Lowell Solicitors Court Letter

MrsAlison88

Hello everyone,
I am just looking for a bit of advice please.
I have received a court claim form from Lowell Portfolio. The court is County Court Business Centre in Northampton.
My outstanding amount is £1125.88. The court fee is £70 and legal representative costs £80.00. Total £1275.88.
My debt is an outstanding Very bill dating from early 2016. I did keep up payments with them each month without fail but I couldn't afford the minimum repayment and it was referred to Lowell.
I received some letters which I admittedly didn't respond to at first as we just couldn't afford any repayments at that time.
They sent me a letter and offered me 25% off the balance. I spoke to my parents about a temporary loan and they advised the most they can lend was £400. I emailed them and asked would they accept a 60% off settlement - total £425.54 and explained that it was all that I could afford, that we had a baby and another one on the way. They declined this offer and now I've received this claim form and a separate letter now from Lowell Solicitors.
I've contacted Lowell Solicitors and explained the situation and asked can we come to some kind of agreement on the balance. Truthfully, I haven't a clue how we are going to afford it, my husband works full time, I work part time and we literally scrape by, we hardly ever go out, it's just the price of our bills, mortgage etc.
I could sell some things on ebay and try and raise the money.
I'm really scared about being took to court. Does anyone have any advice, will they really take me to court? Are Lowell solicitors likely to accept a reduced settlement?

I hope that made sense! Thank you for all your help,
Alison

sourcrates

Ok, you now have a claim form, you are been taken to court.

You must acknowledge service online, that will give you 28 days in which to respond.

This dosent mean you will physically appear in a court room, it's all done online and via the post.

You need to decide how to respond to it, if you admit the claim, admit part of the claim, or you deny the claim.

Assuming you admit the debt, there will be a budget sheet to fill in, the court will not make an order for payment that you cannot afford, so don't worry.

If you want to negoatiate with the creditor to pay the debt off, then do so, but do not ignore the claim form.

National_Debtline

Hi Alison

You need to respond to the claim within 14 days of the date of service. If you don’t dispute the debt you would admit the claim and offer a monthly instalment based on how much you can afford. That can be a small amount if you can’t afford much at the moment.

Ultimately it’s up to them whether they accept a reduced settlement amount or not so it’s difficult to say whether they’ll be likely to accept. You can try making another offer but don’t offer more than you can afford. Make sure you get confirmation of them accepting any reduced settlement and ending your liability in writing before you pay.

James
@natdebtline

fatbelly

Good advice above.

The specialists for dealing with court claims (particularly from Lowell as they are very litigious) are over on

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

It's surprising how often these debt buyers, when put to the test, can't back up anything in their claim. If they're going to get a judgement for £1200 (and that's nothing much to worry about - I saw a court today order repayment over 80 months) then at least make them work a bit.

Samiz12A

I’ve received a court claim form , for none payment of very account . I panicked and logged on to the very account and paid the min payment of £1.400 have I done wrong ? What will happen now ? the address on the form is Lowell solicitors . Does this mean the debt was bought by Lowell ? Omg or are Lowell solicitors acting for very . Im confused

[Deleted User]

Samiz12A wrote: »

I!!!8217;ve received a court claim form , for none payment of very account . I panicked and logged on to the very account and paid the min payment of £1.400 have I done wrong ? What will happen now ? the address on the form is Lowell solicitors . Does this mean the debt was bought by Lowell ? Omg or are Lowell solicitors acting for very . Im confused

You'd still need to acknowledge the claim even if it's to prove that you have paid it off with Very, wise Lowell could end up getting the CCJ on you by default.

National_Debtline

Hi Samiz12A


Have you paid the balance shown on the court claim? Or was the balance on the Very account different? If you haven't paid the full balance on the court claim you could still be given a CCJ.


If you want to settle the debt and avoid a CCJ make sure the full balance of the court claim has been paid. I'd suggest that you contact Lowell to inform them you have paid Very directly. They might be acting on behalf of Very, or they may have bought the debt from them. You did need to clarify that point and make sure there are no issues with the fact you have paid Very directly.


The safest option is to respond to the court claim as well. You have 14 days to do this and you should send it to the return address by recorded delivery. If you want to pay the remaining balance in full you can state the date you will do this in section 11. You can also make an offer to pay in instalments, but remember, if the CCJ is not paid in full within a month of it being made it will stay on your credit file for 6 years.


Susie
@natdebtline