Some advice please - Lowell Financial

Emmajb

Hi,

I've been an avid troll on here for quite a while, and used the information to help me negotiate my debts etc. I have been quite please with myself in that I have managed to budget my money and negotiate with the ones I owe money to (Couple of credit cards, loan etc) Hopefully debt free in about 8 years.

However, I had a Natwest Credit card with about £1100 owing on it, I had negotiated to pay £30/month to clear the card, last year I got a letter from Lowell Financial stating they had took over this debt, after contacting Natwest to confirm it, I wrote to Lowell and offered the £30/month repayment.

Lowell agreed and sent a direct debit form out which I signed and sent it, the Direct debt was started and each month since last July I have paid £30 as agreed.

However, about a week after the payment is made I receive a letter stating I have not made payment in accordance with the arrangement and if a payment is not made they will take me to court.

The next day after every letter I have called them and after long talks always get "we will investigate the situation" but next month same thing.

In January I decided as I was not getting anywhere with telephone calls I would write, I received a letter back stating the old "we will investigate the situation", when in February I received the same old letter and again I wrote, when I received the "we will investigate letter" I decided enough was enough.

I have now contacted the Financial Ombudsmen and they have written to Lowell, who have written to me saying stop making payments and could I explain the whole situation, which I have done.

However, I am worried about this account, I'm not to worried if they take me to court as I have a photocopy of the direct debit form I signed and sent back, a print off from the back showing all the payments, and now have the Financial Ombudsmen involved, But I worried they will sell the debt on and as they have not acknowledged the £240 already made, I could get whoever they sell it on to demanding the full £1100.

I am also worried as I am in the process of trying to raise the funding to buyout my business partner and I don't want to make an already tarnished credit history even dirtier.

Should I be worried about this or am I just being paranoid, also is there anything I can do that may help the situation?

Thanks in advance.

Emma

GeorgeUK

Trolls are bad - lurkers are quite alright though

Don't worry. The debt is in dispute and cannot be passed on until the dispute is settled. If they do pass or sell the debt on, there are some template letters on the board that you can use to tell them to pass it back and which legislation or guidelines they are in breach of.

To get to the bottom of it asap, i would send them a subject access request (SAR - cost £10) which under the Data Protection Act allows you to receive a copy of all the data they hold on you. This should include all correspondence and transactions. If their records are wrong, then you can report them to the ICO for breach of the Act and should strnegthen your case with the FO as you have proof of transactions made that their records aren't showing. They have 40 days to comply with a SAR request.

Emmajb

GeorgeUK wrote: »

Trolls are bad - lurkers are quite alright though

Don't worry. The debt is in dispute and cannot be passed on until the dispute is settled. If they do pass or sell the debt on, there are some template letters on the board that you can use to tell them to pass it back and which legislation or guidelines they are in breach of.

To get to the bottom of it asap, i would send them a subject access request (SAR - cost £10) which under the Data Protection Act allows you to receive a copy of all the data they hold on you. This should include all correspondence and transactions. If their records are wrong, then you can report them to the ICO for breach of the Act and should strnegthen your case with the FO as you have proof of transactions made that their records aren't showing. They have 40 days to comply with a SAR request.

Sorry, yes I was a lurker not a troll.

and Thank you, that's put my mind at ease, I'll go send of for the SAR after payday, budget won't allow for it at the moment.