A bit of advice re overdue payment to Lowell Finance please

jo1972

I've got a debt that is in the hands of Lowell's (not sure which subsidiary), I'm not sure how much I owe them, all my paperwork is at home but I think it's in the region of £700-£900. I (stupidly), after being pushed by them, agreed to pay £60 per month. I missed last month and have received a phone call from them at work this afternoon. Luckily I didn't answer the phone and someone just took a message but I'm gonna have to get back to them today or tomorrow morning before they ring back again tomorrow cos it's embarrassing (are they allowed to ring you at work??!).

My question is...I really do not have the time or the information to put together a SOA today, it's a weekend job and so I want to ring them to try and get the figure down to more like £20, they are going to want to see a budget sheet of some description. How do I stall them until next week, bearing in mind that I have no money to offer them until next week anyway??

I'm sick to the stomach of DCA's ringing me (particulary at work) and having to make excuses

itsarichmansworld

Call them tell them you cant afford £60. Bite the bullet they want there money back and your willing to pay shouldnt be to hard babe

Best of luck

jo1972

Thanks for the reply richman, problem is they won't accept it and just say they're going to press for legal action. I know there is little they can do as I can (with time) prove that I've got nothing to pay them but just fed up with it now

Thanks again

angelavdavis

Firstly, send them a letter specifically requesting that they no longer contact you at work and only via written correspondence. I think there is legislation around relating to misuse of telecoms for harrassment. They will be in breach of this should they not comply. Make sure the letter is sent registered. Refer to payplan's web site relating to harrasment for guidance. Someone else on here may be able to specify the exact legislation, etc that is applicable here.

Secondly, have you obtained advice from anyone such as CCCS or Payplan? They should be able to provide some pointers. If you don't feel you have anything to pay them, you need to press them for proof of the debt. If they cannot come up with proof - refuse to pay! Let them press for legal action - this is scaremongering and until they can provide the debt is yours you are simply not liable for payments! No court in the land will back them if they cannot prove the debt is yours.

Make an application for a subject access request requesting the signed credit agreement copy - see http://www.ico.gov.uk/Home/what_we_cover/data_protection.aspx for more information. It is likely this isn't your debt they are chasing. I would actually not deal with them myself - I would go back to the original credit agency for this information. This data is held in your credit file so make a free application through experian and obtain the contact details for the agency concerned and place a subject access request for the signed credit agreement - however, make sure in the letter, you specify that you are making no acknowledgement of ownership of the debts in any way. This letter should help: http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_wales/temp/3857_64281.pdf

Look through Martin's posts - he has some guidance on this.

Good luck!