Us vs Lowell/Littlewoods

Saving4ahouse

Hi there,

I am hoping somebody could help us. My partner has received 3 letters today stating that his debt with Littlewoods has been sent over to Lowell Portfolio. We know he had bought things from Littlewoods previously however in early 2010 he tried to log into his account on-line and it stated that there was no such account. I then advised him to phone up and the assistant stated they had an account registered in his name for Very but not for Littlewoods. We asked them to confirm this in writing- however this never arrived. We continued to try and pay for months (and from then till now we have not received a single statement from Littlewoods!)

Today we have received a letter from Lowell stating that Littlewoods have sent the debt over to them and they want £867.71, it is not that we cannot afford this as we can but if we were not able to access his account over the internet or phone and they held no record then it was impossible to do so.

As you can see from my username we are saving for a house and I am worried that this will effect his credit record and effect our chances of gaining a mortgage. I just wondered what we can do, I have wrote a letter to Lowell stating that the account is in dispute so please put it on hold for now, whilst we sort out the matter with Littlewoods, I have also written a SAR for Littlewoods as well. Is there anything else that I should be doing?

Thank you in advance

p.s- Sorry just to add we are not trying to escape the debt it is just we do not want to have a mark on his file. If there is any how do we get these removed?

fermi

Haven't time for a detailed reply ATM, but Littlewoods have a company rep who may be able help sort this.

You can contact them as they describe here:

Littlewoods_company_representative wrote: »

If you have any problems with Littlewoods feel free to send us an email at [EMAIL="facebook@littlewoods.co.uk"]facebook@littlewoods.co.uk[/EMAIL] with your account details and we will look into any issues you may have.

Hope this helps

Chris

Littlewoods Company Representative

Obviously, companies like Littlwoods don't like bad publicity or facebook or forums etc, so emailing them at that address might kick their bums into action.

Saving4ahouse

fermi wrote: »

Haven't time for a detailed reply ATM, but Littlewoods have a company rep who may be able help sort this.

You can contact them as they describe here:



Obviously, companies like Littlwoods don't like bad publicity or facebook or forums etc, so emailing them at that address might kick their bums into action.

Thank you for the reply, I did try to phone them this morning at 7.30am the lady said that there is nothing that she can do about it as the 'debt' is now with Lowell and not them. She said I could speak to their debt recovery team but they possibly would not be able to help as the debt is with Lowell

ihatedebtcollectors

Try the email link - Officially the debt is due to them (unless of course they have actually sold the debt which does not appear to be the case) - see if you get any more luck emailing them at the address fermi suggested. Hmm

Saving4ahouse

ihatedebtcollectors wrote: »

Try the email link - Officially the debt is due to them (unless of course they have actually sold the debt which does not appear to be the case) - see if you get any more luck emailing them at the address fermi suggested. Hmm

Thank you for the reply. The letter dated 23rd May 2011 says that they give notice of the assignment of the debt due outstanding on your shop direct finance company retail brand account. On 18/10/2010 your account was legally assigned to Lowell Portfolio I Ltd we have only just heard from both Littlewoods and Lowell.

fermi

Has a default or anything else been registered on your OH's credit record?

If it has, then it damn well is Littlewoods business still, as that wouldn't have been put there if Littlewoods weren't so incompetent.

Have you checked the credit reference recently? Lowell have a habit of recording false or unjustified back marks, even when accounts are disputed.

fermi

Saving4ahouse wrote: »

Thank you for the reply, I did try to phone them this morning at 7.30am the lady said that there is nothing that she can do about it as the 'debt' is now with Lowell and not them. She said I could speak to their debt recovery team but they possibly would not be able to help as the debt is with Lowell

If the account has been sold to Lowells because Littlewoods fooked up, then they do still bear some responsibility.

They wouldn't be able to demand Lowell stop asking for it to be paid, but you may well be due some restitution from them. Either due to the transfer to Lowells, or the hassle you have already had.

Could well be worth making a compliant to the Financial Ombudsman if Littlewoods mistakes leave you out of pocket or with unjustified black marks on his credit record.

Saving4ahouse

I shall have a check now, who is the best one to check? Also how would we go about removing the mark/default? Sorry with all the questions, this could only happen at the worse time in our lives, at time when I am not on the ball about legal matters

fermi

Experian and Equifax to start with

See: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/loans/credit-rating-credit-score

If you have to sort it, it depends somewhat in whose name any default or adverse data is recorded under.

The direct people to complain to are whoever records the incorrect data.

If you have no joy with that, then you complain to the Information Commissioner and the FOS.

It gets a little complicated when there are 2 companies involved, so you may have to complain about both and let the ICO/FOS sort out the "bun fight" between the two.

But we can get to that if/when you find anything bad on the file.

Littlewoods

Hi,

We have seen your post in regards to your account and we would like to help. If you would like us to see if we can help in regards to this we would advise you to call our team directly. There number is 0844 822 4090 they will be able to provide you with all the answers you require over the issue of your account.

We hope this information helps,

Many Thanks

Nicola

Littlewoods Company Representative

Saving4ahouse

Thank you so much for your help I really do appreciate it so much. I shall let you know what I find.