Lowell and mckenzie

jaggedpixel · 17 January 2008 at 3:40PM

Hello all.
I had a debt a few years ago from a store card (young and stupid). I failed to make payment. Lowells contacted me in 2005-2006 to recover the debt. Finally they said they would take off %75 off the amount owed. At the time I could not afford it. They passed this on to Mckenzie.
Mckenzie offered this reduction too and I paid. They said this was all settled and I no longer owed a penny. This was 2006.
Summer 2007 I receive a demand from Lowells for the rest that was deducted.
Now I have three days before court action.
I have no letter of settlement from Mckenzie nor do I have the original letter with the offer.
What can I do?
Is there a letter I can send that will stop this action? Can I take them to court for obtaining monies by deception?

Yours most desperately,

Steve.

tostao · 17 January 2008 at 3:57PM

sit down and draw up a statement of events, put as much detail as possible, what was said and when,go to court and present this to the judge and the creditor, if it is not your local court get advice from C.A.B. on how to get the case transferred to your local court.

RAS · 17 January 2008 at 4:29PM

Hi

You need to contact one of the debt charities ASAP. CCCS Matthew is on-line at the moment

stapeley · 17 January 2008 at 4:37PM

HI , have you recieved notice from a court ? Or just Lowdown scubbad sorry LOWELL saying they are going to start court case ???

jaggedpixel · 17 January 2008 at 4:43PM

Lowell saying they are going to start a court case. I have had a few letters saying they will be sending a balif in the past. Non have called and I have not missed them as I dont leave the house being disabled.

stapeley · 17 January 2008 at 4:47PM

You will need to contact Mckenzie , and hope they are helpful . In the meantime if it is just a notice of intent from Lowdown, sorry Lowell . Send a request for a deed of ASSIGNMENT and a signed copy of CC AGREEMENT . At the worse this will put the account into dispute , they are then not allow to take any action until they come up with the paperwork . There are template letters for this . This is a prime example why you should always request a DEED OF ASSIGNMENT and a signed copy of the CC AGREEMENT before you deal with these people ! GOOD LUCK

CCCS_Matthew · 17 January 2008 at 4:50PM

Hi there,

You have to be very careful when making settlement offers to creditors or collection agencies to ensure that you get written confirmation that they accept the amount as a full and final settlement offer, and that they mark the debt as "settled" on your credit file.

If you had no written confirmation, your in a bit of a difficult situation as you have no proof that the amount paid was agreed as a settlement. If they are now taking matters further by applying for a CCJ, you can fill outthe defence part of the CCJ arguing that you don't owe the money. This would trigger a court hearing (which you can transfer to your local county court via an N245 form). It would be then up to the judge to decide the outcome of the situation, and whether you owe the money or not. Unfortunately without any written confirmation it would be your word against theirs.

The alternative would be to bite the bullet and pay the amount, but it really depends on how much the outstanding amount is, and whether your prepared to fight your corner in court.

These are your only real options at the moment I'm afraid and there is nothing to stop them going for a CCJ if they feel there is money outstanding on the account. If you need any further help, feel free to ask

CCCS

stapeley · 17 January 2008 at 4:51PM

These DCA will try anything and everything to pressurize you into paying . Never talk on the phone to them , only deal with them by letter , and keep copies . In Mckenzie,s case it is worth ringing them about your payment to them . cheers

jaggedpixel · 17 January 2008 at 4:57PM

It is only a relatively small amount of £300. I suppose me defending this would be more trouble than it is worth. Would it be worth me asking lowells for the amount to be dropped as I can not afford it?

RAS · 17 January 2008 at 5:06PM

jaggedpixel

Do NOT ring this mob.

Please can you type in the letter or at least the paragraph where you are being threatened by court action.

This may be a serious attempt to get a CCJ or it may be an empty threat designed to fleece you when they do not have the required documentation to support legal action. Given that you have coughed up twice they expect you to do the same.

We also need to know

During what years did you acquire the debt. When you say that you did not pay for some years rior to 2005, when did you last pay the account prior to 2005?

stapeley · 17 January 2008 at 5:07PM

No , why should you . On this amount they would only knock off £40. If you,ve paid Mckenzie, It worth ringing them !
Also it could just be an error by LOWELL . For £300 I would ring ,they cann,t all be scubags can they ??

Lowell and mckenzie

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