letter of claim received from Lowells for a debt from 1995

[Guest]

I am confused. 20 years ago I had financial difficulties and got myself in a mess financially. I am just about keeping my head above water now and have received a letter of claim form from Lowell Solicitors for a debt from Very Catalogue from 1995. This debt is 23 years old, surely they wont process and take it to court. Do I send the reply and say it is statute barred or will that encourage further correspondence from them. Any help appreciated.

[Amethyst]

Do you have any idea when the debt defaulted / when you last paid anything on it ?

Presumably that was 20 years ago ? No debt management plan or token payments being made since ?

The letter you have received is a letter of claim with a reply form attached ? If so yes you should complete it - let's check the debt info first but basically it sounds like you'll go back saying it's statute barred xxx

[Helpmewin]

[QUOTE=Amethyst;n1446563]Do you have any idea when the debt defaulted / when you last paid anything on it ?

Presumably that was 20 years ago ? No debt management plan or token payments being made since ?

The letter you have received is a letter of claim with a reply form attached ? If so yes you should complete it - let's check the debt info first but basically it sounds like you'll go back saying it's statute barred xxx[/QUOTE

Hi Amethyst, this debt is from so far back, its not on my clearscore report, not even the closed section. Should I ask for details, like statement with interest, copy of contract etc and state it is statute barred and then send it off to them - Thank you for the quick response. I thought it was a fake letter but seen it matches one on your examples site. This isn't a court claim though but the letter prior to one, I am assuming

[Helpmewin]

also if I ignore it and it goes to court. Would a court take it seriously as its so old, although they say they bought the debt in 2016 but I haven't had any contact with Very for over 15 years or more so it seems odd for them to take on such an old debt

[Amethyst]

Don't ignore it - far more stress dealing with defending a court claim than batting them away now. This is the letter which means if you don't reply you will have a court claim in 30 days or so.

Before filling it in it may be worth giving Very a call and asking them if they have any record of accounts for you - could be a mistrave / id theft or something so worth enquiring - a SUbject Access Request might be an idea too to be certain. Have you moved house since you last had contact with Very for example. It is weird to chase such an old debt and very odd for them to have purchased a 20 yr old debt from Very so I would do a couple checks.

No other shop direct accounts at all ? Littlewoods etc?

Does the letter give the account opening date as 1995 or do they just talk about date of assignment ?

[Helpmewin]

It states the account was opened with Very in 1995 and I have moved 3 times since then. I have just logged in using the account number they gave for me, it is linked to my old address from 1995 and no payments made in over 6 years, oddly enough when I logged on, it offered me a higher credit limit and the account is still open, how come if Lowell have purchased the debt

[Helpmewin]

So basically it states that a payment of £103.64 was made between 19/08/16 and 25/1/18 which is untrue. It gives me the Very account number and it says that the assignment balance is £5335.64 but after a judgement it will be £6161.25

[Helpmewin]

On 5/7/1995 you entered into an agreement for a very account. You failed to make payment in accordance with the terms of the agreement and it was later terminated and subsequently assigned to our client by shop direct finance company ltd on 19/08/16 Notice of the assignment has been previously given to you and you may request a copy on the enclosed reply form

[Helpmewin]

so if it was assigned to Lowell, why is my account still open with Very

[Helpmewin]

Please can someone help me provide a reply to cover this with Lowell, thank you

[Helpmewin]

all the details on the account are from years ago, my employer, address, etc

[Helpmewin]

I would rather pay Very than Lowell, if I still owe the money then that would be my preference but if I pay Very will Lowell still chase me for something? Also why is no information on my credit file. Sorry this really hit me out of the blue, took me back to the very bleak days when I was so in debt and struggling and its making me panic. I don't want a CCJ but if it isn't on my credit file as an account, debt, default etc, will a CCJ be enforced?

[Helpmewin]

I am on a very low income, following the end of a 28 year relationship, I can just about support myself and due to retire in 5 years, cant see a way out or how to pay it