Lowell letter 30 day notice

mad_mole

Hi new to the forum
I have received a letter from Lowell solicitors threatening court action for a ccj if i dont respond within 30 days. They have sent a PAPR1 with the letter. The alleged debt was with comet who ceased trading in December 2012, no payments or acknowledgement of the alleged debt have been made since November 2012 and it was terminated but then assigned to Lowell finance by Newday ltd in June 2014 as stated in the letter they sent. Do i fill in the PAPR1 Ticking box C and box I requesting a copy of the written contract for the debt, full statement of account etc etc? or do i just reply that this alleged debt is statute barred
Thanks for any help you can give

Willing2Learn

Hi mad mole and welcome to the forum

You have a received a Pre Action Protocol letter.

I am not a debt counsellor, so hopefully others will be along later this morning to confirm my thoughts.

What is the date of default for the account? I ask this, because the default date would be considered the 'cause of action', from which point the account would be statute barred. If you are unsure, then I believe you are correct to be ticking box C and then using box I to request additional information of the account. Just make sure that when you complete box I, that you always refer to the account as the 'alleged debt', as you don't want to accidentally acknowledge the debt.

For full guidance, please see the article linked below:
https://debtcamel.co.uk/letter-before-claim-ccj/

mad_mole

Hi thanks for the reply, I believe the default date would have been November 2012 which would put the alleged debt almost 8 years old. Lowell were allocated it from Newday ltd in June 2014 after Newday ltd had acquired it from GE Capital and are probably trying to use June 2014 that date as the default date. I will send the PAPR1 back as signed for and keep you updated on the outcome.

mad_mole

Had a letter back from lowell regarding the alleged debt this is their response

We refer to your response to the pre action protocol form which we received on 31 July 2019
The oustanding balance relates to a NewDay Ltd account operating under the brand comet, That was opened on October 2007. The last payment made to the original creditor was on 1 May 2014 for the amount of £12.35.
We note from your correspondence that you wish to request a copy of documentation with regards to the account. To enable us to do this for you, please confirm which documents you require a copy of.
Action on the account will be suspended for 30 days from the date of this letter to allow time for you to respond.
I requested the following in the reply to the PAP
1 A copy of the written contract to the alleged debt.
2 A full statement of account, including details of all interest and charges included on the outstanding balance of the alleged debt, Explaining how they have been calculated and any payments made toward the alleged debt including.
3 A copy of the Default Notice
4 A calculation of the interest claimed
5 The annual or daily rate of interest
6 A description of the nature and amount of any administrative charges included in the debt
7 A copy of the notices of assignment of the alleged debt

I have never accepted the alleged debt nor have I made any payments in May 2014 as they claim.
Is this some sort of ploy with them not sending the information I requested when I returned the PAP for more time to get the information? Should I reply with a re-request of the information I asked for in the Pre Action Protocol?

mad_mole

Now they have gone down the CCJ route, I still haven't received the Information that I requested. They have sent some of the requested information which confirms it defaulted in 2013 but also claim a payment was made in 2014 but haven't given the details of who and how this was made. any advice on how I now respond to the county court claim form that I have now received.
Thanks

WhenIam64

Debt Camel or Legal Beagles will advise on the process which essentially is

1. Acknowledge within 14 days from the date in the top right of the claim and
2. Enter a defence within 28 days from the date in the top right of the claim

As regards a defence, then claiming it to be statute barred (as an honestly held belief) would be a way forward. This gives you up to 6 months to chase down this rogue May 2014 payment they are claiming.

At any time up until the court door, you can settle if you think it is in your best interests.

mad_mole

So after completing the steps 1 and 2 mentioned by WhenIam64, they have decided to go down the route of small claims mediation (small claims track) still waiting for a reply regarding the mysterious payment that was apparently made. Will keep you updated to the outcome.

WhenIam64

Rather than wait for mediation, you should get them to chase down this rogue May 2014 payment they are claiming.

You will get a date for mediation. Mediation is run by a private company for HMCTS (the courts) whose sole aim is to get the matter settled so it does not progress to expensive court time. Usually the pressure is all on the defendant. You can say no to a payment as there is no bias if it progresses to a hearing.

About 1 month before the hearing date you will get a Notice of Hearing which will say (though it is not clear) that you have to produce a Witness Statement (i.e. what happened) which has to be sent to the court and to Lowells 14 days before. People get caught out at this stage so expect Lowells to continue.

Lowells can though discontinue 7-14 days before the hearing date (Notice of Discontinuance) without a cost to them as some people fold at the Witness Statement stage.

Lowells are not interested in the facts of the matter. Just how many fold at each stage, why and how they can refine the letters to increase the yield. Rare for them to go all the way unless they can cover the £400-£500 cost of actually taking the case all the way.