Lowell Claim Form... Advice Please

A question about : Lowell Claim Form... Advice Please

So I received a claim form from Lowell asking me to pay them a total of Ј453.65 (Ј373.65 the amount claimed). This claim is for debt they bought off Shop Direct for a Littlewoods account I had. A while back I was paying it off at about a fiver a month, as I'm not made of money and struggle as it is.

One day I was going through my finances, and realised that I couldn't possibly owe so much, so decided to stop paying. Now though, I face a potential CCJ or whatever, so I need to sort it out once and for all.

According to the information I've gathered, my Littlewoods order history (the only one of Shop Direct's catalogue sites I used btw), I ordered Ј663.90 worth of items. The account was set up in Feb 2010, and there were occasions that I missed payments.

However, looking over my bank statements, I've paid them a total of Ј1,422.66, which is just over double the amount of what I owed. Now, if you factor in the interest, I'm sure that the maths would probably work out just about right if I also had to pay the Ј10 late payment fee every single month from the moment I opened the account until the present day. I've also paid Lowell a total of Ј40 over an eight month period, suggesting that Shop Direct claimed I owed Ј413.65 on top of the Ј1,422.66 I'd already paid, which would essentially result in me paying Ј1,836.31 for Ј663.90 worth of gear.

Doesn't quite work out, imo.

And that's what brings me here, I'm not entirely sure what I should do. I have until the 14th or 15th to respond to the claim. I can't afford it, nor can I afford a solicitor, and I don't feel I should pay for either considering the amount I've already sunk a total of Ј1462.66 towards this.

So I must ask, what options are available to me? If I dispute the claim, approximately how much would it cost, and would I have to go to court? If I just lie down and accept it, would I be allowed to enter into a payment agreement, and would this turn out to be the cheaper option? Would I be able to flip the script and actually claim some of the money back myself?

I could really do with a bit of advice, as this is all new to me, and have never felt so baffled and confused in my life. Any help would be appreciated, cheers.

Best answers:

• Best post on CAG forums. I'm no court expert.
  You can dispute the amount owed and get it transferred to a local court.
  Then you turn up and put your case forward.
  You sound like you owe the money so I imagine a CCJ for some amount is likely. You can ask to pay in instalments.
  Whatever you send by post, get proof of posting, as this lot often appear on here for not receiving firms you send etc.
• https://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/...-a-Court-Claim
• Cheers for the link!