Lowells County Court Claim, Advice greatly appreciated

[Diana M]

Re: Lowells County Court Claim, Advice greatly appreciated

I received a Notice of Allocation to Small Claims Track letter on 8th November which basically says unless Lowells doesn't pay the Trial Fee by the 2nd January then the debt will be struck out.

I've left it a while to see if i would receive an update to whether they have payed it or not and i've been signing in to the moneyclaim website to see if that's been updated.

Can i call the court to find out if that has been paid?

The court date is on the 30th January and Lowells never sent me any proof of the debt at all so i don't know leg they have to stand on.

Yes you can call the court about the hearing fee, but more importantly if you have a Trial listed on 30th January have you filed your Witness Statement and Exhibits which normally has a deadline of 14 days before the hearing?

Have Lowells filed their WS at court and served it on you?

If you (or they) miss the deadline then the court may not accept your/their evidence.

Di

[o0Wiggy0o]

Re: Lowells County Court Claim, Advice greatly appreciated

Uh oh! No i haven't wrote a witness statement! I haven't received one either from Lowells.

My own fault, i glanced over the front of the letter and thought i would wait to see if i hear anything regarding Lowells paying the fee.

Have i completely buggered myself now?

[Amethyst]

Re: Lowells County Court Claim, Advice greatly appreciated

I'd give court a call and ask about the hearing fee, witness statements as you haven't received anything from the claimant. Have you checked through the second page of the hearing notification to see when your WS's were due to be exchanged ? You're only a day or two late if it was 14 days before the hearing so could get it in now.

To be honest on one of these Consumer Credit claims it is more to their detriment as any documents they supply now won't be admitted without permisson. Your Witness Statement would really only reiterate your defence and say "Lowell haven't sent me anything" but you do risk your defence being struck out if they submit and you don't.

The court you'd call will be the one that sent the hearing letter, likely your local county court. Most of them shut at 4.

[Diana M]

Re: Lowells County Court Claim, Advice greatly appreciated

No i haven't wrote a witness statement! I haven't received one either from Lowells.

My own fault, i glanced over the front of the letter and thought i would wait to see if i hear anything regarding Lowells paying the fee.

Well I'm glad I flagged that up for you!

You need to file and serve your Witness Statement asap.

Lowells would not need permission from the court to include their WS and Exhibits (evidence) unless you ask the court to disregard late disclosure at the start of the Hearing. In consumer credit cases DJs are more hostile towards the Defendants who they see as "debt-avoiders".

If Lowells turn up at the Hearing with the WS and documents or you receive them only the day before the Hearing etc then you can ask the DJ to adjourn the Hearing so you can consider their late evidence if he's not willing to disallow it.

If they do produce documents in the next week then you will need to decide whether you should file an Amended defence or file another WS to reflect what they disclose etc.

Defendants often focus on the hope that the Claimant won't pay the Hearing fee on time so the claim is struck out, but there have been situations when they arrive at court without having paid it and then give the DJ an undertaking that they will. That's rare but it's not unthinkable.

Get your WS done and then call the court the day before the Hearing to see if Lowells have Discontinued but not told you.

Fingers crossed that happens.

Di

[warwick65]

Re: Lowells County Court Claim, Advice greatly appreciated

I'll leave the really good advice to Di but when you file your WS you need to serve it on the court and Lowell solicitors. Then make sure you take to court proof you served and hopefully proof they received. You wouldn't want Lowell mistakingly telling the judge you hadn't done so.

[o0Wiggy0o]

Re: Lowells County Court Claim, Advice greatly appreciated

Thank you for your advice and guidance.

Is a witness statement basically a summary of what's happened and what i've done? like sending the CCA and CPR and not receiving a response....

Reagrds

[Kati]

Re: Lowells County Court Claim, Advice greatly appreciated

Thank you for your advice and guidance.

Is a witness statement basically a summary of what's happened and what i've done? like sending the CCA and CPR and not receiving a response....

Reagrds

from what I can gather your WS is basically a step-by-step walkthrough of what you've done/sent/received (or not) etc...

[warwick65]

Re: Lowells County Court Claim, Advice greatly appreciated

Hi

A WS was described to me as the War and Peace to your dust jacket précis which was your defence. You use it to flesh out all the items in your defence - you can not bring new legal arguments in (or shouldn't) but you can expand on the ones you have. You might want to use it to mention any case law e.g if you are talking about what the sent in response to your CCA request you could mention Carey or if you were talking about a DN error you might mention ( I think its Harrison)
[MENTION=87380]Diana M[/MENTION] - any thoughts?

[o0Wiggy0o]

UPDATE - Unfortunately not a good one. Lowells sent me their witness statement which includes 6 pieces of evidence including a copy of the original Fixed sum loan agreement between me and DFS with my signature and bank details on, screenprint of default notice and the letters Lowells sent to me in the past.

I'm thinking of phoning up Lowells and starting a payment plan so that i don't have to go to court. I can't see it going any other way in court so i'm guessing it's best i just resolve this and save additional fees?

[o0Wiggy0o]

Any advice?

[nemesis45]

UPDATE - Unfortunately not a good one. Lowells sent me their witness statement which includes 6 pieces of evidence including a copy of the original Fixed sum loan agreement between me and DFS with my signature and bank details on, screenprint of default notice and the letters Lowells sent to me in the past.

I'm thinking of phoning up Lowells and starting a payment plan so that i don't have to go to court. I can't see it going any other way in court so i'm guessing it's best i just resolve this and save additional fees?

Hi, Just had a quick read what happened re the contract being changed to your ex wife's name?
Please post copies of what you have received after removing personal information.

nem

[o0Wiggy0o]

Hi, Just had a quick read what happened re the contract being changed to your ex wife's name?
Please post copies of what you have received after removing personal information.

nem

Hi Nem

See, i've since learned that i only changed the payment details on the account to my ex girlfriend not the actual account.

I've uploaded and attached the Lowells Witness Statement which blows mine out of the water.

Lowells didn't send me any of this information or evidence (i haven't attached the evidence but it is there) when i sent them the CCA and CPR letters...this witness statement is the first time they have provided proof for the debt.

Now i don't know what to do because court is on Monday, they've proved the debt is mine so I don't see what options i have other than to phone and arrange a payment plan but i'm guessing they wont offer the 50% like they have done in their scare letters.

What's the lowest amount i can offer to them?

Regards

[nemesis45]

Hi, Personally I would offer 15- 20% of the amount claimed?
You need to be quick (today ) if you want to make an offer.

nem

[o0Wiggy0o]

Hi, Personally I would offer 15- 20% of the amount claimed?
You need to be quick (today ) if you want to make an offer.

nem

And pay it in full today or spread the costs?

Why would they accept 15-20% today if they can take me to court and get the full amount?

Cheers

[warwick65]

I am not saying this would work but the claimant is relying on a printout from the assignor that the DN was sent, but have they been able to produce anything as to the contents of the DN - did it conform to the regulations, indeed can they demonstrate it was actually sent at all. I think the major part was , is did you receive a DN

When did you receive the WS? If it was only this week which did not give you time to properly digest it you could ask the court to adjourn to give you chance to get further advice

Not saying this will succeed
Diana M