Stutute Barred Debt moved to CCJ by Lowell

[Hdr]

Good afternoon all,

I am new to the Legal Beagle community so I will apologise in advance if I’ve included too much detail, or have missed anything important out!

I am looking for advice on what I believe to be a Statute Barred debt from 2008. The borrowing was from the now defunct Welcome Finance.

Without going into too much detail, I wasn’t in the best place financially at the time (hence dealing with Welcome!) and after losing my job in 2009, stopped making payments on this debt; not my finest hour, and not something I will never be repeating.

Fast forward to 2017, and I am in a far stronger financial position, and even managed to get a mortgage in 2015. Then, out of the clear blue, I receive a letter from Lowell Solicitors in June 2017 stating that a CCJ has been entered against me, with the original holder of the debt being Welcome Finance.

Subsequently, I contacted Lowell and asked why this debt was not classed as Statute Barred, as my understanding was no action could be brought against me after expiration of six years if a “relevant claim” has not been made prior (relevant being a creditor raising action in court, not just sending a default letter.)

After contacting them, Lowell said they would look into this matter, and low and behold, their “relevant claim” was a Default letter dated June 2012 to an address I hadn’t lived at since 2008.

I replied to their letter saying that:

 The earliest point at which they could have sued for the full balance owing to this debt was more than six years ago

 No payment has been made to this debt by me, any joint account-holder, or any third party acting as my agent for a period of more than six years

 No written admission of liability for this debt has been made by me, or any third party acting as my agent for a period of more than six years

I also said again that under Annex B6 of The Limitation Act 1980, it states:

“A relevant claim will normally take the form of a creditor raising an action for payment in court. Simply sending a default notice or letter demanding payment will not constitute a relevant claim.”

I thought this would bring an end to the matter, and I could concentrate on getting the CCJ removed, however Lowell got back to me this week say that:

“We will not be responding to any further queries as we are satisfied that adequate responses have been provided by ourselves.”




What is the next step here in that case?

• Am I wrong in what I am saying? Can Lowell still pursue this debt after almost 10 years, with no contact in-between?
• Am I in the right, with Lowell trying to play hardball?

Any help would be massively appreciated; I genuinely have no idea where to go now!!!

[Amethyst]

Re: Stutute Barred Debt moved to CCJ by Lowell

Annex B6 is(was) part of the OFT Debt Collection Guidance ( still referred to in CONC 7 ( the FCA handbook rules on consumer credit ) not the Limitation Act

Okay, few questions, how much is the debt ?
You moved in 2008? after taking out the loan with Welcome? Did you inform them at that time of that move ? ( payments carried on past then ) ( guessing the judgment was obtained at the address from when you took out the loan )
When you moved house, in 2015?, had you heard anything from Welcome/Lowell by then, and did you inform them of the move?
If not, did you update yourself on the electoral roll / your credit file between moving and them bringing the claim ?
What was the loan with Welcome - presumably unsecured - was it a fixed term loan ? ( thinking then a 4 year term if they defaulted you in 2012 ?)
When exactly was the judgment obtained ? You found out about it in June 2017 but presumably it had been awarded a while before then?

As you know you will be needing to either apply to set-aside the judgment, apply to vary the order to installments or negotiate a settlement, so firstly you need to work out if you have a reasonable chance of defending the claim.

[Hdr]

Re: Stutute Barred Debt moved to CCJ by Lowell

Hi Amethyst,

Thank you for getting back to me; can you tell my "legal expertise" relates to what I have managed to pick up online!!

So, to answer your questions:

> Yes, I moved in 2008 after taking out lending with Welcome. I didn't inform them of the move but I did continue making payments, although being honest, probably not many.
> Judgement was sent to my current address (moved 2015) if that is what you mean, and that is my own property. I have lived in two rented houses since 2008 till 2015.
> Never informed them of the moves (that is on me).
> Never registered to vote but bank account addresses were updated if that counts?
> Loan Unsecured and I honestly can't remember the duration of the lending.
>CCJ obtained 16th June 2017

[Hdr]

Re: Stutute Barred Debt moved to CCJ by Lowell

Hi Amethyst,

What were your thoughts on this then?

Should I consult a lawyer at all? My worry is I may be fighting a losing battle, however I’m also concerned that if I pay the debt, or start to pay it, I lose all power to get this removed.

[Hdr]

Re: Stutute Barred Debt moved to CCJ by Lowell

Hi [MENTION=71570]R0b[/MENTION], as mentioned, please see above, and absolutely any advise or help at this juncture would be massively appreciated!

[R0b]

Re: Stutute Barred Debt moved to CCJ by Lowell

First and foremost, you said that you received the letter way back in June 2017 from Lowell saying that there is a CCJ entered against you. We are now in December so I have to ask, why have you waited so long? The courts expect you to be prompt in making any application to set aside the CCJ and although it is not the single most important element, it is certainly something a court will take into account as to whether or not it should set aside the CCJ.

Did you update your electoral roll information, credit file, DVLA information etc?

If you want to set aside the CCJ then you need to make your application to the court as soon as possible. Your best way perhaps is to try and get Welcome Finance / Lowell to agree to setting aside the CCJ - you might need to go in pretty hard with your letter and set out your reasons why you think it should be set aside, particularly if you have good grounds for alleging that the debt is already statute barred.

The courts have been a lot harsher in more recent times when seeking to grant applications setting aside the CCJ, with particular focus on promptness. You need to have a really good reason as to why you have waited so long and simply saying "I didn't know I could" is unlikely to cut the mustard, unless a judge is feeling rather sympathetic.

Instead, you might need to grovel to the judge and accept you didn't make the application promptly nevertheless there are good grounds for setting aside e.g. If Lowell/Welcome Finance failed to ascertain your last known address when it was reasonable to do so, particularly if there was a gap in correspondence for a number of years. Also you could highlight that your defence is arguable and that it is statute barred too. Other options might include reference to the FCA Handbook as pointed out by Amethyst referring to CONC 7.15 which says: "notwithstanding that debt may be recoverable, a firm must not attempt to recover a statute barred debt in England" (if that is true in your case).

You may want to seek an opinion from a lawyer, you may want to risk paying £255 for the application in the hope that it will be set aside. I don't think I've seen ever on here or at least very little recently that claimants have turned up and resisted an application to set aside unless they are confident it will be won because there is a risk of further costs against them and that might be balanced against the judgment value.

If you do decide to press ahead and take the risk with an application, you might want to write to Welcome Finance and a copy letter to Lowell requesting they consent to the set aside, and explaining the reasons why you think you have a good chance of winning. You might also want to enclose a draft order for them to sign but I think you should give them no more than 7 days to respond and in the meantime get cracking with your application and draft defence so that if they refuse consent or fail to respond then you can submit your claim immediately.

There is no guarantee that you will be successful, it is down to you whether you want to make an attempt to set aside or accept and pay up instead and have it on record for the next 6 years that could affect you getting favourable interest/credit rates.