Court Claim - Lowell / Orange - 26-11-2014

[OwlWatcher]

Hi all, new member here. Good to see interesting content and up to date / sensible comments.


Night Owl

[OwlWatcher]

Court Claim - Lowell / Orange - 26-11-2014

Received a claim? Yes
Issue Date: 26-11-2014
Amount approx: £757.26
Claimant: Lowell
Solicitor: BW Legal
Original Credit: Orange

Particulars of Claim:
The Claimants claim is for the sum of 757.6 being monies due from the Defendant to the Claimant under a non-regulated Communications agreement between the Defendant and Orange Personal Communications Services Ltd under account reference 15692426 and assigned to the claimant 05.12.2013 notice of which has been given to the Defendant.
The Defendant 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 statutory interest pursuant to section 69 of the County Courts Act 1984 at a rate of 8% per annum ( daily rate of 0.13 from the date of assignment to 24/11/2014 being an amount of 46.15.

Stat Barred? No

Have sent: Acknowledged the Claim

Other Info:
never received any of the documentation referred to in Claim i.e. Default Notice, Notice of Assignment

Didn't know what this was for but then recalled an old Orange agreement that I could no longer afford due to job loss and illness.

The original contract is about 10 years old; last payment about 3 years ago.
Unfortunately no original bills to refer to; can't access Orange account online - barred.

[nemesis45]

Re: Old Debt/ CCJ received 4 years on

CCA request to Lowell CPR31.14 request to the solicitors would be the best.
BUT I see you say you have admitted liability and an I& E summary.
Lowell have of course bought the debt and now have a right to pursue
payment and unfortunately make a profit from it.

Quite simply sending that form leaves no prospect of a viable defence.
The Step Change advice I think is flawed and a lazy answer.

[OwlWatcher]

Re: Old Debt/ CCJ received 4 years on

Thanks for prompt response.
Yes it seems I have ruined the chance of a defence by following standard Step Change advice.
Probably a waste of time sending the CCA and CPR31.14 request now.
Wish I had found this site before I contacted Step Change.
Looks like I've got a CCJ coming. Only hope they set it at £1 per month which is what I offered.

Being new to all this I probably should not have put this post in the Welcome section.
I have opened up a new thread on this case in the Court Case section and will update that.
Apologies
Best to close this thread now.

[Amethyst]

Re: Court Claim - Lowell / Orange - 26-11-2014

Hiya, and welcome

Have you sent a CPR 31.14 request for copies of those documents already ?

Just saw your other post - have you entered an admission or anything on this ? I'd still make them come up with the evidence before making any offers. Was there a dispute on the debt at all or just a case of running out of funds to keep paying it ?

[OwlWatcher]

Re: Court Claim - Lowell / Orange - 26-11-2014

Hi Thanks for reply
Haven't sent CPR 31.14 yet ........and have probably missed todays post but if its worth sending I will get it in at a late collection box. What do you think? (if yes should I send one letter to the Claimant and the other to the solicitor?)

After listening to Step Change ...I sent in an admission plus budget I/O sheets and offered£1/ month.
They won't have got this yet, Posted 1st class registered yesterday, so may not arrive till Sat or Monday.
Possibly I've ruined the chance of a let off but it it makes then think twice about continuing with the CCJ Claim, maybe its worth it? What do you think?

I was paying the bills regularly for 8 years or more. I the lost job, income, health (and the plot!) unfortunately. No dispute really. Multiple debts built up very quickly. It's a classic story. Maybe I'll publish it one day!

[nemesis45]

Re: Old Debt/ CCJ received 4 years on

I'm sure a member of the site team will move things around if needed, just to keep all the posts together.nem.

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Old Debt/ CCJ received 4 years on

CCA request to Lowell CPR31.14 request to the solicitors would be the best.
BUT I see you say you have admitted liability and an I& E summary.
Lowell have of course bought the debt and now have a right to pursue
payment and unfortunately make a profit from it.

Quite simply sending that form leaves no prospect of a viable defence.
The Step Change advice I think is flawed and a lazy answer.

Having sent an I&E and offering £1/month is immaterial in this case because the debt wasn't SBd anyway, not if last payment was only 3 years ago.

Didn't know what this was for but then recalled an old Orange agreement that I could no longer afford due to job loss and illness.

The original contract is about 10 years old; last payment about 3 years ago.
Unfortunately no original bills to refer to; can't access Orange account online - barred.

[OwlWatcher]

Re: Old Debt/ CCJ received 4 years on

You say because the debt isn't SB'd (State Barred?) offering £1/m is immaterial. Sorry I don't understand. What do you think would be the best thing to do now? I have not sent the CPR31 letter as I missed the post yesterday. Is it worth sending it?
Thanks

[Amethyst]

Re: Old Debt/ CCJ received 4 years on

Merged threads. xx

[Amethyst]

Re: Court Claim - Lowell / Orange - 26-11-2014

Hi Thanks for reply
Haven't sent CPR 31.14 yet ........and have probably missed todays post but if its worth sending I will get it in at a late collection box. What do you think? (if yes should I send one letter to the Claimant and the other to the solicitor?)

After listening to Step Change ...I sent in an admission plus budget I/O sheets and offered£1/ month.
They won't have got this yet, Posted 1st class registered yesterday, so may not arrive till Sat or Monday.
Possibly I've ruined the chance of a let off but it it makes then think twice about continuing with the CCJ Claim, maybe its worth it? What do you think?

I was paying the bills regularly for 8 years or more. I the lost job, income, health (and the plot!) unfortunately. No dispute really. Multiple debts built up very quickly. It's a classic story. Maybe I'll publish it one day!

Ahh right so you have already entered a admission and offer to pay to the court - did you send it to the court or just to the claimants ?

How come you spoke to StepChange ( I mean as opposed to citizens advice / nat debtline etc) - are you in a DMP with them ?

[OwlWatcher]

Re: Court Claim - Lowell / Orange - 26-11-2014

I sent it to the claimant, not the Court as that is what Step Change advised.

why StepChange? Good question. They were helpful in the past. I have always been of the opinion that CAB are not very knowledgeable and give out of date advice. Not in DMP with SC. Panic was the real reason I guess. I wish I had found this site before I phoned them.
I was going to send a letter to the Court as well in a sealed envelope but
1. I didn't think that BW Legal would pass it on if they decided to proceed.
2. Would any letter about a specific case get through to whoever deals with it? and would they take any notice of it anyway?
Is there anything I can do? Or is it too late?

[Amethyst]

Re: Court Claim - Lowell / Orange - 26-11-2014

Did you keep a copy of what you sent to BW Legal ? If so then I would send a copy to the court as well ( Northampton CCBC ) so they have it logged on the system, or do the same figures via Moneyclaimonline.

As it is a mobile phone debt then it wouldn't have been as straightforward to defend and it is likely you would have ended up in a negotiating position with Lowell anyway.

Stepchange are good but not at court stuff, they are pretty similar to CAB in that respect - 9 times out of 10 with debt claims it's admit and offer to pay. I've seen a few CAB defences too and they are quite dire.

What were you going to write to the court about ? Court don't really deal in letters so anything you wanted to say would go on your admission/offer or defence.

[OwlWatcher]

Re: Court Claim - Lowell / Orange - 26-11-2014

Yes, I did keep a copy of the form and letter sent to BW Legal.
I was going to write to the Court .....expressing my dismay that this sort of extortion was allowed in the UK by Law plus Statement of facts - no default notice from Lowell, no communications at all from Lowell; plus a mention of mitigating circumstances job loss, ill health, unemployment with copy of SC Budget. Oh and I mentioned the 2 CCJs on my credit report which I know nothing about.
All in all I've screwed up Royally, I guess.
I can send this and register via the Moneyclaimonline system if it will help my case.
Thanks for your opinions. I know better now. I'm sure other chasers will follow before too long.

[Amethyst]

Re: Court Claim - Lowell / Orange - 26-11-2014

Yes that's probably not the greatest idea, feel free to express your dismay on here, but I wouldn't express yourself to the Judge xx

If you are coming up on 6 years since defaulting on things then it is likely others will surface in coming months, so least you know now.

Send the same docs you have sent to BW Legal ( the N9 admission and offer form with your IE completed) to the court.

The relevant CPR on admissions is here http://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/pro...es/part14#14.4 ( just for interest ) CPR 14.1(5) should be withdrawing admission but I wouldn't recommend it as you have to apply to court for permission which is £155 and a hearing, then go back to defending.

It isn't guaranteed that BW Legal will accept the £1 a month offer by any means, so it may well go to court to decide on the amount. If the court decides this off its own back and it's too high you could then apply to vary the amount. You will have a CCJ against your credit file.

How are you fixed for making a full and final offer of about 50% of the debt ( £400 ) ?? I'm guessing not too easily if you're making a £1 a month offer.