Lowell court claim

[Ghostonthedancefloor]

On Friday I received a claim form for a Vodafone debt a few years ago (NB - a mistake on my part thinking you didn't have to explicitly stop the automatic renewal of the contract after 2 years)

Yes rightly or wrongly I ignored the letters from Lowell. They have been sending them for a while, however the last letter I had off them was months ago.

It couldn't have come at worse timing, as we are in the process off buying our first house, we have had the DIP accepted and we we're hoping to put an offer in in the next few weeks.

My question is, what is the best course of action - online research is giving mixed answers. Some are saying defend and request CPR 13 is it? That Lowell normally back down at the first hurdle. It is not for a huge amount - just under £300 (including court costs, debt is £190, although on credit file says £171 if that means anything), which I would struggle to pay within 14 days but could at a push.

I absolutely do not want a CCJ so whatever it takes to avoid this.

Could I ring Lowell and try to agree an out of court settlement? (Yes maybe I should have done this the first time!) Some say avoid talking to them directly?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, and yes I know I've been silly burying my head in the sand until now

Could it be more than 6 years since you paid/acknowledged it? If so could defend as statute-barred. If they haven't been trying to resolve with you before going for court claim you could defend under CPR, e.g. if they haven't send a 'notice before claim'. National Debtline website has some good fact sheets and sample letters or ring CAB for advice. Either way send back the acknowledgement of service to give yourself an extra 14 days to respond. Good luck

Thank you, the plan was to send the AoS tomorrow, but don't you have to send either the admission or defence form with it? If you send an admission, do you automatically get a CCJ then? It's all very confusing and not leyman friendly at all, but I'm guessing that's what they want to scare you into coughing up immediately.

And sorry, I'm pretty certain it wasn't over 6 years ago. More like 4.

No, the AoS gives you an extra 14 days to send back the admission or defence, but you are supposed to give an indication of which you are doing. Not sure how much difference it makes if you change your mind about which one. If you admit the claim you are basically accepting the CCJ

Hmm yes, and obviously want to avoid that. Is it wise to ring Lowell directly? Very conflicting advice on this.

I'd speak to a specialist debt adviser before you do anything - try CAB or National Debtline etc

Yep just paid it in the end. Didn't want to risk it. Lesson learnt!