DCA say they are not obliged to supply copies of original agreement, is this right?

IainMacca_2

I have been corresponding with Lowell Portfolio for around 6 months regarding an old O2 account that belonged to my old business – they say I am personally liable and I dispute this.

They have never been able to produce any paperwork whatsoever to support their claims (and I have written around 8 times asking for some kind of original paperwork or agreement etc.).

They now say they are not obliged to show me any original agreement/paperwork as this is “a service contract and not a credit account” so is not covered under the consumer credit act.

Is this correct?

Am I not within my rights to demand a copy of the original agreement? (which I am pretty sure will show the business and not me).

Thanks in advance
Macca

Tixy

They are correct a service contract is not covered by the consumer credit act - that only covers consumer credit agreements.

However they should supply something to prove that you owe the debt. What letters have you sent so far? have you sent the standard prove it letter (not the CCA request)?
You could also consider doing a subject access request under the data protection act which costs £10 but allows you to see everything they have on file for this account.

Was your business a limited company or a sole trader/partnership?

If it was a limited company have you not got your copy of the original agreement or a copy of an old bill that shows the limited company name?

IainMacca_2

Thanks for the reply,

I didn’t send a ‘standard’ formatted letter but my first letter stated that I required that they substantiate their claims by supplying a copy of the agreement and statement of account etc.

All they sent was a copy of an Excel file with no names or account numbers on it – which I rejected as irrelevant.

I’ve since written about 8 times requesting copies of proper paperwork to backup their claims, and they have just fobbed me off by saying they have contacted o2 who confirm that I am liable as it was me that was ‘credit checked’ and not the company.

It was a Ltd company but I was 1 of 10 directors but don’t have any paperwork as I left the company more than 5-years ago. Lowell have however confirmed (inadvertently) that the direct debits were taken from the company account.

I’m not bothered about the money as such I’m more concerned about removing the default recorded against me.


Cheers

Tixy

Do you know if the account appeared on your credit files prior to the default? or only since a default was issued. How old is the default?

I would either go for the prove it letter (although you may have already sent very similar) - http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=11570893&postcount=2 (in theory that should get them to send proper copies of the invoices being chased for at the very least - I say should but as its lowells who knows?)

or go for the full subject access request - which should hopefully give you the info you need to challenge the default. Worth the £10 to get hopefully get rid of the default I think.

IainMacca_2

Thanks again, yes I did send them a very similar letter so I think I'll go for the subject access request - would you recommend I make the access request to both the DCA and o2?

My credit report says account started 2002 and default date is late 2006, and I only started getting my credit report last year so I'm not sure when this shows from.

Thanks again

RAS

Hi

The default was 2006, when was the last payment made? Be very careful as this debt could be statute barred now, or very soon as long as you do not make any written acknowledgement.

Lowell buy a lot of statute barred debt and try to extract payments from people before they know the law.

IainMacca_2

RAS wrote: »

Hi

The default was 2006, when was the last payment made? Be very careful as this debt could be statute barred now, or very soon as long as you do not make any written acknowledgement.

Lowell buy a lot of statute barred debt and try to extract payments from people before they know the law.

The last payment shows as being Feb 2006 so this is probably statute barred now (as I’m in Scotland so 5-years). I’ve definitely not acknowledged anything and I’ve been careful to print a disclaimer to that effect on any correspondence.

If it is statute barred – and I send them the standard letter - can I force them to remove any reference to it in my credit file? (Or will the default still remain for the standard six years from default date).

It’s more about the unfair default on my file rather than the actual money.

nottoolate

IainMacca wrote: »

If it is statute barred – and I send them the standard letter - can I force them to remove any reference to it in my credit file? (Or will the default still remain for the standard six years from default date).

no. the default stays for the 6 years

RAS

You might want to read this http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/scotland/factsheet.php?page=23_prescription_and_limitation_act and give NDL a ring?

IainMacca_2

RAS wrote: »

You might want to read this http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/scotland/factsheet.php?page=23_prescription_and_limitation_act and give NDL a ring?

Thanks for that, very useful - it would appear that this debt is statute barred (or the Scottish equivalent).

Doesn't really help with the default notice though - but does put me in a stronger bargaining position.

Thanks again

DVardysShadow

nottoolate wrote: »

no. the default stays for the 6 years

If the debt was never enforceable against the OP in the first place, no default should have been entered into OP's credit record. As this appears to be a company debt, rather than a personal debt, even if the debt was enforceable against the company, it should not be entered against the OP's personal credit record.

This debt should come off immediately.