Lowell debt collection

vegan.girl81 · 16 October 2016 at 6:01PM

Can anyone help?

I was contact by Lowell financial regarding an outstanding debt with Orange, i sent Lowell a letter asking them to prove the debt is mine (i has have no recollection of it) with the £1 cheque. Lowell sent the £1 back to me with not much in the letter, 2 weeks later i have received another stating here is the documentation from your original creditor, all it is, is pages of typed out dates (starting in 2008), invoice numbers and how much was paid. Frankly it looks as though anyone could of typed this out!
what shall i do now? Do i give in and start paying?
any help greatly appreciated
Thankyou

pogofish · 16 October 2016 at 9:40PM

MSE don't use or have any connection with Lowell AFAIK, so you might be better asking on the Debt board - where you will also find plenty of examples of Lowell's shabby practices.

But FWIW, Lowell are a bunch of predatory clowns who buy-up old debts and take the scattergun approach, so if you don't know about it, it is quite likely that any debt is actually owed by some random with your name.

I'm sort of dealing with them just now over a BT debt - despite my never having been a BT customer - I was utterly scunnered by they way BT mucked my elderly mother about, so no chance of them ever getting my money! You can then imagine how it came as a great joy when BT wrote to me to say that Lowell were now pursuing "my" debt.

The legal advice I've got is to go for the jugular with the principal - So start rattling Orange's cage at an executive level as its their job to get Lowell off your case.

The other option is just to ignore them because as a debt collector, there isn't actually much Lowell can do other than use scary tactics against you. Orange are the ones who need to initiate any legal action.

naedanger · 16 October 2016 at 11:24PM

vegan.girl81 wrote: »

Do i give in and start paying?

My suggestion is if you don't recognise the debt then definitely don't pay anything.

From what you have said they have not given any evidence to link you to the debt.

I suggest you read the following:

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/debt-and-money/action-your-creditor-can-take/harassment-by-creditors/

Consult Citizen's Advice if necessary.

sourcrates · 16 October 2016 at 11:32PM

Err, that advice is not actually accurate.

Lowell don't act as debt collectors, they are specialist debt purchasers, and will of bought the debt from orange.

That means that they inherit all rights and privialages of the original
Creditor, so they can take you to court if they wished.

So you do not recognise this debt at all ?

Lowell sent the £1 payment back as CCA requests do not apply to mobile accounts, different legislation applies.

If the debt is not yours then you need to challenge it via the ombudsman services that orange subscribe to, Google is your freind here, as there are two mobile ombudsman, you need to complain to the one that orange are regulated by.

You should write to Lowell, telling them to back off as a dispute exists, as it's not your debt, and complain formally to the ombudsman.

benten69 · 16 October 2016 at 11:36PM

We had similar from a different set of cowboy collectors for a "debt" that never existed. We asked for proof, all they sent was a contract in our name with NO SIGNATURE on it. Then they sent statements to say we owed money for a service that we never asked for or wanted and hence that's why they never had a signature, because we never agreed to anything.

Got the usual bullying tactics of 9pm phone calls, simply blocked their numbers and ended that. Then came threatening letters saying "we will send collectors to your house & take you to court". Obviously they didn't, but even the local trading standards said if they did, just call the police and don't answer the door, simple as.

The first contact from them was in Sept or Oct a few years ago, they gave up the following March, so be prepared to be bullied for 6 months or so before they finally drop it as it won't be worth their time after that.

Just keep copies of all correspondence, block their phone numbers if they call you, never deal with them by phone, only in writing and never, ever give in to their bullying tactics if you know the debt is not valid.

I repeatedly told them they won't see a penny without a court order, and shock horror....it never got to that stage!

Lowell debt collection

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