is still on my pc, and i did receive a letter saying it would be looked into.but i can't remember who the company was.

my pc is i pieces as we move in a week, and I can't fathom how to put it together to look at the desktop (this is an ipad mini I'm using now)

[Scigal]

Re: County court papers received out of blue from lowell

I logged into mcol to see if it was a genuine claim, had no joy on the phone. I don't even understand the questions on the first page

Contest Jurisdiction
You can choose to contest jurisdiction of the claim made against you.
I intend to contest jurisdiction

i would be be clicking buttons and not know what I am doing. I don't see anywhere that explains anything. I'm a medic not a lawyer, I have no idea what any of the jargon means

[Nibbler]

Re: County court papers received out of blue from lowell

If not yours or statute barred then should be easy to sort. Hold on as Lowells are a favourite of Celestine. I'm sure she'll be along to help kick Lowells backside, but if not give her a PM.

[Scigal]

Re: County court papers received out of blue from lowell

Oh i do hope so thank you! A rough calculation shows they are claiming 5 years of interest too. Bloody hell

[littlebert8]

Re: County court papers received out of blue from lowell

First thing to do is to acknowledge service - you can do this online via MCOL using the password on the claim form. Tick the box saying you intend to defend all of the claim. This gives you more time to file a defence to the claim.

You probably don't have any grounds to contest jurisdiction, unless perhaps you live outside England & Wales or something like that.

Next step is to get onto Lowell to provide more details of the debt they are claiming against. Usual route is to send a request under CPR 31.14 for copies of documents mentioned in the particulars of claim. Can you post a the verbatim text of the PoC (remove full account numbers, names etc)?

You mentioned the only CC you had was taken out in or around 2000 in your maiden name. Is it possible that you moved and/or changed your name without informing the CC company of your new details? I only ask because that could explain why you ended up getting default on your credit file without receiving any paperwork i.e. they will have sent it to your last known address. Lowell seem to like buying debts on 'gone aways' and trying to trace the debtors. Of course, this means it could easily be a case of mistaken identity.

[Inca]

Re: County court papers received out of blue from lowell

Hiya and a belated to LegalBeagles

First things first......grab yourself a cuppa,,sit down and breathe.........the help you need is readily available (as you can see from the above posters) and your situation isn't nearly as bad as it seems.
Lowell are being very 'productive' recently and conveniently seem to send their crap out on a Friday and Saturday (age old trick,,makes you sweat all weekend).

[Scigal]

Re: County court papers received out of blue from lowell

Hi littlebert, thank you. I have acknowledged now.

um yes I think theres a good chance i didn't inform them id moved or changed my name. But the default on my credit report is in my married name.

[Scigal]

Re: County court papers received out of blue from lowell

Hello thank you.

yes I'm certainly sat here in a tiz!

Im so surprised to receive court papers, am I not supposed to have other letters first?

[littlebert8]

Re: County court papers received out of blue from lowell

You should get a Letter Before Action or Letter of Claim before they issue proceedings against you. This needs to be compliant with the Practice Direction - Pre-Action Conduct http://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/pro...tion_conduct#A

Note that your are also obliged to respond if you receive one.

[Scigal]

Re: County court papers received out of blue from lowell

Hello, nope I haven't had one of those at all. I never would have left it.

My son has put my pc back together and I have the letter that I sent to them. I received a letter saying it would look into it, then heard nothing more.

8^th April 2010
To Whom It May Concern:
Your Reference:
I DO NOT ACKNOWLEDGE ANY DEBT TO YOUR COMPANY
With reference to the above account, I request that you send me a true copy of this credit agreement before I will correspond further on this matter.
This is my right under the legislation contained within section 77 (1) and section 78 (1) of the Consumer Credit Act 1974, and I am entitled to receive a copy of my credit agreement on request.
Your obligation also extends to providing me with a statement of account. I enclose a £1
postal order, which represents payment of the statutory fee payable under the Consumer Credit Act.
I understand that a copy of my credit agreement should be supplied within 12 working days from the date of this letter.
I understand that under the Consumer Credit Act, creditors are unable to enforce an agreement if they fail to comply with a request for a copy of the agreement under these sections of the Act.
Also, since you are a Debt Collection Agency, I would also ask that you supply a signed true copy of the executed deed of assignment for the above referenced agreement.
This is an obligation, whether you are the original creditor or not, under section 189 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974.
Non-compliance with my request is a criminal offence under the above Act and will result in a report being submitted to the relevant statutory authorities.
In summary,
I DO NOT ACKNOWLEDGE THIS DEBT AND THEREFORE REQUIRE YOU TO SUBSTANTIATE THIS BY PROVIDING THE FOLLOWING DOCUMENTATION BEFORE I CORRESPOND FURTHER:
1. True copy of original credit agreement
2.Statement of account
3.Copy of the executed deed of assignment from Capital One.
4.Fair Processing Notice.
As you are aware, a credit agreement that is not properly documented and signed by the customer is totally unenforceable under the CCA and therefore is a complete defence to any court claim that is issued.
Take note at this stage, that any legal action you may contemplate will be both vigorously defended and contested.
Further to the above, please ensure that any contact by yourselves is made in writing only to the above address. Telephone calls and personal visits will not be accepted and viewed as harassment.
As this account is now in dispute, I would also draw your attention to The Banking Code section 13.6:-
We may give information to the Credit Reference Agencies about personal debts you owe us if:
·The Amount Owed is Not in Dispute.
·The Office of Fair Trading provided a Code of Guidance that is in relation to Debt Collection: OFT 664 Response to consultation paper and final guidance on unfair business practices dated July 2003
Deceptive and/or Unfair Methods-
2.8 Examples of unfair practices are as follows:-
k. Not ceasing collection activity whilst investigating a reasonably queried or disputed debt.
If you continue in your pursuance of this account I will have no other alternative than to report you to both, The Information Commissioner and The Office of Fair Trading.
Furthermore, I shall submit a Consumer Credit Act 1974 complaint to the OFT upon the basis that you have failed to comply with the OFT’s direction of 5 April 2006 and are therefore not a ‘fit and proper person’ to hold a consumer credit license under the 1974 Act.
If you do not understand what this means then seek advice from your legal department.
I look forward to hearing from you within the statutory time limit.
Yours faithfully

[Scigal]

Re: County court papers received out of blue from lowell

then i sent this:

Dear Sirs,

Account No:

I refer to my letter dated 8th April 2010 in which I made a formal request under the Consumer Credit Act 1974 (CCA1974) s.77-s.79 for a true copy of the regulated agreement referred to in the above account number. You are reminded that you are obliged to supply this under s.189 whether you are the original creditor or not. I also enclosed the statutory fee of £1.00.

To date you have failed to comply with my statutory request and have defaulted in respect of this account. Additionally this alleged agreement is unenforceable until such time as you come out of default or enforced by a court of law. It is a further offence to attempt to enforce this alleged agreement until such time as your default is revoked.

It is also my intention to report this matter to the appropriate enforcement authorities.

I await your prompt response.

Yours faithfully