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Lowell/BW Legal/Red/Hamptons Legal/Hutchison 3G/County Court Business Centre
Hi,
Back in September 2008 I entered into an agreement with 3 for mobile broadband (USB dongle) for about £40pcm which entitled me to a free Dell laptop. I paid regular monthly amounts until June 2010 at which point I informed them I wanted to cancel my contract. My memory is hazy and I have no paperwork but I think I also cancelled the DD at the same time I phoned them. On 1st September 2010 I made a payment to BPO Collections for £51 which I think was the outstanding amount I owed after cancelling my 3 DD too early.
In March 2011 I thought I was extending my mobile broadband contract but for a lesser amount at just £6.79 per month. It would appear as though 3 considered this as a new contract even though I was continuing to use the same USB dongle. I continued paying for this new contract until March 2013 when I cancelled it and allowed the final DD to be taken.
When I look at my Experian Credit File there is an entry for Hutchison 3G UK LTD which was started on 18th August 2008 (in line with the original agreement in the first paragraph above) which has a current balance of “settled” and a settlement date of 28th February 2013 (which is also in line with the cancelling of the lesser amount contract as per paragraph 2 above).
It would appear as though my credit file considers the two agreements as one which was what I was led to believe by 3. It also appears as though as far as Experian are concerned the account is settled.
In about October 2013 I started to get letters from Lowell Portfolio about an outstanding amount of £382.46 – Original company name: Three Mobile. I have ignored these letters as they never actually amounted to any action against me and were always just inviting me to settle the debt. The letters changed from Lowell to Red Debt Collections and finally Hamptons Legal. No letter actually said they were going to take action but always used terms such as “we may take action” or “we could do the following” etc.
I have an addition entry on my Experian Credit file for Lowell Portfolio which was started on 12th June 2010 (the time I thought I’d cancelled my original contract – para. 1 above) and currently has a status of “Default” and a current balance of £382.
On the 6th May I have now received a Claim Form from “The County Court Business Centre” where the claimant is Lowell Portfolio. They have taken the £382.46 and added £53.36 in interest, £35 court fee, and £50 solicitors’ costs so the total amount of the claim is £520.82.
My question is how do I follow this up? I assume I am required to respond and my choices are:
Although I have no supporting paperwork for either of the contracts (paragraph 1 and 2 above) I am assuming that the debt has occurred because of an added charge from when I cancelled the DD too early. I was also under the impression that I had paid everything I owed when I made the payment to BPO collections in September 2010.
I have tried to give as much information about this as possible but my apologies if I have confused you! I’m hoping someone will read and digest the above and help me with my next course of action.
Thank you in advance,
Paul.
Back in September 2008 I entered into an agreement with 3 for mobile broadband (USB dongle) for about £40pcm which entitled me to a free Dell laptop. I paid regular monthly amounts until June 2010 at which point I informed them I wanted to cancel my contract. My memory is hazy and I have no paperwork but I think I also cancelled the DD at the same time I phoned them. On 1st September 2010 I made a payment to BPO Collections for £51 which I think was the outstanding amount I owed after cancelling my 3 DD too early.
In March 2011 I thought I was extending my mobile broadband contract but for a lesser amount at just £6.79 per month. It would appear as though 3 considered this as a new contract even though I was continuing to use the same USB dongle. I continued paying for this new contract until March 2013 when I cancelled it and allowed the final DD to be taken.
When I look at my Experian Credit File there is an entry for Hutchison 3G UK LTD which was started on 18th August 2008 (in line with the original agreement in the first paragraph above) which has a current balance of “settled” and a settlement date of 28th February 2013 (which is also in line with the cancelling of the lesser amount contract as per paragraph 2 above).
It would appear as though my credit file considers the two agreements as one which was what I was led to believe by 3. It also appears as though as far as Experian are concerned the account is settled.
In about October 2013 I started to get letters from Lowell Portfolio about an outstanding amount of £382.46 – Original company name: Three Mobile. I have ignored these letters as they never actually amounted to any action against me and were always just inviting me to settle the debt. The letters changed from Lowell to Red Debt Collections and finally Hamptons Legal. No letter actually said they were going to take action but always used terms such as “we may take action” or “we could do the following” etc.
I have an addition entry on my Experian Credit file for Lowell Portfolio which was started on 12th June 2010 (the time I thought I’d cancelled my original contract – para. 1 above) and currently has a status of “Default” and a current balance of £382.
On the 6th May I have now received a Claim Form from “The County Court Business Centre” where the claimant is Lowell Portfolio. They have taken the £382.46 and added £53.36 in interest, £35 court fee, and £50 solicitors’ costs so the total amount of the claim is £520.82.
My question is how do I follow this up? I assume I am required to respond and my choices are:
- Admit the claim and request time to pay
- Admit part of the claim
- Dispute the claim in full or in part
- Request 28 days to prepare my defence
- Do nothing.
Although I have no supporting paperwork for either of the contracts (paragraph 1 and 2 above) I am assuming that the debt has occurred because of an added charge from when I cancelled the DD too early. I was also under the impression that I had paid everything I owed when I made the payment to BPO collections in September 2010.
I have tried to give as much information about this as possible but my apologies if I have confused you! I’m hoping someone will read and digest the above and help me with my next course of action.
Thank you in advance,
Paul.
All you're missing is the particulars of claim off the claim form.
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