Persistent letters from Lowell despite proving I don't owe them

golfbag

Hi all,

I've posted a few times regarding this issue and it's still persisting, so I'll try and cut a long story short to get to the latest issue.

Lowell sent me a letter a few months back saying I owe them £164.51 on a debt they bought off Severn Trent Water, the water provider for my university house from four years ago.

The dates they provided me with for the debt were after I'd left the property, and they asked for proof of my leaving the tenancy before they could review the debt. The last letter I sent to Lowell contained a letter from my old estate agents, detailing that I had left the property before the dates on the debt, thereby rendering me inculpable for this debt, and that any further correspondence should be taken up with the estate agents themselves.

Now I've received another letter from Lowell, briefly stating "we are in receipt of the information you provided regarding residency and have adjusted your balance accordingly. An adjustment has been applied of £62.58 based on the information provided and the balance now outstanding is £101.93."

This is the only explanation and information they have given me regarding the debt. I don't how they arrived at that figure, and don't know why on earth my letter from my old estate agents is apparently insufficient to clear the debt. I emailed my old estate agents to ask if Lowell have been in touch with them, and they haven't. Lowell have simply ignored that request.

My first idea was to respond to Lowell by demanding why they have not only arrived at such an arbitrary figure, but why the letter from the estate agents was insufficient. However, I fear this will be a simple to-and-fro between us, and I want to end this debacle as soon as possible.

Does anyone have any advice on where I can go with this? Is there any legal procedure I could threaten them with? Are there any legal institutions I could use to help me solve this? I'm also sure that I read somewhere that if a company buys a debt off you without your prior knowledge or consent, that isn't legally binding and you don't owe them anything. I'm not 100% on that you so I'd need clarification.

Any help would be greatly appreciated once more, as this is driving me nuts.

Thanks,

Sam x

fatbelly

Hi. That last bit is nonsense that does the rounds on some flaky websites.

Until Lowell choose to take court action, and they probably never will, the best option may be to ignore them.

However, as you've asked them to prove this debt, and they haven't, you could adapt the letter in post#3 of this thread and refer the matter to the financial ombudsman service

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

You can't use FOS if a court claim has started but you can still try court action after using FOS

golfbag

Thanks fatbelly.

I should have explained though, I did ask them to prove the debt, and that was when they sent me the list of dates which showed the time period where they say I owed the money. This time period was after I left the property, which is why I had to send Lowell proof that I'd left.

I'll look more into the FOS, thank you.

sourcrates

I agree with Fatbelly, take it to the FOS, Lowell like to push things to the limit, FOS should clip there wings a bit !!

golfbag

Thanks sourcrates, I've just submitted my case to the FOS. Had I best wait for a response from the FOS before contacting Lowell again do you think?

Muttipops

golfbag, you seem like a switched on guy, but just imagine if this was an elderly person who had no internet access and no one to turn to; it makes your blood boil that these cowboys can act like this.


Your story above sounds like part of a stand-up comedians routine about thick people,( Lowells in this case), but you couldn't make anybody this stupid up!!


I hope you can get the Ombundsman involved, 'cos the cowboys need a noose on them, not literally, of course.;)
Good luck.

golfbag

Thanks Muttipops. This is exactly what I was thinking about them! There are going to be vulnerable people who get these letters who will pay up just to get them off their backs. They're absolutely disgraceful.

fatbelly

golfbag wrote: »

Thanks sourcrates, I've just submitted my case to the FOS. Had I best wait for a response from the FOS before contacting Lowell again do you think?

You can tell them you've referred it but I think you don't get confirmation (and a reference) for a couple of weeks. In that time, the FOS should contact them direct anyway.

Magi74

fatbelly wrote: »

Hi. That last bit is nonsense that does the rounds on some flaky websites.

Until Lowell choose to take court action, and they probably never will, the best option may be to ignore them.

However, as you've asked them to prove this debt, and they haven't, you could adapt the letter in post#3 of this thread and refer the matter to the financial ombudsman service

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

You can't use FOS if a court claim has started but you can still try court action after using FOS

I rarely get to post on this board, but since I have a semi-related issue it seems suitable to post it here.

I've got a similar problem with a different debt collector. It's a debt that I've proven more than once doesn't belong to me....and it eventually turns up with a different debt collector and the dance continues. Now that I've got the time and space to go after these cowboys I fully intend to do so.

But, when I've spoken with the FOS they said I had to complain to the Credit Service Association - which, seems more like a trade body if I'm honest. Is that right?

Apologies for the slight derailment, but it seems connected enough and may be useful info for the OP. Plus it means I find this link again a little easier to use letter 3 against this company. It may be that I do have to 'formally complain' to this company first before I could get the FOS involved, but I'd welcome some input on this.

DCFC79

Magi74

Yes it sounds like they are a trade body, no harm in asking them about your issue.

fatbelly

Yes the CSA are the trade body for the debt collection industry

I've never heard of then doing anything other than siding with their members but you can complain, here

http://www.csa-uk.com/#complaints-process

For the FOS, yes, you need to have a final response from the organisation you are complaining about, or have gone 8 weeks without a response.