Lowell Solicitors v John Smith

[johnsmith13]

Received a Claim: Yes
Issue Date: 18/06/2017
Total Amount: 350.00
Claimant: Lowell Portfolio
Solicitor: Lowell Solicitors
Original Creditor: Orange
Particulars of Claim: Will upload this evening when I return home
Statute Barred: No, last payment made directly to Orange on June 2012.
Letters Sent: None
Acknowledge The Claim: Filed online last night, with the intention to defend.
Any Other Information

I’ve bullet pointed the below to make for easier reading, hope it helps.

• Original contract was taken out for two year’s service. (Does it make a difference if a physical mobile is provided as part of the contract i.e. Service & Goods? Or does the CCA not cover it regardless?)

• On my credit report I can see two full years of payments, from May 2010 to June 2012, no payments have been missed.

• Assuming the contract was satisfied with Orange after the two-year term came to an end, I went about my way. I received letter after letter from Lowell’s claiming to be acting on behalf of Orange (I stupidly ignored these and stuck my head in the sand, hoping they were fishing, and had got my details from somewhere.)

• Appears on my Credit Report as Lowell Portfolio with a current balance of £225, last payment was in June 2012, however it has been last updated one the 23^rd January 2014, I’m going to assume this was the debt being sold on?

Really the way I'm looking at it is I have three options

Contest it myself, which will possibly result in me having to pay the full value within the allotted time to avoid a CCJ?

For such a small amount would it be cost prohibitive to get a solicitor to represent myself?

Or just settle the claim directly with the solicitors outside the court?

On a final note I suffer from social anxiety and asperger’s so am really keen on keeping myself out of a courtroom, however I really hate feeling like I’m being backed into a corner.

Many thanks for your kind help.

[warwick65]

Re: Lowell Solicitors v John Smith

Hi

First question- I think it would be completely prohibitive to get legal advice for such a small sum, you would probably pay that just to get a defence and witness statement written.

If it was just a service contract the CCA does not apply as in many cases the phone is 'free' and you pay the service contract- it will depend on the wording.

Most of these telecoms agreements are for a minimum term and then require you to give notice to terminate it as it changes to a rolling monthly contract

However all is not necessarily lost and Lowell will need to prove they have the right to bring the claim