Bryan carter county court claim / lowell / Shop Direct, Help Please

[grant1987]

Hi there

I have been pointed to this forum by moneysaving expert and i am so glad i found you guys after reading some posts.

31/03/15 I received a county court claim for £188.85 for a debt shop direct, plus legal fee's bringing claim to £278.96

the debt was sold to lowell on 21/09/2009 and i have no memory of making any payments from that date i also have no memory of the account in question and don't recall the company in question.

is the debt SB ? I think not, i need some help on what to do, i am very tempted to defend and see if they will produce paper work etc.

I have just had a baby and i don't want to pay this debt unless i have to ( i don't want a ccj) as paying near £300 out at the moment which will come out of my little savings.

Any help would be great,

Leigh

[nemesis45]

Re: Bryan carter county court claim / lowell / Shop Direct, Help Please

Hi Leigh Welcome to LB,

For Clarification Statute Barred in England & Wales = 6 clear Years with no payment or unequivocal written acknowledgment of the debt.
( In Scotland the Limitation is 5 years after which the debt is extinguished).
Have you acknowledged the claim, if not do so using Money Claim On Line (MCOL) and state intention to defend.

You need to send a CCA Request to Lowell to see if they have the agreement, there is a £1.00 statutory fee to be paid. ( use a cheque or postal order, clearly endorsed " For Statutory Fee Only" Lowell has 12 + 2 Working Days to comply. There is a Template in the forum library for this and CPR 31.14 request to Carter to get the Documents Mentioned in The Particulars of the Claim ( no fee for this and documents should be provided within 7 days)

When was this account opened, when was it defaulted?

Have you checked your credit reference files for this? If not do so asap ( Noddle from Call Credit id free online, Equifax and Experian have 30 day free trials.)

nem

[grant1987]

Re: Bryan carter county court claim / lowell / Shop Direct, Help Please

Hi Nemesis

Many thanks for replying to my post.


I am sorry for replying so late but i work long hours and with a new born its hard to get 5 mins to reply.

I have replied to the moneyclaim online and sent off my Acknowledgment of service today 6/04/15, first of all does this mean that 28 days starts from today or when the claim was made by the claimant 31/03/2015 ??

I have also draft a letter cca request to lowell and cpr31.14 to BCS. I have copy and paste both letters i will send tomorrow afternoon. If you could tell me if they are good to send I would be most grateful.


Cpr3.14

Dear Sir / Madam

On 02/04/2015 I received a County Court claim from yourselves of which I have acknowledged receipt indicating my intention to defend in full.

To enable me to file my defence and/or counterclaim, I require inspection of documents you mention in your statement of case ahead of filing my defence on 28 04 2015.

1. The Agreement
2. Default Notice
3. Assignment

In accordance with CPR 31.15(c) I undertake to be responsible for your reasonable copying costs incurred in complying with this CPR 31.14 request.

You should note that this claim has not yet been allocated to a specific track and the provisions of CPR 27(2) are of no effect. Had your claim not been issued through CCBC the Claimant would have been obliged to attach copies of the documentation upon which it relies to the Particulars of Claim. I , as Defendant, am entitled to see the documents on which the Claimant relies and which you will have to produce at trial. Disclosure at this stage will enable me to fully plead my case and further the Overriding Objective.

You should ensure compliance with your CPR 31 duties and ensure that the document(s) I have requested are copied to and received by me within 7 days of receiving this letter.

If you require more time in which to comply with this request you must tell me in writing and confirm your agreement to an extension of the time allowed for me to file my defence as allowed under CPR 15.5 so I may notify the court.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely

And draft letter to lowell CCA Request

Dear Lowell Portfolio


Please treat this letter as a formal request for you to supply a copy of my Consumer Credit Agreement as is my entitlement under sections 77-79 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974.

I require you to provide me with a true copy, or reconstituted copy of the credit agreement relating to any account you deem to be mine, together with any other documentation the Act requires you to provide. I expect you to comply fully and properly with this request, within the statutory time limit.

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.

If it is your view that you are not the creditor, s.175 of the CCA1974 applies in the case of a simple assignment, and places a duty upon you to pass this request to the creditor. In the case of an absolute assignment, you are a creditor as defined by s.189.

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.


Yours faithfully,


I will send the above off to lowell with a £1 postal order.

Questions:

1. should i sign either of the letters ?
2. if lowell or BCS do not reply or act on the request what does this mean, Im thinking it will mean a defence of being unable to defend a claim due to lack of details ?

3. Do i need to pay BCS any fee for them sending the requested info as stated in the draft letter about costs

4. If i loose this claim or i am unable to get them to run out of time, will i end up paying more at ccj, I.E Solicitors fee's etc or is the claim now fixed just to that ammount ? i am just worried about the outcome.

I am now going to sort out a credit report from check my file and find out when the last default was, when i opened the account and last payment etc and i will let you know.

thanks so much for your time by the way, it means a lot to me this

Leigh

- - - Updated - - -

Hi Nemesis

Many thanks for replying to my post.


I am sorry for replying so late but i work long hours and with a new born its hard to get 5 mins to reply.

I have replied to the moneyclaim online and sent off my Acknowledgment of service today 6/04/15, first of all does this mean that 28 days starts from today or when the claim was made by the claimant 31/03/2015 ??

I have also draft a letter cca request to lowell and cpr31.14 to BCS. I have copy and paste both letters i will send tomorrow afternoon. If you could tell me if they are good to send I would be most grateful.


Cpr3.14

Dear Sir / Madam

On 02/04/2015 I received a County Court claim from yourselves of which I have acknowledged receipt indicating my intention to defend in full.

To enable me to file my defence and/or counterclaim, I require inspection of documents you mention in your statement of case ahead of filing my defence on 28 04 2015.

1. The Agreement
2. Default Notice
3. Assignment

In accordance with CPR 31.15(c) I undertake to be responsible for your reasonable copying costs incurred in complying with this CPR 31.14 request.

You should note that this claim has not yet been allocated to a specific track and the provisions of CPR 27(2) are of no effect. Had your claim not been issued through CCBC the Claimant would have been obliged to attach copies of the documentation upon which it relies to the Particulars of Claim. I , as Defendant, am entitled to see the documents on which the Claimant relies and which you will have to produce at trial. Disclosure at this stage will enable me to fully plead my case and further the Overriding Objective.

You should ensure compliance with your CPR 31 duties and ensure that the document(s) I have requested are copied to and received by me within 7 days of receiving this letter.

If you require more time in which to comply with this request you must tell me in writing and confirm your agreement to an extension of the time allowed for me to file my defence as allowed under CPR 15.5 so I may notify the court.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely

And draft letter to lowell CCA Request

Dear Lowell Portfolio


Please treat this letter as a formal request for you to supply a copy of my Consumer Credit Agreement as is my entitlement under sections 77-79 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974.

I require you to provide me with a true copy, or reconstituted copy of the credit agreement relating to any account you deem to be mine, together with any other documentation the Act requires you to provide. I expect you to comply fully and properly with this request, within the statutory time limit.

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.

If it is your view that you are not the creditor, s.175 of the CCA1974 applies in the case of a simple assignment, and places a duty upon you to pass this request to the creditor. In the case of an absolute assignment, you are a creditor as defined by s.189.

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.


Yours faithfully,


I will send the above off to lowell with a £1 postal order.

Questions:

1. should i sign either of the letters ?
2. if lowell or BCS do not reply or act on the request what does this mean, Im thinking it will mean a defence of being unable to defend a claim due to lack of details ?

3. Do i need to pay BCS any fee for them sending the requested info as stated in the draft letter about costs

4. If i loose this claim or i am unable to get them to run out of time, will i end up paying more at ccj, I.E Solicitors fee's etc or is the claim now fixed just to that amount ? i am just worried about the outcome.

I am now going to sort out a credit report from check my file and find out when the last default was, when i opened the account and last payment etc and i will let you know.

thanks so much for your time by the way, it means a lot to me this

Leigh

[nemesis45]

Re: Bryan carter county court claim / lowell / Shop Direct, Help Please

There is in my opinion no problem signing CPR or CCA Requests, although there is no obligation to sign the CCA Request often DCA's will reject an unsigned request just to delay matter.

Your letters are good to go, don't forget the £1 statutory fee for the CCA, use a cheque or postal order endorsed for statutory fee only.

If the CCA Request is not complied with within the 12 + 2 Working Days timescale the debt becomes unenforceable until it is produced.

The CPR 31.14 request has a 7 day timescale, But Carter is likely to reject it by claiming that " the claim is most likely to be allocated to the small claims track" where the CPR 31,14 does not apply, this is Carters standard reply, however the claim has not been allocated to a track so the request still applies, if refused this goes into your defence. (There is no fee).

There are many old Shop Direct accounts around at present almost all are near statute barred or are already SB.

So figuring out the last payment ( to any party regarding this debt) is important.

nem

Costs are not relevant at this stage.
The cost involved are those stated on the claim form.

[grant1987]

Re: Bryan carter county court claim / lowell / Shop Direct, Help Please

Many thanks for getting back to me, I will send over the letters tomorrow (Wednesday) recorded post to both parties including fee to lowell etc. I will sign (mark) both letters.

My days are less busy WED-Sat so I will be able to reply at a more social able hour lol. I will sort check my file tomorrow to find out when the last payment was made, default and taken out etc.

If Lowell do not reply to my CPR Request I understand it becomes unenforceable like you said, but how does that stand me with the ticking clock of 28 days etc, if they have not supplied it by then what happens or can I do ?

leigh

[nemesis45]

Re: Bryan carter county court claim / lowell / Shop Direct, Help Please

If the CCA request to Lowell is not complied with after the 12 + 2 Working Days the debt is unenforceable until the agreement is produced.

CPR 31.14 7 day time scale does not affect anything is not complied with you would have to pay a court fee to enforce it.

nem

[grant1987]

Re: Bryan carter county court claim / lowell / Shop Direct, Help Please

If the CCA request to Lowell is not complied with after the 12 + 2 Working Days the debt is unenforceable until the agreement is produced.

CPR 31.14 7 day time scale does not affect anything is not complied with you would have to pay a court fee to enforce it.

nem

Thanks Nem

Just waiting for the credit report be sorted tomorrow so can get to the bottom on the SB question.

Will keep in touch, many thanks it means a lot

[nemesis45]

Re: Bryan carter county court claim / lowell / Shop Direct, Help Please

Happy to help Grant!!

nem

[grant1987]

Re: Bryan carter county court claim / lowell / Shop Direct, Help Please

Hi Nem

Sorry for the delay in getting back with the info.

I have found a old credit report from around 6 months ago, this states the following regarding the debt

Shop Direct (now with lowell & BC)

Account Opened
5 August 2008
5 August 2008


Last Updated
17 February 2014
27 May 2010

Account Number
****6838



Account Terms
Monthly repayments
Monthly repayments

Payments Started
Not Recorded
Not Recorded

Opening Balance
£145
£0

Lump Payment
Not Recorded
Not Recorded

Current Balance
£188
Closed 31 August 2009 (balance £188)

Credit Limit
Not Reported
Not Applicable

Lifetime Change
£43



Monthly Change
£0
Not Available

Worst Status

US


D

The status of the account is unknown. The payment status has been reported as in default.
A notice of default has been served. This usually arises from non-payment.

Default Balance
£145
£145


Default Date
31 August 2009
August 2009

Default Satisfied Date
Not Satisfied
Not Reported


Account Holder Status
Normal
Not Available

[grant1987]

Re: Bryan carter county court claim / lowell / Shop Direct, Help Please

The above to me shows that the debt is not yet SB ? I cannot find anything to show firm when i last made a payment but there is a flow chart on check my file which shows a balance which seems to suggest that £12 was taken of the balance in Jan 2010 however it does not say payment and i do not remember making such payment. also 2 months later the £12 is added back to the account debt.

I have sent the letters off to BC and Lowell, so what do you think should be my next step, should i be looking at the possibility over settling the debt ? some advise would be much appreciated

many thanks

leigh

[MIKE770]

Re: Bryan carter county court claim / lowell / Shop Direct, Help Please

Ask proof of this possible fictitious payment how it was paid and evidence by whom? if you are sure payment not made by you!

[nemesis45]

Re: Bryan carter county court claim / lowell / Shop Direct, Help Please

I would phone shop direct to see if they can throw some light on the £12 payment and the add back.
Alternatively if the don't cooperate a SAR is needed.
I take it Lowell has not mentioned the £12 yet??
nem

[grant1987]

Re: Bryan carter county court claim / lowell / Shop Direct, Help Please

I would phone shop direct to see if they can throw some light on the £12 payment and the add back.
Alternatively if the don't cooperate a SAR is needed.
I take it Lowell has not mentioned the £12 yet??
nem

I looked more into the balance graph and it does look like i made payments in early december 2009 which seem to stop in Jan 10 with a £12 amount off the account but is then placed back on, could this add on been a late payment of default charge Im thinking.

Anyhow the more i look into this it would seem i am not yet SB, so close but not over the line. Which puts me in a position, Do I arrange a settlement payments like a Tomlin Order ? Or do I still wait on back from Lowell & BCS ??

If i do hold and await to hear from them, and they show (lowell) that its not SB how will this effect me in making settlement payment, I want to avoid a CCJ so would prefer in that case to settle for a reduced amount which i may be able to pay in once sum, or monthly payments like a Tomlin order which a friend has done some years ago to avoid ccj.


If I got a CCJ it would be a disaster for me as my landlord rechecks every 6 months and has made it clear that any ccj's or other bad debts shown would mean no renewal, which with a new born is not a nice place to be in :-(

Leigh

[MIKE770]

Re: Bryan carter county court claim / lowell / Shop Direct, Help Please

I would phone shop direct to see if they can throw some light on the £12 payment and the add back.
Alternatively if the don't cooperate a SAR is needed.
I take it Lowell has not mentioned the £12 yet??
nem

Usually charges deducted prior to selling debt, then they seem to change their mind at the same time, done this to me hence my sold account in dispute and nobody wants to know!

[nemesis45]

Re: Bryan carter county court claim / lowell / Shop Direct, Help Please

Hello Leigh,

It seems like a mediation leading to a Tomlin order is a wise move if there is nothing with which you can defend the claim.
A telephone mediation appointment via HMCTS Small Claims Mediation Service it easy you can make your offer of payment
and negotiate an agreement.

nem