Lowell Solicitors Filling Out My Court Forms

samzy1981

Hello,

I didn’t know where to post this so please move if it is the wrong place.

I’ve received a claim form from the court regarding an old credit card debt that is now owed by Lowell.

It’s not statute barred as payments have been made to it.

I called Lowell to see if we could come to an arrangement that wouldn’t result in a CCJ. The guy said that I would need to make the payment within a certain period, like over x amount of months to avoid a CCJ. I asked how many months but he refused to tell me until I went through an I&E process with him. Finally I agreed, although it felt like it would be pointless as I had an offer in mind which I could realistically afford.

After much attitude from the guy while going through this form, he then completely disregarded the results of it anyway, he said the payment would need to be made over 6 months max, which I can’t afford.

So, and here is where I kind of lost my mind, I offered him a monthly payment below what he wanted, he said that he would just fill out my court form to make an admission of liability and add my offer of payment on that.

I was shocked and clarified with him that he was indeed planning on making an admission to the court on my behalf and offering Lowell a payment through the court on my behalf. It seems my I&E was also filled out on my court forms for me too.

My question is this: can a company really make an admission to a court and basically sign me up for a CCJ without my consent? Can they also refuse to set up a repayment plan because it doesn’t meet their standards? The only way he would accept my proposed payment was with him completing and submitting my court papers. Why does he even have these?

Sorry if this is rambled, I am kind of in shock, as I believed that the court forms were between myself and the court and that no third party, especially the claimant could fill them out on my behalf.

I appreciate any advice as this is so stressful, right now I don’t even know if he went ahead and entered me in to a CCJ!

sourcrates

Ignore Lowell.

You cant be "signed up for a CCJ".

Fill in the claim form with your offer of payment, doing this online gives you 28 days max to file your defense.

If the court gets the wrong information you can challenge it and ask for an installment order after judgement is made.

Lowell will want paying in the shortest possible time, but they will have to fit in with your budget.

[Deleted User]

You don't get signed up for a CCJ. It's not some kind of membership scheme.

The creditor will apply to the court for a CCJ. However, the fact you have offered a payment plan will not help their case.

I don't understand the bit about how you lost your mind by offering a monthly payment. I'd have thought that was the sensible thing to do.

pelirocco

You can go online and appeal if you want to buy more time. However as far as I am aware once they prove the debt to the court they can issue the ccj even if you have a payment plan in place

samzy1981

Thanks for the replies.

I say lost my mind because I got angry that he was saying he would fill in the court form and send my offer and make my admission on my behalf, not because I was offering a payment plan. That’s my bad on the phrasing. The whole intention of my call was to set a payment plan, but it seems Lowell don’t want me in a payment plan, they want me with a CCJ.

I know CCJ’s aren’t a membership, again, maybe bad phrasing. He just didn’t want my offer of payment and wanted it through a CCJ and wanted to complete my forms on my behalf and make the admission on my behalf which felt unethical and wrong to me. I should fill in my own court forms and send them back to the court. What I was trying to do was deal with Lowell and avoid the need for a CCJ and court involvement, but it seems that isn’t an option.

nic_c

You have a claims form, and so filling in the Admissions form allows you to do a plan but you do get a CCJ. You can fill in and post it or you can fill it in at moneyclaim.gov.uk if you don't want to speak to them.

From your post the guy did ask for your consent to submit the admissions, did you state on the call that this was not to be done, or did you agree? Did you ensure the amount you wanted was used rather than what they wanted to put?
Do bear in mind you have 14 days from when you receive the claims to reply otherwise they can proceed for a CCJ without your consent
If I get it right, there was the option to avoid court but they wanted more per month than you are wanting to give. Maybe you feel they can't get a CCJ if you make any offer of payment, which isn't true.