Lowell, county court b/centre clain form

[validuser]

I need some advice please . I received a claim form from Lowell (Bryan Carter Sols) regarding a credit card debt they say I owe.

As with so many other people my head was firmly planted in the sand. I have read lots of post here which have proved very helpful indeed but they don't cover my situation very well.
The debt becomes statute barred in six months but I have this court claim to an address that is not mine. Its an old address .This is where it gets complicated. I cannot register on the court website, just not possible . I have not contacted Lowell.

My question is, is there any way I can delay this potential CCJ until the debt becomes SB ?

I know I can be seen as devious but what do these banks expect will happen when you gave in the 80's a wet behind the ears 20 year old credit card after credit card !

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Lowell, county court b/centre clain form

Welcome to LB

I need some advice please . I received a claim form from Lowell (Bryan Carter Sols) regarding a credit card debt they say I owe.

As with so many other people my head was firmly planted in the sand. I have read lots of post here which have proved very helpful indeed but they don't cover my situation very well.
The debt becomes statute barred in six months but I have this court claim to an address that is not mine. Its an old address .This is where it gets complicated. I cannot register on the court website, just not possible . I have not contacted Lowell.

Creditors who haven't got an up-to-date address can issue a claim to your last known address and if there is no response to the claim, they can obtain default judgment. :scared: The good thing is that you have received the claim.

You may want to give MCOL helpdesk a call or drop them an email. It is also possible to return the acknowledgment of service form N9 by post but I'd try contacting MCOL first. :cell:

The Money Claim Online Helpdesk experiences a high volume of calls. Please consider e-mailing your query to: MCOL@hmcts.gsi.gov.uk or call us on 0300 123 1057.

My question is, is there any way I can delay this potential CCJ until the debt becomes SB ?

Sadly not, the clock would have stopped on the day the claim was issued and if you don't acknowledge it and state your intention to defend it in full within 14 days, they can obtain default judgment.

I know I can be seen as devious but what do these banks expect will happen when you gave in the 80's a wet behind the ears 20 year old credit card after credit card !

Lowell are much more devious :mad2: so that's not even an issue. :nono:

While the debt may not be SBd, there may be other issues with it, especially if its such an old credit card. I doubt they'd be able to find any trace of the agreement.

It would be helpful if you could type up the particulars of the claim and tell us a bit more about this credit card, who was it with? :typing:

When in the 80s did you get it? Before or after '85?

Below are the usual steps to take upon receipt of a claim:

So, first steps (within 14 days of receiving the claim)

1: ACKNOWLEDGE THE CLAIM - you can do this online usually at www.moneyclaim.gov.uk
You'll need your claim reference and password from the front of the claim form - this will extend the time you have to respond to the claim to 28 days from when you received it

2: Send A CCA REQUEST to the CLAIMANT ( see here )
This applies to all credit cards / loans / hire purchase / store cards type debt. It doesn't apply to Mobile Phones / Utilities or Overdrafts.

3: Send a CPR request to the CLAIMANT'S SOLICITORS ( see here )
This applies to everything unless they happen to have supplied you with a bunch of paperwork to back up their claim (v. unlikely)

[validuser]

Re: Lowell, county court b/centre clain form

Thank you very much for the quick and informative reply.
Sadly I cannot register with mcol, even by post.
So I assume the only option I have is to contact Lowell via Carter and see if I can come to an arrangement to avoid a CCJ.

Judging by their reputation can I assume that they will get the CCJ first then talk repayments ?

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Lowell, county court b/centre clain form

Thank you very much for the quick and informative reply.
Sadly I cannot register with mcol, even by post.

Have you spoken to the helpdesk? What did they say?

As for using the post, you wouldn't do so to register with MCOL but to acknowledge service using the form supplied, this one in particular: http://hmctsformfinder.justice.gov.u...s/n009-eng.pdf

You can also acknowledge service by email as described below:

Big hello to all on this thread,
I have had same problem with missing password on claim form, I phoned Northampton bulk centre and was told they accept a scanned image of the completed document sent as an e-mail attachment,
Send to ccbcdefendants@hmcts.gsi.gov.uk with the claim n'o and acknowledgment of service written in the subject heading.
They also would accept by way of a statement of acknowledgment wrote in the same format as in claim pack. (room for error on this so i completed form and scanned etc)
You will get a confirming e-mail that they have Received almost immediately.
Hope this info helps

So I assume the only option I have is to contact Lowell via Carter and see if I can come to an arrangement to avoid a CCJ.

No, see above to acknowledge service so you get a total of 33 days from date printed on claim to file a defence. :thumb:

Judging by their reputation can I assume that they will get the CCJ first then talk repayments ?

Not if you follow the process described above.

Contact them but not to offer repayment, not at this stage anyway, just to request documents from them. Acknowledge service by any method (online, post, email), then send the CCA request with the £1 fee to Lowell, the CPR request letter to Carter (no fee required).

Knowing them they won't have any documents so you will use that fact in your defence and we'll take it from there. :thumb:

[validuser]

Re: Lowell, county court b/centre clain form

I am really sorry to be vague and I am very grateful for your help. I know the procedures you advise and under normal circumstances they would have been followed to the letter.
However I cannot follow them at the moment. ( I wish I could).
I am trying to anticipate Lowells next move if I do not acknowledge service but still contact them.
The issue date was 1st Sept 15. I intend to contact them before then and make an offer.
Would you know of the average time after the given 14 days notice when a Court date would be made ?
I know this may seem as if I am being counter-productive with your advice but making waves at this time would be more costly in the long term. It would be far better to pay them than to dispute the claim.
That being said I do not have the funds to pay them all at once. So my ultimate goal is to clear the debt before I get a CCJ.

[lte69]

Re: Lowell, county court b/centre clain form

Wrong thread. Sorry.

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Lowell, county court b/centre clain form

I am really sorry to be vague and I am very grateful for your help. I know the procedures you advise and under normal circumstances they would have been followed to the letter.
However I cannot follow them at the moment. ( I wish I could).
I am trying to anticipate Lowells next move if I do not acknowledge service but still contact them.
The issue date was 1st Sept 15. I intend to contact them before then and make an offer.

First of all bear in mind that if you don't acknowledge the claim within 14 days they can request default judgment regardless of whatever else you do.

It is ultimately your decision but I fail to see why you don't want to acknowledge the claim :confused2: which will give you some extra time to do whatever you want to do, bearing in mind it is possible to settle at any point right up to the hearing. You don't say how much the claim is for but for small claims (under £10,000), there is a free mediation service which kicks in once you've submitted a defence. At that point if you don't think your defence is very strong you could negotiate. Failing that, at a later stage you can still settle via a Tomlin order which stays proceedings as long as you keep to its terms and make the agreed repayments.

Would you know of the average time after the given 14 days notice when a Court date would be made ?

There is no average time as such but it will certainly be a few months, at this point you'll be looking at next year.

The timeline is 33 days from date on claim to submit a defence, claimant has 28 days (from date of service) to respond saying whether they wish to continue with the claim. If they do, the court issues directions questionnaires which have to be completed and returned by a certain date, usually at least a couple of weeks. You'd usually agree to mediation, so you'd hear from the mediation service. By this time it's nearly Xmas. :santa1: If mediation fails or does not go ahead, the court will schedule a hearing date, the timing will depend on how busy your local court is. You are looking at around 5-6 months from issue date.

I know this may seem as if I am being counter-productive with your advice but making waves at this time would be more costly in the long term. It would be far better to pay them than to dispute the claim.

Can I ask why you think this would be the case?

That being said I do not have the funds to pay them all at once. So my ultimate goal is to clear the debt before I get a CCJ.

See what I said above about a Tomlin order, which is really a last resort to avoid a CCJ on record. :thumb: