lowell and hutchinson 3g

lipsparks

hi i had a contract mobile phone with 3 in 2008 and defaulted on payments i recived bills and so on from 3 saying i owed them £122 the debt was passed to a collection agency. i called 3 and the collection agency about 9 months ago to settle the debt but neither had any record that i owed any money and that it was most likely written off. then today i get a letter from lowell portfolio stating i owe £593 i have spoken to lowell and they say they have had the account since march! but when i called three nine months ago they didnt have any outstanding balance. the only bill i ever got from three was the original £122 is there any way of getting some help? i dont understand why i was never informed of the extra charge before it was sold to lowell. is the law on my side? any help is very much appreciated!

regards

Tixy

Whe you say you rang a collection agency was that lowell?

Sounds like 3 had sold the debt on quite a long while ago to someone else but that lowell have since bought it from them this March.

I would write to lowell and ask them to provide proof of the debt and the balance and also ask for a full statement of account.

It may be that £122 was for the bills before the account was terminated and that the rest is the charge for the remainder of the contract you were in. This often occurs with phone contracts, but they should still provide you with proof - there is a letter template you could use/customise here - http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=11570893&postcount=2

Oh and best to avoid calling lowell again who cannot be trusted to tell you anything resembing the truth when you speak to them.

lipsparks

hi thanks for the info the original debt collection agency i called was not lowell and i have already calle d lowell and agree with tour statment they didnt give me any info or help all they had to say was you owe us £593 what are your card details! sorry the link to the letter dosent seem to be in your post could you re post? thanks again

Tixy

click on this blue link
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/...93&postcount=2
don't pay them anything until they have given you proper proof that you owe the money