Debt with Lowells. Court papers received.

TiddlyPom

I have a debt of £660 ish that has been with Lowella for some time. After burying my head in the sand I finally decided to deal with it and sent a "full and final settlement" letter using the text from National Debt Line in the letter. I offered £260.

I sent the letter over a week ago and today in the post I have received notification that Lowells are taking me to court to obtain a CCJ. There has been no acknowledgement of the offer I made at all.

Now I've started dealing with this, all the old anxiety from when I had multiple debts has raised its head again and I am finding it very stressful to deal with. I just want or sorted.

ETA. I am still ignoring telephone calls from them as I want it all in black and white. Should I talk to them?

What should my next steps be please?

daniel86_2

First don’t panic, How old is the debt is it longer than 6 years since you made the last payment on the account, if yes then the debt is statute barred and cannot be enforced.

If it is less than six years, they may be able to get a CCJ it might be best to contact them by email through their website with an offer of a monthly payment this might put them off making a CCJ application.

You can also send them a CCA request which should stall any court action while this is sorted.

daniel86_2

This forum explains about a CCA request https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/709639

TiddlyPom

No, debt is not statute barred.

Are they more likely to accept a monthly payment than a full and final settlement? I had assumed they would rather have a lump sum.

I'll do as you say with the CCA request. Should I do that as well as make the offer of monthly payment?

Sorry for so many questions. I managed to deal with all my other debts before they got to this stage and am free and clear of them. This is the last one.

HappyMJ

You are right to deal with them by post and refuse telephone contact.

If you did speak with them you could be pressured into making a payment that you simply cannot afford by a very persuasive operator. They don't make calls to be nice. They make calls to get payment.

daniel86_2

Forgot to mentioned don't talk to them by phone send everything by email they have one on there website and they normally reply very quick. post@lowellgroup.co.uk.

Lowell appear very difficult to sort a settlement out with until it suits them when they send you an offer out. Maybe send them a letter via email making a monthly offer of a payment you can afford at least this shows your commitment to paying the debt.

Just to clarify though have you received a letter saying they will take court action or have you recived a actual court papers.

TiddlyPom

I've received a court claim form.
When I wrote to them about the settlement I emailed as well as posted and have had no response to the email either.

National_Debtline

Hi

It’s ultimately up to Lowell whether they would prefer a lump sum or instalments. As you’ve received a county court claim now it’s important to respond using the court process.

If you want to potentially contest enforceability by making the CCA request you can reply to the court claim on the ‘Acknowledgement of Service’ which gets you an additional 14 days to respond. If you wanted to defend then I recommend seeking legal advice.

Otherwise you need to reply on the court form with an instalment offer if you agree that you owe the debt. The court should set affordable instalments if Lowell don’t accept. If you don’t reply the court will make a default CCJ anyway and you risk enforcement being used.

It’s still possible that Lowell could decide to accept a full and final settlement, if not now perhaps in the future so you can always ask again.

James
@natdebtline

fatbelly

I agree with James that acknowledging service is a good move as it buys you extra time to consider what to do and get good advice. If you have a court claim with a password on it, it's very easy to do this online. You are given 5 days from issue date to 'service date' and than the clock starts ticking. You must acknowledging service or otherwise respond within 14 days of service date or you will get a ccj in default. Acknowledging service gives you an extra 14 days.

A cca request is only appropriate if this is a consumer credit act debt, and you haven't said. I see a lot of Lowell cases that are catalogues (they are cca debts) and mobile phones (they aren't).

Either way, the best place for advice on Lowell claims is

http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/forumdisplay.php?105-Received-a-Court-Claim

TiddlyPom

Thanks for all the help everyone.
I confirm this is an old catalogue debt and I don't intend to dispute it, I just can't pay it all off now.
I'll have a look at the court papers properly and have a look at Legal Beagles also.
Thank you.

fatbelly

I probably would do a CCA on a catalogue debt as many companies do not keep proper records of them and around 10 years ago (don't know when yours started) catalogue companies just sent out an agreement and were happy for the customer to carry on using the account whether or not it was signed and returned. Of course, many weren't and those agreements (pre-April 2007) are known as 'irredeemably unenforceable'

If it is enforceable, this factsheet covers replying with an instalment offer:

https://www.nationaldebtline.org/EW/factsheets/Pages/replyingtoacountycourtclaim/replyingtoaccj.aspx