Help with Lowell solicitors!

[Debtqueen]

Hi all

i hope you may be able to help. I received a letter from Lowell solicitors stating that I had a debt with shop direct worth just shy of £500. The debt does exist but I think it may be older than 6 years. They gave me 6 months to pay it off, I paid the first instalment of £89 but couldn't afford the next one. They recalculated the payments and I made the next payment of £104 last month. Now here lies the problem. My husband is a supply teacher and I am a full time mum, he is no longer getting work over the summer holidays so being able to meet those payments will be impossible. I rang Lowell but they are unwilling to help. They said I can default and get a ccj or willingly let it go to ccj. Is that the only rhat I can do. We will only be living off our child tax credits this summer and thear payments would cripple us.
I would really appreciate any help.
Thanks for taking time to read.

[charitynjw]

Re: Help with Lowell solicitors!

Hi Debtqueen, welcome to LB.

Who are the solicitor's clients? (Poss Lowell Portfolio).
Send a CCA request + £1 fee to the client, with a copy (no fee) to the solicitors for information purposes only.
They then have about a fortnight to produce compliant documentation, or if they can't, they cannot enforce the agreement until they do comply.
We suggest a postal order for the fee, made payable to the claimant & endorsed 'For statutory purposes only'.
Keep a copy of everything for your file, & get proof of posting.
It is extremely unlikely that they will have the documentation to hand; they usually would have to go back to the original creditor, Shop D, for it.
At the very least it will buy you some time.

There is more that can be done, if you want to fight them.

Template CCA request - http://legalbeagles.info/library/gui...etter-example/

[Debtqueen]

Re: Help with Lowell solicitors!

Thanks charity njw.
that sounds really good advice and you are right, it is lowell portfolio that are the clients. Is there templates I can use for such letters? My next instalment is due on 15th July. I will post it today and hopefully this will be enough time.
thanks again ��

[charitynjw]

Re: Help with Lowell solicitors!

Hi

Template link given in my last post.

[Debtqueen]

Re: Help with Lowell solicitors!

Hi

Template link given in my last post.

Thanks again for all your help

[warwick65]

Re: Help with Lowell solicitors!

Just a quick question to double check

Was a court claim issued at any time and did you make the arrangement to pay on the back of this?

Alternatively did they send you a letter of claim ( sometimes called a letter before action) which was the catalyst to you making an offer

The CCA request suggest by charity is a great idea - I sent some off to a different firm well over 12 months ago now and have not heard from them again ( tempting fate)

[Debtqueen]

Re: Help with Lowell solicitors!

Just a quick question to double check

Was a court claim issued at any time and did you make the arrangement to pay on the back of this?

Alternatively did they send you a letter of claim ( sometimes called a letter before action) which was the catalyst to you making an offer

The CCA request suggest by charity is a great idea - I sent some off to a different firm well over 12 months ago now and have not heard from them again ( tempting fate)

Hi ive just been looking over my paperwork and the letter I received entitled Notice of claims issue. It states that "we have now issued Legal Proceedings in the form of a County Court Claim which you will shortly receive directly from Northampton County Court". As they stated that if I don not reply that I will be issued with a ccj I panicked and rang them and this is when I agreed to start paying back the debt.

[warwick65]

Re: Help with Lowell solicitors!

Did you actually receive a claim form from the court?

If not maybe a call to northampton to see if a claim was issued may be worth while

If no claim was actually issued I would also send the solicitors this

Dear Sirs
Ref: Enter as per letter received.
Thank you for your letter dated Pick the date on letter you are responding to. . As the letter contains a threat of litigation, it is being treated as a formal letter before action. As such, I refer you to paragraph 3 of the Practice Direction Pre-Action Conduct, which states: “before commencing proceedings, the court will expect the parties to have exchanged sufficient information to (a) understand each other’s position; (b) make decisions about how to proceed;”
Paragraph 6 states “the parties should exchange correspondence and information to comply with the objectives“ and Paragraph 6 (c) of refers to “the parties disclosing key documents relevant to the issues in dispute.” My request refers to the documents I require to obtain the necessary information to assess my position in this case.
I require copies of the following:

1. The original Type agreement or contract as appropriate.;
2. The Default Notice;
3. The Notice of Assignment; Delete if the account has not been sold.
4. Statements of account;
5. The Deed of assignment Delete if the account has not been sold.

These documents would be expected to be supplied if proceedings were issued and would likely be in your possession if you were issuing a claim. If you consider that there is difficulty in providing a copy of a document, please identify that document and the reason.
DELETE THIS PARAGRAPH IF A CCA REQUEST HAS NOT BEEN SENT OR IS NOT APPLICABLE.Additionally, there is a duty to supply documents under the Consumer Credit Act 1974. A request has been made under s.Type 77 for loans or 78 for credit cards and catalogue accounts. on Pick the date when the CCA request was sent.and I am awaiting a response from Enter the creditor’s name..
I shall being able to provide you with a full response to your letter within 14 days of receipt of the documents listed above and also reserve the right to refer to the contents of this letter if proceedings are issued without first providing copy documents to me.
Yours faithfully,

Your full name

make sure you read the letter before you send it as there are bits that need editing to suit

[Debtqueen]

Re: Help with Lowell solicitors!

I'm not sure if a claim was issued as I rang them as soon as I got the letter mentioned above. I will ring tomorrow and find out and if not I will send the letter you drafted too. They won't know what hit em!

thank you everyone for all your advice and help. It is greatly appreciated.

[charitynjw]

Re: Help with Lowell solicitors!

@warwick65

Evening, sir!

Also poss SB as well which could be looked at.

(2 heads are better than 1, Debtqueen)

[warwick65]

Re: Help with Lowell solicitors!

Evening [MENTION=5553]charitynjw[/MENTION]

SB is a definite possibility at least to look at
[MENTION=104066]Debtqueen[/MENTION]
The next stages will really depend on what stage things are at, for example if a claim has been issued then you may need to act quickly , if not you have more breathing space , Don't worry at the moment though - as the saying goes- tale my advice because i don't use it :-)

[Debtqueen]

Re: Help with Lowell solicitors!

Hi
I'm just wondering with you mentioning the SB, does that mean the debt is older than 6 years? What should I do? Just posted the 2 letters that were advised yesterday, should I leave it at that for now?

sorry for all the questions!

[Debtqueen]

Re: Help with Lowell solicitors!

Also my next instalment is due to be paid by 16yh of this month. What should I do?!

[warwick65]

Re: Help with Lowell solicitors!

Was there ever a clear 6 year break in payments or acknowledgement

For a debt to become SB there needs to be such a break although the exact details get complicated

[charitynjw]

Re: Help with Lowell solicitors!

Hi Debtqueen

Morning, @warwick65

If it were me I think I would SAR Shop D at this stage, esp given the direct threat of litigation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKwgavRYZk0
http://legalbeagles.info/library/gui...ccess-request/