N244 form Lowell/Vanquis debt

[Chic73]

Hi all,

I plan to submit an N244 form on behalf of a friend for a default notice made against him in Feb 2021 by Lowell Solicitors for a debt with Vanquis credit card.
The default notice came to light in July 2021 when my friend tried to apply for a flat tenancy that was rejected.

Points to note in this case:

• My friend has been living at his current residence for 3 years or more.
• The court documents were sent to his old address.
• The default notice was registered under his old address.
• Prior to the CCJ, Lowell sent numerous letters regarding the debt to my friend's new address - so were aware of his current residence.
• We also sent letters to Lowell requesting copies of the debt original agreement with Vanquis and statements of account as per the Consumers Credit Act 1974, which they ignored. This was requested because we wanted to determine if Lowell really owned the debt. Our letters were sent from my friend's current address.

I recently sent a letter to Lowell Solicitors requesting for the CCJ to be set aside, which they ignored, and proceeded to notify my friend of the following:

• A CCJ made against him in Feb 2021
• As per the judgment, he has to pay £100 per month
• He is now in arrears and in breach of the CCJ.

I read a few of the comments on this forum regarding similar cases, and what is clear is that Lowell sending court docs to the wrong address is not enough for a case to be successful,
however, based on the above info, and your knowledge of the law, should we go ahead with this N244 application?

Very, very, kind thanks,

[Law Student 3]

ULA Celestine

Hello

First of all, if you are going to complete the N244 form on behalf of your friend please make sure that you tick the "other" box under section two and give the name of the friend you are applying on behalf of. Also, make sure you tick the box that you are authorised by the applicant/ your friend to give the statement in section 10.

When did you receive the very first letter from Lowell regarding the debt to the correct address?

In addition to showing proof that the CCJ was sent to the wrong address, you should also show proof that Lowell knew your friends' current addresses. As part of your witness statement show evidence of you trying to contact Lowell and getting no reply back. It will be up to the judge reviewing the application and case to decide if they want to give a hearing or set aside the judgment.

If you know the total amount of the CCJ you should decide if it will be worth it going through the stress and costs of setting it aside as there is a £255 fee for the N244 form and potentially other costs if there is a hearing.

[Chic73]

ULA Celestine

Hello

First of all, if you are going to complete the N244 form on behalf of your friend please make sure that you tick the "other" box under section two and give the name of the friend you are applying on behalf of. Also, make sure you tick the box that you are authorised by the applicant/ your friend to give the statement in section 10.

When did you receive the very first letter from Lowell regarding the debt to the correct address?

In addition to showing proof that the CCJ was sent to the wrong address, you should also show proof that Lowell knew your friends' current addresses. As part of your witness statement show evidence of you trying to contact Lowell and getting no reply back. It will be up to the judge reviewing the application and case to decide if they want to give a hearing or set aside the judgment.

If you know the total amount of the CCJ you should decide if it will be worth it going through the stress and costs of setting it aside as there is a £255 fee for the N244 form and potentially other costs if there is a hearing.

Hi there, thank you for your response and advice :-)

When did you receive the very first letter from Lowell regarding the debt to the correct address?

An "introduction to Lowell" letter was sent to my friend's current address in October 2019.

I normally send a response letter requesting copies of the original agreements - to which they ignore, and we’ve sent three letters to Lowell so far from the correct address.

Lowell does not respond to our requests, but will send another letter in 3 or 6 months requesting payment, to which I will resend my letter - again. This process was done under the new address.

Responding to your question of whether it is worth going ahead with the application - the debt is for about £4k and the CCJ is having a negative impact on my friend's ability to get a flat, so he wishes to go ahead, if there is a chance he can succeed, hence, this post. We also believe that Lowell pulled a fast one, by sending the documents to his previous address, to prevent him from defending himself.


kind thanks,

[Chic73]

Good morning people!
Just wanted to share some good news!
We received a letter from Lowell stating that they will set their judgement aside.

Approaching them with a letter before an appeal was a good move.

Also, talking to the FCA helped, who directed me to their Handbook regarding Code of Conduct. Please note, they do not provide legal advice, just information on how financial institutions should behave. They were also interested to know if Lowell was acting in accordance with their rules, so It was good to register my "complaint" with them.

My letter to Lowell stated that by sending their Court docs to my friend's previous address, they had violated FCA rules.

We were then asked by Lowell to provide proof that my friend was indeed not residing at the address within the period the court forms were sent and judgement was made.

And after a period of silence, we received their letter of concession.

It is a process, (a few letters/emails) but it was worth going through.

Thankyou Legalegals and Law student 3 for your help. xx

[jaguarsuk]

Good morning people!
Just wanted to share some good news!
We received a letter from Lowell stating that they will set their judgement aside.

Approaching them with a letter before an appeal was a good move.

Also, talking to the FCA helped, who directed me to their Handbook regarding Code of Conduct. Please note, they do not provide legal advice, just information on how financial institutions should behave. They were also interested to know if Lowell was acting in accordance with their rules, so It was good to register my "complaint" with them.

My letter to Lowell stated that by sending their Court docs to my friend's previous address, they had violated FCA rules.

We were then asked by Lowell to provide proof that my friend was indeed not residing at the address within the period the court forms were sent and judgement was made.

And after a period of silence, we received their letter of concession.

It is a process, (a few letters/emails) but it was worth going through.

Thankyou Legalegals and Law student 3 for your help. xx

They have merely given consent, you still need to apply for set aside to the court and then defend the claim. The cost of application reduces to £100 and you should ask for the costs to be paid by the claimant to the defendant as they knew service was deficient due to communicating to the current address at the time.

Use a short Witness Statements to explain the deficient service, the consent, exhibit the consent letter and ask for the cost of the application be awarded.

The judge should set aside and then set a date for the defendant to file a defence.

Send a Subject Access Request Letter to Vanquis today, you want to specifically mention that you want copies of credit agreement, default notice(s) and notice(s) of assignment, as well as any other information they hold on the defendant. This will give you an idea of if Lowell request documents what they have a chance of getting and even whether they can evidence their legal right to bring the claim in the first place.

If you don't have a copy already you need to get a copy of the claim form.

Send Lowell another CCA Request this time with the claim number in it, it is a section 78 request and enclose a cheque or postal order with 'CCA 1974 STAT FEE ONLY' written on the front. Keep a copy of the letter and cheque/postal order for your records.

Once you have a copy of the claim form send their solicitors a CPR 31.14 Request for the documents mentioned in the particulars of claim section of the claim form. Keep a copy for your records.

Once you have responses or the deadline to file a defence gets close (five days before) use the Example Defence to draft the defence. Post a copy of it here with identifying information removed and tell us what documents you got back from Lowell and their Solicitors to allow us to advise whether any amendments need to be made.

[Chic73]

Hi JaguarUK and thanks for the info.

Let me re-iterate, just in case my earlier response got lost in translation.

The CCJ has been set aside by the Courts.

Kind thanks.

[jaguarsuk]

You need to defend the claim then.

[Chic73]

You need to defend the claim then.

Correct. The claim still existed despite the CCJ being overturned, but we defended this successfully also. Thankyou :-)