Lowell Solicitors & Vodafone

veggie_girl · 22 November 2018 at 3:04PM

Hi all,
I am trying to help a family member and looking for some advice.

She has just got a letter from Lowell Solicitors about an old Vodafone account that she thought was settled.

Basically they appear to have trebled the original debt.
They have sent a letter of claim stating that she must pay £1500 or the bill will jump to £1800, within 30 days or it will go to court.

She did have a problem with Vodafone some years back where the expected bill of £30 a month came in as £200+ due to an error with data usage.

The challenge is that although a monthly amount was agreed and paid, they appear to have really increased the amount they are now claiming.
To make matters worse this lady has memory issues and unsure to the exact details.

The claimed amount is less than 6 years old.
I have checked today and there is no info on her credit file about this.
She is unable to pay this claimed amount as she is not currently working.

What is the best way forward here please?

V

fatbelly · 23 November 2018 at 5:36PM

Sorry, only just noticed your post

https://debtcamel.co.uk/letter-before-claim-ccj/

Just_Di · 24 November 2018 at 7:29PM

veggie_girl wrote: »

a letter from Lowell Solicitors about an old Vodafone account that she thought was settled.

. . . . did have a problem with Vodafone some years back where the expected bill of £30 a month came in as £200+ due to an error with data usage.

The challenge is that although a monthly amount was agreed and paid, they appear to have really increased the amount they are now claiming.

To make matters worse this lady has memory issues and unsure to the exact details.

Vodafone was fined £4.6 million by Ofcom for the way they had managed customers' accounts, so is there any potential for the mobile provider to have got things wrong with your friend's account?

Read this link to see if that helps to point her in the right direction because if Vodafone incorrectly billed her then Lowell may have purchased a disputed debt. If they did issue a court claim they would have to prove that they not only own the debt (lawfully assigned to them) but also that the amount claimed is the amount legally due under the contract > https://www.ofcom.org.uk/about-ofcom/latest/features-and-news/vodafone-fined-4.6-million

If she has memory issues she can send a Subject Access Request to Vodafone to get the history of the account. They should respond within 30 days.

If she has received a Letter Before Claim from Lowell she will have a maximum of 30 days from the date on the letter to respond (she mustn't miss the deadline or they will probably issue a claim).

She can tick Box D if she disputes the debt (you say she questions the amount and the fact that she believes it was settled) and then request various documents in Box I, such as the agreement/contract, Notice and Deed of Assignment, and statements etc.

Di

veggie_girl · 29 November 2018 at 11:48AM

Thanks for the replies and help.

I have sent back the form asking for full information on this debt and will then get advice for her once we have the info.

Is there a department at Vodafone I can contact to get the information directly?
From what I have read Lowell appears to add extra charges to these old debts and Vodafone appear to have done something similar from what I can gather. Is this legal?

Something that confuses me is that the Letter of claim from Lowell Solicitors states
"We act for Lowell portfolio l Ltd"
Does this mean Vodafone have sold this debt onto Lowell?

Thanks again
V

fatbelly · 29 November 2018 at 4:09PM

Yes Lowell will have bought the debt. You can still argue that the amount was wrong.

There is a Vodafone rep on these boards called Lee & a thread here

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=5393903&page=33

You will see that he always links to a help form and gives a code to enter.

We don't get much feedback on him so let us know how you get on.

But I think Di was suggesting you just hit Vodafone with a subject access request - there is no fee for that now and they must reply in one month.

https://ico.org.uk/your-data-matters/your-right-of-access/

veggie_girl · 14 December 2018 at 2:44PM

Lowell Solicitors have responded to her and we are just about to ask for info from Vodafone to see why the amounts have jumped up.

What is confusing me is they state

"As the account relates to a service agreement and not a credit agreement, it is not governed by the provisions of the Consumer Credit Act 1974. Therefore, there is no statutory requirement to complete and sign any such agreement in order to obtain an account of this nature."

What does this mean? Are they saying this was not a credit account?

The original agreement was taken out in a phones 4 you shop and signed for.

Thanks
V

fatbelly · 14 December 2018 at 4:23PM

That's correct. It's not regulated by the Consumer Credit Act. It's just a service agreement.

I'm not exactly sure why they bring that up unless it is to excuse a lack of paperwork.

Have you done a subject access request to Vodafone? You could also do the same to Lowell.

sourcrates · 14 December 2018 at 5:01PM

veggie_girl wrote: »

Hi all,
I am trying to help a family member and looking for some advice.

She has just got a letter from Lowell Solicitors about an old Vodafone account that she thought was settled.

Basically they appear to have trebled the original debt.
They have sent a letter of claim stating that she must pay £1500 or the bill will jump to £1800, within 30 days or it will go to court.

V

veggie_girl wrote: »

From what I have read Lowell appears to add extra charges to these old debts and Vodafone appear to have done something similar from what I can gather. Is this legal?

Something that confuses me is that the Letter of claim from Lowell Solicitors states
"We act for Lowell portfolio l Ltd"
Does this mean Vodafone have sold this debt onto Lowell?

Thanks again
V

Hi,

If its a service agreement, she will only be liable for the full outstanding monthly line rental, plus any unpaid balance from previous bills.

As far as i am aware, Lowell do not add further charges, unless the agreement concerned allows them to do so.

Lowell is a massive debt purchasing conglomerate, with various umbrella companies operating under various names, such as Lowell, Lowell portfolio 1, etc etc.

Lowell Solicitors & Vodafone

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