Lowell: second letter, debt request

golfbag

Hi,

About a month ago I made a thread saying that Lowell had sent me a letter but with no debt request, just a request to confirm I lived at an old address (my university house which I left four years ago). I was advised to ignore it, which I did.

Today I've received a second letter stating that I was in debt with Severn Trent (the water company I was with when I lived at university) to the sum of £164.51, and that this debt was sold to Lowell on 11/07/2014, and that I now owe Lowell this money.

I had absolutely no outstanding debts when I left university in 2012 (besides my student loan of course), and since then have lived at two addresses, not making me very hard to get a hold of. Indeed, during the time since Lowell supposedly bought this debt off Severn Trent, I've been living at my current address. I've also downloaded and saved an updated Experian credit score, dated today (25/06/2016) which still shows no outstanding debts.

Naturally, the letter is very brief. In short, it says "you owe this, pay up". I've scoured these forums to find a template prove-it letter, as I'm sure I found one before but stupidly didn't save the link. If anybody could link me to this or reply with a suitable template I'd be incredibly grateful. It was quite a detailed, comprehensive letter.

If anybody has any more knowledge or advice on where to go next too, or on how concerned I ought to be about this, I'd be most grateful.

Thanks x

sourcrates

Hi,


The "provit" letter is available from the sticky at the top of the DFW forum, here :


https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2607247


Be sure to adapt it to your own circumstances, and remember, Lowell must prove your liability for this debt, you do not have to prove anything.

gangu

Hi,

About a month ago (22nd Jun 2016) Lowell Portfolio1 had sent me a letter but with no debt request, just a request saying,

"we are attempting to contact the above named person (who previously lived at the above address) in relation to a personal matter, based on information supplied by a credit ref agency, we consider that your address may be a possible address for our customer"

Just to note, I never lived at the address they mentioned in the first letter!!!

therefore I ignored the first letter,

Today(11th Jul 2016) I've received a second letter stating that I was in debt with O2 UK LTD to the sum of £710.97, and that this debt was sold to Lowell, and that I now owe Lowell this money.

I've checked Experien and nothing from Lowell nor O2 in it, basically I've never missed any payment to anyone and specially when it's utilities, I always pay by DD.

Naturally, the letter is very brief. In short, it says "you owe this, pay up". I've scoured these forums to find a template prove-it letter, but unsure if it matches with my circumstances? (i mean I never lived at the address they mentioned in the first letter and secondly, I've not been with O2 in last 6years)

If anybody has any more knowledge or advice on where to go next too, or on how concerned I ought to be about this, I'd be most grateful.

could this 'Proveit' letter still be suitable in my scenario? and if so do I need to tweak anything in it?

Thank you for your help in advance,
gangu

sourcrates

Commonly known as a mis trace, but is it in your name ?

If your sure it's not your debt, then send the provit letter, it's specifically worded so as not to acknowledge anything, and asks them to provide proof.

Remember they must prove the debt is yours, you don't have to prove it isn't.

See how they respond.

gangu

hi sourcrates,

Yes the name is mine,

I am sure, it's not my debt. also in the first letter they said the person (my name) lived at an address (Which I never lived there in my entire life)

so what shall I tweak in the proveit letter? becuase the second letter just asks about payment, and I guess the account they've opened with Lowell, is also on my name and on my current address?

thank you for your help in advance,
Gangu

sourcrates

gangu wrote: »

hi sourcrates,

Yes the name is mine,

I am sure, it's not my debt. also in the first letter they said the person (my name) lived at an address (Which I never lived there in my entire life)

so what shall I tweak in the proveit letter? becuase the second letter just asks about payment, and I guess the account they've opened with Lowell, is also on my name and on my current address?

thank you for your help in advance,
Gangu

Ok assuming then this debt is nothing to do with you, and it's not some account you have forgotten about, or anything of that nature.

Basically tell them the debt is not yours, you have not had an account with 02 in 6 years, the address they have provided is not yours either, and you deny any knowledge of this account.

It's then up to them to prove the debt is yours, that would most likley be in the form of monthly airtime statements for a mobile contract.

gangu

Hi sourcrates,

shall I still use the 'proveit' letter template to respond back to Lowell, but couple of more lines to add in the first paragraph, for example:

[FONT=&quot]Dear Sir/Madam

Account No: xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

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

I would point out that I have no knowledge of any such debt being owed to O2 (UK) LTD, I have not had an account with O2 in last 6 years, and I had never lived at the address (XXXXXXXX) you have provided/referred to in your first letter dated (DDMMYYYY)

I am familiar with the Consumer Credit sourcebook of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) which states the ….[/FONT]

and then rest of the format remains the same from the template?

Many thanks again in advance,
Gangu

sourcrates

gangu wrote: »

Hi sourcrates,

shall I still use the 'proveit' letter template to respond back to Lowell, but couple of more lines to add in the first paragraph, for example:

[FONT=&quot]Dear Sir/Madam

Account No: xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

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

I would point out that I have no knowledge of any such debt being owed to O2 (UK) LTD, I have not had an account with O2 in last 6 years, and I had never lived at the address (XXXXXXXX) you have provided/referred to in your first letter dated (DDMMYYYY)

I am familiar with the Consumer Credit sourcebook of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) which states the ….[/FONT]

and then rest of the format remains the same from the template?

Many thanks again in advance,
Gangu

Yep, that sounds good to me.