Received a Claim form (lowell portfolio/bw legal)

A question about : Received a Claim form (lowell portfolio/bw legal)

Hi,

I've today received, a claim form from Northampton County Court on behalf of lowell portfolio/bw legal for three mobile.

The particulars of the claim says; the claimants claim is for the sum of 680.95 (amount claimed 550.95 court fee 60 solicitors costs 70) being monies due from a non-regulated communications agreement between the defendent and three mobile

The claim also includes statutory interest pursuant to section 69 of the county courts act 1984 at a rate of 8% per annum (a daily rate of 0.11‰ from the date of the assignment of the agreement to 25/06/09 being an amount of 40.26)

While I remember taking out a contract with three mobile when it first came out and not honoring the contract at the time due to financial difficulties. I don't however remember how much it was for nor do I have any records relating to it.

As the debt appears to be over 6 years old, nor have I acknowledged or communicated with three or any debt collectors am I still legally obliged to pay? If so would I have to pay it in one lump sum, or would I be able to enter into a payment agreement of some sort?

Any help would be gratefully appreciated.

Thanks

Best answers:

• Depending on the dates the contract was terminated and/or you last made payment or acknowledgement in writing, it could be statute barred.
  See: https://www.nationaldebtline.org/EW/...s/Default.aspx
  Which would be grounds to defend the court action.
  I would call National Debtline ASAP to talk it through with someone to see what they think.
  Be aware that Lowells are a debt collector that has a habit of finding "phantom" payments within the 6 years, which they mysteriously can't prove if pressed on the matter, but that can cause problems if a judge is one who tends to take a creditor's word for things regardless of evidence. There are a few.
• Hi Projectsome
  As fermi says, the debt may be statute barred and therefore unenforceable under a law called the Limitation Act depending on when the contract was terminated and when you last made a payment.
  You are certainly welcome to telephone our helpline on 0808 808 4000 and we can discuss how the Limitation Act would apply in your situation and also discuss the court process, unfortunately we are not able to provide any legal advice. I strongly recommend that you seek some legal advice if you are considering defending this court claim as you can receive additional court costs if you're unsuccessful.
  At this point it is important to respond to the court claim whichever way you choose to proceed. You need to respond to the claim within 14 days of the date it was served on you. You can either admit liability, defend, or send the Acknowledgement of Service.
  If you want to dispute it may be helpful to send the Acknowledgement of Service for now as it basically gets you an extra 14 days to respond (28 days in total) so gives you time to take legal advice.
  This factsheet explains the court process in more detail:
  www.nationaldebtline.org/EW/factsheets/Pages/20%20EW%20County%20court%20...
  Just to address the last question in you post, if you do have to pay the debt via the court order it is possible for the court to assess your finances and set an instalment order.
  James
  @natdebtline
• phoned National Debtline today, and will be going down the Limitations Act route, and will also be sending off a Subjects Act to Lowell Portfolio.
• Ok,
  So far having failed to find a solicitor to help with this one (a few advised a local debt advise centre)
  Went to local debt advise centre, and explained to them what I've been doing/done so far. (Read up on the limitations act/statute barred and explained I had recieved the claim form and what route I wanted to go down)
  We had a brief discussion, and he helped me fill in my defense (which basically stated under the limitations act this debt can't be pursued and is statute barred)
  Having printed and looked over my credit file, I'm pretty confident that I've not had contact or made payment withing the past 6 years.
• No, you may need to ask the court to force them to disclose it.
• Having filed my defence under the limitations act (statute barred)
  I've received a notice of proposal of allocation to small claims track form N149A from Northampton CC, which states
  1. This is now a defended claim **the following text has been crossed out/struck through; the defendent has filed a defence, a copy of which is enclosed**
  2. It appears this case is suitable for allocation to the small claims track. If you believe that this track is not the appropriate track for this claim, you must complete box C1....
  3. You must by the 27 February complete the small claims directions questionnaire form N180 and file it with the court office
  Along with a directions questionnaire (small claims track) form N180 and along with an EX730.
  Is it just a case of filling out the questionaire and requesting the relevant info from Lowell?