Lowell Debt Collection in Scotland

amurray88_2

Hi all,
I don't know whether to just pay Lowell or not. I got a letter from them 3months ago saying I owed an energy company money from 18months ago and that they had bought the debt.

The bill was £60. The reason I am dubious is because the woman then said she would reduce it to £30 if I paid it straight away. I asked for 3 months to think about it. 3 months later and I receive a letter saying they will reduce it to £15 if I pay it straight away.

It seems too good to be true which maybe suggests they have no legal right to it? I've added that I'm from Scotland in case that plays any role in it.

Any helps/advice would be appreciated. I'm happy to pay £15, I'm not querying the debt as such, I'm querying whether Lowell can do anything about it.

Thanks!

FeaturelessVoid

amurray88_2 said:

Hi all,
I don't know whether to just pay Lowell or not. I got a letter from them 3months ago saying I owed an energy company money from 18months ago and that they had bought the debt.

The bill was £60. The reason I am dubious is because the woman then said she would reduce it to £30 if I paid it straight away. I asked for 3 months to think about it. 3 months later and I receive a letter saying they will reduce it to £15 if I pay it straight away.

It seems too good to be true which maybe suggests they have no legal right to it? I've added that I'm from Scotland in case that plays any role in it.

Any helps/advice would be appreciated. I'm happy to pay £15, I'm not querying the debt as such, I'm querying whether Lowell can do anything about it.

Thanks!

No, it suggests that they bought it for pennies in the pound and can go quite low whilst still turning a profit.

The question you ultimately need to answer is "Do I think they'll take it to court?"

I suspect the answer, for a £60 debt, is no, but for the sake of £15, I'd pay it if it were me.

amurray88_2

I'd agree with you....my only last question is, I seen on someone's thread that this can then go down as a closed account partially settled. Could paying the £15 damage my credit score? If it will then I might be best to pay the full £60.... Would be daft to damage my credit score long term over £45.

Thanks for your response!

sourcrates

Well the first question is does it show on your credit file or not ?

Secondly, if Lowell are offering such discounts it probably means the debt is already prescribed, and they are chancing their arm, do they say when/where this debt originates from ?

Remember prescription/limitation period in Scotland is 5 years.

You don`t have a credit score, just a credit history, if the debt doesn't show on your file, Lowell won`t start reporting it, even if it does show, one partial settlement on a small debt is hardly going to matter that much.

amurray88_2

sourcrates said:

Well the first question is does it show on your credit file or not ?

Secondly, if Lowell are offering such discounts it probably means the debt is already prescribed, and they are chancing their arm, do they say when/where this debt originates from ?

Remember prescription/limitation period in Scotland is 5 years.

You don`t have a credit score, just a credit history, if the debt doesn't show on your file, Lowell won`t start reporting it, even if it does show, one partial settlement on a small debt is hardly going to matter that much.

Thank you, that's a huge help!
So they are able to tell me which company it originates from and when (within last 2 years). It's a gas bill when I moved house and the company went bust at the same time so the new company took a while to do anything about it.

I agree....£15, I've been on the phone to them for an hour and a half talking about it...is it really worth their while? But at the same time, I don't want a default showing.

Nothing is showing on my credit history as far as I see (experian & clearscore show nothing in terms of missed payments/defaults or any money owed to Lowell or the energy firm).

Thanks for any advice!