Old claim against me, still pending over a year on

[MattC1]

Hi guys.

I had a court claim submitted against me on 24/2/2016 by Lowell financial. It was an old debt purchased from O2, the final debt being £673. I submitted an AoS on 29/02, and then a defence (basically stating I didn't acknowledge the debt as my own) on 22/03, which was duly received thr day after on the 23rd.

Trouble is, that's it... the case is still viewable on MCOL, and I've received nothing more about it, neither have I received any more letters of threat or requests for money from Lowell since.

Surely as this is now 15 months from my defence being submitted I can assume the case is closed, and has been thrown out?

Looking at my experian credit report, this debt is still showing as defaulted, last updated on 06/03/2016, it's sitting there as a black mark on my otherwise good credit report, and I'd like to get a mortgage.

Where do I stand now? Is this normal? Have I won?

If I have, can I get this default removed from my credit file?

Advice much appreciated,

Matt.

[charitynjw]

Re: Old claim against me, still pending over a year on

Hi Matt

Have you 'phoned the court?
Best guess is that the case was stayed, possibly because the Claimant didn't reply to your filed defence (if the court had directed that a reply was required; this is not always a required step in proceedings).
If that is the current status, it will just sit there, a kind of stalemate, gathering dust, unless one or other of the parties decides to do something about it.
It would cost the claimant £255 to lift the stay. Perhaps they have made a commercial decision to abandon it.

[MattC1]

Re: Old claim against me, still pending over a year on

Hi Matt

Have you 'phoned the court?
Best guess is that the case was stayed, possibly because the Claimant didn't reply to your filed defence (if the court had directed that a reply was required; this is not always a required step in proceedings).
If that is the current status, it will just sit there, a kind of stalemate, gathering dust, unless one or other of the parties decides to do something about it.
It would cost the claimant £255 to lift the stay. Perhaps they have made a commercial decision to abandon it.

Cheers for the response, sorry about my own late reply!

No, I haven't phoned the court, it'd crossed my mind but didn't want to put my foot in it somehow!

Assuming you're correct, which seems perfectly likely, it'd make sense if the claimant would abandon if they had to pay £255 to lift the stay, as the total amount they are trying to claim off me is only £673.

I'll call the court tomorrow, and see what's what. If it is stayed, is the default something that I can get lifted? and is that something the court can do, or will I have to apply to Lowell to do that? I'm guessing if it's the latter they won't be too willing to help me anyway!

Matt.

[pt2537]

Re: Old claim against me, still pending over a year on

https://consumercreditlitigationandd...lls-and-hoist/

Have a read of the lowells part of my blog, may be useful on the stayed claim

[Diana M]

Re: Old claim against me, still pending over a year on

I had a court claim submitted against me on 24/2/2016 by Lowell financial. It was an old debt purchased from O2, the final debt being £673. I submitted an AoS on 29/02, and then a defence (basically stating I didn't acknowledge the debt as my own) on 22/03, which was duly received thr day after on the 23rd.

Surely as this is now 15 months from my defence being submitted I can assume the case is closed, and has been thrown out?

Looking at my experian credit report, this debt is still showing as defaulted, last updated on 06/03/2016, it's sitting there as a black mark on my otherwise good credit report, and I'd like to get a mortgage.

Where do I stand now? Is this normal? Have I won?

If I have, can I get this default removed from my credit file?

If the claim is stayed you haven't won. The battle has commenced but there are no victors.

When did you default on the O2 account? That CRA file entry will stay on your file for six years following the date it was added and then the whole file entry will vanish.

However without seeing your Defence it's not possible to give definitive advice.

You say your Defence was that you didn't acknowledge the debt as your own. Does this mean you never had an account with O2 which never defaulted? The CRAs must only report accurate information.

Di

[Diana M]

Re: Old claim against me, still pending over a year on

it'd make sense if the claimant would abandon if they had to pay £255 to lift the stay, as the total amount they are trying to claim off me is only £673.

. . . . If it is stayed, is the default something that I can get lifted? and is that something the court can do, or will I have to apply to Lowell to do that? I'm guessing if it's the latter they won't be too willing to help me anyway!.

You're correct when you say that the Claimant would have to pay to lift the stay which may be why they are happy to leave it stayed for now since the claim is for only £673.

I've explained in my previous post that in order to get the CRA file default entry removed you'd need to demonstrate that it shouldn't have been put on there in the first place.

Di

[MattC1]

Re: Old claim against me, still pending over a year on

https://consumercreditlitigationandd...lls-and-hoist/

Have a read of the lowells part of my blog, may be useful on the stayed claim

Fascinating read that, good to hear a success story too. Lowell really do seem like an absolute shower!

Drifting aside slightly, I've looked into this a little further, and the original default date was 21/07/2011, earlier than what I remembered! Given that the default only lasts 6 years, it would, (should) come off my file next month anyway.

This changes things a little for me if I'm honest. The only reason I'm chasing this up is because I want to make an application for a mortgage, and if it's off my file next month I'm inclined to let sleeping dogs lie, and wondering if the default will be removed 'naturally' sooner than me having to ask for it to be done.

I appreciate I'm going slightly off the forum topic here, but should my credit score shoot up straight away once the 6 years has elapsed next month? It's the only current default I have on my file (had another in the past which was settled, and expired), and I have other good credit in my name which isn't too much (£3k, all up to date).

[Diana M]

Re: Old claim against me, still pending over a year on

the original default date was 21/07/2011, earlier than what I remembered! Given that the default only lasts 6 years, it would, (should) come off my file next month anyway.

This changes things a little for me if I'm honest. The only reason I'm chasing this up is because I want to make an application for a mortgage, and if it's off my file next month I'm inclined to let sleeping dogs lie

Exactly!

Roll on July

Di

[MattC1]

Re: Old claim against me, still pending over a year on

You're correct when you say that the Claimant would have to pay to lift the stay which may be why they are happy to leave it stayed for now since the claim is for only £673.

I've explained in my previous post that in order to get the CRA file default entry removed you'd need to demonstrate that it shouldn't have been put on there in the first place.

Di

Hi there Di, I think we both posted within a minute or so of each other there!

What you say is correct, the original debt wasn't my own, however the six years are nearly up anyway, which I didn't realise, so I'm wondering if I'd be better just running the clock down for the next month or so.

Matt.

- - - Updated - - -

Exactly!

Roll on July

Di

Once more, lightning reply speed Di! haha!