Lowells - Chasing a debt from 2009

[Bantan_89]

Hello All,

I received a letter from Lowell financial ltd in Dec 2019 telling me they are going to take legal action to recover an outstanding balance of £1884.26 I had with Three Mobile. As i did not remember taking out any contract with Three mobile I (to my detriment) ignored any correspondence from them. I received another letter from them on 24th January 2020 telling me that my case has now been passed onto Lowell Solicitors Ltd. Then on the 2nd February 2020 i received another letter telling me i had 30 days to prevent legal action. It outlined in the "Background" section that i had entered into an agreement with Three Mobile on 06/04/2009. I honestly cant remember doing so it has been that long! Again i (stupidly) ignored this letter and things hit home when i realised they really were going down the court route. A claim was issued against me on 16/03/2020. I acknowledged this on 06/04/2020. The court acknowledgement of service was received on 07/04/2020. I, unfortunately had to deal with family trauma recently as a result of the virus and this dilemma was pushed further back.

I received a letter today from Lowell solicitors telling me that they had ceased litigation activity because of the virus but were now operating and wanted to re-engage. They told me about the County Court Claim was issued against me on the 16/03/2020 and they had not heard back from me they would be asking for a CCJ unless they hear from me within the next 10 days.

I totally understand its my fault and i really should have asked for help earlier. Is there any way of helping my case this late? I could ask for a CCA. Would i be correct in saying this have to be asked from the original claimant "Lowell Portfolio LTD" with a copy going to "Lowell Solicitors". As the case has not been allocated for track could i also ask the solicitors for CPR? As i have 10 days before Lowell ask for judgement is it still worth doing this or am i just delaying the inevitable ?

Thanks in advance for any replies

[Bantan_89]

From the research i have done i may be able to get out of this because of the statute of limitations. From what i can remember i haven't paid anything on that account since 2009/10. I really need more information, ie CCA, CPR and SAR request. Would I be correct in sending a CCA to Lowell Portfolio LTD (The claimants), a CPR to Lowell Solicitors and a SAR to Three Mobile..? As I have only 10 days left before Lowell Solicitors ask for a judgement would this delay things until I get a reply from the CCA, CPR and SAR requests?

[jaguarsuk]

You need to reply to them and explain during the COVID-19 crisis you have had a family Trauma, this being the reason you haven’t responded.

Ask them to agree an extension to the deadline to file your defence and propose 14 days from the ten days, so 24 days after the date on their letter.

They should agree this.

You need to post a pic or type out the particulars of claim.

You can’t send a CCA request unless you think the handset was on finance?

You need to send a CPR 31.14 request for all documents mentioned in the particulars of claim, which is likely to be just the agreement.

You’ll defend on statute barred, but also on as many other fronts as you can then if 1 fails you have backup arguments.

[Bantan_89]

You need to reply to them and explain during the COVID-19 crisis you have had a family Trauma, this being the reason you haven’t responded.

Ask them to agree an extension to the deadline to file your defence and propose 14 days from the ten days, so 24 days after the date on their letter.

They should agree this.

You need to post a pic or type out the particulars of claim.

You can’t send a CCA request unless you think the handset was on finance?

You need to send a CPR 31.14 request for all documents mentioned in the particulars of claim, which is likely to be just the agreement.

You’ll defend on statute barred, but also on as many other fronts as you can then if 1 fails you have backup arguments.

Thanks for the reply JAGUARSUK.

1. They agreed to my deadline extension. So i have around a week to file a defence.

2. I do not have a Particulars of Claim but i do have a letter title "Background to your debt" (Which im assuming is the same thing? ) which tells me the information below.

Background to your debt.
On 06/04/2011 you entered into an agreement with Three Mobile to provide you with a Three Mobile 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 on 22/08/2019.

3. It was not on finance

4. I sent off for a CPR. Asking for the;
-Original agreement
-Default notice given to the defendant of assignment.

They replied with the standard "This debt does not arise under and agreement for credit and therefore it is not regulated by the consumer credit act 1974. This means that the original creditor is not required to retain a copy of the agreement, if it was in writing, and therefore we are unable to retain a copy"

They made no mention in the letter of my request for a copy of the "Default Notice".


Thanks for the help so far. I am going to try and draft a defence based on statute barred and also going to look at other defences that have replied the standard response above like i have

If they are taking me to court for defaulting on a agreement, surely they have to have a copy of said agreement to back up their argument in court? :-/

[Celestine]

Statute barred under Limitation Act 1980 looks strongest here. Have you checked your credit file? Unlikely to be anything but worth a check.

They are correct, CCA will not apply here. If the debt is time barred, it is an absolute defence and it is up to Lowell to prove it is not time barred.

Lastly, can you access online banking? Your bank could search records for payments to 3 Mobile.

[jaguarsuk]

This is the standard guff they send.

I agree with Celestine in so much as to defend as time barred, but you should also defend on the grounds that you don’t recall entering into the agreement and that they are unable to provide a copy of it along with terms.

You’ll say that the court can’t possibly rule on the terms of, any breaches of, any monies owing or penalties in a contract without seeing the terms.

You’ll also say that they have been unable to provide notice of assignment from Three to them, so under the Law of Property Act 1925 s.136 you dispute their legal right to bring the claim at all.

It is best to defend on as many points as possible in case Stat Barred fails for some reason.