Debt sold to Lowell

jaytee777

Today I received a letter from Argos card saying that my account was sold to Lowell Portfolio on 01/07/14.

Argos/Home retail group had already obtained a CCJ 29/09/2010 which has not been paid.

The debt is not a huge amount (£450ish) and I'm in more of a position to pay now, however if there is a chance to pay a lower amount obviously I'd like to take that route.

I'm pretty useless at the legal jargon so I thought I'd turn to you all

My questions:

1. Should I contact Lowell to make an offer for settlement?
2. How much should I be offering? I've read that some people offer as low as 20% but I'd like to get this sorted as smoothly as possible.
3. Will paying a lower amount affect my credit rating further? I understand there is a difference between satisfied and settled - I'm not sure which one is better though
4. Should it be via phone (and them to confirm via letter before payment made) or should I be submitting the offer by letter?
5. Is there anything special I need to note in the offer?

Anything else I'm missing?

Jason

richwannabe

Ive had exactly the same letter today , for approx the same amount of money owing to argos.
My next move is to request a CCA from Lowlife and see what they produce.
The account was opened well before 2007.

jaytee777

I'm not entirely sure what a CCA is, I see it mentioned a lot - what does it do?

richwannabe

I know how to go about sending off the £1 po and sending the template letter but I cannot give you a full explaination , all I know that many credit agreements prior to 2007 are not valid and would not stand up in a court should you choose to defend.
You would be better off asking someone more experienced in this field than me.
There are so many good people on here that will help you through the process .

happy_bunny_2

jaytee777 wrote: »

I'm not entirely sure what a CCA is, I see it mentioned a lot - what does it do?

CCA won't help you as there is a CCJ.

Chances are, Lowell might not know there is a CCJ. Don't volunteer the information.

Is there a default on your account or just the CCJ?

You can offer less. Try offering 30% in full and final settlement and see what they say. In writing.

Not sure how the CCJ gets marked as satisfied, you might need to call national debtline to ask them.

jaytee777

I'll look into contacting them, thanks for your help.

Both the account and CCJ have remain unpaid for since the original default (stated as 14/06/2010 on my credit report).