Ten year old debt - not even sure it's mine

wonderdebt

Hi,

I could really do with some advice re some letters I've had from a company called Lowell Financial.

They first wrote to me a week ago, 2 letters, both about different debts they had bought from HSBC. I called them straight away, gave them my birthdate, and they said that they had got the wrong person, as the birthdate they had was different, and the person had lived in a different place to me. They said I would hear no more about it.

Today I received another letter from them, this time about just one debt, again re HSBC.

This time they had an address that I had lived at almost 9 years ago mentioned on the letter, and I quote the letter:

"Our objective is to help both you and our client find a solution to this problem"

I called them straight away, again giving them my birthdate. This time the man said that their special dept was doing some more digging as they couldn't confirm whether this really was my debt. He said they would get back to me.

The more I thought about it, the more worried I got, so I called them back. This time the man said that the majority of the data HSBC had supplied to them was corrupt, but they we sure it was me. It turns out not only did they have different birthdate, the also had that I was a home owner and that I had lived in an area I have never even visited, let alone lived. The only info they had that was correct was my name, address of 9 years ago and current address.

The man asked me to send a copy of my passport or driving licence and they would ask HSBC for copies of the forms that were signed on opening the account. I await a request for this in writing.

The reason this is doubly strange is that almost 4 years ago I went through the rather painful job of getting all my credit reports and paying off every debt on them - I managed to get a low interest loan of 15k and paid everything off, and the feeling was great - I have almost paid off the loan as well, and since then have become very strict with money, paying stuff like credit cards off in full every month and actually saving money.

So, a couple of questions.

Is it possible that this isn't my debt?
Is the debt still collectable after potentially ten years?
Is it possible that I paid this debt off 4 years ago to another collection agency - and this has been missed somewhere?
Is it possible this is a scam by Lowell?

Thanks

Wonderdebt

dramaqueen1973

Hiya

I do believe that they cannot chase a debt more than 6 years old, but the guys on here will confirm that!

Just had a quick look at their website and they portray themselves as a caring company!:rolleyes:

http://www.lowellgroup.co.uk/better-practices.html

Hopefully someone will be along in a mo to tell you what to do!

chloebelle

citizens advice might be a good option as they know the debt companies really well and should be able to confirm whether this procedure is normal or not.

Sorry I couldn't be more helpful - but don't send any passports etc... until they prove the debt is yours.

nottoolate

From others posts here there seems to be lots of information on the 6 year rule at http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_wales/factsheet.php?page=25_liability_for_debts_and_the_limitation_act

thought i'd bump this anyway as you dont seem to have got a complete answer.

Seaxwyn

Wonderdebt, if they have the wrong birthdate and details it seems very likely that this debt is NOT yours, so don't do anything to acknowledge it.

AND I believe they cannot follow up debts more than six years old so long as the debtor has not acknowledged it in all that time.

I have seen posts on here recommending that people write to the company asking for the original documentation to prove the debt. I'm sure there is a template letter on here to do that somewhere. Sorry I don't know where, but I hope someone more knowledgeable will come along.