Lowell

[Zoggi6658]

I recently received a demand from Lowell about 2 debts that they claimed CCJ's were issued in 2011 and 2018 even though I never received any correspondence. In 2010 statute barred letters were sent to on my behalf by my local CAB to all my creditors and I never received any correspondence from them apart from one, which I applied to have the case transferred to my local county court. When the case was called, no one from the claims firm turned up and the judge ruled in my favour and also awarded me costs, which I never received. I have contacted the CAB to check if there's any copy of the letter as well as the county court but due to the years involved they no longer hold any records. Where do I stand in challenging / defending this claim ?.

[atticus]

See your previous threads.
If a claim was statute barred in 2010 it is statute barred now. That is where you stand. Send a further 'statute barred' letter by way of reminder.

[echat11]

Posting, got distracted.

[Zoggi6658]

I sent a statue barred letter to Lowell but they claim the CCJ is still valid. The problem is the CAB can't find the letter as it's over 10 years hence my attempt to get a copy of the judgement letter from the county court as I took my copy of the CAB letter to the court on that day. It's over 10 years so unfortunately I can't find my copy of the letter and moreover I have moved twice since them.

[Zoggi6658]

I keep getting demand letter for those 2 debts that I never received any CCJ notification. I sent off the statue barred letter to Lowell
I paid Trust online to check for the ccj's from all my previous address and nothing was found registered. Lowell claims the ccj's stand even though those so called debts are all over 6 years. I have now this week received an offer from Lowell for a 60 percent discount if I agree to pay off the debt in 12 months. Any advice please. Thanks

[PallasAthena]

Irrespective of whether the debts were statute barred in 2010 if the CCJs were issued in 2011 and 2018 they are no longer enforceable as after 6 years a CCJ cannot be enforced without the creditor seeking permission from the court. So they can't send baliffs round, for example. The 2011/2018 CCJ debts (if the CCJs actually exist) would still be valid debts but cannot be enforced. And as you have discovered they do not affect your credit record as they don't appear on TrustOnline or on Credit Reference Agency records. I assume you have checked your credit records with all the CRAs and nothing is appearing.

Lowell are keen to tell people that CCJs over 6 years old are still valid debts but their letters strangely often fail to mention they are no longer enforceable.

Lowell would have to show a court a good reason why they had not enforced it earlier.

As the CCJs don't appear on any court records or CRAs they would also have to prove the CCJs exist. Debt buyers like Lowell often have just an IT file entry from the original creditor and no copy of the CCJ itself. Without a certified copy of the CCJ they would find it difficult to get permission to enforce when the court system itself has no record or evidence of the CCJs' existence.

You could simply reply that you have no knowledge of the CCJs being issued and at the alleged date of issue the debts were already statute barred. Even if the CCJs did exist (which you do not acknowledge) they are more than 6 years old and would need court permission to enforce. You will therefore not be discussing this with them any further. Ask them to confirm they have closed their file and will not contact you again. Get proof of posting, keep a copy.

Then ignore all their future letters unless you get court papers saying they are seeking seeking permission to enforce. This is unlikely to happen but if Lowells did seek permission there would have to be a court hearing and you would have to be notified of it so that you could object to their request. They can't just sneak in through the back door and get permission to enforce without you being notified by HMCTS. Make sure you notify them if you change address again.