Letter from Lowell Portfolio

Vkmd

Hello everybody,

Recently I received a letter from Lowell Finance. They referred to an old address I used to live at in 2012 and went on to inform me that they got my present address through a credit rating agency, Experion. I have never dealt with them in past so don't really know how they got my details. Anyway, the letter advised me to contact them as a matter of urgency. It also included a reference number.

I googled these people as I have never heard of them before and found many old threads referring to them somewhere between scam artists and legit debt collectors. Now I checked my old phone contracts and bank accounts etc and certain that I have no debts (!) other than a bit on my credit card which I only acquired last month and it will be paid in full this month.

I am just wondering if I should contact these people or just ignore the letter?

Regards

shaun_from_Africa

If it was me and I had no recollection of any outstanding debts, I would just ignore it for now and see if they give any further details if/when they write again.
It might also be worth checking your phone for unknown or withheld numbers before answering just so you don't get caught unaware if they call you.

Voyager2002

Firstly, I suggest that you check all your credit reports and see if there are any outstanding debts listed under your name. If you find any, then if they are yours then deal with them and if not contact the creditor to set the record straight.

If you respond to the letter then Lowell will know that they have the correct address for you, and from then on will keep pestering you to pay whatever debt that they (wrongly?) believe is yours.

steampowered

Lowells business model is to buy dodgy debts at pence in the pound, then try and make a profit by recovering some of it.

Lowells are very litigious and regularly issue court proceedings. As they now have your address I would suggest calling them up and try to find out what the alleged debt relates to.

It is also worth checking your credit record to ensure there are no defaults registered. Try noodle or clearscore.

You may find it helpful to visit these links: here and here, which is a forum with hundreds of recent threads by people who are being chased or sued by Lowells.

unholyangel

Voyager2002 wrote: »

Firstly, I suggest that you check all your credit reports and see if there are any outstanding debts listed under your name. If you find any, then if they are yours then deal with them and if not contact the creditor to set the record straight.

If you respond to the letter then Lowell will know that they have the correct address for you, and from then on will keep pestering you to pay whatever debt that they (wrongly?) believe is yours.

A credit report will only show what credit agreements you have and how much is outstanding, it doesnt show all money that is owed by you.

In order for normal debts to show on it, they would need to take you to court, win and then you would need to fail to pay within the allocated time (usually a month) in order for the CCJ to be registered against your credit history.

As steampowered suggests, the lowell group do sometimes issue legal proceedings. imo OP would be better contacting them denying the debt and asking for proof that it is owed.

alumende27

Under no circumstances speak to them by telephone!

I was hounded by Lowell for a debt that was nothing to do with me, but after sending them the following letter got a reply saying they would no longer contact me:

Lowell reference number : xxxx

You have contacted me regarding a debt with the above reference number, which you claim is owed by myself. I have no knowledge of any such debt. I am familiar with the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations (2008) and the Financial Conduct Authority’s guidance on debt collection, contained with the Consumer Credit sourcebook, which states that it is unfair to send demands for payment to an individual when it is uncertain that they are the debtor in question. I would also point out that the FCA says under the guidance that it is unfair to pursue third parties for payment when they are not liable and in not ceasing collection activity whilst investigating a reasonably queried or disputed debt you are using deceptive and unfair methods.

I request that no further contact be made concerning the above reference unless you can provide evidence as to my liability for the debt in question, and await your written confirmation that this matter is now closed. Otherwise I shall have no option but to make a complaint to Trading Standards and inform the Financial Ombudsman of your actions.

steampowered

dsdhall wrote: »

Under no circumstances speak to them by telephone!

Excellent point, you don't want to get hounded by constant calls. You could perhaps call from a withheld number I suppose.

alumende27

steampowered wrote: »

You could perhaps call from a withheld number I suppose.

Yes, but there's no reason to call them. Companies like this are best dealt with in writing. I suggest the OP writes a letter similar to my own. If he genuinely owes the money they'll provide evidence of this, and if not, they'll stop contacting him.

Vkmd

Thank you everyone for your helpful advice.

As things stand, I DON'T know what is it that they want to contact me about. Their letter just said that I should contact them. But having read through replies, I think I will send them an email asking about it.

I will update the thread once I receive their reply.

I just checked my Credit Rating, it is down by a few tens, but I thought it is because of debt I got on my credit card, rather than anything else.


EDIT: I just sent them following email with the reference number in subject line,

Dear Neil,

I have received a letter from you, dated 25th January, 2017 saying you need to contact me regarding a matter of some urgency.

Please elaborate.
Regards

DoaM

With respect, that's a very poor response ... it'll just lead to them harrasing you. dsdhall has already advised you of the best approach - you need to be polite but firm with debt collectors.

DesperateSusan

Vkmd wrote: »

Hello everybody,

I googled these people as I have never heard of them before and found many old threads referring to them somewhere between scam artists and legit debt collectors.

They are a legit company of debt collectors.

However, they don't always deal with people in legit ways.

I am just wondering if I should contact these people or just ignore the letter?

The general wisdom is to never talk to them (or any debt collector for that matter) on the phone.

If I were you I would ignore this first letter - if they send another letter I'd consider writing back asking them to clarify the reason for them contacting you.

Never admit to owing a debt that they are chasing - even if you do.

I had so many letters from these clowns relating to defaulted credit cards and in the end gave up answering them. They were unable to prove that a debt existed and they eventually gave up.

Sue