Halifax - Lowell Court Claim

mikeymatteo

Hi all,

Back in 2007 (I was 19) I had a £1000 over draft with Halifax. I maintained this overdraft until 2010 when halifax set about changing their overdraft charges from a percentage to £1 per day the account was overdrawn, this would more than double my monthly charges.

Before the changes where in place I decided to visit my branch and voice my concerns and ask for help. I asked if they would be prepared to give me a loan for the £1000 and I could pay off the overdraft and pay off the loan instead, they refused, I asked about a credit card, they refused, I asked If they could freeze the account and I would continue to pay the overdraft off, they refused.

They told me that the only way my account would be frozen was if I went over my overdraft limit. so I did.
My intention was for it to go over the overdraft limit, for them to freeze the account and then I could start paying it off. They didn't freeze the account until it was £1500+ and then sold the debt to collections.

Initially I told collections I was willing to pay the original £1000 debt but not the extra £500 as this could have been avoided and was not my debt. They refused to accept this and since have heard nothing from me in almost 6 years.

The debt is due to be removed from my credit file July 2016.

I recently received a county court claim now for the amount of £1800. Why wait until now!
I was advised by CAB to reply with an acknowledgement of service to give me more time to seek advice.

A friend said that surely this "secretive" PPI everyone has been paying should have kicked in when my account got into trouble.

I really want to avoid a CCJ, this debt has already caused enough problems for the past 6 years.

The big problem i have is that i have ZERO paperwork on this. ITS 6 YEAR OLD, since this debt... i've been married, moved home twice and have 2 children.
I also have no proof of the conversation that I had with a member of staff at the branch.... 6 years ago

What can i do?

Thanks.

Anthorn

Reading between the lines I'd say that Lowell are seeking a CCJ to stop the debt becoming Statute Barred. If it comes off your credit history by July then the six years lapse prescribed by the Limitation Act 1980 has not been reached. In short, the debt cannot be 6 years old.

Note that there are different rules for Statute Barred debts in Scotland.

eskbanker

mikeymatteo wrote: »

What can i do?

You can feel hard done by and indignant and so on but deflection isn't really going to help (e.g. trying to evade responsibility for the extra £500 as not yours), so ultimately if you want to avoid a CCJ and consequent impact on your credit history then you need to find the money and pay it off.

If you've had enough funds to get married, move home twice and have 2 children, then surely you should be able to find some way of raising £1800 - perhaps post over on the Debt-Free Wannabe Board for further ideas on that front?

mikeymatteo

Unfortunately cannot raise the funds.
We where married 6 years ago on a shoe string budget at a registry office, our homes have been rented.
The point about moving home was in reference to my not having any paperwork on the matter anymore.

I couldn't raise £300 in a month never mind £1800

The issue over the extra £500 was made 6 years ago when I was young an nieve about debts.

mikeymatteo

I have recently had to reduce my working hours to part time so we can manage at home as my wife is a full time student at university and my son is disabled.

If I could find any extra money, I would... but each month alone is a struggle.

jonesMUFCforever

The very minimum you should do is get in touch with the company that have written to you and agree a repayment plan.
To do this they will probably need you to do a statement of affairs - the debt free wanabe board will help you with this - please go to that board for advice.
If you want paper confirmation of the transactions on the account you can SAR Halifax (it will cost you £10) they have up to 40 days to provide this so time is of the essence here.

Anthorn

Lowell should be able to provide you with account details which should at least be the original account number (not Lowell's account number), the date the agreement was signed the default date and the balance. If they cannot do that I'd say they cannot recover the debt in a court of law because you could argue that you know nothing about it.

For now get your incoming and outgoing funds statement ready. You will surely need it.

meer53

"A friend said that surely this "secretive" PPI everyone has been paying should have kicked in when my account got into trouble."

Your friend is wrong. PPI was never "secretive" it was an insurance which you would have paid to protect you if you were unable to work and therefore unable to repay your loan or credit card. And not "everyone" has been paying it.

It would never "kick in" either, you would have had to make a claim against the policy.

PeacefulWaters

What can i do?

1. Accept your past efforts to evade the charges applied to the account have failed.

2. Accept that this is your responsibility.

3. Negotiate. Make an offer in full and final settlement. If you're unable to, accept the consequences of your previous actions.

grumbler

Anthorn wrote: »

Reading between the lines I'd say that Lowell are seeking a CCJ to stop the debt becoming Statute Barred.

When did it start then? 2016-6=2010, but the OP mentioned 2007.

Usually I don't advocate evading debts, but with 6 years of ruined credit history behind and obviously incorrect/unprofessional/... advice given by the bank to a young customer years ago, I would give this a thought.

Anthorn

grumbler wrote: »

When did it start then? 2016-6=2010, but the OP mentioned 2007.

Usually I don't advocate evading debts, but with 6 years of ruined credit history behind and obviously incorrect/unprofessional/... advice given by the bank to a young customer years ago, I would give this a thought.

The OP says it's due to be removed from the credit history in July 2016 so the debt cannot be 6 years old so it cannot be statute barred as I noted in my post. Or are you reading a different OP than I'm reading?