Lowell Portfolio - Following CCA Request

moomin_simpson

Hello!

I had been receiving letters from Lowell Portfolio for a month or so, when in May 2011, I decided to write to them requesting information in respect of CCA, along with a £1 coin for the provision of the information, based upon information found else where on this site (thanks!).

The debt in question relates to a mobile phone bill, and so they wrote back on 10 May 2011 (kindly with a cheque for £1!) advising that the information I needed was in respect of a service agreement, and not a credit agreement. I quite possibly should have read the message boards here a little more thoroughly. They noted that they had written to Vodafone to "request statements from the original creditor which will show you how the balance is made up".

In the meantime I received several holding letters, advising that my account was on hold, and I would receive the statements in due course. On 6 September 2011, I received a letter from Lowell stating:

"We write in respect of the above debt, which, as previously notified in writing we have purchased from Vodafone.

We are now entitled to receive payment of the balance of £398 from you and enclose a copy of your statement as requested".

Naturally there is a bit more spiel about non-payment etc. The thing that puts me out a bit, is that the attached statement, whilst headed with a Vodafone address, it has no Vodafone logo, limited details, and could have been typed up by anyone. In addition, there are 5 amounts on the invoice, one at around £15, three between £44 - £59, and one at £220, with no breakdown on what these are for, or how the figure has been arrived at. All the 'creation dates' are between 23/8/07 and 19/12/07

I had a contract with Vodafone, and if I owe money, I'll pay it, but can the statement I have been provided with be considered legitimate enough for me to pay out nearly £400? I really can't imagine running up phone bills around the £50 mark ever, so am apprehensive to get involved, particularly with some of the other comments I have read about this particular DCA.

Many thanks in advance for any assistance.

Tixy

Hi

I would write back and state that what they enclosed is not sufficent to prove that you owe the money they are claiming. I would ask them to provide further information to you to support the alleged debt, including details of what the outstanding amounts relate to.

A better original letter would have been the prove it template - you might want to have a look of that to see if you want to use parts of that in your reply - http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=11570893&postcount=2

nottoolate

similar thread on CAG the other day

You have contacted us regarding the account with the above reference number, which you claim is owed by ourselves.

We would point out that we have no knowledge of any such debt being owed to Vodafone.

I not that you have refused to provide valid proof of the existence of this debt and the account status.

You have failed to provide:

- A copy of a binding agreement between myself and the provider.
- Proof of any sums accrued from the original provider, substantiated by an independently verifiable declaration by that provider.

I also note that instead of the above you have provided a typed account statement that appears to have been typed out by yourselves, and which in no way proves any liability.

In fact, by implying that this inadequate 'proof' is sufficient to prove liability, you are using deceptive and unfair methods; are in breach of OFT guidelines on debt collection, and in breach of the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008.

Please note, further attempts to misrepresent documents in this fashion will be reported to the authorities, which may include the police.

We are also familiar with the ‘Office of Fair Trading Debt Collection Guidance’ which states that it is unfair to send demands for payment to an individual when it is uncertain that they are the debtor in question.

We would also point out that the OFT say under the Guidance that it is unfair to pursue third parties for payment when they are not liable. In not ceasing collection activity whilst investigating a reasonably queried or disputed debt you are using deceptive/and or unfair methods.

Furthermore, ignoring and/or disregarding claims that debts have been settled or are disputed and continuing to make unjustified demands for payment amounts to physical/psychological harassment.

We would ask that no further contact be made concerning the above accounts unless you can provide evidence as to our liability for the debt in question.

We await your written confirmation that this matter is now closed. Otherwise we will have no option but to make a complaint to the trading standards department and consider informing the OFT of your actions.

We look forward to your reply.

Yours faithfully

Vodafone

moomin_simpson wrote: »

Hello!

I had been receiving letters from Lowell Portfolio for a month or so, when in May 2011, I decided to write to them requesting information in respect of CCA, along with a £1 coin for the provision of the information, based upon information found else where on this site (thanks!).

The debt in question relates to a mobile phone bill, and so they wrote back on 10 May 2011 (kindly with a cheque for £1!) advising that the information I needed was in respect of a service agreement, and not a credit agreement. I quite possibly should have read the message boards here a little more thoroughly. They noted that they had written to Vodafone to "request statements from the original creditor which will show you how the balance is made up".

In the meantime I received several holding letters, advising that my account was on hold, and I would receive the statements in due course. On 6 September 2011, I received a letter from Lowell stating:

"We write in respect of the above debt, which, as previously notified in writing we have purchased from Vodafone.

We are now entitled to receive payment of the balance of £398 from you and enclose a copy of your statement as requested".

Naturally there is a bit more spiel about non-payment etc. The thing that puts me out a bit, is that the attached statement, whilst headed with a Vodafone address, it has no Vodafone logo, limited details, and could have been typed up by anyone. In addition, there are 5 amounts on the invoice, one at around £15, three between £44 - £59, and one at £220, with no breakdown on what these are for, or how the figure has been arrived at. All the 'creation dates' are between 23/8/07 and 19/12/07

I had a contract with Vodafone, and if I owe money, I'll pay it, but can the statement I have been provided with be considered legitimate enough for me to pay out nearly £400? I really can't imagine running up phone bills around the £50 mark ever, so am apprehensive to get involved, particularly with some of the other comments I have read about this particular DCA.

Many thanks in advance for any assistance.

Hi moomin_simpson,

Thanks for making us aware of this.

If you'd like me to assist you further here could you email the details of the account in question (if you only have the details from the correspondence received from the DCA that's fine) to the address provided here quoting WRT135 - Fao Lee in the subject line?

Please be assured that as soon as you're in touch with me I'll get this investigated and get back to you as soon as possible.

Kind regards,

Lee

Web Relations Team

Vodafone UK