Lloyds/Lowells Court Claim For Missing Debt!

[Lozzarooni]

Evening all,

Having spent the last 24 hours gleaning the Internet and doing my own research I have come to seek some advice.

My husband was issued with a Court Claim by Lowells for an overdraft debt dates back to 2009. It was initially for £288 but was referred to Westcott and we paid them £5 a month over 2 years, albeit with some missed payments. In 2011/12 the payments ceased for an unknown reason and we assumed that the debt had been paid. Sometime later, we begun to recieve letters from a dca who decided to send fake Lloyds/Tsb letters (not on proper letter head but done on cheap paper with an inkjet with a dodgy print head). After fronting this company out, saying that we didnt believe they were Lloyds, communication ceased and we heard nothing for approx 18 months to two years. In late 2014, we recieved a letter informing us that Lowell were takimg over the debt, but we ignored these because a) we believed we had paid the debt off and b) I had dealings with Lowell before going insolvent and I know that they are unscrupulous. We also recieved a statement on Lloyds letter head detailing all payments paid to the account which coincide with what we paid to Westcott. Querying this, my hubby rang Lloyds who couldnt find the account using the details we gave and said that as far as he was concerned that there was no longer any debt.

After receiving the court claim form this week I made my hubby give me access to hia credit report. The debt is not there at all, the only Lloyds entries are a loan that we finished paying five years ago and his current account. His credit rating, while not brilliant has been good enough for us to have taken out a loan, a 0%credit card and get finance on a hp car. Surely if it existed there would be current defaults on it since Lowell were supposedly appointed this debt by the bank in June 2014. Even stranger still is that when we rang Westcott they couldnt find any rexord of us having a debt repayment with them, despite them searching our address, his name, a temp address he had when we briefly seperated, the account number, his sort code and account number of his current account from which a direct debit to them was set up and the reference number next.to each of the payments. We also spoke to the bank manager who informed us that the account was closed in 2009 and said that they have no record of recieving any payments from Westcott.

We have acknowledged the claim and plan to defend I have already sent a modified deny any debt to you, proove its not statute barred letter including a one pound postal order to Lowells and a CPR Request to Lowell Solicitors Ltd by signed for delivery. As I say I have researched all I can and even National Debt Line are flummoxed and cant really offer any advice on how to proceed. Has anyone been in a similar situation? Does anyone know how I should proceed.

[R0b]

Re: Lloyds/Lowells Court Claim For Missing Debt!

hello,

I've tagged at @nemesis45 on this as he usually responds to the types of claims. Some further information would no doubt be helpful in the meantime which aren't already known.

Did you agree an amount with Westcott that was less than £288?

Issue Date:
Amount approx:
Claimant:
Solicitor:
Original Creditor:
Particulars of Claim: Please type out in full excluding names/account numbers
Is the debt Statute Barred?
List any letters you have sent:
Any Other Info:

[nemesis45]

Re: Lloyds/Lowells Court Claim For Missing Debt!

Good morning,

The system is all defaulted accounts are removed from credit files after 6 years have elapsed from the default date Paid or Not.

The debt however still exists and can be pursued for payment.

Each and every payment resets the 6 year relevant period in relation to the provisions of the Limitation Act 1980, so your husbands very last payment started the clock ticking.
As [MENTION=71570]R0b[/MENTION] has said please let us have more detail/history of the debt to enable further advice.

nem

[Lozzarooni]

Re: Lloyds/Lowells Court Claim For Missing Debt!

hello,

I've tagged at @nemesis45 on this as he usually responds to the types of claims. Some further information would no doubt be helpful in the meantime which aren't already known.

Did you agree an amount with Westcott that was less than £288?

Issue Date:
Amount approx:
Claimant:
Solicitor:
Original Creditor:
Particulars of Claim: Please type out in full excluding names/account numbers
Is the debt Statute Barred?
List any letters you have sent:
Any Other Info:

Much appreciated. :-)

No as far as I am aware or that my hubby can recall, there was nothing agreeed with Westcott to pay any less. We just agreed to pay £5 per month until it was paid and after the last payment that went from the bank we heard nothing off of them. No default letter or anything, not even a phone call to chase up.


Issue Date: 24 March 2016
Amount approx: £260 (including interest, court fee and legal representative costs)
Claimant: Lowell Portfolio
Solicitor: Lowell Solicitors Ltd
Original Creditor: Lloyds
Particulars of Claim:
1) The Defendant entered into a Consumer Credit Act 1974 regulated agreement with Lloyds under account reference 000000000000000 ('the Agreement')

2)The Defendant failed to maintain the required payments and a default notice was served and not complied with.

3)The Agreement was later assigned to the Claimant on 24/06/2014 and notice was given and not complied with.

4) Despite repeated requests for payment, the sum of £172.17 remains due and outstanding.

And the Claimant claims
a) the said sum of 172.17
b)interest pursuant to s69 County Courts Act 1984 at the rate of 8%per annum from assignments to the date of issue, accruing at the daily rate of £0.038, but limited to inr year, being £13.77
c)costs

Is the debt Statute Barred? According to Lloyds the account was closed by them in 2009 so would have become Statute Barred in 2014 so Yes but if Westcott had records then No until later this year at the very least.

List any letters you have sent: Modified CCA denying debt to Lowells but because its an overdraft but also asking to prove that the debt is valid and not Statute Barred by Lloyds. Gave them 7 days to provide signed agreements, running credit proof and full statement of accounts. Also gave them 21 daya to prove its a valid debt. Sent a £1 postal order. Also sent a CPR Request.to Lowell Solicitors. Both signed for delivery.

Any Other Info: Does not show on credit report, Westcott cannot find on their systems, have acknowledged claim online and am preparing defence.

[Lozzarooni]

Re: Lloyds/Lowells Court Claim For Missing Debt!

Good morning,

The system is all defaulted accounts are removed from credit files after 6 years have elapsed from the default date Paid or Not.

The debt however still exists and can be pursued for payment.

Each and every payment resets the 6 year relevant period in relation to the provisions of the Limitation Act 1980, so your husbands very last payment started the clock ticking.
As [MENTION=71570]R0b[/MENTION] has said please let us have more detail/history of the debt to enable further advice.

nem

The last payment was taken by Westcott in January 2012. But they say they have no records of it. And Lloyds say the account was closed and sold to them in 2009.

[Kafka]

Re: Lloyds/Lowells Court Claim For Missing Debt!

As already stated, if the last payment was taken in 2012 then it couldn't become statute barred until 2016 so that's no help. The fact that it doesn't appear simply means that 6 years have passed since the default was registered on credit files.

You stated it was an overdraft but the POC refers to a regulated agreement with a number. Can you clarify please exactly what this is as the two are different things?

It sounds as if they were collecting through a DD or SO and that they stopped collecting rather than you cancelling. Is that the case?

Can you check the old bank statements to see precisely how much was paid and how that balances with what you agreed to pay?

[Lozzarooni]

Re: Lloyds/Lowells Court Claim For Missing Debt!

As already stated, if the last payment was taken in 2012 then it couldn't become statute barred until 2016 so that's no help. The fact that it doesn't appear simply means that 6 years have passed since the default was registered on credit files.

You stated it was an overdraft but the POC refers to a regulated agreement with a number. Can you clarify please exactly what this is as the two are different things?

It sounds as if they were collecting through a DD or SO and that they stopped collecting rather than you cancelling. Is that the case?

Can you check the old bank statements to see precisely how much was paid and how that balances with what you agreed to pay?

It was definitely an overdraft, the bank confirmed that last night and the number that Lowell say is an agreement is an account number for an old account my husband had from around 1995 until 2008 when he changed to a current account. The overdraft had been for a lot more originally, but he paid so much off and the balance outsanding when Lloyds closed the account was £288. Westcott took the debt over and we paid £5.05 per month over a period of 2 years from 2010 to January 2012 by direct debit. Thats all we agreed to pay, there was no discounted amount that we can recall. We have no idea as to why they stopped collecting but they did and my husband is pretty sure that he never cancelled the direct debit until 2013 when he was having a clear out so to speak. When we spoke to Westcott they said there is nothing on their systems to indicate we ever had an agreement with them, despite proof of us paying them. They have tried various ways to locate him to no avail. Unfortunately we dont have any paper work from them as I shred everything after three years and the stuff that I would have will have been shredded last year.

[Kafka]

Re: Lloyds/Lowells Court Claim For Missing Debt!

You do need to know how much you have actually paid to Wescot, because 2 years x £5.05 doesn't amount to the figure of £288. The bank can provide statements for at least 6 years, though you may need a Subject Access Request for that and with 40 days to reply that might take too long now. Can you ask the bank if they can supply statements?

It looks as if you had an agreed repayment plan for £5pm that paid off about £100, then they stopped collecting, so that's their choice, not your refusal to pay.

You say that the account was "referred to Wescot". Was it actually assigned to them or were they acting for Lloyds? What has happened about assignment through the life of the account? What were the processes?

Did they send you a letter before action before the court claim arrived, and if so, what was said and what happened?

I note that you are short of hard evidence here and telephone calls are a problem because you have no proof. You should have everything in writing when dealing with any of these clowns.

[Lozzarooni]

Re: Lloyds/Lowells Court Claim For Missing Debt!

I am aware that it doesnt add up to £288, we did actually pay around £120 and have proof of this in bank statements. According to what the bank manager told us yesterday when the account was closed it would have been written off or sold on. However, Westcott said they would have been acting on behalf of Lloyds and any monies paid to them would have been paid back to Lloyds, hence why the amount Lowell are after is lower than the original amount that bank overdraft originally was. Again though they cant find it so I have no evidence of this and the only way I suppose I would get evidence is a SAR, but I understand they take 4 weeks to arrive.

Any letters from Lowell were were pretty much ignored because as we say we were under the impression that the debt had been paid. The last time Lowell sent us anything that I can recall (a lot of mail goes in the shredder if its enevelope looks like it has junk mail in it) was around December last year but that was just the usual pay us this and we'll forget the rest letter. Nothing to say they were sending it onto anyone else. Oddly enough, we got a letter this morning dated 29 of March informing him they were taking him to court but we could still pay Lowell Portfolio to avoid legal action... A bit flipping late considering they put the claim in on the 24th.

On a side note, the overdraft was applied for online. He never signed anything physically - would that be considered a regulated agreement?