Lowell County Court Claim

[Sevenson]

Hi there,

I received a County Court Claim from BW Legal acting on behalf of Lowell Portfolio (1) Ltd. This related to an old Capital One credit card debt for £750. I checked my credit file and found the debt to be statute barred.

I requested disclosure information by recorded delivery but none was received. As time was ticking on the court claim I submitted a defence online with the standard statute barred text.

I have just received a letter from BW stating that Lowell will be continuing the claim and that I will hear from the court.

What is my next move please?

Many thanks

Tom.

[Amethyst]

Re: Lowell County Court Claim

Hi Sevenson

Sounds as though you have done the right things. You will receive a directions questionnaire from the court and the case will be allocated to your local county court - who will then give directions or order a hearing date for the case.

Usualluy if they continue a statute barred claim it means they have some ''evidence'' of payments within the statute barred period (ie within 6 years from issue date of the claim)

When you say you found the debt to be statute barred from checking your credit file can you confirm dates etc please. Also if you could paste up your actual defence submitted that owuld be good.

Many thanks

Sharon
xx

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Lowell County Court Claim

Hi there,

I received a County Court Claim from BW Legal acting on behalf of Lowell Portfolio (1) Ltd. This related to an old Capital One credit card debt for £750. I checked my credit file and found the debt to be statute barred.

Your credit file isn't really a good indicator of SBd status. Very often payments are made after defaulting, some people make reduced payments for years.

I requested disclosure information by recorded delivery but none was received. As time was ticking on the court claim I submitted a defence online with the standard statute barred text.

I have just received a letter from BW stating that Lowell will be continuing the claim and that I will hear from the court.

What is my next move please?

You just have to wait for your AQ (directions questionnaire).

[Sevenson]

Re: Lowell County Court Claim

Hi again!

I have now received a 'Notice of proposed allocation to the small claims track' from the court. It states the following:

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

If you believe that this track is not appropriate for the claim, you must complete box C1 on the small claims directions questionnaire (FormN180) and explain why.

3. You must by 12th May 2014 complete the Small Claims Directions Questionnaire (Form N180) and file it with the court office, and serve copies on all parties.

The forms attached are one which relates to the Small Claims Mediation Service asking whether I would like to settle the case without going to a court hearing and the aforementioned N180 Allocations Questionnaire.

Any advice on completing these two forms please?

Many thanks

Sevenson.

[Amethyst]

Re: Lowell County Court Claim

If you could paste up your actual defence submitted that would be good please When you say you found the debt to be statute barred from checking your credit file can you confirm dates etc please.

Do you have any evidence of your last payment and no payments since, during the limitations period ?

Complete the N180 and return it to the court and then the judge can make an order how to deal with the claim.

Mediation - bit tricky as you believe the debt is SB and apparently they don't hence continuing, so basically they should give you details of when they allege you acknowledged the debt within the limitation period. I don't think you can do that through Mediation - that's more for coming to a settlement agreement.

[Sevenson]

Re: Lowell County Court Claim

Hi Amethyst!

Here is the actual defence as submitted:

The claimant’s claim was issued on 13th February 2014

The claimant contends that the Claimant’s claim so issued is a
claim in contract and is statute barred pursuant to the provisions
of section 5 of the limitation act 1980. If, which is denied, the
claimant contends that the Defendant is in breach of the alleged
contract in excess of 6 years have elapsed since the date on which
any cause of action for breach accrued for the benefit of the
Claimant.

The claimant’s claim to be entitled to payment of £1204.58 or any
other sum, of any kind is denied.

I don't have any actual evidence to hand of when the last payment on the account was made but the default date was just outside the six year period. I am certain there were no payments, contact or acknowledgement since that time.

Also - the other factor I would like considered in this case is that (as previously mentioned) I did send BW Legal (acting for Lowell) a CPR request by recorded delivery on Feb 26th. I received no response to this despite chasing by telephone and being told the case was 'on hold'. The clock was obviously ticking on the court procedure and I felt under pressure to reply with my defence despite having not received the requested information within the timeframe stipulated. I therefor went ahead with the defence based on statute barred debt. I have yet to receive anything further from BW Legal.

Look forward to hearing from you!

Sevenson

[Amethyst]

Re: Lowell County Court Claim

Cool Ta. All looks and sounds fine then. The 31.14 request is a little pooped as we're allocated to small claims once you return this form, but you can use it, if necessary, to show you have tried to obtain further information, if they argue over the stat barred defence.

Have they actually sent a separate form for mediation?

[Sevenson]

Re: Lowell County Court Claim

There are two forms with the Notice of proposed allocation to the small claims track, one relates to the Small Claims Mediation Service and suggest that this may be a route for resolving a dispute without a court hearing (this is obviously optional), and the other is the N180 Directions Questionnaire.

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Lowell County Court Claim

I don't have any actual evidence to hand of when the last payment on the account was made but the default date was just outside the six year period. I am certain there were no payments, contact or acknowledgement since that time.

Although credit files are not a good indicator of SBd status due to the fact that many people make payments after defaulting and many creditors record defaults way outside the timescales on the guidance, a default would never be recorded before you stopped paying, it would normally be 3 to 6 months after you miss a payment. If you are certain you didn't pay or acknowledge this in writing and the default date was over 6 years ago, then it should be SBd. :thumb:

Also - the other factor I would like considered in this case is that (as previously mentioned)

I did send BW Legal (acting for Lowell) a CPR request by recorded delivery on Feb 26th. I received no response to this despite chasing by telephone and being told the case was 'on hold'. The clock was obviously ticking on the court procedure and I felt under pressure to reply with my defence despite having not received the requested information within the timeframe stipulated. I therefor went ahead with the defence based on statute barred debt. I have yet to receive anything further from BW Legal.

The documents usually requested on the CPR letter wouldn't really shed much light on whether a debt is SBd or not. The default notice would show the time you defaulted, but that, in itself, doesn't prove anything, since many people make payments after defaulting. A Part 18 request for information, asking for statements showing when a payment was last made would have addressed this particular point better, but now it's a bit late for that now the case has been allocated to small claims.

There are two forms with the Notice of proposed allocation to the small claims track, one relates to the Small Claims Mediation Service and suggest that this may be a route for resolving a dispute without a court hearing (this is obviously optional), and the other is the N180 Directions Questionnaire.

This is all standard procedure. Mediation can be useful if you wanted to settle the claim but I wouldn't consider it for a debt that's very likely to be SBd. The case will be allocated to small claims so there isn't much you can argue at this stage about non-compliance with 31.14 since part 31 does not apply to small claims.

Upon submission of a SBd defence, it's up to the claimant to PROVE it isn't, for example, with statements showing payments made in the last 6 years. :thumb:

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Lowell County Court Claim

I don't have any actual evidence to hand of when the last payment on the account was made but the default date was just outside the six year period. I am certain there were no payments, contact or acknowledgement since that time.

Although credit files are not a good indicator of SBd status due to the fact that many people make payments after defaulting and many creditors record defaults way outside the timescales on the guidance, a default would never be recorded before you stopped paying, it would normally be 3 to 6 months after you miss a payment. If you are certain you didn't pay or acknowledge this in writing and the default date was over 6 years ago, then it should be SBd. :thumb:

Also - the other factor I would like considered in this case is that (as previously mentioned)

I did send BW Legal (acting for Lowell) a CPR request by recorded delivery on Feb 26th. I received no response to this despite chasing by telephone and being told the case was 'on hold'. The clock was obviously ticking on the court procedure and I felt under pressure to reply with my defence despite having not received the requested information within the timeframe stipulated. I therefor went ahead with the defence based on statute barred debt. I have yet to receive anything further from BW Legal.

The documents usually requested on the CPR letter wouldn't really shed much light on whether a debt is SBd or not. The default notice would show the time you defaulted, but that, in itself, doesn't prove anything, since many people make payments after defaulting. A Part 18 request for information, asking for statements showing when a payment was last made would have addressed this particular point better, but now it's a bit late for that now the case is being allocated to small claims.

There are two forms with the Notice of proposed allocation to the small claims track, one relates to the Small Claims Mediation Service and suggest that this may be a route for resolving a dispute without a court hearing (this is obviously optional), and the other is the N180 Directions Questionnaire.

This is all standard procedure. Mediation can be useful if you wanted to settle the claim but I wouldn't consider it for a debt that's very likely to be SBd. The case will be allocated to small claims so there isn't much you can argue at this stage about non-compliance with 31.14 since part 31 does not apply to small claims.

Upon submission of a SBd defence, it's up to the claimant to PROVE it isn't, for example, with statements showing payments made in the last 6 years. :thumb: