Received a letter - Pre-Litigation Department :(

Jesthar

RAS wrote: »

Lowell have bought this debt for a pittance and now think you are going to pay them back the full balance? How moral do you think that is?

If the debt is unenforceable, you might not pay, you might pay what you can afford monthly, or do a full and final settlement that acknowledges the real cost of the debt to Lowell.

If you do not do the CCa, they will make your life hell. So you might at least know what the legal situation is.

RAS raises very good points, particularly the one about Lowell buying your debt for a few pounds and now trying to get you to pay them the whole of the outstanding balance, plus whatever else they can blackmail out of you. They are NOT egg, they are someone else entirely, so you may as well find out whether or not you legally have to pay them before parting with any cash...

~Jes

Ames

If you send a cheque to pay the £1, don't do it from your own account because then they'll not only have a copy of your signature, they'll also have your bank details!

Jesthar

Ames wrote: »

If you send a cheque to pay the £1, don't do it from your own account because then they'll not only have a copy of your signature, they'll also have your bank details!

Good point, Postal Order is best!

Merlinexcalibur

Ah, the delights of Capital One. I would strongly advise you follow the advice given by RAS and Jes ... Regarding your CCA request. As to why not phone them? Apologies if it's been covered as skim read this thread, picking out salient points that drew my attention.

Well, firstly, you cannot prove a phone call took place. As someone mentioned they do bully. In fact, they have been known to do worse. My own experience with one on the phone was mild compared to some. And, I am afraid, that they will become more aggressive towards anyone vulnerable. And they tend to be out and out nasty towards anyone suffering with illness or disability. Because they know they can terrorize people who cannot fight back. The list is endless. Oh, and they usually have a premium rate number. Save yourself the cost of a very large phone bill. The majority are picked precisely because they can bully you. In my case, if I'd had a tape recorder I could easily have gone to the local police station and had them done for something, most likely intimidation. There are laws under the telecommunications act but most DCAs simply don't care. Or don't know. Or even want to.

Secondly, call centre staff are in no way trained in legal matters nor any form of consumer legislation. Most don't even know what a CCA is. They are paid to simply pick up the phone, follow a script and, if you are behind with payments, harass you. And harass they will if you fall behind and you have given them your phone number.

Lastly, the thing about the CCA is correct. Capital One are known for not having compliant ones. As I know what kind of documents Capital One usually provides when requesting a copy, I'd be interested in finding out what you receive.

Oh, yes, postal order! Don't send cheques because they have your bank account details and your signature. I wll allow your own interpretations on that but it's never a good idea giving someone bank sort codes and account numbers if you are in debt. As Ames said. Which is very sensible advice for any creditor or DCA.

I wish you luck. As I've had all this from Capital One. In the end they produced a nonenforceable one - which I was already told they would - and, shall we say, it was 'very dubious' looking given what was actually on it.

Merlinexcalibur

Is what I am doing just morally wrong

I tend to think that there is no 'morality' where DCAs are concerned. They don't have any.

od0s

Hi again all,

Thank you so much for all your help so far.

UPDATE:

I have received a further 3 letters from Lowell in the last week or so. Unfortunately they always seem to be dated a long time before I actually receive them. This could be a trick they use to pretend I've had the letters longer? Although there have been a lot of mail delays due to the snow...

Anyway, 2 of the letter say that they will be contacting Egg to get the credit agreement from their archive. They will be sending this to me and then I WILL HAVE TO PAY IN FULL.


A few days after this I received another letter which told me:

"If I pay before 11/2/09 they will accept £299.46 as full payment for the debt. If I do not pay before this date they reserve the right to pursue the full amount."




Now I am a bit unsure what to do AGAIN! Is this a hint that they are aware they cannot enforce the debt and want to bluff me into paying this smaller amount?


Any help would be greatly appreciated again. Thanks!

10past6

The chances are they don't have an agreement.

They've given you until today to pay a reduced figure, that's your decision whether you take up their offer.

If they're in default by not issuing your requested CCA within the set timescale 12+2 days, they will need the courts approval to enforce any debt.

od0s

I sent them the letter on 22nd January 2009 by recorded delivery. They have still not sent the agreement. Does this have any significance?

churchrat

iwanttohavesomemoney wrote: »

Well, you ran up the debt, so you need to pay it off. To be fair, although that sounds harsh, you'll find that the more upfront you are with them the better. I too ran up some debts, but have been paying them off for a while and hopefully should be debt free before xmas.

Your debt is low to them; ring them up, be polite. Afterall, put yourself in their shoes, arsey people won't get far!
Work out what you can afford to pay them, maybe £62.50pm over 12 months, and put that to them. Obviously, I don't know your circumstance, but its better to face up to it than risk a CCJ. When you do ring that kind of place up, they don't sound half as bad as the letter makes out!

Good luck

Don't do this. Talking on the phone is always a BAD idea--a CCj is a long way off.

I would also be aware that some posters on here, for whatever reason, do not always give sound advice.
Always get in touch with one of the debt charities or CAB when in doubt

od0s

od0s wrote: »

I sent them the letter on 22nd January 2009 by recorded delivery. They have still not sent the agreement. Does this have any significance?

I will not call them. I understand that this is the worst thing to do.

Please can some kind individual give me some information on my above question.

I do not know what to do next! It could be a case of waiting? I don't want the situation to get worse