Received Claim Letter from Lowell

[ElliD]

Hello!! As expected, Lowell has sent me a claim letter.

I have read around the forum and i plan to acknowledge the claim but as the debt isn't statutory barred i am not sure what to do. The claim is from an overdraft i had with Lloyds. Can anyone advise? I am a nervous wreck at the moment

[Amethyst]

Re: Received Claim Letter from Lowell

Hi ElliD xx

Try not to worry, a court claim really needn't be scary, so long as you understand its just a process and a CCJ won't kill you xxxx

Get your acknowledgment in, just tick intend to defend in full, then you know you have 33 days from the date of issue on the claim form to suss out where you stand and what to do.

Could you type out the particulars of claim from the claim form please and tell us the approx amount they are claiming.

Also any background you think might be relevant - how long ago you ditched the account, why, etc.

Thanks, welcome to LB and you'll be okay xxx

Sharon
xxx

[ElliD]

Re: Received Claim Letter from Lowell

Hello!

I have attached a pic of the letter, hopefully i did it right!

The account defaulted in 2013, both me and my partner were unemployed and things really got on top of us, I did try to clear all our debts then by contacting Stepchange but it got to the point where we couldn't even pay that. I am currently trying to gather all my current debts and try to get a DRO because we're still struggling.

[ElliD]

Re: Received Claim Letter from Lowell

Hi Amethyst, were you able to see the letter i attached?

[Amethyst]

Re: Received Claim Letter from Lowell

Hi , Got it - just nipping kids to school and I'll be back xx

[Amethyst]

Re: Received Claim Letter from Lowell

Back xx

Okay on the DRO front I'll just tag [MENTION=48934]Debt Camel[/MENTION]; as it really isn't my area at all so hopefully she'll pop by.

Court claim first though.

So you have put in your acknowledgement of service already ? ( if not do it online at Moneyclaim online ) That will give us another 3 weeks to sort out what to do. Put intend to defend in full - it isn't binding so if we have to make an offer to pay it is fine.

This is quite a recently defaulted debt and it is an overdraft. There are likely to be quite good records and although we can rely on the lack of certain paperwork, it wouldn't be a very strong defence to go with the standard denial unless they prove it defence.

So...this overdraft of £3800 - how much of that was spends, and how much is charges ? Did you discuss your financial situation at the time with Lloyds at all ?

Was this debt on your DMP with Stepchange list ? How much were they being paid through Stepchange - do you have the list? ( actually if you do have your list from stepchange it might help consider the DRO options )

[ElliD]

Re: Received Claim Letter from Lowell

Thank you Amethyst!!

As far as I remember. My overdraft was only 2k. I did speak to Lloyds at the time to try and sort it. The debt was added on the DMP, I don't have the debt list but I was thinking of getting my credit report as some accounts I had back then were settled. I will try and get the list if they keep it.

The payments were really low back then, so I'll get as much info as I can

[Debt Camel]

Re: Received Claim Letter from Lowell

Okay on the DRO front I'll just tag @Debt Camel; as it really isn't my area at all so hopefully she'll pop by.

OK, looking at the DRO issue and ignoring any possible defence to this Lloyds claim...

Here is my Guide to DROs: http://debtcamel.co.uk/debt-options/...relief-orders/

It sounds as though you and your partner both had debts? You really need a good list of your current debts divided into yours / your partners / joint. You may both need a DRO, or only one of you may.

Your Stepchange DMP debts would be a good place to start getting this list, but some may have been paid off, others may have got larger or been added. Checking your credit records can be a good way to see the current picture, If you didn't really get into a mess until 2013, all the defaulted debts should still show on your credit record .

Was a DRO discussed with StepChange? At that point the DRO limit was £15,000. It has now been increased to £20,000.

If you get a CCJ from this claim, it can be included in a DRO.

[ElliD]

Re: Received Claim Letter from Lowell

Both me and my partner have debts, but nothing joint. we did think of us both getting a DRO each but from what i read his car is just over the £1000 limit.

I have checked our credit reports on Noddle, are they accurate or should i use Experian/Equifax for a clearer picture?

If going by the "default date" info on Noddle, all but one of my partner's debts will be over 6 years. But i guess because of the payments we did while on the DMP in 2013 they won't be statutory barred.

[ElliD]

Re: Received Claim Letter from Lowell

What do you guys think? Thank you all for the help so far!

[Debt Camel]

Re: Received Claim Letter from Lowell

The DMP payments will stop those debts being statute barred until 2019.

I suggest you talk to StepChange or National Debtline about a DRO. If you qualify but he doesn't, that is one set of debts out of the way. And a car that is worth just over £1000 will soon be worth less

[ElliD]

Re: Received Claim Letter from Lowell

May i just ask, i am trying to get my credit report for Stepchange and i used Noddle as it is free, do you know if it's accurate or should i use Experian? i had used the 30 day free before so now i'd have to pay...

[ElliD]

Re: Received Claim Letter from Lowell

Ok so now that i am in touch with Stepchange regarding a DRO, is there anything else i need to be doing regarding this claim?

[Amethyst]

Re: Received Claim Letter from Lowell

Hiya xx Good to hear. so you have put in your acknowledgment of service ... have you sent any letters to the claimant's solcitors as yet ? You want to get a CPR 31.14 request sent off asking for a copy of the agreement & terms, the default notice and the notice of assignment, as mentioned in their particulars of claim.

It would also be useful if you can either get your transactions list for the last few months of using the account - if you don't have copies you can either send a Subject Access Request under the Data Protection Act to Lloyds or order copy statements from them. You want to show how the charges affected you and increased the balance before you ditched the account. A SAR would be good as it will give you screen notes made when you contacted them about financial difficulties at the time.

[ElliD]

Re: Received Claim Letter from Lowell

Ok so the CPR letter has been sent and so has the SAR to Lloyds. I hope i can get this sorted soon, haven't been sleeping well because of all this