Letters from Lowell

debt.monkey1981

Hi All,

A few years ago after moving out from home, I was struggling to make ends meet and let a catalogue account slide into default. At the time it seemed like an insurmountable problem so I buried my head in the sand. Now I'm not so worried about the debt, but the possibility of getting a CCJ and it screwing up my chances of getting a mortgage.

My catalogue account was opened in 2001, the account defaulted July 2010. The debt is now owned by Lowell and they have sent me a few of letters.

Some to my previous home address, and some to my new one. When I checked the debt details on Noddle, it only references my old address.

The letters state that the balance remains unpaid, and gives the options to set up a payment plan etc.

They're asking for just over £1200, I am sure a lot of this is a fine for the account going into default.

I have two questions which are really concerning me:

Could this letter be considered a default notice or written notice before a CCJ is issued by the courts?

How likely am I to get a CCJ for this kind of thing? I know they can issue one right up until the end.

Thanks in advance for any advice

sourcrates

Hi,
Lowell can be a particular litigious DCA, however they would normally have to comply with the practice direction, pre-action protocol, which basically means they have to write to you saying if you don't pay this today, or make an arrangement to pay, we will take you to court.

By the sounds of it, it could very soon be statute barred, so you should be wary.
If the account dates from 2001, I would make a CCA request as soon as possible, using this template letter, as its highly unlikely they will have the paperwork now, and it would put Lowell out of the game permenantly !!!

https://www.nationaldebtline.org/EW/sampleletters/joint-letters/Pages/Information-about-your-agreement-under-the-Consumer-Credit-Act-(joint-names).aspx

Marktheshark

+1 the CCA advice

fermi

Does not sound like a letter before claim. Default notice would/should already have been done.

Lowells are litigious so you can never say whether they will bother on a claim.

CCA request may be taken as acknowledgement of the debt by a court, as only the debtor under the agreement is entitled to make such a request.

So..

- Sit it out hoping it goes statute barred? Lowells do often issue claims just before, but sometimes do not.
- Challenge Lowell to produce an enforceable CCA, which may or may not exist in an enforceable form. Depends on the catalogue company from that time.

Your call I'm afraid.

debt.monkey1981

Thank you for your responses, you have given me plenty to think about.

From what I understand, if they do decide to issue a claim, then that will sit on my credit file for 6 years. Is there any wriggle room if they decide to issue a claim before the debt becomes statute barred? Could I just pay it off as soon as the court papers come through?

Overall I think the CCA is the safer option, I take it they cant get a CCJ issued once I request that until they have provided me with the information?

fermi

A CCJ only goes on your credit file if you actually get a CCJ judgment awarded against you, and you fail to pay that CCJ within one calendar month of the judgement date.

So yes, plenty of chance to ensure it never does on your credit record if they issue papers and you can pay it off.

A court 'should not' award a CCJ while they are in default of a CCA request, but occasionally a judge decides to ignore that, so it's not a 100% guaranteed thing.

debt.monkey1981

Well that's certainly put my mind at rest!

I was under the impression that if they issued a claim against you and could prove you actually owed that money, then you would get a CCJ. I obviously need to read up again on the whole process.

So worst case scenario if they issue a claim against me, I can just scrape the cash together and pay it off before any judgement or adverse info gets added to my credit file.

I will happily sell a kidney to have a clean credit file!

fermi

You would also have to pay their costs for issuing the claim.