Lowell Financial help!

flyboy1974

Hello All,

Yesterday I received a letter from a company called Lowell Financial telling me that I had an outstanding debt. There are a few things about this letter I don't like/understand and any advice would be appreciated.
The letter said that I had been recently informed of the transfer of a debt from Three Mobile to Lowell Portfolio I LTD and that because I hadn't responded by paying my debt or entering into a repayment plan, the debt was now with the collection dept. The total was £180.01
It then went on to say, probably the usual lines, that I needed to repay to prevent further action.
This is the first I know about any debt to Three Mobile, I have received no letters regarding this before from Three or Lowell.
I did have a mobile phone contract with Three that started back in 2006. After the contract length, I think it was 18 months. I moved onto a one month rolling contract which I could cancel at any time. I cancelled this around Dec '07 Jan '08 as I was moving overseas. (I have no letters about this as it was done over the phone)
I moved overseas in Feb '08 and returned late 2013. In that time I got no letters asking for money/payments. (My address was the same as my parents address so they knew my contact details)
Since returning from overseas I have got another Mobile Contract, through EE and a mortgage. There was nothing that came up, as far as I know, that highlighted any problems with outstanding debt.
As soon as I read the letter I phoned them up to ask why and how I'd received a letter. They said that I owed money for early termination of contract, I explained that I'd cancelled the contract and they said that the onus was on me to prove I didn't owe the money! (Surely they have to prove I do, which I'm certain they can't)
The letter contained no statement, it was just a letter saying you owe £180.01, pay up.
I'm not sure what to do next? Do i ignore it and see if they get back in touch, I made it clear on the phone that I would not be paying as I don't owe anything.
Any advice would be great, being away from the country for the last 6 years, i'm not really sure where to look for advice etc.

Thanks in advance.

fermi

If you feel you have to reply, then maybe something like the letter in this link?

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

FireWyrm

Ack, Lowell are bottom feeders.

The onus is on them to prove you owe it and that proof should consist of not less than a copy of the agreement bearing your name, address, original account number etc.

Check your credit files but this is probably statute barred anyway if it doesnt appear there. It doesnt mean you dont owe the money, just that they cant take you to court over it and therefore cant get a CCJ.

Lowell are hoping you will just pay up and shut up which is sadly what a lot of people do.

If you were on a rolling contract, you would have had to give notice in writing to Three to cancel the contract. Never cancel this type of contract over the phone and always get a written acknowledgement that the financial relationship is severed - that way, this sort of thing simply cant happen.

flyboy1974

Thanks for the info so far.

Where is the best place to check my credit files? does this cost?

Also, what is statute barred?

You're right about getting written confirmation, lesson learned there!

At the moment I'm tempted to kepp the letter but ignore it and see if they come back to me. Is there a time period from first contact to when they have to produce more info, I asked for proof over the phone and they said they'd post it to me.

Also, if they call me, is it best to ask them to put all correspondence in writing and discuss nothing over the phone with them?

Thanks

FireWyrm

flyboy1974 wrote: »

Thanks for the info so far.

Where is the best place to check my credit files? does this cost?

Here is free : https://www.noddle.co.uk/account/sign-in
But you would need to buy a search from the others Experian and Equifax. They are required to provide a statutory search for a fee of £2 but you have to dig for how to get this - usually only available by post. They both have 'online' searches which they will try to sell you for £15.99 which you dont strictly need. The statutory version will show you all you need to know.

flyboy1974 wrote: »

Also, what is statute barred?

Debts become statute barred after 6 clear years since the date of first action if the debtor has not acknowledge in writing or made a payment to the debt. Once it is statute barred, the debtor still owes the debt, but it becomes unlawful for the DCA to pursue the debt through the court system and therefore cannot obtain a CCJ or formally force payment. What happens these days is that bottom feeders like Lowell buy these debts from companies like Three who cant be bothered to pursue them themselves for pennies and then harass the debtor into paying - thereby making a massive profit on the deal. In reality, many of these debts are statute barred, but most people are simply unaware of their rights or the law and are frightened into paying.

flyboy1974 wrote: »

You're right about getting written confirmation, lesson learned there!

Always. Always. It goes along with keeping tax code notices and P60s (forever) and formally ending any such credit agreement in writing with the creditor. Never do this over the phone - and this is why. You can start the ball rolling over the phone, but always follow it up in writing and get a response.

flyboy1974 wrote: »

At the moment I'm tempted to kepp the letter but ignore it and see if they come back to me. Is there a time period from first contact to when they have to produce more info, I asked for proof over the phone and they said they'd post it to me.

Not really. The law says 'reasonable' time which is open to interpretation, but 28 days would be fair and is fairly standard in business. The 'proof' you get however will more than likely be a tatty bit of paper with a figure printed on it - no identifying information. This isnt proof and they know it. However, in the case of mobile phone contracts, they often claim that it was signed up over the phone and therefore there isnt a CCA available.

Nothing is stopping you contacting Three yourself and retrospectively querying it with them.

flyboy1974 wrote: »

Also, if they call me, is it best to ask them to put all correspondence in writing and discuss nothing over the phone with them?

Always. Never enter into conversations over the phone. It is not the way to conduct business in these matters and invariably the reason people get caught in these messes.

mart3ndo

FireWyrm wrote: »

The onus is on them to prove you owe it and that proof should consist of not less than a copy of the agreement bearing your name, address, original account number etc.

Sorry to kinda hijack a thread, but I've had Lowell tell me on several occasions that the law says that they do not need to provide any evidence, but that I am still liable for the debt

FireWyrm

mart3ndo wrote: »

Sorry to kinda hijack a thread, but I've had Lowell tell me on several occasions that the law says that they do not need to provide any evidence, but that I am still liable for the debt

:rotfl:

To$$ers.

Tell them to contact you when they do have proof and until then, they can do one....or words to that effect.

rizla_king

mart3ndo wrote: »

Sorry to kinda hijack a thread, but I've had Lowell tell me on several occasions that the law says that they do not need to provide any evidence, but that I am still liable for the debt

That would be Lowell lying through their teeth again.

National_Debtline

You may wish to have a read of the Office of Fair Trading's debt collection guidance. You'll soon see that a creditor (or a debt collection agency) have a significant number of rules that they should be following - including providing clear information about what they are chasing you for, and why they are chasing it.

Here's a link for you: http://oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/consultations/OFT664Rev_Debt_collection_g1.pdf

Best wishes,

David @ NDL.

Sinhanada

mart3ndo wrote: »

Sorry to kinda hijack a thread, but I've had Lowell tell me on several occasions that the law says that they do not need to provide any evidence, but that I am still liable for the debt

I had Lowell chase me for an old debt to Sky. I disputed this and asked them to prove I owed them any money and to supply a copy of the signed agreement with Sky. They used the same line against me, but have since stopped contacting me (this was five years ago - debt from 2005) and I have heard nothing since.

Until a company can prove it I wouldn't pay them a penny

flyboy1974

Big thanks everyone, You've helped shed some light on the situation for me and more importantly, you've put my wifes mind at ease and she's no longer worried about big men knocking on the door!

I'm going to ignore the letter from Lowell, for now, until they come back to me with what they consider to be proof I owe. Then I'll take it from there.

I'm not sure whether I should contact Three Mobile or not to discuss with them? They've obviously given up because they sold the debt on. Not that there was a debt in the first place as far as i'm concerned!