Can they do this?

martinw61

Hi

Being a newbie here, please point me in the right direction if this is not right.

Anyway, today I received a letter from Lowell regarding an outstanding debt. It is a Notice of Sums In Arrears. They claim I have a contractual agreement under the terms of the original agreement (a store card) to increase repayments to the minimum repayments and have defaulted. I have not entered into any such arrangement and have been paying a set amount for several years. Being on benefits, I cannot afford any increase in repayments. They also claim they have not received what they class as part payment even though the regular payment has left my bank account. Apart from sending them a rather curt email to bring this to their attention, what should I do next? I have no interest in talking to them as I have speech problems.

Sandtree

martinw61 said:
It is a Notice of Sums In Arrears. They claim I have a contractual agreement under the terms of the original agreement (a store card) to increase repayments to the minimum repayments and have defaulted.

So to take a step back... you havent been paying the minimum payments? Did you have an agreement with the lender to reduce the payments? Was this a fixed time or indefinite? 

Ergates

You're better off taking this question to the Loans board or the Debt Free Wannabe board - this one is more focused on consumer rights regarding purchases that have gone wrong:

Loans — MoneySavingExpert Forum
Debt-Free Wannabe — MoneySavingExpert Forum

There are posters on those boards (especially the debt free one) who are *very* knowledgable and helpful on the subject.

martinw61

Sandtree said:

martinw61 said:
It is a Notice of Sums In Arrears. They claim I have a contractual agreement under the terms of the original agreement (a store card) to increase repayments to the minimum repayments and have defaulted.

So to take a step back... you havent been paying the minimum payments? Did you have an agreement with the lender to reduce the payments? Was this a fixed time or indefinite? 

It was tranferred to a collection agency and citizens advice helped me sort out letters to all my creditors. I have been paying the agreed amount for several years with no problem. This just landed out of the blue.

born_again

martinw61 said:

Sandtree said:

martinw61 said:
It is a Notice of Sums In Arrears. They claim I have a contractual agreement under the terms of the original agreement (a store card) to increase repayments to the minimum repayments and have defaulted.

So to take a step back... you havent been paying the minimum payments? Did you have an agreement with the lender to reduce the payments? Was this a fixed time or indefinite? 

It was tranferred to a collection agency and citizens advice helped me sort out letters to all my creditors. I have been paying the agreed amount for several years with no problem. This just landed out of the blue.

Is Lowell the company you have been paying all along? Or have they now been passed the debt. As many debt recovery companies will sell the debt on to another company.

martinw61

born_again said:

martinw61 said:

Sandtree said:

martinw61 said:
It is a Notice of Sums In Arrears. They claim I have a contractual agreement under the terms of the original agreement (a store card) to increase repayments to the minimum repayments and have defaulted.

So to take a step back... you havent been paying the minimum payments? Did you have an agreement with the lender to reduce the payments? Was this a fixed time or indefinite? 

It was tranferred to a collection agency and citizens advice helped me sort out letters to all my creditors. I have been paying the agreed amount for several years with no problem. This just landed out of the blue.

Is Lowell the company you have been paying all along? Or have they now been passed the debt. As many debt recovery companies will sell the debt on to another company.

been repaying lowell for best part of 8 years. wish I could sort out which button to press to reply!