Lowell/Overdales Letter - Possibly statuted barred?

[StressedSal]

Hello,

New here and I apologise for starting a new thread if this has already been answered. I have dyslexia and adhd and have gone down a rabbit hole of fact finding. So I have completely overwhelmed myself and have no clue.

I have received a letter from Overdales solicitors, it is titled “Notice of Acting.” On 4th January ‘24

it goes onto say that Lowell’s have instructed them to recover an outstanding balance for 2 accounts. If I fail to make payments or contact them, they are instructed to request a CCJ. It then lists the costing fees for this.

With help from a friend we have found the two accounts they are referring too, using ClearScore/Experian.

Account 1;
Credit Card £2040
Last payment month was in November 2017 (6yrs 1 month ago)
Default date 28th June 2018 (5 years 6months)

Account 2;
Overdraft £1400
Last Payment month was February 2018 (5yrs 10months)
Default date 5th July 2018 (5yrs 6months)

After all my reading I still can’t understand when statue barred starts from? Is this the date of last payment or from the default date?

I was in a very bad DV relationship and walked away from everything, with my kids and struggled with depression and managing my adhd, with no support. Which is why I am so in this mess. Years later we are now settled in a new home.

My questions are;
what does notice of acting mean?
what date the statue barred start from, the last payment date or the date of the default being issued?
what should be the first thing I should do now?

I am sorry that this has probably been covered, but I would be so very grateful for any help.

thank you so much!!!

[echat11]

Hi Stressedsal

Welcome to LB

a) what does notice of acting mean?

Has there been a Judgement by a Court on this debt?

Notice of Acting is letting the Court know that there has been a change of representative / solicitor.

https://assets.publishing.service.go...8311141.1_.pdf

b) what date the statue barred start from, the last payment date or the date of the default being issued?

The default being issued. They normally default after 3 missed payments.

c) what should be the first thing I should do now?

If you can answer question (a) first, then lets see how you can move this forwards.

[StressedSal]

Hello,

thank you so much for your reply, I am very grateful!
as far as I know there has been not judgement?

In the top hand corner of the letter it says; We’re now instructed to recover the balance owed.

The letter then reads as follows;


Notice of Acting

Lowell Portfolio | Ltd has instructed us to recover the outstanding balance of 23438.63 owing on 2 accounts. Our client's notice to you regarding this is enclosed.

We are instructed to initiate legal proceedings against you unless you pay £3438.63 in either a one-off payment or under an agreed payment plan.

You can now register online at www.overdales.com to view your transaction history, use our helpful Budget Calculator, make a full payment of £3438.63 or set up a Direct Debit plan without having to give us a call.

You can also contact one of our helpful team members on 0333 111 0105 to make payment or agree a suitable resolution, in confidence.

If you fail to make payment or contact us to resolve this matter, we are instructed by our client to request that the court issues a County Court Claim against you. If legal proceedings are issued and you do not make payment following receipt of the court papers, or otherwise respond to the Claim, a County Court Judgment (CCJ) may be entered against you where the balance could increase as follows:

We want to assure you that wherever possible we will work with you to reach a suitable solution to your situation, but we cannot help you to resolve this matter if you do not engage with us.

By engaging with us now to resolve this matter, you can help clear this balance and avoid the expense of legal proceedings increasing the amount you owe.

Yours sincerely

Overdales Solicitors

Overdales Solicitors

Current Balance	£3438.63
Estimated Interest	£234.39

[echat11]

How old are the accounts?

a) Send Lowell a CCA (Credit Card Account) request, they have 12 days to respond, make sure you get Proof of Postage.

https://legalbeagles.info/library/gu...etter-example/

b) Send the original Creditor (Credit Card Account) a Subject Access Request, they have 30 days to respond, make sure you get Proof of Postage.

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

c) Send the original Creditor (Overdraft) a Subject Access Request, they have 30 days to respond, make sure you get Proof of Postage

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

[StressedSal]

So with the info on Experian and Clear score

The credit card account;
Opened: 28 Apr 2016
Defaulted date: 28 Jun 2018
First missed payment month: November 2017

The current account with overdraft;
Opened: 4th Oct 2000
Defaulted date: 5th July 2018
First missed payment month: February 2018

thabj you for the letter templates, they are super helpful!!

[echat11]

The thing to remember is a Court would only ask you to pay what you could afford, so if that's £1 a month, so be it.

Fill in an income and expenditure form, take account of the 'Cost of living crisis', so make allowances for food, energy etc.

So a reasonable 'buffer'. So you are only committing to what you can afford to pay, you don't want to say £XX, then a few months down the line find that you've overstretched yourself.

https://nedcab.cabmoney.org.uk/

[StressedSal]

Thank you, I have two disabled children and only work 20hrs so I honestly wouldn’t be able to pay much more than that.

I will adjust these letters and get them sent off first thing Monday.

thank you so much for breaking this down for me, it really is so helpful

[echat11]

Don't send the letter below off just yet (amend it, your personal circumstances - i.e. I have two disabled children and only work 20hrs), see what they send back regards the documentation first.

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/de...itor---letter/

[StressedSal]

Right ok, got it!

so I’ll send off the CCA/SAR requests on Monday. Do I need to send the requests to Lowell and Overdales? Or just Lowell’s?

Both the credit card and overdraft are with Lloyds, so I will send the cca/sar requests too, thankfully Experian has the addresses I need to contact on each account

[echat11]

Right ok, got it!

so I’ll send off the CCA/SAR requests on Monday. Do I need to send the requests to Lowell and Overdales? Or just Lowell’s?

Both the credit card and overdraft are with Lloyds, so I will send the cca/sar requests too, thankfully Experian has the addresses I need to contact on each account

a) Send the requests to their Registered offices, it will be on letters you receive from them.

Lowell a CCA (Credit Card Account) request (just copy the request to Overdales).

Lloyds a (Credit Card Account) a Subject Access Request

Lloyds a (Overdraft) a Subject Access Request.

b) Overdrafts aren't covered by the CCA, so don't send a CCA request to LLoyds. (at some point, your need to request T's and C's regards there Overdraft facility).

[StressedSal]

Right, I have amended the letters and am off to post them now. I am right in thinking I just pop a postal order for the £1 in each letter?

Thank you, having someone break this all down into simple steps has really helped with my adhd/anxiety in trying to navigate this.

[echat11]

Right, I have amended the letters and am off to post them now. I am right in thinking I just pop a postal order for the £1 in each letter?

Thank you, having someone break this all down into simple steps has really helped with my adhd/anxiety in trying to navigate this.

You only need to get a £1 Postal Order for the CCA that you send to Lowell's.

The two Subject Access Requests cost you nothing, there are no fees.

[StressedSal]

I sent off the CCA requests to Lowell’s and Overdales yesterday with the postal order enclosed. I used the first class signed for service for this.

however today a Lettet of claim - 30 days to prevent legal action, letter has arrived.

do I need to respond to this also? Or wait for the CCA requests to come through?

Thank you!

[echat11]

a) I sent off the CCA requests to Lowell’s and Overdales yesterday with the postal order enclosed. I used the first class signed for service for this.

Good, await their response.

b) however today a Lettet of claim - 30 days to prevent legal action, letter has arrived.

Well, it's timely that you sent off the CCA requests as you would have had to send the requests off after you received their 'Letter of Claim'.

c) do I need to respond to this also? Or wait for the CCA requests to come through?

As above.

Send Lowell's a request asking for T's and C's on the Overdraft Facility (copy the request to Overdales), make sure you get Proof of Postage.

In this request you are writing, 'Can you kindly send me a copy of the Terms and Conditions for the Overdraft Facility. Also can you kindly suspend any action on the account for 60 days.'

If you don't get anything back from them on the Credit Card account in the next 20 days, we also need to ask for an extension of 40 days.

[StressedSal]

Upon reading the Letter of claim in more detail now that the kids are in bed, it now states that they are seeking payment for;
a Lloyd’s credit card and a bank of Scotland credit card.

But on their first letter it said it was for two Lloyd’s accounts, which looking on my credit file it seemed to make sense.

So I guess as I used to Lowell’s reference numbers given on the Overdales first letter, for the CCA I will see what turns up as I didn’t have a BOS card, so assume this could be down to human error?!

The plus side is I will now get all my accounts information on record for Lloyds.

Ive kept the proof of postage and receipt for postal orders, with a copy of my letters that I sent. And marked in the calendar when I should expect a reply by.