About to send off CCA request, a few questions if I may......

Jeekah

I am about to send off the template letter to request my CCA (from Lowell's) on a debt that I believed had been paid off 5 years and 10 month ago, so not quite statute barred if anything is outstanding on it.

They claim I owe on a Lloyds CC (I have just read several similar threads on this so it seems I am not alone). I still bank with Lloyds so I am sure if I owed them money they would have asked me for it them selves by now, wouldn't they?

Do you think asking for a copy of my CCA is the best way to deal with this? I have just read the 'Lets all ask for our CCA' thread and found it very informative, however, I have a few things that I still wouldn't mind some help with.

1) Should I request just the CCA or also for a full breakdown of the account including any interest and charges applied?
2) If this all drags on for a few months and it passes the 6 year period (in early July) would it still become Statute Barred even though I have corresponded with them to ask for the CCA?
3) I have never sent a postal order before, do you have to send it to anyone in particular, the DCA in questions name? Sorry of that is a silly question, but I am not sure how they work.
4) I have read on previous threads that I must not sign my letter, is printing my name ok or as I am typing it should I just type my name?
5) Should I put my address on the top of the letter as you usually do in business correspondence or will my reference number suffice?
6) Do I need to ask for a CCA and a Deed/Notice of Assignment? (What actually is a Deed/Notice of Assignment? Are they the same thing?)
7) If you recommend I ask for both, does my £1 postal order cover both or do I need to send £2?

Once again, I apologise if I am asking really silly questions, it is just that sometimes I find thinks really confusing and don't want to make a big mistake.

Thanks in advance for any help offered

Jeekah

stapeley

Hi , put , I DO NOT ACKNOWLEDGE THIS DEBT , at head of any letter . In this situation I would not even ask for a CCA yet . Please give details of what you received from the DCA . Plus do not phone them . I would just write back and say you have no knowledge of any debt to their company , suggest they check there records .That should delay things a little .

rog2

Hi Jeekah, and welcome to DFW

The first thing that you need to remember is that Lowell are a particularily nasty example of the virulent strain that pervades throughout the dubious industry of 'Debt Collection'.
They tend to specialise in the collection, or attempted collection, of debts that are either almost out of statute, or are legally unenforceable for some other reason, for example insufficient or incorrect paperwork.
They thrive on this type of 'debt' because 99+% of 'alleged debtors' are unaware of the protection that is afforded them by either the Consumer Credit Act, 1974, or the Limitation Act, 1980.
If, as your 'alleged debt' seems to be, the 'debt' is very close to becoming 'statute barred' then they will do their utmost to entrap you into 'acknowledging the debt' in order to make it enforceable through the courts.
Please remember that any such 'acknowledgement' needs to be in writing - phone calls do not count.
Niether will the letter, requesting a true copy of the cca, count, as you are unaware of any 'alleged debt' and are seeking clarification about that, or any, alleged debt.
It is always best to preface any letter, that you send to the 'ilk' of Lowell, with the words:

"I do not acknowledge any debt to your company, or to any organisation that you claim to represent"

Now, going back to your situation, you say that, as far as you know, you cleared this 'debt' 5 years and 10 months ago. Do you have any records, showing the actual date of last payment?

I would be inclined to give National Debtline - 0808 808 400, or CCCS - 0800 138 1111, a quick call, just to clarify if, by sending the CCA request, Lowell can count this as 'acknowledgement, in any way. Personally, I don't think they can, but it is always worth getting a professional opinion.

Good luck.

GeorgeUK

Yup - as Stapeley says: A debt will become statute barred 6 years from the date a payment was last made or a written acknowledgement of the debt was made. You are not acknowledging the debt.

And unless you have been receiving threats and letters for a while, i would delay a bit longer.

Printing your name is fine - as is typing it, or just initialing the letter. Just incase they scan it in and photoshop a new agreement.

Put your address on any letter - you don't want them saying thay you deliberately made it difficult for them to contact you or anything.

£1 is fine. You can ask for a deed of assignment (letter from original creditor saying that they have sold the debt to this DCA) but they are not legally obliged to provide it unless it goes to court. No harm in asking though.

Jeekah

Hi Stapely and thank you for your response. I have received a total of 4 letters from them, I have ignored them all. The first was just fishing for info as they asked if I have ever lived at a given address, which I did years ago. The second then stated who they claim I owe the money too, the amount and a ref number. The third was more to the point stating that unless I get in touch with them within 48 hours they would send someone to my home and yesterday I received a postcard style card just informing me that they are trying to contact me with a phone number to call. Like I said I am trying to drag it out until it is statute barred, but at the same time I do not want them on my doorstep.

Also thank you Rog for your very informative reply and for the warm welcome.
I know exactly when I last paid my account as I have still got my cheque book stub from back then, although it would be handy just to have that confirmed. Unfortunately I do not have any other paper work as we had a house fire and lost all all our financial records (other than the cheque book that was in my handbag) so while I am pretty confident it was paid up, I guess there could be room for error and it does worry me that I can't check it. The account at the time was already with a DCA if that makes any difference. I shall try and get the courage to call the people you mentioned, it always really scares me to have to talk to real 'humans' about things like this :-)

George, thank you also for your reply, the first letter was the 01 April, I have had 3 more since then the last being yesterday. Thank you answering my questions on writing the actual letter, I shall take your advice and include my name and address but no signature!



So, is it divided opinions on if I should I hold out asking for a CCA or not :-) should I ignore them or send out a 'I have no idea what you are talking' about type letter denying all knowledge of it?

Also if we decide I should send the CCA, could anyone please tell me if I need to put a name on a postal order or not or are they juts blank to be cashed by whoever?

RAS

Jeekah

Given what you say in your second post, hold off responding.

The chances of anyone turning up on your door step are almost nil. This is a frightener designed to panic you into responding. Keep your cool and do not respond at the moment.

my guess is this debt is made up almost entirely of charges added after the last payment.

Jeekah

Ok I shall be brave and try and hold fire for now! After all, I can always come back for help if I get anything more sinister. As far as I can remember the DCA that was dealing with it then is not the same one who has it now but it was so long ago I could not say that for sure either.

RAS, I hope it is made up of charges as I have always been proud of my self for paying off all the debts I managed to rack up as an irresponsible 18 year old and would feel quite bad if I had missed finishing one, but when your house burns down and you nearly loose the life of a loved one in the process, some things did just slip by and become unimportant.

Thanks for your advice.

rog2

Jeekah wrote: »

I shall try and get the courage to call the people you mentioned, it always really scares me to have to talk to real 'humans' about things like this :-)

I understand exactly what you are saying, Jeekah. You have already demonstrated a great deal of courage by posting on this site, and can only say that it wll not take any more to contact one of the debt counselling charities - they are, indeed, real people, yet are totally non-judgemental. Their advice is professional, impartial and free. It really is worth 'summoning up' that initial courage.
However, you can also email them with your questions - just go to:

http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk

or

http://www.cccs.co.uk/contact/contact.aspx


and follow the instructions.

RAS

Jeekah

You can start with the electronic contacts, and your will find that several debt counsellors "work" on here as well.

Keep your chin up and if you find the correspondenece un-nerving, come back here for support.

Jeekah

Thank you so much for the links Rog, I shall go and email them now. I don't know why I feel like that about actually needing to talk to people, I can say anything via email and message boards but to have to actually say the words out loud scares me! I need to have a word with myself !

Big thank you to you too RAS :-)

rog2

Jeekah wrote: »

I need to have a word with myself !

I often need to have a word with myself, Jeekah. :rotfl: :rotfl:

Let us know how you get on. :beer: