WON! Bryan Carter Lowell County Court Form. discontinued.

[Legal]

I received a letter in the post today that has stopped all my organs from functioning.

CCJ Claim form from Bryan Carter on behave of Lowell. While i was on the phone this morning, i did receive another incoming call, answered it but it was an automated call from Bryan Carter and seeing as i didnt know who that was, i just ended the call. Now, i have spent over 4hrs on forums, reading up on similar cases but i never read any end results and this has me very very scared.

Information on Letter

"This claim is for 900+ The amount due under an agreement between the original creditor and the defendant to provide finance and / or services ad / or goods. This debt was assigned to / purchased by lowell portfolio l ltd on 05/04/2010 and notice served pursuant to the law of property act 1925. Particulars Re: Shop Direct. The claimant also claims interest pursuant to s69 county court act 1984 from 05/04/2010 to date at 8% per annum amounting to 280+. Total amount being claimed is £1400+"


I did the following

1. Registered with a credit agency to check my file and i see Lowell has recorded a default on my account and dates back to 2010 but nothing from shop direct. Says account was opened on 30.11.2007 and defaulted on 29.03.2010.

2. I have not opened an account with any of shop directs siblings.

3. I rarely open letters as its either junk or from my bank. If it doesnt look like its from my bank or that i clearly know who it is from e.g. british gas, probably just ends up in the bin after awhile. Only reason i opened this one was because i saw "Defendant" above my name in the letter's window. Therefore, i cannot say with 100% certainity whether this is the first time this person has sent me a letter.

I know i can send a CPR 31.14 request but i am seriously considering getting a solicitor because this is the first time anything like this has ever happened to me and i feel like i might have an heart attack before insomnia kills me.

I NEED SOME SERIOUS HELP, PLEASE.

[Legal]

Re: Bryan Carter Lowell County Court Form

I decided not to ignore any of my letters and open the rest of what the postman handed me today. Lo and Behold, a letter from Bryan dated the same day the County Form was sent to me.

It says

" As you have failed to make repayments on the above account, we have now issued litigation proceedings in the county court. You will receive the claim form in the next 48 hours direct from the court."

[Legal]

Re: Bryan Carter Lowell County Court Form

I looked at a different section of my credit report today under "closed account" and i found shop direct in it. The address on the account is where my dad, his girlfriend and step kids used to live, although i'm not sure about the door number but i definitely remember that road name. I can't remember clearly what year they moved out either.

Details on it are a bit sketchy because it says account was up to date as of June 2008 and then there was no account information for almost a year and then in May 2009, it said account up to date again and no payments were supposedly made until August 2011, which then stopped in March 2012. Account status "Settled" as of 01.04.2012

I will have to ask my Dad about this but if Lowell was suppose to have bought the account which defaulted in 2010, how can it say last payment to shop direct was March 2012?

This issue popped into my head at 5am and then all sleep was gone.

[biondani]

Re: Bryan Carter Lowell County Court Form

Does your dad have the same initials as you? I am wondering if they have confused the two of you somehow. It's not unheard of for DCA to get family members confused

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Bryan Carter Lowell County Court Form

The first thing to do would be to acknowledge the claim, which you can do online, using the password provided on the claim. :typing: You have 14 days from date of service to acknowledge and state your intention to defend in full, giving you a further 14 days (a total of 28 days) to submit a defence.

Take a look around and you'll see Bryan Carter/Lowell issuing claims like confetti, a lot of them for ShopDirect accounts.

In addition to the CPR 31.14 letter, you should also send a CCA request, this should go to Lowell with a copy to Bryan Carter (the £1 fee just to Lowell).

CCA request letter below. It should be sent recorded delivery with a PO for £1 and signed using a computer font rather than your real signature. They have 14 days to respond. :thumb:

Dear Sirs,

Account or Reference No.:

I hereby formally request a copy of my Consumer Credit Agreement, pursuant to s.77-79 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 (CCA1974).I require you to provide me with a true copy, or reconstituted copy of the credit agreement relating to any account you deem to be mine, together with any other documentation the Act requires you to provide. I expect you to comply fully and properly with this request, within the statutory time limit (12 + 2 days).

If it is your view that you are not the creditor, s.175 of the CCA1974 applies in the case of a simple assignment, and places a duty upon you to pass this request to the creditor. In the case of an absolute assignment, you are a creditor as defined by s.189. If you contend that you purchased the rights but not the duties of any agreement, you are reminded that s.189 of the Act is clear that an assignment is of both rights and duties. Your attention is drawn to ss.5(2), 3(b), 6 and 7 of the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (CPUTR).

In line with recent OFT Guidance (issued Oct 2010) surrounding Unenforceability, I presume you're aware that the OFT has stipulated that 'sections 77-79 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 outline the information creditors must provide to debtors under fixed-term, running account & Hire Agreements'. This simply means that under these sections a debtor can pay £1 to get:

• a copy of their agreement
• copies of some of the other documents mentioned in their agreement
• a statement of account

If this information is not provided within 12 working days the debt becomes unenforceable. This means a creditor cannot:

• make the debtor pay the debt before they're supposed to
• get a court judgment against the debtor

So, in line with the OFT Guidance, and the Consumer Credit Act, please find attached my £1 payment, which is the statutory fee - note that these funds are not to be used for any other purpose.

Yours faithfully,

[Legal]

Re: Bryan Carter Lowell County Court Form

The first thing to do would be to acknowledge the claim, which you can do online, using the password provided on the claim. :typing: You have 14 days from date of service to acknowledge and state your intention to defend in full, giving you a further 14 days (a total of 28 days) to submit a defence.

Take a look around and you'll see Bryan Carter/Lowell issuing claims like confetti, a lot of them for ShopDirect accounts.

In addition to the CPR 31.14 letter, you should also send a CCA request, this should go to Lowell with a copy to Bryan Carter (the £1 fee just to Lowell).

CCA request letter below. It should be sent recorded delivery with a PO for £1 and signed using a computer font rather than your real signature. They have 14 days to respond. :thumb:

Thanks for the replies. I posted off a prove it and cpr. 31 letter today via recorded delivery. I want to enter my defense online tomorrow and not quite sure which template to use

In the XXX County Court
Claim number XXXXXX

Between:

Phoenix Recoveries - Claimant

and

xxxxxx - Defendant


Defence

1. The defendant has no knowledge of entering into any form of purchase agreement with the claimant and is embarrassed by the lack of detail supplied within the claim. Having no knowledge of any sales/purchase agreement for "goods" supplied and delivered to the defendant by the claimant the defendant is unable to either admit or deny anything which is not expressley denied within this defence.

2. The defendant denies ever purchasing goods from the claimant.

3. The defendant denies ever receiving goods from the claimant.

4. The defendant puts the claimant to strict proof of the following:-
(i) That the defendant purchased goods from the claimant.
(ii) The date(s) of any such alleged purchases.
(iii) The delivery times of these alleged purchases.
(iv) The delivery addresses of these alleged purchases.
(v) Proof of a purchase/sales contract between the defendant and the claimant.

5. Prima facie the Claimant knows or ought to know that there is no contract between the Defendant and the Claimant for the supply of goods as pleaded, therefore the Claimants claim is speculative and furthermore amounts to an absolute abuse of the process. Accordingly the Defendant avers the Claim ought to be struck out as an abuse as the Claimant holds no cause of action and therefore the Claimants conduct is unreasonable in bringing a claim without foundation.

6. The Defendant seeks the Claimants claim to be dismissed with an order as to costs thrown away in favour of the Defendant.

Statement of Truth
I, INSERT NAME HERE, the Defendant believe that the facts stated in this Defence are true.
Signed …………………………………………
Dated

or should i be using this one instead

"The Defendant denies that he is liable to the Claimant as alleged in the Particulars of Claim, or at all. It is averred that the Claimant has failed to serve a Notice of Assignment in accordance with section 136(1), of the Law of Property Act 1925, in respect of the alleged debt. The amount detailed in the Claimant’s claim, includes penalties charges, which are unlawful at Common Law, under The Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 and The Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999.

Accordingly, the inclusion of penalty charges in the purported Notice of Assignment, renders it entirely legally unenforceable. The Claimant has failed to comply with section 136(1) of the Law of Property Act 1925, by furnishing a Notice of Assignment in respect of that which is denied, that is inaccurate. Consequently, the alleged assignment remains equitable and therefore conferred no legal right upon Claimants, to issue a Court claim in respect of monies allegedly owed.

It is therefore averred that the Defendant does not know the case that has to be met and the Particulars of Claim neither disclose any cause of action with any reasonable prospect of success and/or are an abuse of the process of this Court and, in compliance with the Civil Procedure Rules can and should be struck out pursuant to part 3.4 of the same. Furthermore, the Defendant contends that the Claimant’s conduct in issuing this claim is vexatious and amounts to unlawful harassment, pursuant to section 40 of the Administration of Justice Act 1970.

Regarding that which is denied, on the XX XXXX XXXX, a request was made under section 78, running account credit, of the Consumer Credit Act 1974, to obtain a copy of a credit agreement that the alleged debt refers to. It was sent by recorded delivery to the Claimant, with the statutory £1.00 fee enclosed. It was received on the XX XXX XXXX. The Claimant had twelve working days from receipt of the request, in which to furnish a credit agreement, as stipulated in Regulation 2 of The Consumer Credit (Prescribed Periods for Giving Information) Regulations 1983.

In response to the request, a letter dated the xx xxxx xxxx, with an accompanying document was received from the Claimants. It is denied that the document furnished is a copy of a credit agreement as averred by the Claimant. The Claimant has provided an application form which is not a credit agreement within the meaning of sections 60 and 61 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974. Accordingly, having failed to produce a credit agreement within the requisite timescale or at all, the Claimants are in default of said request under section 78(6)(a) of the Consumer Credit Act 1974.

The Defendant further avers in respect of that which is denied, that the document furnished is a breach of section 59(1) of the Consumer Credit Act 1974.

The Defendant denies that there has been any failure to make payment in accordance with the alleged contract. The Claimant has failed to produced a copy of a credit agreement in the requisite timescale or at all, and in the absence of such an agreement, which conforms to sections 60 and 61 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974, the Defendant avers that no agreement has ever existed for there to have been any failure to make said payment.

The Claimant, possessing no legal right claim monies allegedly owed, have acted unlawfully in issuing a Default Notice and registering said Notice with Credit Reference Agencies. Such conduct is a breach of the Data Protection Act 1998 and amounts to defamation. Furthermore, the Defendant avers, that the Default Notice is wholly unenforceable, given that the amount claimed regarding that which is denied, contains penalty charges, which are unlawful at Common Law, under The Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 and The Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999.

The Claimants have not established any legal right to issue a claim or proven that any debt exists. It is the Defendant’s position that the Claimant’s claim is entirely spurious and without merit and should be struck out for the aforementioned reasons."

Please advice

[Legal]

Re: Bryan Carter Lowell County Court Form

Does your dad have the same initials as you? I am wondering if they have confused the two of you somehow. It's not unheard of for DCA to get family members confused

Not at all. My Dad's initial is completely different, you could not mistake it in anyway shape or form, not unless you write a T can magically be transformed into a C.

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Bryan Carter Lowell County Court Form

Thanks for the replies. I posted off a prove it and cpr. 31 letter today via recorded delivery. I want to enter my defense online tomorrow and not quite sure which template to use

Why do you want to enter a defence tomorrow? You have 14 days to acknowledge the claim stating your intention to defend (which is NOT the same as submitting your defence) PLUS a further 14 days to enter a defence. You have just requested documents via a CPR letter and presumably the CCA request. :noidea: In theory they should reply to your CPR request in 7 days, otherwise they'll have to agree to an extension up to 28 days. There is no need to rush! :clock:

[Legal]

Re: Bryan Carter Lowell County Court Form

Why do you want to enter a defence tomorrow? You have 14 days to acknowledge the claim stating your intention to defend (which is NOT the same as submitting your defence) PLUS a further 14 days to enter a defence. You have just requested documents via a CPR letter and presumably the CCA request. :noidea: In theory they should reply to your CPR request in 7 days, otherwise they'll have to agree to an extension up to 28 days. There is no need to rush! :clock:

A CCA request? I realised another thing last night. When i sent the cpr letter, i did not state for them to provide statement of accounts....will this make a difference? should i send another cpr with the statement of accounts included or it doesn't matter? All i posted was a prove it letter and the cpr, no cca. What is a CCA and whom do i send it to?

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Bryan Carter Lowell County Court Form

A CCA request? I realised another thing last night. When i sent the cpr letter, i did not state for them to provide statement of accounts....will this make a difference? should i send another cpr with the statement of accounts included or it doesn't matter?

The CPR 31.14 letter is just a request for documents mentioned on the particulars of claim, not a general request for information. If you need to request specific information, you'd send a separate Part 18 request.

All i posted was a prove it letter and the cpr, no cca. What is a CCA and whom do i send it to?

A CCA request is a request for a copy of your credit agreement, to be sent to the creditor, Lowell in this case. Non-compliance with a CCA request is a bar to enforcement. :thumb:

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Bryan Carter Lowell County Court Form

CCA request letter below. It should be sent recorded delivery with a PO for £1 and signed using a computer font rather than your real signature. They have 14 days to respond. :thumb: Note that as part of their response, they should supply a statement of account.

Dear Sirs,

Account or Reference No.:

I hereby formally request a copy of my Consumer Credit Agreement, pursuant to s.77-79 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 (CCA1974).I require you to provide me with a true copy, or reconstituted copy of the credit agreement relating to any account you deem to be mine, together with any other documentation the Act requires you to provide. I expect you to comply fully and properly with this request, within the statutory time limit (12 + 2 days).

If it is your view that you are not the creditor, s.175 of the CCA1974 applies in the case of a simple assignment, and places a duty upon you to pass this request to the creditor. In the case of an absolute assignment, you are a creditor as defined by s.189. If you contend that you purchased the rights but not the duties of any agreement, you are reminded that s.189 of the Act is clear that an assignment is of both rights and duties. Your attention is drawn to ss.5(2), 3(b), 6 and 7 of the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (CPUTR).

In line with recent OFT Guidance (issued Oct 2010) surrounding Unenforceability, I presume you're aware that the OFT has stipulated that 'sections 77-79 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 outline the information creditors must provide to debtors under fixed-term, running account & Hire Agreements'. This simply means that under these sections a debtor can pay £1 to get:

• a copy of their agreement
• copies of some of the other documents mentioned in their agreement
• a statement of account

If this information is not provided within 12 working days the debt becomes unenforceable. This means a creditor cannot:

• make the debtor pay the debt before they're supposed to
• get a court judgment against the debtor

So, in line with the OFT Guidance, and the Consumer Credit Act, please find attached my £1 payment, which is the statutory fee - note that these funds are not to be used for any other purpose.

Yours faithfully,

[Legal]

Re: Bryan Carter Lowell County Court Form

I've now posted a CCA Request to Bryan and Lowell. Now, i'm just waiting for a response to my cpr and prove it letter

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Bryan Carter Lowell County Court Form

I've now posted a CCA Request to Bryan and Lowell. Now, i'm just waiting for a response to my cpr and prove it letter

Well done! :thumb:

Do keep an eye on the timescales, if they don't respond to their CPR 31.14 request, you'll need to contact them and get them to agree to an extension under CPR 31.15. From what I've seen on other threads, the Dynamic Duo BC-Lowell have never been able to comply with a single request for documents.

[Legal]

Re: Bryan Carter Lowell County Court Form

I have 14 days to file a defense after acknowledgement of service, correct? I filed my acknowledgement on Monday 02/12, same day i posted the CPR.31 letter. So, i have to enter my defense by 16/12. But if i don't receive a reply by Monday, then request for an extension? What if they take forever to respond to my extension? I will still have to enter a defense by the 16th if i don't hear from then by 13/12. Trying to cover all my basis

I was looking at my credit file again and i noticed something, the shop direct account number on my file is different to the one on the county court form. I cannot see any account information past the default date that Lowell put on my file and i cannot find anything else that indicates that shop direct was in charge of this file before they supposedly bought it. If shop direct sold the account on, then it should be located in my closed account section, no?

I was thinking maybe shop direct might have answers but from something i read in another post, after debt has been sold on, the original creditor do not keep information about the debtor any longer. Is this true?

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Bryan Carter Lowell County Court Form

I have 14 days to file a defense after acknowledgement of service, correct? I filed my acknowledgement on Monday 02/12, same day i posted the CPR.31 letter. So, i have to enter my defense by 16/12.

Once you acknowledge, you have a total of 28 days from the date the claim was served. On post 1 you said you received the claim on Nov 30th, the 28 days should take you to Dec 21st.

But if i don't receive a reply by Monday, then request for an extension?

That depends on when exactly you posted the CPR letter, which they are supposed to respond to in 7 days. Once the 7 days are up, you ring them and request an extension for the maximum allowed under the CPR, which is 28 days. Other people on here have not requested the full 28 days, so make sure you do.

What if they take forever to respond to my extension? I will still have to enter a defense by the 16th if i don't hear from then by 13/12. Trying to cover all my basis

As above, your defence is not due on the 16th. Once they agree to the extension, get them to put it in writing so YOU can notify the court. :typing:

I was looking at my credit file again and i noticed something, the shop direct account number on my file is different to the one on the county court form. I cannot see any account information past the default date that Lowell put on my file and i cannot find anything else that indicates that shop direct was in charge of this file before they supposedly bought it. If shop direct sold the account on, then it should be located in my closed account section, no?

Main question here is: did you or did you not have a catalog account with Shop Direct? :confused2:

I was thinking maybe shop direct might have answers but from something i read in another post, after debt has been sold on, the original creditor do not keep information about the debtor any longer. Is this true?

No idea where you read that but it's not true, :nono: in fact, it is the debt purchaser who doesn't get any information about the debtor, that's why, when faced with a CCA request, they always have to go back to the original creditor. Similarly, you'd normally send a SAR to the OC and not the DCA who wouldn't have the historical data.