Should I pay off my debt or fight it? 7 February 2022 at 11:22AM in Credit file & ratings 20 replies 825 views

JustTemporary

To make this post short and sweet, I am going to bullet-point the events:

• September 2014: I got a contract with Vodafone for an Apple iPhone 6S.
• December 2014: The phone stopped working, and I sent the phone back to Vodafone for a replacement. 
• February/March 2015: After many phone calls with Vodafone and not receiving a replacement, I stopped my direct debit. 
• June/July 2015: Vodafone cancelled my phone contract and asked me to pay the remaining balance. 
• At some point: Lowell buys the debt from Vodafone? 
• March 2017: A County Court Judgement was entered against me. 
• At some point: I called Vodafone, and they claimed not to have my data on their system. I emailed the CEO of Vodafone, and after many emails back and forth, they agreed to send all of my data, which I hoped to include my phone calls asking for the status of the replacement phone. Unfortunately, the data was password-protected, and I gave up. 
• January 2022: Overdales Solicitors buys the debt from Lowell? 
• February 2022: I got a letter that Overdales Solicitors has been instructed to apply for a Writ of Control. 

I don't think I am in the wrong. Vodafone owed me a replacement for 2-3 months and did not deliver even after many calls and false promises. Vodafone and/or Apple surely have data on what happened to the phone I returned, which would prove that I did not have a phone. 

Should I pay the £830 that they claim I owe? Or should I try to fight this debt? 

JustTemporary

To be clear, I can pay off the entire £830 today. This money won't affect my quality of life. However, I do not believe that I owe this money. 

impoverishedtraveller

JustTemporary said:

However, I do not believe that I owe this money. 

A county court judge ruled differently.
This is the point of no return - nothing else matters now.
If paying doesn’t affect the quality of your life, better off paying before High Court Enforcement show up and clamp your car until you pay.

JustTemporary

impoverishedtraveller said:

JustTemporary said:

However, I do not believe that I owe this money. 

A county court judge ruled differently.
This is the point of no return - nothing else matters now.
If paying doesn’t affect the quality of your life, better off paying before High Court Enforcement show up and clamp your car until you pay.

Can the ruling be overruled? Why can't I go to court and submit evidence? 

What if I don't have a car or a house in my name? What else can they do? 

TadleyBaggie

So what did you do when the county court documents arrived, did you submit a defence?

JustTemporary

TadleyBaggie said:

So what did you do when the county court documents arrived, did you submit a defence?

I don't know what documents you are referring to. I don't remember any document asking me to come to court or submit a defence. Only Lowell and Overdales have been in contact with me. 

TadleyBaggie

So how do you know there was a county court judgement against you and when did find out?

JustTemporary

TadleyBaggie said:

So how do you know there was a county court judgement against you and when did find out?

Lowell has sent a letter saying that a CCJ was entered against me in March 2017. I think every letter after that also mentions the CCJ. 

impoverishedtraveller

JustTemporary said:

Can the ruling be overruled? Why can't I go to court and submit evidence? 

What if I don't have a car or a house in my name? What else can they do? 

1. 4 years later? Realistically no.
2. You could have done… 4 years ago.
3. With a writ of control they can come into the property you live in and seize anything in there (unless you can prove with receipts that it doesn’t belong to you).
4. They can apply (and probably get) an attachments of earnings order so they get the money directly from your pay.

If you say that you can pay off the £830 today… then it’s probably a no brainer.

400ixl

JustTemporary said:

TadleyBaggie said:

So how do you know there was a county court judgement against you and when did find out?

Lowell has sent a letter saying that a CCJ was entered against me in March 2017. I think every letter after that also mentions the CCJ. 

Have you verified what the letter says is true and there is a CCJ against you?

sourcrates

A writ of control does not allow a bailiff to enter a private property.

They can enter business premises, but not a private address, unless you let them in, or they make peaceful entrance through an unlocked door.

Locking the door, keeps them outside.

However an attachment to earning would be the next step.

If there is a judgement, it will show on your credit file, there is a process to getting a CCJ, they are not handed out like smarties, there should have been a letter before action sent first, which if not replied too, would have triggered a claim form, obviously you either didn`t get any of these, and a judgement in default was granted, could they maybe have gone to a former address ? 

After 4 years its a bit late to be challenging this now, you could have applied for a set aside, but you should do so promptly, not after 4 years, I think the ship has sailed on that one.

Overdales are Lowell`s tame solicitors, part of the same company, they just handle litigation for Lowell.

To be honest your better off just paying this, I`d check and see if there is a judgement first, if there is, you don`t really want bailiffs knocking on your door, or an attachment to your earnings, its not often Lowell enforce anything, most of the time they just threaten, but you never can tell, so how you proceed is up to you.