Lowell Portfolio- another odd letter

rog2

NellyG wrote: »

Scary how many people are moaning about Lowell on DFW- are they particularly underhand with their tactics or do all DCAs adopt the same approach?

Lowell are, indeed, particularily underhanded in their approach to the collection of 'debt', as they tend to specialise in the collection of 'debt' which is, once the 'debtor' has advised them that he/she will NOT pay, no longer enforceable through the courts. They 'buy' these debts for pennies in the hope, and almost certain knowledge, that the 'alleged debtor' is unaware of his/her legal rights. By adopting the 'heavy' tactics, they hope to frighten their 'victims' into paying before they have had a chance to learn about the 'legal' status of the 'alleged debt'
Lowell are, unfortunately, not unique in this approach. There are quite a few 'undesirables' operating in this sector of the Debt Collection Industry.
They are gamblers - pure and simple - they lay out a few pence, at very high odds, and sit back and 'cream' a living out of the misfortune of ordinary people who, if they were in full possession of their rights, could, otherwise, tell them to take a jump.

maureen0000

I also received a letter from lowell asking me to confirm if I had lived at a previous address, there were no details on the letter and I immediately rang them to confirm that I had. I spoke to chap called Scott who was very friendly and informed me that he would not be surprised if I knew nothing of the debt as it was from 1993 and owed to Barclaycard.I disputed this and stated I did not believe debt owed and that it would be statute barred by now anyway, he was most pleasant and agreeable that the account would be statute barred and told me the account would be closed.However today another letter re the same supposed debt asking for payment. I again rung only to be told that the fact a debt is statute barred does not prevent them from pursuing the debt. He asked if I would be paying and I said no as I do not acknowledge the debt.The amount in total is only £188 but I have written to them today stating that I do not acknowledge any debt and stating the law re statute barred debt, and also the law re harrassement for statute barred debts. I only hope that I have followed the correct course of action. I am worried that even after 15 years they will be able to enter this on my credit record, is this possible? Also thanks to Rog2 your posts have been most helpful and stopped me worrying.

RAS

Hi

Well done. If this lot were to try and enter any record on your creidt record, you can get it removed and report them to the Information Commissioner for supplying false information to the credit reference agency.

Not likely.

fatface75

well well,

It looks like we all have had the letter! me too about the barclaycard! Deny all knowledge of it!! and don't admit to the debt! the important questions you need to ask is "is there a ccj against this debt/me for this?" if the answer is no and you have had no contact from the company for 6 years and over regarding this debt then you need to write a letter to them which a template can be found @ http://www.insolvencyhelpline.co.uk/ which will quote from the Limitations Act can be found here - http://www.bdl.org.uk/images/25_liability_for_debts_and_the_limitation_act.pdf
This should get them off your back, I am in the process of doing this but if you are concerned whether or not you can use this, speak to the free phone number on the link posted for the insolvency helpline - you just register your name and address with them and they will advise you for free!! I have done so and they advised me to write to the Lowell Portfolio (a p.o box! so sending recorded delivery is not available! but use the other address if needs be). If this doesn't work and they continue to chase you then you need to contact the OFT and get in contact with the CAB to assist with taking them to court under the section 40 (1) of the Administration of
Justice Act 1970.

All this information is available here http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/business_leaflets/consumer_credit/oft664.pdf

I hope this makes the bad man go away, but if not please contact the Office of fair trading and the Citizens advice bureau to sort - other option i guess is if you can't be bothered with this then pay! but I really don't advise giving these parsites any of your money! I was also informed that this company has basically bought these so called debts from 'whomever?' for approximately 1p and any money they recall on this will be a hefty profit! Not me, your not getting a penny out of me you con merchants in disguise!

Take care all and good luck on your mission if you choose to accept this!

I will self destruct in 10 seconds!

fatface75

well well,

It looks like we all have had the letter! me too about the barclaycard! Deny all knowledge of it!! and don't admit to the debt! the important questions you need to ask is "is there a ccj against this debt/me for this?" if the answer is no and you have had no contact from the company for 6 years and over regarding this debt then you need to write a letter to them which a template can be found @ http://www.insolvencyhelpline.co.uk/ which will quote from the Limitations Act can be found here - http://www.bdl.org.uk/images/25_liability_for_debts_and_the_limitation_act.pdf
This should get them off your back, I am in the process of doing this but if you are concerned whether or not you can use this, speak to the free phone number on the link posted for the insolvency helpline - you just register your name and address with them and they will advise you for free!! I have done so and they advised me to write to the Lowell Portfolio (a p.o box! so sending recorded delivery is not available! but use the other address if needs be). If this doesn't work and they continue to chase you then you need to contact the OFT and get in contact with the CAB to assist with taking them to court under the section 40 (1) of the Administration of
Justice Act 1970.

All this information is available here http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/business_leaflets/consumer_credit/oft664.pdf

I hope this makes the bad man go away, but if not please contact the Office of fair trading and the Citizens advice bureau to sort - other option i guess is if you can't be bothered with this then pay! but I really don't advise giving these parsites any of your money! I was also informed that this company has basically bought these so called debts from 'whomever?' for approximately 1p and any money they recall on this will be a hefty profit! Not me, your not getting a penny out of me you con merchants in disguise!

Take care all and good luck on your mission if you choose to accept this!

I will self destruct in 10 seconds!

fatface75

this should not affect your credit rating and if they put a ccj against you you can have it removed througth the OFT but make sure you log and copy all documents sent to this company as i am! take care

Trying_really_hard

My dad has now had a 3rd letter, this time from "Red Debt Collection" (subsid of lowells). It now says "your account has been passed to our specialist recoveries unit who will ultimately decide the best form of action...." blah blah blah. For an amount of £73.34 which he doesn't owe anyway.

I sent the "supply a CCA or s*d off" letter last week. I'm not sure what to do now? Should I resend the letter but address it to this Red Debt Compmany? If so, does the 12+2 start again? Or should I just ignore it?

Why the hell has Barclaycard, a large financial company got involved in something as underhanded as this?

Thanks for your help. THis thread is a godsend.

RAS

TRH

They have 12 working days plus 2 in which to reply to your CCA letter. They can take no action while the debt is in dispute and are breaking the OFT guidelines by writing to your father after you sent the CCA.

BC are responsible for the behaviour of any DCA that is collecting a debt that they have sold on, so you might want to bend their ear. if you go to the OFT site, you can check the exact details. They have moved the pages and the links on posts here do not work any more.

fermi

This one still works: Debt collection guidance (pdf 117 kb)

But so do the others for me. Unless you are thinking of a different document?

Links to most of the documents regarding the Consumer Credit Act, guidelines and fair practice can be found at:

http://www.oft.gov.uk/advice_and_resources/publications/guidance/consumer_credit_act/

Trying_really_hard

Thank you both for your quick replies.

I didn't actually realise that they were in breach by sending another letter. Does it matter that the letter went to Lowell but this current letter is from Red Debt? They both have the same PO Box address.