Red Debt Collection (Lowells) & 3 mobile

GeorgeUK

If you send a subject accesss request (SAR) they have a legal obligation to deal with it - within 40 days. This should show all the transactions that have been made as well as any documents relating to you, so should include a copy of your notice letter.

LunarTic

My wife received a letter from Red Debt (a.k.a. Lowell Portfolio I) yesterday alleging that she owed T-Mobile just under £200. However the only dealings she has had with any company related to T-Mobile was when she was a customer of one2one (since bought out by T-Mobile) around 7 years ago. She insists that she settled her mobile account with them in full before migrating across to BT Genie - which was definitely over 6 years ago. She has definitely not received any communication from T-Mobile regarding any outstanding debt until the letter from Red Debt yesterday.

So I have sent them a "Statute Barred" letter and got in touch with BBC Watchdog.

I am also paying close attention to the Office of Fair Trading guidelines, http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/business_leaflets/consumer_credit/oft664.pdf - if I believe that any of these guidelines have been broken as a result of this case, then I shall be contacting the OFT accordingly.

jscalow

this company will just search the electoral register and send a letter to every one with the same name, what they are hoping is that the "right" person gets the letter and makes contact, just like fishing, the more hooks, the more bites. If you are certain its not you dont worry about it.

rchrisp

working on the front desk in a police station, i probably get at least one person a week coming in with debt collection letters addressed to them that they know nothing about. my advice to them if writing to deny the debt doesn't work is to ask for a copy of the contract they supposedly signed to obtain the credit in the first place.

pete1909_2

I've had exactly the same scenario as sheff71.
Had a 3 mobile in Jan 2003, returned it within 14 days.
I'm sure I made a payment for calls made.
Now get the same letter from Red Debt Collection Services.

I've sent them a letter asking for copies of all information held, including contracts, statements of accounts, bills etc from 3G.

I'll post as and when I get a reply

alliance

Hi all,

I have been contacted by a company called RED stating that I owe 3G mobile some money and they have been instructed to collect, I had a contract with 3G about 2-3 years ago and know of any monies owing to 3G from me, I did request a settlement conformation from 3G when I closed the account which I received but no longer have as thas was a few years ago, I have spotted this template on this website, so could someone advise me if I could use this......................... .............................................................................

I do not acknowledge ANY debt to your company. I require you to supply the following documentation before I will correspond further on this matter.

1. You must supply me with a true copy of the alleged agreement you refer to. This is my right under your obligation to supply a copy of the agreement under the legislation contained within s.78 (1) Consumer Credit Act 1974 (s.77 (1) for fixed sum credit) - your obligation also extends to providing a statement of account. I enclose a £1 postal order in payment of the statutory fee, PO Serial Number xxxxx.

2. A signed true copy of the deed of assignment of the above referenced agreement that you allege exists.

3. You are notified that you are obliged to supply these documents, whether you are the original creditor or not.

Non-compliance with my request is a criminal offence under the above Act and will result in a report being submitted to the relevant statutory authorities.

As you are aware, a credit agreement that is not properly documented and signed by the customer is totally unenforceable under the CCA and therefore is a complete defence to any court claim that is issued.

Take note at this stage, that any legal action you may contemplate will be both vigorously defended and contested.

rog2

Hi alliance, and welcome to DFW

First of all, there seems to be a spate of this happening at the moment - RED, chasing up 'alleged' 3G debts - I don't know if 3g left one of their dustbins outside, or just let RED (LOWELL) clear out their rubbish.

You do, indeed, need to establish the 'validity' of this 'debt' and, ordinarily,a cca request would be the best way to establish if there is any validity to their claim.

Unfortunately, mobile phone contracts are not, usually, covered by the Consumer Credit Act, 1974, as they are, in fact 'Consumer Service Agreements' rather than 'Consumer Credit Agreements'.

This should not, nor does it, stop any alleged debtor from questioning any such 'debt' and there are a couple of ways to do it:

• The first, and possibly simplest, way would be to send them tha National Debtline 'Prove It' letter, that you can find on the following lnk: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.html?p=11570893

• The other way would be to use the Data Protection Act, and send in a SAR (Subject Access Request). There is a 'Statutory Fee of £10, but the creditor/dca must, within 40 days, send you ALL information that they hold on you, including all statements. This would enable you to identify any anominalies on the account, and to question/refute the debt: http://www.ico.gov.uk/upload/documents/library/data_protection/practical_application/subject_access_-_guide_for_data_subjects.pdf

diablakis

Hello!
First post!
Similar scenario with sheff71 and pete1909.
Back in 2003 when 3 started its business in uk. Had two phones for 10 days, only used free services. Returned both. They send me 2 bills for around £15 for each phone. After I talked to them about a million times they said I didn't owe anything. After 6 months a debt collection agency send me a letter saying I owe about £16. After 10 calls to both 3 and the debt collection agency they said I didn't owe anything and they stopped sending letters (but the debt collection agency didn't send anything in writing).
And now comes the letter from Red asking again for about £16 (not exactly the same amount as the previous one).
I called them and they were like robots asking only for money in order to close my account so no use to discuss the situation.
Since it's only £16 I thought I should pay them and make the debt go away...Have definitely spend more than £16 on phone calls 4 years ago. But I'm worried if they come back for more...

Any suggestions will be more than welcome!
Thank you!

rog2

diablakis wrote: »

Since it's only £16 I thought I should pay them and make the debt go away...Have definitely spend more than £16 on phone calls 4 years ago. But I'm worried if they come back for more...

You are quite right to be 'worried in case they come back for more' diablakis. Dcas are a bit like blackmailers - once they find a soft touch, they often do not know when to stop.
Your point is, therefore, very valid and I would be inclined to approach a situation like yours in the same way as if it were a 'Full and Final Settlement Offer' that I was making:
http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_wales/factsheet.php?page=24_full_and_final_settlement_offers

In other words, make them an offer to pay the requested amount, providing that they agree to accept it in 'Full and Final Settlement of the 'alleged debt. Do NOT make any payment until they have agreed, in writing, and do not accept any wording other than 'Full and Final Settlement' from them.

diablakis

Thanks for you answer rog2!
I'll try to sort the situation out the way you suggested.

Another thing I found from that period is that because of that mix up with 3G I asked equifax for my credit file. In my file all entries with 3G have S on them which I guess it means settled. Is that correct? And the balance is £0 throughout. Will it help if I send a copy of my credit file to them showing them that I do not owe anything to 3G?

Thanks!