Thought i'd let you know, I've received a phone call from 02070603962 and they introduced themselves as being from "CAG" and offering to help me reclaim money on finances i've had in the past 5 years. I did a google search of the number which is apparently operated by Claims Advisory Group. They did not introduce themselves as that but as stated previously by the name CAG. being a member i knew they couldn't be from here so have added them to my blacklist. So i just letting you know what happened so as to advise people they are not from here. Pmahonc

DispsyDoo The banks have been saying their charges are legal all the way along, it's just a scare tactic to put you off claiming. Don't listen to them, just follow the advice on this site. You can go to the omsbudsman or the courts to try and get the money back. as for the debt collectors. once you have started your claim for instance say you are going down the ombudsman route you can then write to the the debt collectors telling them that the account is in dispute and the ombudsman is looking into the matter. That should get them off your back. pmahonc

Undercover-Elsa That truecall unit is really good i purchased it just before christmas and it was worth every penny. Only the people i want to contact me can get through, What peace.

Battyman The same thing happened to me almost as soon as the case was stayed they sent the debt to Lowells, who then started to try to reclaim the money from me. I wrote to them informing them that the account was in dispute and was subject to a court case i had taken against halifax. I also explained to them about the test case. Their answer was "fine we'll put the whole thing on hold until my court case was finished, and could i inform them of any developments". Not heard a thing from them since. so sending your debt collectors the letter that the account is in in dispute certainly can't hurt and will even delay them a bit, allowing for the new POC, guidance to turn up in the meantime. Actually didn't the OFT produce guidance to debt collectors that if the account is in dispute they can't take any action?

Just had a look at Moneysavingexpert page and apparently the OFT are going to make an announcement on tuesday 22nd December about what their next move is going to be in regards to the bank charges.

There is some news on moneysavingexpert, apparently they are holding off releasing the templates, in the hope that the OFT will take up the case.

It was the financial Ombudsman that said to go to the court as they could not get involved. The FSA when i spoke to them suggested that i come to some agreement with lowells and begin to pay them to get them off my back, when i quoted the banking code to him, He seemed quite puzzled and admitted he didn't know the banking code and had to go and look it up. Admittedly i quoted the old Code to him as i didn't realise it had changed, Wonder why they removed the section dealing with Disputes? could it be they left an opening in the old one for us to use and when we started using it they quickly realised their mistake and closed it. I only rang them out of curiosity to see what they say? Also i'm not worried about lowell, I'm very good at winding debt collectors up, as aktiv capita have found out. They once rang me and i refused to answer the security questions and proceeded to wind him up so much that he started to discuss my account with me and after about twenty minutes of "don't know what your talking about, i've never come to you for money how can i owe you any" hung up on Me. LOL. They been trying to get money out of me for must be five years now, and the debt is actually statute barred and has been for two years. Thanks in advance for the template letter. i did actually send off the letter mentioned in #6 by recorded delivery.

23sopwith I've just received the same two letters, think i'll take them down to the court house to see what they have to say about halifax selling off the debt when it is subject to a case on hold, Might even be able to get the judge to remove the stay and award judgement to me. well i can live in hope. For anybody whose interested here's the letter from the Halifax. I've only removed any personal details just in case. Mr Account No: New Reference No: Dear Reference: HBOS PLC, Halifax Current, Account I am writing to inform you that the above account was sold by HBOS PLC to Lowell Portfolio I Ltd on 19/06/2009. This means that the effective owners of the above account are now Lowell Portfolio I Ltd. Lowell Portfolio I Ltd have appointed Lowell Financial as their servicing agent to manage your account on their behalf. All contact regarding this account should now be directed to Lowell Financial. The enclosed letter provides details of how to contact Lowell Financial. I confirm that the amount outstanding on your account as at 19/06/2009 was £XXXX,XX. Yours sincerely This was followed by the letter from Lowell's Opening Hours Mon — Thurs 8.00am — 8.00pm (-ri 8.00am — 7.00pm Sat 8.00am — 2.00pm Email [email protected] Telephone 0844 844 4716 Fax 0845 300 9411 Mr PO Box 172 Leeds LS11 9WS 10/07/2009 / Dear Our Ref: Original Creditor: HBOS PLC Balance Outstanding: £XXXX,XX Original Address: I write to inform you that your HBOS PLC account, reference number, has been sold to Lowell Portfolio I Ltd on the 19/06/2009. Lowell Financial Ltd have been appointed as duly authorised collection agents for recovery of the outstanding balance. It is our aim to help you clear the indebtedness you currently have with ourselves by either agreeing a settlement or a repayment plan. You will find we have many flexible repayment plans designed to suit your current financial circumstances. Please call the number below where one of our experienced negotiators will assist you in finding the ideal option for you. PAYMENT CAN BE TAKEN OVER THE TELEPHONE BY EITHER DEBIT OR CREDIT CARD Please note all future communications and payments must be addressed to Lowell Financial Ltd at the address below: LOWELL FINANCIAL LTD PO BOX 172 LEEDS LS11 9WS Please contact us immediately to discuss your account. 0844 844 4716 Yours sincerely Chief Operations Officer Lowell operates an internal complaint handling procedure. If we are unable to resolve your complaint to your satisfaction you may have the right to refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service. This is dependant upon the type of account held and details will be provided to you once we acknowledge your complaint in writing. Calls may be recorded for training and monitoring purposes. i've posted these so people can see what is going on. Paul

Copy of a letter i'm just about to send to Lowell. I've used several sources i think from templates i've found on CAG. last time i used it was 28th MAY 2008 so can't quite remember where the sources are. but if it is acceptable perhaps other people can use it. Lowell Group Enterprise House 1 Apex View Leeds LS11 9BH Reference NO. XXXXXXXX Dear Sir I notice from viewing my credit report that you have performed a search on me on the 7th July 2009. I phoned your offices on Saturday 11th July 2009 to find out why you had performed the search as I did not give you permission to do so. Your operator informed me that I owed some money to the Halifax and that Lowell had bought the debt from the Halifax. I informed him that the debt was in dispute and was the subject of legal action taken against the Halifax by myself. And therefore should not been handed over to yourselves. To which your operator replied that just because it had gone to court it wasn’t in Dispute, I also informed him that the OFT had issued guidelines to Debt Collectors to which he replied that as Lowell had purchased the debt The OFT has no Jurisdiction over Lowell. What I Require from your company is the removal of the search record on my credit report. Also be advised that the account is in dispute ( Court case NO. XXXXXXX) despite what you say. And therefore comes under the OFT Debt collectors Guidelines Section 2.i Failing to Investigate and/or provide details as appropriate, when a debt is queried or disputed, possibly resulting in debtors being wrongly pursued. Section 2.k Not Ceasing collection activity whilst investigating a reasonably queried or disputed Debt. Further I WILL NOT be making any Payment to you. I WILL NOT be calling you. This is because I do not carry out any financial business on the telephone, all business between us must be in writing. You MUST NOT telephone me either at my home number, my mobile number or any of my employers numbers, any calls from you will be recorded and construed as harassment, and will put you in breach of section 40 of the administration of justice act 1970, and the protection from harassment act 1997. Any phone calls will in breach of the communications act 2003 s.127 and I will report you to OFCOM, meaning that you will be liable to a substantial fine, I have already informed Consumer Direct and the FSA about your Company and about Halifax’s Behaviour. You MUST NOT threaten to send collection staff to my residence as again this will be construed as harassment. TAKE NOTE that any implied right of access that may have existed to my residence and grounds is withdrawn from you and any of your agents apart from Royal Mail, to this effect, for you to send a door stop collector will be considered trespass and harassment and you will be held liable and reported to the relevant authorities. Paul

Just been speaking with the FSA who seem to be interested in the Halifax's actions and will ring me back, Also the Consumer direct people are going to hand it over to trading standards who will ring me back as it is a complicated case. From what i've read on the forums, Lowell seem to be in a bit of trouble with various organisation.

missmorningstar i'm in the same position as you but thought i aught to let you know that although my claim is in court and has been for a year, doesn't necessarily mean that they will call the debt collectors off, with me they keep playing a little game whereby i'll write to the debt collector saying account is in dispute, halifax recalls it from the debt collector and then passes it on to another and the whole cycle starts again. Don't be intimidated by the debt collectors, there is a letter somewhere on this site that you can send off to them that means they can only write to you if they want to chase the debt. If they do chase and you keep all the correspondance it can only strengthen your case against the Halifax. Paul

Actually just seen in the thread below mine the name Blair, Scott and Oliver, thats the name of the in house debt collectors. paul

Sallysas I don't think they are the in house debt collectors for the halifax as i seem to recall that it was a three name company. I reported the halifax to the FSA about a year ago, because one of their little tricks is to hand the account to a debt collector and then when you tell the debt collector that the account is in dispute, they recall the account and the issue it to a new debt collector, forcing you to go through the whole process again. I'm on my fifth debt collection firm at the moment. Paul

Just a quick question? I was checking my credit report and noticed that a search had been done by a company called lowell financial ltd, I rang them to find out why they had done a search on me and they apparently have bought a debt (approx #2400.00p OD) from halifax (i'm one of the ones who have their case against the Halifax for approx #2600 on hold with the court for about a year now). They say that as they have bought the debt they are not subject to the oft guidelines for debt collection . They are going to send me a letter which i requested detailing the account along with a demand for payment. does this mean i can now apply to the judge to remove the stay from the case. Also who do i report this conduct to? FSA? OFT? Thanks in advance Paul

Buzby got me thinking, i tried a search with 192.com on one of the names from the site you mentioned, typed in the location as glasgow and got two hits with the electoral register? Also tried with my name and got not only my address but my home telephone number (i'm ex-directory) and a list of other people at my address and a map showing the house. Now to get in touch with the phone company to find out why i'm listed in the directory. pmahonc