Received - Solicitor letter for disputed debt

tinyt1977

Ok so I have received the following response from Lowell by email and in the post.

We refer to your email dated 28 December 2017, with letter attached dated 28 December 2017.

We note that you believe this account to be fraudulent and confirm that we have raised this matter with the original creditor previously. Their response being sent to you via letter dated 19 December 2017. We also confirm that we investigated this matter as fraud.

As you have stated that you were not residing at the application address at the time the account was taken out, please provide proof of residency for this timeframe (9 July 2016), so that we may investigate the matter further. Examples of proof we can accept would include a utility bill or tenancy agreement.

With regards to what checks may have been taken at the time the account was taken out, we are unable to comment on this and you would need to contact the original creditor directly.

We may add that the security information you have provided matches what we hold on file. Subsequently, at this stage we are satisfied that we are corresponding with the correct individual and that you remain liable for the full outstanding balance. Our position will remain so, until we are in receipt of information/instruction to suggest otherwise.

As this account has been legally assigned to the Claimant and we are instructed to act on their behalf, on review we do not believe that any of our contact/correspondence is unwarranted, We would add that you would be required to both specify any substantial damage or distress caused, and to explain why any such damage or distress is in the circumstances unwarranted. However, we would take this opportunity to inform you that we are in any case entitled to contact you, for the purpose of litigation for debt recovery.

We will hold the account for 14 days from the date of this email to allow you time to provide the information as specified above. Should you fail to respond within this timeframe this may result in a Claim form being issued against you with costs and fees incurred.

Please note that this response has also been sent to yourself via letter dated 2 January 2018.

If you are experiencing financial difficulties, you may wish to seek free and impartial advice from StepChange Debt Charity on 0800 138 1111 or visit https://www.stepchange.org.uk. If you wish to speak with a member of our team, please telephone us between 8:00am and 8:00pm Monday to Friday or between 8:00am and 2:00pm Saturday on 0113 335 3334.

I have council tax bills, mortgage statement and my credit report which all prove I was not resident at the address they are investigating. Should I send these as I am worried that the more I send them just gives them more information about myself?

Any help would be appreciated.

Many thanks

sourcrates

tinyt1977 wrote: »

Ok so I have received the following response from Lowell by email and in the post.

We refer to your email dated 28 December 2017, with letter attached dated 28 December 2017.

We note that you believe this account to be fraudulent and confirm that we have raised this matter with the original creditor previously. Their response being sent to you via letter dated 19 December 2017. We also confirm that we investigated this matter as fraud.

As you have stated that you were not residing at the application address at the time the account was taken out, please provide proof of residency for this timeframe (9 July 2016), so that we may investigate the matter further. Examples of proof we can accept would include a utility bill or tenancy agreement.

With regards to what checks may have been taken at the time the account was taken out, we are unable to comment on this and you would need to contact the original creditor directly.

We may add that the security information you have provided matches what we hold on file. Subsequently, at this stage we are satisfied that we are corresponding with the correct individual and that you remain liable for the full outstanding balance. Our position will remain so, until we are in receipt of information/instruction to suggest otherwise.

As this account has been legally assigned to the Claimant and we are instructed to act on their behalf, on review we do not believe that any of our contact/correspondence is unwarranted, We would add that you would be required to both specify any substantial damage or distress caused, and to explain why any such damage or distress is in the circumstances unwarranted. However, we would take this opportunity to inform you that we are in any case entitled to contact you, for the purpose of litigation for debt recovery.

We will hold the account for 14 days from the date of this email to allow you time to provide the information as specified above. Should you fail to respond within this timeframe this may result in a Claim form being issued against you with costs and fees incurred.

Please note that this response has also been sent to yourself via letter dated 2 January 2018.

If you are experiencing financial difficulties, you may wish to seek free and impartial advice from StepChange Debt Charity on 0800 138 1111 or visit https://www.stepchange.org.uk. If you wish to speak with a member of our team, please telephone us between 8:00am and 8:00pm Monday to Friday or between 8:00am and 2:00pm Saturday on 0113 335 3334.

I have council tax bills, mortgage statement and my credit report which all prove I was not resident at the address they are investigating. Should I send these as I am worried that the more I send them just gives them more information about myself?

Any help would be appreciated.

Many thanks

Your under no obligation to provide Lowell with anything, but if you want the matter bringing to a close, I’d send them the proof.

Otherwise you will likley receive a claim form next.

You can’t claim it’s a case of fraud, then offer nothing to back up your claim.

Vikipollard

Something similar happened to my Mum a number of years ago.

She was approaching retirement, so cleared all debt from her Barclaycard, and cut it up. A year later, she moved from that rented address to a private rental.

Fast forward three years, and her former boss rang her to say Barclaycard had contacted them to try to contact my Mum, as she wasn't replying to any contact about her debt. Long story short, she'd cleared the debt, cut up the card, but hadn't closed the account - she didn't know she needed to. When she moved, she didn't update her address with Barclaycard as she'd forgotten about ever having a card. The Unscrupulous W*ore who moved into my Mum's previous place opened the post when Mum's new card arrived (as the old one expired), signed the card, and spent over £2000 on it.

Mum could prove when she'd moved, (Council Tax, Rent agreement thingy) and did so. The police were involved, and Unscrupulous Wh*re was arrested. She still had the card and it won't come as a surprise that the signature bore no resemblance to my Mum's. The debt was removed from my Mum's name.

If I was you, I'd send a copy of my Council Tax bill from the date in question.