Lowell/Red Debt/3G: seeking advice on resolving 'on hold' account

nekoneko_2

Hi all,


I have a problem with Lowell and am very much hoping that someone here might have some advice!



In January, I received a letter demanding immediate payment for a debt which I knew absolutely nothing about. There was supposedly about £50 remaining to pay on a 3G Mobile (aka 3) contract from several years ago. In fact, I had simply closed the account many years ago due to poor service from 3. There was no breakdown of the supposed charge, just a figure I was meant to pay.

Lowell enclosed two letters in their communication: one from them, and one supposedly from 3 to me notifying me that 3 has assigned the "debt" to Lowell. I presume this is meant to be a copy of a letter that I supposedly received from 3, yet I have not had any correspondence from 3 for many years.

Both letters had a date on them from more than two weeks before I received them. The other suspicious thing about this second letter is that, despite being dated in early 2009, it refers to June 2008 as if it were in the future ("We're writing to let you know that, starting XX/06/2008, you should pay the outstanding balance of £XX.XX on your 3 mobile account exclusively to Lowell Portfolio I Ltd"). In other words, the assignment letter has the appearance of not being genuine.

The first letter was quite threatening and says that if I have not entered into an agreed repayment plan by a week before the letter actually arrived, then they would instruct their debt collection services to pursue this debt by any legal method possible including, ominously, a house visit by a "licensed field agent". Note that the deadline for agreeing this repayment plan was four days _before_ I received the letter from them!


Shortly thereafter, I received a letter from Red Debt Collection Services demanding that I arrange payment by the very next day! This was slightly more threatening, mentioning "Attachment of Earnings" and "Bailiffs" in bold type.

I tried to contact 3G and was not able to get any details about this alleged debt; they referred me to the Lowell/Red Debt.


Based on other people's experiences reported on this and other forums, I sent registered letters to both Lowell and Red Debt stating that I had no knowledge of the debt, making sure to cite the OFT guidelines about ceasing collection activities for a disputed debt and so forth.


I received a response in early February which acknowledged my letter and stating things like,



“We can advice that Red is a trading style of Lowell Group and is currently investigating the points raised in both letters.”



and



“Regarding the account we have raised a query with 3G requesting copies of statements showing a breakdown of the charges and these will be forwarded to you on receipt. Your account has been placed on hold pending their response.”


Since then, I have heard absolutely nothing. Neither Lowell/Red Debt nor 3G has sent anything further to me.


It's been almost 5 months, so I feel that they have had more than enough time to show me evidence that this is a legitimate debt.


My question is this: how do I resolve all of this? I don't want a queried or unresolved debt hanging over my head for the rest of my life. I don't want something to sneak up on me down the line on a credit report, or, heaven forbid, for the debt to get sold on again and go through all of this again!


I would like some closure – on paper, so that I have evidence in hand should someone else try to claim this supposed debt.


Does anyone have any advice on how to proceed from here? They haven't bothered me, but then, they haven't provided the documentation they promised to send, either.


I have seen that some people have requested a credit agreement and statement of account based on the Consumer Credit Act, but I've not done that. Are there any legally-enforceable time limitations for providing a breakdown of charges and evidence of a legitimate debt that might apply in my case? Does anyone know of any sample letters that cover this sort of situation? What should I say to them?



If this is a legitimate debt, I am of course happy to pay it. However, if no evidence can be provided that this debt actually exists, then I would like some acknowledgement that this matter has been resolved and that my details will never be passed along to anyone else.


Any advice would be much appreciated – many thanks in advance.


All the best,


NekoNeko ^___^

nekoneko_2

Perhaps this isn't the right place to post this - would anyone know where I could find such information, perhaps?

Many thanks!

AMBERSHADOW

I had the same for a mobile phone bill I never had which I sent the CCA and never got a reply, This went on for 3 to 4 months Now I am getting the same letters from someone else so I presume they sell it on so someone else can have a go

nekoneko_2

Argh! How very frustrating!

It seems so unfair that they could sell on a supposed debt that they can't prove that you owe!

Surely, there must be some way to prevent this from happening...isn't it possible somehow to force them to either provide evidence or close the case?