Am I liable? Claim form received

Diddlydoodah

Hi, I have received a summons claiming under £1000 which it is alleged was run up on a credit card. Lowells claim that they bought the debt in January 2009.

I have checked my Experian credit file a while back and there were no defaults at all. The file history is clear. My bank also checked it for me 18 months ago and said there were no problems.

I asked Lowells for a default notice and original contract copy some time back but received nothing except a summons today.

I don't for the life of me remember this debt (I know that being forgetful isn't a defense.) as it would date back 5 years eight months so the credit card company must have sold the debt contract (if it exists) on when it was 4 months old which I find highly unlikely so if it exists the contract may well be statute barred.

I have acknowledged the summons but stated that the claim will be contested. I have also asked for the court hearing to be moved to my local court as I am some 150 miles away from Northampton. I contested the jurisdiction by ticking the box which is what I thought this meant so hope that won't cause any problems. I also put in my defense that I have been supplied with no paperwork whatsoever from Lowells to back up their claim (default notice/copy of signed contract etc).

One other thing that may or may not be relevant is that I read that being on drink or drugs means that such a contract cannot be made. Can anyone clarify this if I did need such a defense. I am alcoholic and have been taking prescribed medicine since 1982 only coming off of it this year (after an immense struggle).

Thanks for any advice or help.

Gaz83

Diddlydoodah wrote: »

One other thing that may or may not be relevant is that I read that being on drink or drugs means that such a contract cannot be made. Can anyone clarify this if I did need such a defense. I am alcoholic and have been taking prescribed medicine since 1982 only coming off of it this year (after an immense struggle).

Thanks for any advice or help.

Regarding this point, this would only be a defence if you could successfully argue you were under the influence to an extent your judgement would be seriously impaired - then you could argue you were not of mental competence to consent to a contract.

Otherwise, anyone who'd taken aspirin or paracetamol would be getting out of contracts left, right and centre.

Diddlydoodah

Thanks Gaz83. I genuinely do not recall taking out a credit card for the company claimed and at over 5 years back I doubt that any heavy drinker would let alone someone mixing medicine with alcohol so like I say I don't know if this is an area worth chasing up. It could just as easily be someone has used a card in my name of course.

stator

Sorry I don't know much about this so can't be any help but check your other credit reports too, Equifax and Call Credit.
I would send your letters to them recorded post and keep the proof.

Hope you sort this out quickly.

Diddlydoodah

stator wrote: »

t
check your other credit reports too, Equifax and Call Credit.

Thanks. I assumed that a default went to ALL credit reports.

stator

Each bank/credit card company decides which credit reference agency it sends data to, sometimes it's all three, sometimes not.

Diddlydoodah

So I have to check with all three? This could work out expensive.

fermi

£2 at each of the 3 CRAs = £6

Diddlydoodah

Sorry to sound naive but last time I checked an annual/monthly subscription was payable to each CRA. It was quite a while back. Is the £2 a shot a new thing?

Would it be better to see if Lowells do supply the paperwork with default notices and a copy of any original contract and wait to see what CRA they have used?

I've just told my son what is going on and he has offered to lend me some money if it would be accepted as a full and final settlement IF the DCA can prove that it is my debt and is not statute barred. Would a court be likely to accept an offer as a !!!!!! rather than go down the £1 a month route? If so what sort of percentages would they accept? The entire bill is under £1000.

Thanks again for the help/advice.

fermi

£2 is the cost of the statutory report that should show you everything you need. They have set down in law for many many years. The CRAs make the way of ordering them a bit hard on their sites, but they are there.

e.g. http://www.experian.co.uk/consumer/statutory-report.html

If you've received a court claim, you may want to ask somewhere like: http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/forumdisplay.php?105-Received-a-Court-Claim

And talk to National Debtline: https://www.nationaldebtline.org/EW/factsheets/Pages/20%20EW%20County%20court%20-%20replying%20to%20a%20claim%20form/Default.aspx

Diddlydoodah

Many thanks indeed. The Legal Beagles one looks very promising.