STRUCK OUT!! Lowell solicitors and ccj with Northampton County Court

**Noah** · 1st April 2016, 21:42:PM

Re: Lowell solicitors and ccj with Northampton County Court

Has the cca actually been awarded or just a claim form or even a letter before action received?

**Roddaz77** · 2nd April 2016, 08:49:AM

Re: Lowell solicitors and ccj with Northampton County Court

Hi Noah.

I have only recieved a letter of a claim form from the county court with the break down on onthe left hand side and a passcode to go on money online thingy.

The date of issue was 25th March 2016

It's not a ccj 'YET' however I did panic and ring Lowells solicitors in Northampton even though the 'solicitor' had a strong Leeds accent

They advised me to pay the whole amount now to avoid, but then told me SHE would put the account on hold for three weeks to sort out money.

They then told me I could pay 6 monthly instalments of £333 a month but I'm later told that this will still incur a Ccj

The debt on my Noddle account is stating £1,200 (approx) and they are claiming for £2,000!!
Can I pay the original £1,200 debt? I just need some advice on what to say on the money thing website as it's now been a week already and scared I will miss the deadline for this and then what plan of actions I can take to fight the £2,000 as I may well be able to ask parents for £1,000 to help cover costs.

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply... Stressed is not the word at the minute ...

**Roddaz77** · 2nd April 2016, 10:54:AM

Re: Lowell solicitors and ccj with Northampton County Court

Sorry to bump up again, I am really panicking with this as not got a clue what to do and trying to read other threads is confusing me more

Is there anyone who can guide me against these awful Lowell people.

**Kati** · 2nd April 2016, 10:58:AM

Re: Lowell solicitors and ccj with Northampton County Court

If you've received a claim form you need to Acknowledge service asap. Your first steps are set out here - http://legalbeagles.info/forums/show...it-Court-Claim

**Noah** · 2nd April 2016, 13:51:PM

Re: Lowell solicitors and ccj with Northampton County Court

Thanks kati

Don't believe a word they say about putting things on hold, you need it in writing as once the court process has started it moves on regardless.

You need to follow the steps outlined by Kati however it is unlikely that you will be able to successfully defend
having said that , as part of the court process there is mediation where a Tomlin order can be set up and for an amount you can afford . As long as you pay that they can not get a ccj

I don't know if you can afford the 333 a month, surely not many people can

So
step 1-Acknowledge the claim online you have 14 days after service of the claim so that would be 19 days but get it done asap

Step 2- send off a cca request and a car request for documents mentioned in the particulars of claim

Step 3 - prepare a defence , you have 33 days from the date of the claim .

**Roddaz77** · 2nd April 2016, 15:20:PM

Re: Lowell solicitors and ccj with Northampton County Court

Thanks for the replies

I have acknowledged online the defence

I have today sent off both letters to
Lowells solicitors
And
Lowell

I will wait for them to reply

CAN I offer them a payment to see if they accept in a few weeks? Will this satisfy them and stop a ccj

For example offer them the £1,200 original debt? And use that in my defence that I'm willing to pay the original debt minus all the charges??

How much will they have bought the debt from very or have they paid the exact amount that shown

Thank you and I will post replies as I get them

**Kafka** · 2nd April 2016, 16:24:PM

Re: Lowell solicitors and ccj with Northampton County Court

Can you give a background here? Presumably you do owe some money?

When and why did you stop paying and what happened?

Can you describe the default process that must have happened before the account could be sold?

What was the process of assignment, whereby Lowell claim to own it?

The advice you get will depend to a large extent on the history of the account and whether the processes were followed correctly, so please give all the info you can.

**Roddaz77** · 2nd April 2016, 17:16:PM

Re: Lowell solicitors and ccj with Northampton County Court

Hi thanks for taking the time to reply

I ordered a few things for my house where I lived with my partner at the time
Bedding
Washing machine and a seperate dryer and a tv

We split up and I moved out with nothing and she was going to keep up payments and didn't 😡 I just left the account thinking it would get paid and then I get this ccj at my parents house

So yea I do accept some responsibility for the debt about £600 worth would be mine but being naive I did expect her to pay

- - - Updated - - -

The defaults and everything else must have gone to my old address (hers still now) and she will have probably opened them and binned them

**Kafka** · 2nd April 2016, 17:28:PM

Re: Lowell solicitors and ccj with Northampton County Court

So the account is in your name only and you thought she would pay?

This is a problem if you don't have any details. What documents were mentioned in the POC and did you request all of them in the CPR request?

**Roddaz77** · 2nd April 2016, 17:36:PM

Re: Lowell solicitors and ccj with Northampton County Court

Yea complete mug had it in my name only
Never thought we would split we were together 10 years planning a wedding

1) defendant entered into a consumer credit act 1974 with shop direct
2) failed to maintain required payments and a default notice served and not complied
3) agreement was assigned to claimant on 12/12/2014
4) despite repeated requests for payment sum of £1,688 remains die and outstanding
And then the claimant claims £1,688 plus 8% Bla blah

- - - Updated - - -

Plus we don't speak and she would take great pleasure in my 'debt' and would say nothing to help out

**Kafka** · 2nd April 2016, 18:19:PM

Re: Lowell solicitors and ccj with Northampton County Court

OK. Here's my assessment of what has been said so far.

You took out a loan for joint benefit, but pulled out of the house and thought she would keep up the payments as she had the stuff.
She failed to do this and you're left with the problem.
There is a debt owing of perhaps 1200, but you don't have data to confirm the exact amount.
The account was defaulted by Very and then assigned to Lowell on 12/12/2014.
Lowell are suggesting they will drop the claim for quick payment in full.

If that's all correct then your position isn't good as there is a genuine debt behind this and with such a recent account its highly unlikely that you would be able to contest the credit agreement.
There might just be a chance to contest the procedural issues of default or assignment, but we have no details for either of these to consider.

In a nutshell, you are stuffed as far as fighting this goes, unless they fail to provide the requested data or any of the documents are seriously flawed. On what I can see, you have very little chance of fighting this successfully.

If they get the CCJ you will be liable for the full amount they are stating. There might be a chance of contesting the charges added, but you don't have the details of those anyway and that would only reduce the amount of the CCJ.

To some extent it depends how damaging a CCJ would be for you as it will stay on your record for 6 years even if paid off, and you can still get a CCJ removed if you pay off the full amount of the judgment within 30 days. As for repayments, that depends what the court decides and if they stipulate an amount per month.

If you can claw together the money to settle this then that might be your best option and for quick settlement they may be willing to negotiate a bit. Remember that firms like Lowell are bottom feeders and they buy up old debts for only maybe 5-10% of the face value. That can put you in a strong position to negotiate a full and final settlement early on, but is harder now you are at this stage. You would have to argue that its only an offer to settle now and that if they pursue the CCJ then you will draw out the repayments as long as possible owing to circs etc. It might be possible to convinve them that a reasonable settlement now is in their interests.

I'm sorry if this is not what you wanted to hear, but that's my honest assessment.

- - - Updated - - -

**Roddaz77** · 2nd April 2016, 20:23:PM

Re: Lowell solicitors and ccj with Northampton County Court

No, I'd rather you be honest at least I know where I stand

What I would like to know is what direction to take with an offer to them.

You say they buy the debt for 5-10% of its value so rather than drag this out what would I be best doing and where should I pitch in with a full and final offer of settlement.

If I can save a few quid in the process and not have a ccj then win win :-)

**Kafka** · 2nd April 2016, 21:33:PM

Re: Lowell solicitors and ccj with Northampton County Court

Difficult to say because its past the normal negotiating stage before filing and they now have you over a barrel I think, so they are unlikely to accept much less than the full amount.

If it was me I would open by saying that they haven't paid anything like the full amount for the account and the figures quoted clearly include charges that have no legal basis and would be counterclaimed in court. I would also make it clear that if they didn't accept an offer then I would stretch any repayments out as long as possible. Stating that there was a chance to raise - say - the 1200 and the court costs, but no more than that as that's all you have available.

I really don't know how amenable they might be and Lowell are generally the worst to deal with, but you have few cards to play here and this would be worth a shot.

Are there any other opinions on this?

**charitynjw** · 2nd April 2016, 22:41:PM

Re: Lowell solicitors and ccj with Northampton County Court

Originally posted by Kafka View Post

Difficult to say because its past the normal negotiating stage before filing and they now have you over a barrel I think, so they are unlikely to accept much less than the full amount.

If it was me I would open by saying that they haven't paid anything like the full amount for the account and the figures quoted clearly include charges that have no legal basis and would be counterclaimed in court. I would also make it clear that if they didn't accept an offer then I would stretch any repayments out as long as possible. Stating that there was a chance to raise - say - the 1200 and the court costs, but no more than that as that's all you have available.

I really don't know how amenable they might be and Lowell are generally the worst to deal with, but you have few cards to play here and this would be worth a shot.

Are there any other opinions on this?

The agreement is covered by CCA 1974.
A CCA request for the relevant info (see the green bits at the top of the thread), if not complied with, will mean that Lowells cannot go any further with the court case (it is unenforceable until they do comply).
But you still must enter your defence before the 33-day deadline as per court's instructions.

STRUCK OUT!! Lowell solicitors and ccj with Northampton County Court