Debt collection letter, help needed please

lostsquirrel99

Sorry for the delay- some of my health issues make replying difficult.

After the pod request I received a reply from Lowell some time ago with all of the statements from the account- it is definitely my debt.

I took a good look at what the payments were (mainly to see how/why/when I messed up) they are mostly stupid, impulsive purchases 😔 some were payments to join mlm’s when I was looking for any source of income to leave an abusive relationship.
It was tough to look at and see how silly and naive I have been at times, but also very sobering to recognise that I likely would not have this debt if it weren’t for the mental and physical health conditions that created the spiral I was living in: now I just need to hopefully clear this so that I can focus on my wellbeing without the extra weight of this debt.


I am following an online templates for writing a request to write off due to health reasons and noticed that it is mainly focused on mental health.
I’m wondering the following:
1) how much detail should I go into? It’s starting to sound like an essay on how mental and physical health conditions contribute to debt- should I just be sticking to the bear minimum? I feel like I only get this one chance to plead my case and, therefore, want to be thorough.
 I imagine Lowell don’t care that much, but I’d hate to have to write again with additional “there’s also this issue and that issue that I’m also struggling with”

2) should this just be about mental health? I feel my physical disabilities are also extremely relevant here and they are much easier to back up with medical evidence than “I feel this way”. 

3) how do I speak to my dr about providing additional written support? It’s difficult enough to even request an appointment and I’m pretty sure my GP is absolutely sick of hearing from me as it is. I also worry that I don’t go to the GP with every mental health issue that crops up each day- I have some relevant diagnoses that support what I’m telling Lowell, but there’s finer details that my GP isn’t aware of (and I’m not sure I really want him to be) Any tips on how to navigate that?


if you’ve gotten this far- thank you so much for reading- it takes me a huge amount of time, effort and anxiety to articulate things hence I tend to blurt everything out in huge paragraphs: I struggle to understand what/how much of anything is relevant or appropriate and I know that can make my posts tiresome.
I really appreciate any advice on how to hopefully deal with this debt.

lostsquirrel99

fatbelly said:

So here's your shopping list………
Thank you for this.

The pod was returned and it’s definitely mine.

the date from Lowell on my credit file says “updated July 2023”.
the original card was taken out in December 2014, my last payment towards the debt was November 2019 (slightly concerned that I have no recollection of much of this, though I know that it’s clearly mine. Likely my health issues are to blame for memory issues.)

I have dipped in and out of the budget form but it is something I find difficult.
I continue to work on it.

I am concerned at how it looks as though I have a little money spare when I know there is nothing I could cut back on that wouldn’t drastically impact my health (I have a private health prescription as one was unavailable via NHS but is crucial to my health alongside a variety of supplements and health products such as very expensive eye drops, high food expenses due to food issues/ allergies etc and some costs for things which sound frivolous like apps but are my only way to access things like exercise, calendar scheduling assistance and limited socialising) 
I don’t smoke, drink or regularly go out, visit restaurants or have takeaways- I don’t live a frivolous or very fulfilling life, yet I know that there are “limits” that debt collectors deem reasonable or not when budgeting: some of those are just not realistic when managing multiple conditions (whilst trying to also maintain the will to live!😣)

I have downloaded the medical forms and now just need to figure out who will be willing/able to fill them in.
is it necessary or worth having multiple forms from different specialists to cover multiple disabilities?

thank you again for your help

fatbelly

fatbelly said:

So here's your shopping list.

1. Send Lowell a prove-it.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2607247/letter-when-you-know-nothing-about-about-the-debt-aka-prove-it-letter

It didn't sound like you were 100% sure what this was. Now obviously the best proof that this is yours is a copy of the original agreement with your details and signature. If they don't send that, let us know, as that opens another angle.

2. Check your credit files. Don't pay anything for this and consider doing it through quidco/topcashback so they pay you.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/loans/check-free-credit-report/

They should show this account under Lowell, with a default date. Could you let us know what that is?

If there is anything else there that you are not sure about, ask us.

3. Start to save a lump sum. Everyone should have an emergency fund of maybe 3-6 months income. In your case it could be a useful fighting fund if all else fails. If you want help to budget, complete and post a statement of affairs for us to look at

https://www.lemonfool.co.uk/financecalculators/soa.php

4. Finally for now, download and print this form (DMHEF) and ask a medical professional to complete it. They should not charge a fee. Don't rush to send it anywhere but it may form part of your preferred strategy in a month or two

https://nationaldebtline.org/fact-sheet-library/debt-and-mental-health-ew/

https://www.nationaldebtline.org/documents/debt_and_mental_health_evidence_form_DMHEF_pack_with_instructions_NDL_EW.pdf

This is what i wrote last time. Can you tell us how you have got on, section by section?

For example in section 1, did Lowell send you a copy of the original agreement?

Section 2. What did you find? Default date?

Section 3 How much have you saved?

Section 3 Have you completed that form and asked your gp to fill in their bit?

lostsquirrel99

fatbelly said:

fatbelly said:

This is what i wrote last time. Can you tell us how you have got on, section by section?

For example in section 1, did Lowell send you a copy of the original agreement?

Section 2. What did you find? Default date?

Section 3 How much have you saved?

Section 3 Have you completed that form and asked your gp to fill in their bit?

Thank you for being so patient with me and for re-explaining when I’ve missed things!
 I really appreciate it and how you have broken down the tasks ☺️ 

1) they sent me a huge pack filled with statements.
 There’s no agreement that I can see (I’m guessing that would be the thing you sign? Though I would’ve likely done things online as I often struggle with social interaction. Not even sure that bank things can be done in person now😕) but they sent over 200 pages. I imagined it would be at the beginning or end and it wasn’t, I have checked some of the statements to be sure it’s “mine” but not all 200 😳

Theres a small FAQ letter that says “I also requested a copy of my agreement, it is not included, when will I receive this? ‘we have requested a copy of your agreement from the original creditor and this will be forwarded upon receipt. However, if it is unavailable we will inform you as soon as possible. In the meantime we have placed your account on hold”.

I have not received the agreement, but they are still texting me telling me they need to speak to me urgently.

2) there’s a bunch of things of my report ( I use clearscore)
Under Lowell it says date opened November 2014
in default 
last updated July 2023
from a previous screenshot ( when I first started to try to understand my debt) it looks like m&s marked it as In default in December 2020
from the statements my last payment to them was October 2019

3) just over £100

4) not yet 😣


also- is there any point in looking at the late fees and charges- it seems like a few hundred pounds a least is probably charges 😔

EssexHebridean

Ok, the account being on hold is good, and until they send you the agreement, you don’t need to worry.

One thing that does occur to me - you mentioned that you find that the letters, calls etc are increasing your anxiety. It sounds like they have now added text messages into the mix as well, yes? You are perfectly within your rights to ask them to only contact you by letter - which would at least mean that you aren’t feeling hunted down every time your phone bleeps! 

Also - I can’trecall whether this has been asked before - are you in England, or a different part of the U.K.?

lostsquirrel99

EssexHebridean said:

Ok, the account being on hold is good, and until they send you the agreement, you don’t need to worry.

One thing that does occur to me - you mentioned that you find that the letters, calls etc are increasing your anxiety. It sounds like they have now added text messages into the mix as well, yes? You are perfectly within your rights to ask them to only contact you by letter - which would at least mean that you aren’t feeling hunted down every time your phone bleeps! 

Also - I can’trecall whether this has been asked before - are you in England, or a different part of the U.K.?

Thank you for your reply,

It doesn’t feel like it’s on hold tbh, I thought that would mean. I contact at all but they text 1-3 times per week.
I’m a little worried that maybe they’ve lost track or have sent the missing agreement letter but it’s gotten lost in the post (there are definitely issues with post where I am- things often go missing such as hospital letters but my hospital always follows up with extra communication as an accommodation to some health issues, hence I know the post doesn’t always arrive)

I didn’t know I could request them to stop sending texts- if I’m honest, though I’m working on getting everything together to request a write off, I tend to avoid them.
i have a lot of anxiety about communication in general (the texts don’t beep as my phone is always on silent due to anxiety, but the written notifications are stressful.)
is there a quick, easy way to ask them to stop or should I delay until I’ve finalised my write off request letter?
I worry that contacting them at all will open a floodgate of them contacting me.

I’m in England 

EssexHebridean

lostsquirrel99 said:

1) they sent me a huge pack filled with statements.
 There’s no agreement that I can see (I’m guessing that would be the thing you sign? Though I would’ve likely done things online as I often struggle with social interaction. Not even sure that bank things can be done in person now😕) but they sent over 200 pages. I imagined it would be at the beginning or end and it wasn’t, I have checked some of the statements to be sure it’s “mine” but not all 200 😳

Theres a small FAQ letter that says “I also requested a copy of my agreement, it is not included, when will I receive this? ‘we have requested a copy of your agreement from the original creditor and this will be forwarded upon receipt. However, if it is unavailable we will inform you as soon as possible. In the meantime we have placed your account on hold”.

I have not received the agreement, but they are still texting me telling me they need to speak to me urgently.

Here you go - I've snipped out and highlighted in bold the bit of your previous post where they say that because the agreement is not included they have placed the account on hold. The reason they continue to hound you by text etc is because they hope to be able to persuade people that it's easier just to pay - even if the debt is not enforceable. I bet for every 10 people they treat like this, 5 of those people don't have this forum or other support, and decide that they just want the text to stop, so they'll pay. In a lot of those cases, they will pay by means of either borrowing the money from elsewhere, or by not paying their actual priority bills. If they were ethical, they'd be telling you that as they can't current produce the agreement, you will not be hearing from them again until they can, but that never happens! 

Write to them, as far as I am aware (but Fatbelly may well word things better, or have a better way of dealing with it even) all you need to say is that you acknowledge their letter of X date and note that the agreement as requested is still outstanding. Then go on to say that in the meantime, the only means of contact that you are giving permission for them to use is hard copy letter in the post, so, to clarify, that means that they should no longer be emailing, telephoning or texting you. Any further contact via email, telephone or text message will be viewed as harassment. 

(Just FYI - The reason I asked about where in the UK you were is because it makes a difference in terms of when debts pass the statute barred point - in England, you're still a year or so off though) 

In the meantime, take a breath, you've got this! 

lostsquirrel99

EssexHebridean said:

Thank you!
I guess just, because I was still receiving texts, I assumed they’d decided my account was no longer on hold.
I guess it just mean that things won’t progress (like court action or bailiffs or something? But they will still keep texting 😣)

I was just about to print out the DMHEF form after reading through it last last night- does it matter that the link I’ve used is for a 2022 copy?
I know there were some changes last year and I’m unsure if/how the form may have changed.

I’m going to start with writing what you’ve recommended whilst “perfecting” my write off request letter and getting DMHEFs filled out by my specialists and GP.
its very difficult to stay “on task” with a task that causes so much anxiety but, at the same time, it’s always there in the back of my mind and at the moment I’m causing myself more stress by switching between trying to forget it and also trying to deal with it at the same time (if that makes sense).

I still find it very hard constantly confronting and learning to accept the limitations of my health and disability- every time I look at what I’ve written so far in my write off letter I feel like I’m such a waste of space for even being so unable to function, I know I need to finalise that part of things as quickly as I can and get it sent off so that I can get back to the day to day of trying to focus and work on what I am able to do- rather than having to admit and explain to Lowell the horrible extent of things.
It’s strange because I would never think so harshly about someone else’s abilities or limitations but accepting my own is very hard to adjust to.

thank you again for your advice.

EssexHebridean

It's always harder to accept the things that we can't do ourselves, or that we see as meaning we are "failing" even when if someone else was in the same position we'd be reassuring them that they should be kinder to themselves!

I will let Fatbelly or Sourcrates assist with the technical aspects around the form etc - they both have far more knowledge than I do in those sorts of things.