Lowell and a statutory demand when statute barred

lolacocacola

Hi there, I would appreciate some help.

I have had a Statutory Demand shoved through the door today from bw legal on behalf of Lowell. The original debt was with Welcome Finance for car finance. The car was actually seized by the Dvla for not being taxed after I asked welcome to repossess it as they wouldn't help with flexibility on the payments (partner made redundant and very poorly newborn in nicu). Following the seizure, I contacted welcome advising them they could retrieve the car, the Dvla advised me they wrote numerous times before destroying it as welcome did not respond.

Default was July 2006, seizure Dec 2006, my last contact with welcome approx May 2007. I have not made any payments or admitted the debt since.

Few months ago I had a letter from bw legal representing Lowell who had bought the debt. I called them, says I did not admit the debt, outlined the above, told them i wasn't liable for anything and that if their client had bought an unenforcable debt then that was super sad for them but I denied the debt and would complain if they harassed me again.

Now I've had this statutory demand.

Am I right in thinking I need to apply to have the debt set aside? Is there a cost to this? What is the process, am I likely to be successful? Will I have to appear in court? Or will they withdraw the statutory demand? I am under a lot if stress at the moment and could frankly do without the rearing of a head that I thought was done and dusted over six years ago!

fatbelly

You need to get the SD set aside.

Factsheet Dealing with a statutory demand

You have 18 days to do this.

National Debtline can advise if you need help with the fine detail.

lolacocacola

Thank you.

The paperwork is all dated 13th Nov but was only posted through the door today, does that mean I have 18 days from today or from the 13th? I can't get to the court until Friday at the earliest.

They also seem to have made a mistake in the paperwork, when outlining the original debt they have left the amount blank, just '£. '. Will this be an additional defence?

Also (approaching tedium, sorry!) it's been served in my maiden name. I've been married over 4 years with a different surname, will this be a problem?

fatbelly

It's in the factsheet:

The 18 or 21 days start from the date the demand was served on you. When a document is ‘served’, it means that it has been delivered in the correct way. The creditor should try to serve a statutory demand on you personally. If this is not possible, the statutory demand may be sent to you by first-class post, or by putting it through your letter box.

I'm assuming that you are the person with the debt and that it is for over £750. If either of those do not apply then those would be good defences. But as it stands I think you are going to rely on this being statute barred.

Just realised that I'm also assuming that you don't want to go bankrupt. If you did, Lowell are about to save you £700 in fees!

lolacocacola

Nope, definitely don't want to be made bankrupt! Aside from anything else, it would net them nothing as I don't have property, assets, or even a car in my name!

rizla_king

Some good help for getting Lowell SDs set aside here as well. http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/forumdisplay.php?251-Lowell-Group-Financial-Debt-Purchase-Specialists

National_Debtline

Hi lolacolacola

Some good points made here already.

Do you have any reason to believe that Lowell know anything in the slightest about your current financial circumstances? I say that because here at NDL we come across numerous cases of debt collection agencies firing off stat demands on a speculative basis. The stat demand is a relatively cheap document to issue but can be scary, so is often used as a cost-effective shock tactic. Actually taking the next step and issuing a bankruptcy petition against the debtor is significantly more expensive, however. As you point out, you own no valuable assets so it is debatable whether Lowell would actually recoup any money by making you bankrupt.

Best next step to take is to apply for set aside of the SD on the basis that it is statute barred. If for any reason you miss the deadline, all is not lost, but we can cross that bridge when we come to it if needs be.

Kind regards

Dennis @NDL

dinky201

You could phone office of fair trading make a complaint especially it s statued barred.

DCA do like SD's because they are hard to defend, and i think it is immoral for them to use them on people who are not well-off in the first place.

But listen to dennis set it aside first, then complain to OFT

lolacocacola

Thank you all for your input, I feel a lot happier now. I have filled out the forms to get it set aside and will take them to court on Friday. I definitely feel a complaint coming on too - didn't need this stress!

If it's statute barred it absolutely will get set aside, won't it? There's no way the judge will let them proceed? :-(

National_Debtline

Hi again

Statute barred is a fairly black and white issue as there's no real interpretation involved. The creditor will either have evidence of payments/written acknowledgements in past 6 years or they won't.

Good luck

Dennis @NDL

lolacocacola

Hi ythere,

I thought I would come back and update this as I have had my set aside hearing.

I wasn't expecting anyone to show up from bwlegal but someone did. He tried to get me to go and have a 'discussion' with him before the hearing but I refused. I also refused to provide him with the updated contact details he asked for (I blocked calls from their number to my phone).

When we went before the judge he asked me if I had any further information so I gave an account of what happened with the car, explained that I felt it was statute barred as I hadn's paid or admitted the debt in over 6 years (over 7 actually) and that I had made bwlegal aware that the account was in dispute before the Statutory Demand was sent. I also supplied the copy of my CCA request, the proof of postage and proof of signature, and advised that they hadn't supplied the documentation requested.

The chap from bw got a bit stammery and said this was the first he knew of any dispute, which was sheer rubbish but I let it go. He said they had been unable to obtain a copy of the credit agreement and statement of account and were 'still trying' and said he had been sent there to request an adjournment.

Judge refused this, said I had made a very strong case, and that he was happy to set the Statutory Demand aside there and then. :-)

So very happy and relieved, I can't tell you. Thank you for the advice and support offered when I was panicky, I really didn't want to go to court but it was actually fine, and just a small room with a table and nothing intimidating at all. I'd encourage anyone who gets a SD from Lowell/bwlegal to fight it.