Lowell and statute barred debt

de_g.

Hi people

Some advice would be very welcome for a first-time poster.

My wife has just checked her credit record on Noddle, and it's showing a default from an old address registered to Lowell. It's only a small amount (£163 now, originally £127, passed to Lowell in July 2008) and relates to an old address which she moved away from in October 2006. We're not sure who the debt was originally with - it refers to mail order, she's not got lots of other credit, there are no other defaults on file, and the DOB is wrong. She was contacted at our previous address in relation to a Littlewoods debt but she's never had an account with Littlewoods.

Does anyone know how we can resolve this? It isn't clear that they've made any attempt to trace her and she certainly hasn't contacted them in the last six years or acknowledged any debt, so I am assuming that the debt is statute barred.

Much gratitude in advance for the advice! We're looking at making a mortgage application sometime soon and I don't want this to put it at risk. If all else fails we can easily pay it off, but I'm not keen on the principle of that!

de g.

cookyy2k

You could try the "Letter when you know nothing about about the debt - AKA "Prove it" letter" sticky in the "debt free wannabe" section.

If the DoB is wrong and there is no recollection of this debt (as with the littlewoods) it's basically asking the creditor to prove they have a credit agreement, if they can't produce it then you should be able to have it removed from the credit file.

fermi

As said, if you need to respond then there is a template to adapt here.

---> Letter when you know nothing about about the debt - AKA "Prove it" letter

Or if you want to raise the statute barred issue as well, then there is another in this link.

---> http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=34906257&postcount=5

In either you would need to adjust to make very clear that you dispute the debt is hers in the first place, and explain why.

It may (or may not) be statute barred, and that may be useful to mention, but the main thrust is that she does not know of the debt.

de_g.

Thanks. Will update as and when I get any response from Lowell.

Little_Em

It is possible (I hope) to get rid of Lowell in cases like this. They contacted me around 6 years ago regarding a Capital One credit card debt.

I've never had a Capital One card, never lived in the town where it was opened (info found on a linked address on my credit file) and wouldn't have qualified for the card on the date it was opened as I was a full-time student. They asked for proof of my signature to match against the credit agreement which I supplied - wouldn't do it now as I now know the onus is on them to prove you owe the money rather than the other way round! The debt actually belongs to someone who shares my full name and DOB (more common than you'd think).

They've traced me for it twice since following a house move. Once, my solicitor contacted them as I was in the middle of buying a property and they hadn't dealt with the signature evidence I had provided 18 months previously. The last time was a few weeks ago and I called them to confirm I wouldn't be paying the debt as it wasn't mine then contacted the Financial Ombudsman. They weren't great, as they put in a complaint saying I COULD prove the debt wasn't mine rather than that I HAD already done so. Lowell did write to me asking for any additional info for their investigation, and I outlined my complaint in detail confirming that I would seek legal redress if they continued to harass me. Today I received an apology, an acknowledgement that a mistake has been made in the tracing (by Call Credit) and offering me a goodwill payment of £50. They have also asked that I confirm if I am satisfied with their handling of the complaint with the FO.

I didn't ask for any money and see no reason to turn down the payment; my reply will say that any further contact will result in further complaints/legal action.