Notice of Discontinuance - Lowell Solicitors

MuddyFunster

I've just had a very strange letter drop on my doorstep.

In Sept 2015, thanks to a lot of help from MSE and Legal Beagles I avoided a CCJ marker in a case against the debunked (sort of) Bryan Carter / Lowell Portfolio. Which resulted in a Tomlin order for £50 a month for 6 years or so.

I've duly paid the £50 each month without fail. I did get an e-mail from them in April 2016 to say that Bryan Carter were no more and Lowell Solicitors were taking over, they also admitted they had no record of the Tomlin order and asked if I'd send them my copy - I didn't for no other reason than I thought I kept all the benefits of it as in they had to leave me alone, and potentially again, if anything ever went wrong they might not be able to go straight to the court and get the CCJ without having to fight it.

Anyway - the letter:

"Dear Mr. Funster

Our client Lowell Portfolio
ref number XX
Claim Number XX
Original company name Welcome Finance
account number xx
Outstanding Balance £2300

We refer to the above matter

We have been instructed to discontinue the above Claim and return the account to our client, which will end legal proceedings.

Please find enclosed a copy of the Notice of Discontinuance (which was attached) which we have lodged at the Court on the basis that each party near their own costs.

Our client will be contacting you with respect to the account.

Should you wish to discuss the discontinuance, please contact a member of our team blah blah blah.".

What are the implications here? It's an old debt, about a decade old now, it's long gone off my credit history, but obviously I've admitted liability via the Tomilin order and have been making repayments.

IF and it's a big IF, I now decide to boycott any future payments, can I be taken to court a second time for the same debt? My personal finances are a lot better now than they were in 2015, but equally £50 is still a noticeable amount of money each month and frankly it makes me depressed to see it on the bank statement each month.

Lord only knows who's getting my payments these days, they still go to a bank account in the name of Bryan Carter.

fatbelly

Well, that's an interesting question, and clearly not an easy one or someone would have attempted an answer before now.

I think it's unlikely that they would attempt a second claim on an old debt but as there never was a ccj granted or a claim defended on this I think they could. The relevant issues in your particular case have still never been tested by a court.