Court Caste Lowell/Bryan Carter - Worried sick

[illustriousmuz]

Sorry for reposting this here, but didn't realise there was a dedicated forum to BC Court Cases.

At the beginning of this year, I received a claim form from Bryan Carter acting on behalf of Lowell for a debt to ShopDirect. I had received letters from Lowell and another company called Red and Frederickson all chasing the same debt. I never received a default notice from the original creditor, nor had I received a notice of assignment. I know that I was meant to have these but Lowell has refused to ever supply me with them.


When the claim arrived I immediately responded via the moneyclaim website indicating my position on the claims of Lowell. Mentioning the lack of Default Notice and Notice of Assignment. I had elected to go through arbitration to maybe resolve this but Bryan Carter never attempted it and it was allocated to the fast track for review at my local county court.


Taking advice from some of the other posts on this forum, I hit Lowell with a CPR and CCA request to which I have never had a response. The only downside to this now is that I sent these documents through my work post service, recorded but I was laid off in April and I can't get any proof that I sent them. I also received a letter saying that they'd settle the account for a minimal amount of around £300 which to avoid any further bother I was happy to pay, however when I called this amount no longer was prepared to be accepted and they asked for close to the full amount. In the same call, I queried the lack of a response to my CCA/CPR request including information on the default notice. The lady at Bryan Carter told me that they never respond to them because it's down to the original creditor to provide that documentation before their clients ever take on the debt!


Anyway, I'd hoped to get it resolved in some fashion but the other day I received a Witness Statement from Bryan Carter. I don't know what to do now. The court case is less than 2 weeks. I'm worried sick. Not sleeping.


I was hoping someone could help me with a few things though:

1. Attached to the witness statement is a supposed statement of account, but this appears to be some kind of filled in excel form with my name on it and a value of £754 filled in. This is the first time i've seen such a document. Would this be something they'd send in a CCA/CPR request?
2. The witness statement says my account defaulted on the 2nd October - Lowell claim to have purchased this debt on the 4th. That seems a little quick to me. Also, the initial claim form says they purchased the debt on around the 11th. None of their dates make sense. The letter they claim to be the notice of assignment from the original creditor, (which I never received), is dated the 15th.
3. Is there a difference between a Default Notice and a Notice of Assignment? I've received neither and find it odd that they have stuck in a supposed copy of the Assignment but not one for the default notice.
4. If Lowell own the debt who then are Red and Frederickson in relation to them? What if I'd paid them?
5. Since I don't have proof of my CCA and CCR requests, can I stick them in now and ask the court for a delay in proceedings? The first I've heard about them not receiving the CPR/CCA requests is in this witness statement.

They're now asking the court for over £1107 - I'm so annoyed. I've tried to make offers with them, even offering to pay a full amount they asked for only to be told that was no longer enough. They're a total shower.

It's probably worth mentioning too that I'm still looking for work after being made redundant in April. I've told Lowell/BC this and offered to settle it for the lower amount they wanted in one go just to get them off my back but they're refusing to budge.


Any advice would be greatly appreciated

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Court Caste Lowell/Bryan Carter - Worried sick

Sorry for reposting this here, but didn't realise there was a dedicated forum to BC Court Cases.

Welcome aboard, this is actually our most active forum.

At the beginning of this year, I received a claim form from Bryan Carter acting on behalf of Lowell for a debt to ShopDirect. I had received letters from Lowell and another company called Red and Frederickson all chasing the same debt. I never received a default notice from the original creditor, nor had I received a notice of assignment. I know that I was meant to have these but Lowell has refused to ever supply me with them.

They are all part of the Lowell group, essentially one and the same.

When the claim arrived I immediately responded via the moneyclaim website indicating my position on the claims of Lowell. Mentioning the lack of Default Notice and Notice of Assignment. I had elected to go through arbitration to maybe resolve this but Bryan Carter never attempted it and it was allocated to the fast track for review at my local county court.

They're now asking the court for over £1107 - I'm so annoyed. I've tried to make offers with them, even offering to pay a full amount they asked for only to be told that was no longer enough. They're a total shower.

Fast track for just over £1,107? That's very strange, when most claims below £10,000 are allocated to the small claims track. :confused2:

Taking advice from some of the other posts on this forum, I hit Lowell with a CPR and CCA request to which I have never had a response. The only downside to this now is that I sent these documents through my work post service, recorded but I was laid off in April and I can't get any proof that I sent them. I also received a letter saying that they'd settle the account for a minimal amount of around £300 which to avoid any further bother I was happy to pay, however when I called this amount no longer was prepared to be accepted and they asked for close to the full amount. In the same call, I queried the lack of a response to my CCA/CPR request including information on the default notice. The lady at Bryan Carter told me that they never respond to them because it's down to the original creditor to provide that documentation before their clients ever take on the debt!

You don't need to worry about proving that you sent the requests, as the lady in question pointed out, Carter never responds to them because his clients never have any paperwork before they instruct them to issue a claim. What she didn't tell you is that they issue claims speculatively in the hope of obtaining default judgment. :mad2: :mad2: :mad2:

Anyway, I'd hoped to get it resolved in some fashion but the other day I received a Witness Statement from Bryan Carter. I don't know what to do now. The court case is less than 2 weeks. I'm worried sick. Not sleeping.

The Leeds Low lifes are not worth it! :nono:

[nemesis45]

Re: Court Caste Lowell/Bryan Carter - Worried sick

Hi All the companies you have mentioned are " trading Styles" of the Lowell Group.
How much is the full claim for? is it the£1107 inc. costs?
None of the dates you have given are helpful without the year.
When you say you " stated your position" do you mean this is what you filed as a defence?

A default notice gives a debtor a chance to rectify the account by paying the arrears to put the account into normal status.
A Notice of Assignment is to tell you that your debt has been sold by the original creditor and/or bought by the debt purchaser.

You need to tell us the full dates for them to be meaningful.

If Lowell has not supplied an agreement for the account then the debt is unenforceable until it is supplied.

Do you remember the dates you sent the requests? Did you send the £1 statutory fee for the CCA request to Lowell.

Have you actually filed a fully pleased Defence as required? Have you had notification that this has been received by the court?
What documents have you returned to the court, Allocations questionnaire/ Directions Questionnaire, your witness statement and or defence?

Stop phoning Carter they are not there to help you in anyway.!!

nem

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Court Caste Lowell/Bryan Carter - Worried sick

I was hoping someone could help me with a few things though:

Attached to the witness statement is a supposed statement of account, but this appears to be some kind of filled in excel form with my name on it and a value of £754 filled in. This is the first time i've seen such a document. Would this be something they'd send in a CCA/CPR request?

By law a response to a CCA request should include a statement of account.

The witness statement says my account defaulted on the 2nd October - Lowell claim to have purchased this debt on the 4th. That seems a little quick to me. Also, the initial claim form says they purchased the debt on around the 11th. None of their dates make sense. The letter they claim to be the notice of assignment from the original creditor, (which I never received), is dated the 15th.

Lowell's default dates are often woefully inaccurate, however, this shouldn't make much difference to the claim. Are you saying this debt should be statute barred?

Is there a difference between a Default Notice and a Notice of Assignment?

Yes, they are two completely separate documents: the default notice is a requirement under s.87 of the CCA and should be issued by the original creditor before taking further action such as passing on the account for a DCA for collection or demanding repayment of the full outstanding balance. The notice of assignment is issued when the debt is sold to a debt purchaser.

I've received neither and find it odd that they have stuck in a supposed copy of the Assignment but not one for the default notice.

That's because banks don't keep copies of the DNs they issue, these letters are mail-merged from a database without being saved as individual files.

If Lowell own the debt who then are Red and Frederickson in relation to them? What if I'd paid them?

They are all part of the same company: https://www.lowell.co.uk/who-is-red-debt.aspx and http://www.lowellgroup.co.uk/index.p...international/

Since I don't have proof of my CCA and CCR requests, can I stick them in now and ask the court for a delay in proceedings? The first I've heard about them not receiving the CPR/CCA requests is in this witness statement.

The CCA request would have gone to Lowell and the CPR to Carter. Where are they saying they didn't receive the requests?

Would be helpful if you could post up the particulars of the claim and also what you said in your defence. :typing:

[nemesis45]

Re: Court Caste Lowell/Bryan Carter - Worried sick

The CCA and CPR requests have been ignored, the OP has no record available now as to when they were sent.

Personally I would slap in a new CCA request on Monday by signed for post.
Address it to Andrew Bartle
COO The Lowell Group
Ellington House
9 Savannah Way
Leeds Valley Park
Leeds
LS10 1AH

Mark it Confidential.

nem

[illustriousmuz]

Re: Court Caste Lowell/Bryan Carter - Worried sick

Hi All the companies you have mentioned are " trading Styles" of the Lowell Group.
How much is the full claim for? is it the£1107 inc. costs?
None of the dates you have given are helpful without the year.
When you say you " stated your position" do you mean this is what you filed as a defence?

The total amount claimed is £850.36p - the rest are costs and interest that they've added on. Sorry, for missing the year, it was 2013. They claim the account defaulted on the 2nd October 2013 and the account was sold to Lowell on the 4th October 2013? However the initial court paperwork they filed stated they acquired the debt on the 11th October 2013.

A default notice gives a debtor a chance to rectify the account by paying the arrears to put the account into normal status. A Notice of Assignment is to tell you that your debt has been sold by the original creditor and/or bought by the debt purchaser.

In that case then, they defaulted the account and never told me a thing. Their own paperwork states the account defaulted on the 2nd October 2013 and they acquired the debt on the 4th October 2013 - that doesn't really give me much time to rectify the account. The letter they attached to their witness statement claiming to be the notice of assignment from Shop Direct is dated the 15th. I maintain I never received this either but it strikes me as odd that they should send that and not the original notice. Or perhaps it's not odd since one couldn't exist or have been sent in the time frame they're using in their own claim

If Lowell has not supplied an agreement for the account then the debt is unenforceable until it is supplied. Do you remember the dates you sent the requests? Did you send the £1 statutory fee for the CCA request to Lowell.

In the defence I filed I stated that I denied any debt to the Lowell/BC and that I would be making further requests for information that day. I think this was around the 28th January 2015. I sent off the CCA request with a postal order for a pound, (I don't have a chequebook). The only problem I have is that I sent this recorded via my employers post room but I was made redundant in April. I can't get this information simply because my former employers are now engaged in a legal battle with me over unfair dismissal. It's a nightmare. In the witness statement they have just sent me, they claim to have received no requests from me.

Have you actually filed a fully pleased Defence as required? Have you had notification that this has been received by the court?

Yes, i submitted a defence pretty much as soon as the pack arrived on my doorstep. The court conrfirmed my defence was received and I even said I'd be open to mediation but BC never entered into it.

What documents have you returned to the court, Allocations questionnaire/ Directions Questionnaire, your witness statement and or defence?

I haven't submitted my witness statement yet, I've been told I need to send that into the court this week and send a copy to BC, recorded special delivery of course. I'm just now trying to figure how I'm going to put this together and what I should now say.

I'll be honest, this whole thing is now making me poorly.

Stop phoning Carter they are not there to help you in anyway.!!

I know that now. I just wanted to get it all sorted before it got to this stage but they're just pressuring me now. I don't know what to do.

[illustriousmuz]

Re: Court Caste Lowell/Bryan Carter - Worried sick

The CCA and CPR requests have been ignored, the OP has no record available now as to when they were sent.

Personally I would slap in a new CCA request on Monday by signed for post.
Address it to Andrew Bartle
COO The Lowell Group
Ellington House
9 Savannah Way
Leeds Valley Park
Leeds
LS10 1AH

Mark it Confidential.

nem

Would this be valid? I think they would have more time to respond to the request than I have left until my hearing. I'm more than happy to do it.

Would I be able to ask for a stay of judgement on this until paperwork is provided from this? Or should I just aim to have it dismissed due to their inability to provide paperwork?

[illustriousmuz]

Re: Court Caste Lowell/Bryan Carter - Worried sick

By law a response to a CCA request should include a statement of account.

Lowell's default dates are often woefully inaccurate, however, this shouldn't make much difference to the claim. Are you saying this debt should be statute barred?

No, the account is from 2013 so can't be covered as statute barred unfortunately. Surely if they put a date on an official court document though, that should be the date considered?

Yes, they are two completely separate documents: the default notice is a requirement under s.87 of the CCA and should be issued by the original creditor before taking further action such as passing on the account for a DCA for collection or demanding repayment of the full outstanding balance. The notice of assignment is issued when the debt is sold to a debt purchaser.

I've never had a default notice on the account at all. I'd have been on the phone to get it all sorted again had that happened. When I lost my job in April 2013 I told ShopDirect and they were, at the time, very supportive. I got a new job on the 3rd October which is the day after my account was defaulted. Again, if that had been sent to me at the time I would have actioned it before it went off to someone else

The CCA request would have gone to Lowell and the CPR to Carter. Where are they saying they didn't receive the requests?

They claim to have received no requests from me in their witness statement. They never denied it on the phone, only told me they didn't respond to them.

Would be helpful if you could post up the particulars of the claim and also what you said in your defence. :typing:

I'll just copy it here

THIS CLAIM IS FOR 787.36 THE AMOUNT DUE UNDER AN AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE ORIGINAL CREDITOR AND THE DEFENDANT TO PROVIDE FINANCE AND/OR SERVICES AND/OR GOODS

THIS DEBT WAS ASSIGNED TO/PURCHASED BY Lowell Portfolio Ltd on 11/10/2013 AND NOTICE SERVED PURSUANT TO THE LAW OF PROPERTY ACT 1925

PARTICULARS
RE:Shop Direct
Acc: XXXXXXXXXX

AND THE CLAIMAINT CLAIMS 787.36

THE CLAIMANT ALSO CLAIMS STATUTORY INTEREST PURSUANT TO S.69 OF THE COUNTY ACT 1964 AT A RATE OF 8% PER ANNUM FROM THE DATE OF ASSIGNMENT OF THE AGREEMENT TO DATE BUT LIMITED TO A MAXIMUM OF 10000 AMOUNTING TO 63.00

I can't give you my exact reply since I can't log into the moneyclaim site right now but I essentially said that Lowell/BC have never proven that I owe this. No default notice. No notice of assignment. Just demands. I said I was applying for CCA and CCR to get the matter resolved. Once I get into my account I could give you the complete particulars but I filed this at the start of the year

[nemesis45]

Re: Court Caste Lowell/Bryan Carter - Worried sick

Would this be valid? I think they would have more time to respond to the request than I have left until my hearing. I'm more than happy to do it.

Would I be able to ask for a stay of judgement on this until paperwork is provided from this? Or should I just aim to have it dismissed due to their inability to provide paperwork?

A CCA request is valid until judgement against you has been given, which then supercedes the original agreement.
Carter refutes all CPR31.14 requests so a CCA request is a valuable tool if not complied with in the 12 + 2 working days
timescale the debt is unenforceable until the agreement is produced.

Unfortunately submitting a defence before considering all the points in your favour and how best to use them has placed
you at a distinct disadvantage.

When was the last payment or written acknowledgment made in regard to the alleged debt.

nem

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Court Caste Lowell/Bryan Carter - Worried sick

A CCA request is valid until judgement against you has been given, which then supercedes the original agreement.
Carter refutes all CPR31.14 requests so a CCA request is a valuable tool if not complied with in the 12 + 2 working days
timescale the debt is unenforceable until the agreement is produced.

I think the OP is referring to the fact the hearing will be before the 12+2 working days are up and won't be able to argue that they are in default when they've not been given enough time to respond to this new request, as opposed the original one.

Would this be valid? I think they would have more time to respond to the request than I have left until my hearing. I'm more than happy to do it.

Would I be able to ask for a stay of judgement on this until paperwork is provided from this? Or should I just aim to have it dismissed due to their inability to provide paperwork?

Unfortunately submitting a defence before considering all the points in your favour and how best to use them has placed
you at a distinct disadvantage.

When was the last payment or written acknowledgment made in regard to the alleged debt.

The account is just a couple of years old as stated below:

No, the account is from 2013 so can't be covered as statute barred unfortunately. Surely if they put a date on an official court document though, that should be the date considered?

[nemesis45]

Re: Court Caste Lowell/Bryan Carter - Worried sick

No, the account is from 2013 so can't be covered as statute barred unfortunately. Surely if they put a date on an official court document though, that should be the date considered?



I've never had a default notice on the account at all. I'd have been on the phone to get it all sorted again had that happened. When I lost my job in April 2013 I told ShopDirect and they were, at the time, very supportive. I got a new job on the 3rd October which is the day after my account was defaulted. Again, if that had been sent to me at the time I would have actioned it before it went off to someone else


They claim to have received no requests from me in their witness statement. They never denied it on the phone, only told me they didn't respond to them.



I'll just copy it here



I can't give you my exact reply since I can't log into the moneyclaim site right now but I essentially said that Lowell/BC have never proven that I owe this. No default notice. No notice of assignment. Just demands. I said I was applying for CCA and CCR to get the matter resolved. Once I get into my account I could give you the complete particulars but I filed this at the start of the year

When is the hearing scheduled for?

nem

[Berniethebolt]

Re: Court Caste Lowell/Bryan Carter - Worried sick

Quick thought, do you still have the postal order receipt or stub. You could track down if it's been cashed.

[illustriousmuz]

Re: Court Caste Lowell/Bryan Carter - Worried sick

When is the hearing scheduled for?

nem

It's scheduled for the 1st October. Like I said earlier though, I only got the witness statement from them on Friday so I've only just had it in writing that they're now saying they've never had my request.

No payments on the account since April 2013

I'm absolutely worried sick. Barely slept last night and when I do sleep I end up dreaming about this.

It's worth pointing out that like other people on here, I had no notice of intended action. I got the claim through the door then a letter from BC after the claim pack arrived saying they were taking me to court.

[illustriousmuz]

Re: Court Caste Lowell/Bryan Carter - Worried sick

Quick thought, do you still have the postal order receipt or stub. You could track down if it's been cashed.

I've been searching for it. It was in my desk drawer at work and when I was made redundant I cleared it out into a bag which then got emptied by my wife. I've got other documents but can't find the stub. I'm guessing though that if they did get the request and chose to ignore it they'd have not cashed the postal order either

[judgemental24]

Re: Court Caste Lowell/Bryan Carter - Worried sick

Just a quick one, you say requests were sent via your works email and you were laid off.

Have you considered contacting the web master at your previous employer for copies of those emails.

They can quite easily retrieve deleted emails etc, even better if your email address is designated to your companies server.

Name@ joebloggs furniture as an example if the employer has their own server.