Hello, county court claim recieved from Lowell/BT

[VickiNod]

I'm new to the site but have been dealing with this issue based on advice on other threads.(** DISCONTINUED ** BT + Lowell vs me Couty court buisness centre claim)

We took out a BT broadband agreement in spring 2005, we had problems with the broadband and it never worked, after a couple of months of disputes with BT we did breach our contract and left to go with another provider.

I have now received a county court claim from Lowell that was issued on 04/02/2019 I received it around the 09/02/2019,

particulars of claim state

the claim is for the sum of £316.00 due by the defendant under a BT PLC account with an account ref of 021xxxxxxx, the defendant failed to maintain contractual payments required under the terms of the account agreement. The debt was legally assigned to the claimant on 22/02/2018, notice of which has been given to the defendant. The claim includes statutory interest under S.69 of the county court act 1984 at a rate of 8% per annum from the date of assignment to the date of issue of these proceedings in the sum of £23.00. The claimant claims the sum of £339.00.Court fee £35.00.Legal representative cost £50.00.Total £424.00.

I have followed the above thread mentioned and submitted acknowledgment of service on 22/02/2019 at 10am, acknowledgment of service was received on 22/02/2019 at noon, defence was submitted on 08/03/2019 at 11am,on moneyclaim.gov.uk. I would appreciate any help with this matter, im not sure if I've done the right or wrong thing but feel its time I got some help with it.

[Amethyst]

Sounds like you have done absolutely fine so far, are you just concerned as you've received nothing back from the claimant ?

Did you include statute barred in your defence ? ( you stopped using BT in 2005 so it should be long since statute barred ) Actually weird that they've bought the account in 2018 if it was last paid/terminated in 2005.... is that right, or was it 2015 actually ?

Did you send a SAR to BT ? If not, I'd recommend doing that, although they are taking up to 3 months to send the documents at the moment, with the courts backlog as well, you might get it in time to assist your case, although as it is such an old account they may just not hold anything.

[VickiNod]

I've received a letter from Lowell stating that Lucas credit services LTD are handling the county court proceedings on their behalf and they have passed my request for documents to them but that is all I have received. I didn't include statute barred in my defence unfortunately I probably should have but just used a template from another thread. Yes it was 2005 that it was terminated, what is a SAR ? I have no idea im afraid.

[Amethyst]

Okay... you might need to amend to include Statute Barred, it probably is Statute Barred if the case is with Lucas - they don't usually deal with court proceedings that are going to go the whole way.... who are the Solicitors / address for documents on the claim form ?

Is this the defence you used? https://legalbeagles.info/forums/for...61#post1396961 ?

[VickiNod]

Yes that’s the defence I used I just amended dates/claim number, how would I amend my defence to include Statute barred, will I need to do it before 4pm today ?

[Amethyst]

You can have a go, give the court business centre a call and tell them you accidentally filed the wrong defence on the online system and can't see how to remove it.... see if they can let you substitute it via email..... and then yes do that before 4pm

So you entered this ( but with your dates etc) so you want to add the bold bits in if poss ..... and check the red bits are correct.

1. I received the claim [Claim Number] from the the County Court Business Centre in Northampton on [Date you received the claim]
2. Each and every allegation in the Claimants statement of case is denied unless specifically admitted in this Defence.
3. This claim appears to be for a telecommunications agreement with BT Plc. I have had products and services from BT Plc in the past, however not since 2005, and am unable to identify the account from the information provided. I am unaware of any debt owed to BT Plc.
4. The Claimants statement of case fails to give adequate information to enable me to properly assess my position with regards the claim.
5. The Claimant’s Particulars of Claim fail to state when the agreement was entered into, however I believe this may have been in 2004/2005.
6. It is my contention that the debt is Statute Barred pursuant to s.5 of the Limitations Act 1980 in that no acknowledgement or payment of the debt has been within the last 6 years. As such the Claimant is out of time in bringing this claim.
7. If the Claimant disputes the status of the debt the onus of proof is on them to evidence otherwise. I put the Claimant to strict proof.
8. The Claimants statement of case states that the account was assigned from BT Plc to Lowell Portfolio on 27/03/2017. The Defendant does not recall receiving notice of this assignment.
9. On the 21/03/2018 I sent a request for inspection of documents mentioned in the claimant’s statement of case under Civil Procedure Rule 31.14 to Lowell Solicitors. I requested the Claimant provide copies of the agreement with BT PLC, Notice of Assignment and Deed of Assignment.
10. Lowell Solicitors has not sent any of these documents to me.
11. In that letter I also asked the Claimant if we may agree to extend the time period allowed for filing of my defence pending receipt of documents (as allowed under CPR 15.5), but they have have failed to respond at all.
12. Under Civil Procedure Rule 16.5 (4) Where the claim includes a money claim, a defendant shall be taken to require that any allegation relating to the amount of money claimed be proved unless he expressly admits the allegation. Therefore, it is expected that the Claimant be required to prove the allegation that the money is owed as claimed.
13. I request the court orders the Claimants to provide the necessary documentation in order for me to fully plead my case else the Claim should stand struck out.
14. In the event that the relevant documents are received from the Claimants I will then be in a position to amend my defence, and would ask that the Claimants bear the costs of the amendment.
15. It is denied that the Claimant is entitled to the relief as claimed or at all.

[VickiNod]

Solicitors are Cohen Cramer solicitors in Leeds

[VickiNod]

Thank you I’ll get it done now

[Amethyst]

Okay let me know what court say...

[charitynjw]

I've received a letter from Lowell stating that Lucas credit services LTD are handling the county court proceedings on their behalf and they have passed my request for documents to them but that is all I have received. I didn't include statute barred in my defence unfortunately I probably should have but just used a template from another thread. Yes it was 2005 that it was terminated, what is a SAR ? I have no idea im afraid.

https://legalbeagles.info/library/gu...ccess-request/

[VickiNod]

In a telephone queue to the county court business centre, 20mins wait time apparently !! Is there any way to do it online ?

[VickiNod]

Just rechecked and it is 2015

[Amethyst]

Ok if it was 2015 not 2005 then no it won't be stat barred, so the defence you have in should be fine.

20 Mins is pretty quick for the Northampton ccbc call centre lol

[VickiNod]

Got through to court they said to email them and gave email address I did but got this as a reply which is good for me as I didn’t need to amend my first defence but for future users this is the reply I got
Thank you for your reply to the County Court claim.



Your reply is being returned to you as we have already received a response to this claim. If you wish to alter or provide a new defence you can apply to amend or substitute a defence using the N244 ‘Application Notice’. Please read this letter thoroughly before sending the application to the court as incorrectly completed applications will be returned to you.


hope this helps people in future who do need to amend anything.

[Amethyst]

Yes normally it'd be the n244 application to amend and a £255 fee - it was worth a try calling them first though as you'd only just submitted and occasionally they will allow an amendment due to an error xxxx