Claim Form Received 21/02/2014 Lowell Portfolio, BW Legal, Lloyds TSB Current Account

[Cornerfield]

Hi there

I am new here so please bare with me. I have sat and read your forums and think i have a general understanding of whats involved and my options but would like some solid clarification.

After reading your forums i have ackowledged the Claim form online and stated i wish to defend all of the claim.

I received the claim form on the 21/02/2014 but the claim form is dated 17/02/2014 so i presume from what i understand i can add 5 days on to the 17th which takes me to the 22/02/2014 and then add 28 days to that which takes me to 22 March 2014. Is this correct? So i have until the 21st to file my defence so it arrives ontime?

I am heavily pregant (4 weeks left) and got a fair few related medical issues because of it so have left this letter sitting on the side but realise i need to pull my finger out regardless. So today i have looked into my next step and from what i gather it is to send off a CPR 31.14 letter as in the forum. (i never relised time was of an essence for this or atleast before it gets allocated to track? ooopps)

The POC are as follows:

The Claimants Claim is for the sum of 739.61 being monies due from the Defendant to the Claimant under a Current Accounts agreement regulated by the Consumer Credit Act 1974 between the Defendant and Lloyds TSB Bank PLC

under account ref 1234567890 and assigned to the Claimant on 30/06/2013 notice of which has been given to the Defendant. The Defendednt failed to maintain the contractual payment under the terms of the agreement and a default notice has been served and not complied with.

The claim also includes statuory interest pursuant to section 69 of the County Courts Act 1984 at a rate of 8.00% per annum (a daily rate of 0.13) from the date of assignment of the agreement to the date of issue (13/02/2014) being an amount of 29.77.

This is a very old account and im talking 2005 ish. I took out an overdraft which my ex partner insisted i do and that he would in turn pay off as with old credit cards im being chased for also. Anyhow i got into debt with Lloyds and was subsequently offering and paying token payments of £1-2 a month but they use to still hound me for more money that i couldnt afford and i eventually ceased all payment and communication from them. (now i know your going to say when was the last payment you made to them and that honest answer is i really havent a clue!) I reckon i was possibly paying til around 2007 ish but maybe earlier maybe later. I have since moved house, changed banks, split with my ex and lost probably any relevant paperwork. Is there a way of finding these details out and being able to use a statue barred defence???

The CPR request i have copied from your board and adpated the green writing and left everything in it bar the "formal demand" (i presumed this as couldnt see any mention of it in the POC). Is this correct? Is this the only letter i have to send and if so who am i sending it too? And do i add money?

Kind regards and sorry for the essay!!! Hope to hear from you knowledgable people soon.

Leanne

[Amethyst]

Re: Claim Form Received 21/02/2014 Lowell Portfolio, BW Legal, Lloyds TSB Current Acc

Hiya,

You sound like you're sorted on the dates - issue date + five for service + 28 days to defence once you have acknowledged the claim.

So you know what the account is and it's likely to be statute barred although you are unsure of exact dates that you stopped making the token payments. You could ask Lloyds for this information or send them a Subject Access Request for all transaction lists on your accounts but this would take up to 40 days to provide.

You are a bit tight timewise though,so if you don't hear back from the claimants on the CPR you can defend the claim saying the debt is statute barred and they will have to evidence the contrary so you could do that, and if it comes back not SB, and as you recognise the debt and don't dispute the amounts you could then enter an offer to make payments by installment.

Sending the CPR letter is a good start. No money is needed in sending the letter.

And you can have a rummage through old paperwork/bank account info see if anything jogs your memory when you stopped the token payments - possibly a house move/job change etc would coincide.

And don't worry - a CCJ isn't the end of the world and you have far more important things to concentrate on.

Hope that helps a little anyway

Sharon

[Cornerfield]

Re: Claim Form Received 21/02/2014 Lowell Portfolio, BW Legal, Lloyds TSB Current Acc

Hi Sharon

Thank you so much for your time in replying to me.

If i was to call Lloyds and ask them if they have on file any last token payment dates does this show acknowledgent of debt and restart the statue barred date? If not then i will try calling them and seeing what i can find out or failing that send a SAR letter. again does this restart the statue barred date?

If they prove that its not statue barred and i offer small payment installments is this still classed as having a CCJ against my name? As i know they last on file for 6 years and im pretty sure all my past debts are likely to be up within the next year or two and therefore clear my credit file? And then i will have a new one added lol.

But yes like you said i really do have greater things to worry about but would be nice to get this off my back before baby arrives.

Kind regarda


Leanne

[Amethyst]

Re: Claim Form Received 21/02/2014 Lowell Portfolio, BW Legal, Lloyds TSB Current Acc

If you put an offer into the court of minimal (affordable) payments then yes it would be under a CCJ, and would stay on your file for 6 years.

To be honest I'm not sure on whether asking a question about an account is classed as acknowledgment. A SAR request isn't as it's simply asking for information they hold about you as an individual which includes all transactions on all accounts. It does though cost a tenner and takes 40 days to come back.

With the baby due date, you're not going to be wanting to deal with this a lot in coming months, so it's in your interests to get it sorted. Submitting a stat barred defence would mean they have to come back and dispute that with evidence of a payment made since the date you put as last contact - if they come back with payments evidence from 2008 time then you'd be in a position where you'd have to negotiate to avoid the CCJ) - or negotiate settlement now (so no CCJ so long as you pay X a month or a reduced lump sum payment maybe). It really depends whether you want this completely out of your hair now or if you're happy to risk having to deal with it in a few weeks with new bubba about but possibly have the debt wiped under statute barring.

Sorry that's not hugely definitive for you.

[Cornerfield]

Re: Claim Form Received 21/02/2014 Lowell Portfolio, BW Legal, Lloyds TSB Current Acc

Hi again

Further update. I have had my baby which is one thing out the way lol. Now for the Lowell problem. I sent off a CPR letter requesting the information in the POC to both Lowell and BW Legal of which i have proof that they both received them in March but to date i have had no reply.

I had a letter stating that they intend to continue with the claim a few weeks later but thats it.

Today i had a Notice Of proposed Allocation To the Small Claims Track which states:

1. This is now a defended claim. A copy of the defence has already been sent to you by the defendant.

2. It appears that this case is suitable for allocation to the small claims track.

3. You must complete the questionairre by 5th June 2014.


The 'copy of the defence by the defendant' im presuming this is me? Because i have not received any defence or further information about the claim since the initial claim form.

I used the defence of statue barred as i am pretty certain like 80% that it is and that i havent made any contact or payment since 2008. I have no proof whatsoever though! I understand that it is up to them to proof it isnt? So where do i go from here? What sort of proof would they have?

Thank you.

just to confuse matters a little more i received a letter x2 which i will attach (when i suss out how to) It states its from Lowell and that i have failed to repay an account and that it has now been sent to Advantis Credit Ltd. However all it gives me is a reference number and that its a Lowell Account. The Original Company Name and Acc Number has been left blank? The amount owed is also different (by a few £100s). Now my question is this anything to do with the original claim or a completely different debt and just pure coincidence? I certainly have a few other older dates which i presume are all also statue barred (all built up by my ex partner some few years back about same time as this current court claim) but they have all been sold on so many times i really have no idea who owns what?

[Amethyst]

Re: Claim Form Received 21/02/2014 Lowell Portfolio, BW Legal, Lloyds TSB Current Acc

On the Notice of Proposed Allocation the ' copy of defence' bit is usually crossed out by the court clerk, it's basically a copy of what is sent to the claimants.

Yes complete the allocation/directions questionnaire and get that sent back The fee is for the claimants to pay as well. And yes, the onus of proof is on them ref your stat barred defence.

Regarding Advantis - a couple people seem to have had similar letters today so probably a bulk mailshot - I'd file it under ignore for now and see if anything else turns up.

[Amethyst]

Re: Claim Form Received 21/02/2014 Lowell Portfolio, BW Legal, Lloyds TSB Current Acc

Oops and CONGRATS on the birth of your baby Hope all is going well and you're managing some sleep on occassion xx

[Cornerfield]

Re: Claim Form Received 21/02/2014 Lowell Portfolio, BW Legal, Lloyds TSB Current Acc

Thank you, yes managing to sleep just about!

Ok will fill it out today and send it back. Im guessing i dont need to agree to the mediation part?

Thats good to know. Must have been a random coincidence. Will put it to one side for now and hope thats the end of it.

Thank you again for your fast response as always.

Leanne

[Cornerfield]

Re: Claim Form Received 21/02/2014 Lowell Portfolio, BW Legal, Lloyds TSB Current Acc

Hi again

An update

I have today received a Court date and time (29th August). It has a big bold section saying that a hearing fee of £80 is payable by the 22 August by the claimant otherwise the hearing will be removed from the list. (so i am gathering Lowell havent't bothered to date).

What is my next step?

I have defended as statue barred all along and have had no documentation presented to me by Lowell to either defend or agree with this, even though i did send off a letter and ask.

So if they pay the fee and i end up in court, what do i say, do, show etc. I only have the court summons letter, my letter asking for them to provide evidence and todays court date letter. No old statements etc.

I am at a complete loss and have no idea what to expect. To be quite honest im getting rather scared and worried.

Thanks in advance



Leanne

[Cornerfield]

Re: Claim Form Received 21/02/2014 Lowell Portfolio, BW Legal, Lloyds TSB Current Acc

Anyone online today to give anymore advice?

Thanks

[Streetwise]

Re: Claim Form Received 21/02/2014 Lowell Portfolio, BW Legal, Lloyds TSB Current Acc

Hi again

An update

I have today received a Court date and time (29th August). It has a big bold section saying that a hearing fee of £80 is payable by the 22 August by the claimant otherwise the hearing will be removed from the list. (so i am gathering Lowell havent't bothered to date).

What is my next step?

I have defended as statue barred all along and have had no documentation presented to me by Lowell to either defend or agree with this, even though i did send off a letter and ask.

So if they pay the fee and i end up in court, what do i say, do, show etc. I only have the court summons letter, my letter asking for them to provide evidence and todays court date letter. No old statements etc.

I am at a complete loss and have no idea what to expect. To be quite honest im getting rather scared and worried.

Thanks in advance



Leanne

Hi you have your court date,you have your letter asking for proof of the debt,they have not complied with your C.P.R. request so thats non compliance. Just make sure you go to court on the date and tell the judge that they have not complied with your C.P.R. request,please make sure you go to the court on the date.

[Amethyst]

Re: Claim Form Received 21/02/2014 Lowell Portfolio, BW Legal, Lloyds TSB Current Acc

Hiya,

You have a court date and the claimants have still not provided any further information about the claim to you. They need to evidence that you owe the debt. So far they have not.

Despite this being an overdraft they still need to give more information about the debt.

In their claim they have stated ''The Defendednt failed to maintain the contractual payment under the terms of the agreement '' - does an overdraft have a contractual payment due under terms of agreement ? do you know what those were? Probably not, hence they should supply you with the documents.

You entered a Statute Barred defence did you? So Lowell would have to evidence that it is not statute barred, and that means demonstrating payment or acknowledgement within the last 6 years.

I can't see your defence on the thread so if its not up can you post it please and we'll see if you need to be doing anything in advance of the hearing (IF they pay the £80 and go to the hearing that is)

xxx

[Cornerfield]

Re: Claim Form Received 21/02/2014 Lowell Portfolio, BW Legal, Lloyds TSB Current Acc

Thank you StreetWise, it is indeed in my diary and i will certainly make sure i go, im not allowing them to win by default!

Amethyst, Yes i entered a statue barred defence. I copied and pasted one from this site, cant remember exact wording.

Do Lowell have a track record of not bothering to pay the hearing fee? If they don't does the case get thrown out or put on hold until they do?

So basically on the day i just turn up and see what evidence they come up with? And tell the judge it is all news to me as its the first i have seen of it even though i have asked for it under a CPR request. Im worried what random proof they are going to dredge together. As im pretty certain its SB.

Thank you again for your help.

Leanne

[Amethyst]

Re: Claim Form Received 21/02/2014 Lowell Portfolio, BW Legal, Lloyds TSB Current Acc

Hi Cornerfield, Have you heard anything from the claimants or court yet ref the hearing on the 29th?

[Streetwise]

Re: Claim Form Received 21/02/2014 Lowell Portfolio, BW Legal, Lloyds TSB Current Acc

How did it go on Friday.:beagle: