Lowell can get a County Court Judgment through its solicitors if you don't reply, but you get a Letter of Claim and a claim form first, each with deadlines.
See your optionsLowell can take you to court and get a County Court Judgment (CCJ) if you do not pay or reply. Lowell Financial Ltd does not issue CCJs itself: it instructs its solicitors, Overdales, to start a claim in the County Court. You get a Letter of Claim first, then a court claim form, and you have set deadlines to respond at each stage.
This guide focuses on the court process. For who Lowell are and how they collect debts, see our general guide on how to deal with Lowell. It covers England and Wales. Scotland has a different court system.
Lowell says its solicitors are “part of the Lowell Group” but are a separate company from Lowell Financial Ltd. Today that firm is Overdales Legal Limited, regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. Court claims are normally brought in the name of the company that owns the debt, such as Lowell Portfolio I Ltd.
You may see older letters from “Lowell Solicitors Limited”. Companies House records show that company was renamed Lowell Legal Limited in April 2024 and is now dormant, and Overdales says it has taken over a number of cases previously handled by Lowell Solicitors. If you are unsure who is writing to you, see our guide to Overdales Solicitors.
The Pre-Action Protocol gives you 30 days from the date at the top of the Letter of Claim to send back the Reply Form. If you do not reply in time, court action can start. On the Reply Form you can:
If you ask for documents, the creditor must provide them, or explain why it cannot, within 30 days. It should not start court action until at least 30 days after it receives your completed Reply Form or provides the documents. If you agree a payment plan, it should not start proceedings while you keep to it. You can read the Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims in full.
Before you admit anything, check the debt is yours, the amount is right and it is not statute-barred (usually six years with no payment or written acknowledgement).
The claim form tells you the date it is treated as served. Under the Civil Procedure Rules, you then have:
You can respond online using the details on the claim form, or on paper. Your options are:
| Your situation | What to do | Form (paper) |
|---|---|---|
| You owe it and can pay in full | Pay the claimant and keep proof | – |
| You owe it but need time | Admit and offer affordable instalments | N9A |
| You owe some, not all | Admit part and defend the rest | N9A and N9B |
| You don’t owe it, or it is statute-barred | Defend the claim | N9B |
If you offer instalments and Lowell rejects your offer, the court sets the payment rate based on your finances. Gov.uk explains how to respond to a court claim for money.
A CCJ is a court order to pay. It is recorded on the Register of Judgments and on your credit file for six years. If you pay the full amount within one calendar month of the judgment, it is removed from the register. Lowell’s own help pages say the same.
A CCJ is not a criminal record, and Lowell cannot send bailiffs just because it has one. Enforcement only follows if you fail to pay as ordered.
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If your circumstances change, you can ask the court to lower the monthly payments using form N245. The court fee is £16 (fee list updated July 2026). You will need to give full details of your income and spending. The same form can be used to ask the court to suspend a warrant of control. Help with Fees may cover court fees if you are on a low income.
If you did not know about the claim, for example because it went to an old address, or you have a real defence, you can ask the court to cancel (“set aside”) the judgment using form N244. The fee for an application on notice is £321 from 13 July 2026. You will usually have to attend a hearing. Act quickly: courts expect you to apply promptly once you know about the judgment. Lowell cannot remove a valid CCJ itself, but in some cases a creditor will agree to a consent order to set one aside, for which the lower fee of £126 applies.
If you do not keep to the judgment, Lowell’s solicitors can apply to the court for enforcement. Options include:
Our guide to the different types of bailiffs explains who can visit and what powers they have.
People sometimes read online that you can ignore Lowell. For most people this is risky. If a debt is valid and not statute-barred, ignoring a Letter of Claim or claim form can lead to a judgment by default, with no chance to agree payments you can afford. You may also have to pay fixed legal costs added to the claim.
The exceptions are narrow. If a debt is statute-barred, you may not need to pay, but you should still reply to any court claim saying so, because the court will not raise it for you.
If you owe several creditors, a formal solution may help more than dealing with each one. A Debt Relief Order, bankruptcy or an Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA) can include Lowell debts and CCJs; once in place, included creditors cannot enforce. A debt management plan is informal, and Breathing Space can pause action for up to 60 days while you get advice. Which fits depends on your income and assets.
They can. If you do not pay or reply, Lowell can instruct its solicitors, Overdales, to issue a County Court claim. Before doing so they must send a Letter of Claim under the Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims, giving you 30 days to reply. Replying, disputing the debt or agreeing an affordable plan at that stage can often avoid a claim.
Not straight away. Lowell's own staff are not bailiffs. Bailiffs can only be involved after Lowell's solicitors get a County Court Judgment and you then fail to pay it as ordered. They would then need to apply to the court for a warrant of control, or transfer the judgment to the High Court if the debt is £600 or more and not under a regulated credit agreement.
It is not a good idea. If the debt is valid, ignoring a Letter of Claim or court claim form can lead to a County Court Judgment by default, extra costs and possible enforcement. It is better to check the debt, ask for proof if you are unsure, and reply by the deadline. If the debt is statute-barred, say so in writing and in any defence.
Lowell cannot remove a valid CCJ on its own. If you pay the full amount within one calendar month of the judgment, it is removed from the register. Otherwise it stays for six years. If you have grounds, you can ask the court to set it aside using form N244, and sometimes a creditor will agree to a consent order.
You have 14 days from the date the claim form is treated as served to pay, admit or file a defence. If you file an acknowledgement of service within those 14 days, you get 28 days from service to file your defence. The claim form shows the key dates and how to respond online or by post.
No. Lowell is a debt purchaser that buys and collects debts. An IVA is a formal, legally binding agreement with your creditors, set up by a licensed insolvency practitioner. Debts owed to Lowell, including CCJs, can usually be included in an IVA, and once it is approved Lowell cannot take further enforcement action for those debts.
Free, independent debt advice is also available from MoneyHelper, StepChange, National Debtline and Citizens Advice.