Hi

Have received a pre-legal assessment letter from Lowell Financial Ltd apparently for Argos Card Services.

It does not use the usual 'may' or 'could' comments and reads as follows:

Having assessed our options we intend to take legal action to recover this debt if you do not contact us to agree a repayment plan.

This debt does not appear on the credit file - not sure what to do in this situation. Any advice would be gratefully received.

Thanks

Dibdob

Suggest that you send them a CCA request letter with the required £1 fee by postal order. Send by recorded delivery or at least get proif of posting from post office. The letter is in the link above. This should stop them issuing any court claim when the request is outstanding.

In the meantime, you should find out from Argos card services when the last payment was missed.

ah the old pre school letter

what colour crayon was it in...

if its anything like that fake SD from them you have years ago

the debt will be well statute barred...

when did you last pay argos anything???

Thank you for your reply.

There are no specific details of the Argos account so I am unclear how to contact them.

The Argos card was held many years ago but cannot remember when and have no details of it any more. Am worried about contacting them and maybe stirring things up because of this.

Does the fact that this does not appear on the credit file mean its statute barred?

the debt is nothing to do with argos now

they've sold the dent to a debt buyer

safe to ring them.

there is no direct link between statute barred and if/if not a file shows on credit files.

they are not linked

Thanks again.

Would contacting Argos not be an acknowledgement that the debt exists and reset the clock if it's not statute barred?

No, you can ask for information.

Acknowledgement is admitting the debt in writing or making payment.

Thanks

So a CCA letter to Lowell on its own is not sufficient?

Is the relevant date I need from Argos the date of last paymeant or the default date (if there is one) as have no real idea about this account to be honest.

People do tend to live in fear with debts, so they would rather not contact anyone they owed money to. Human nature !

But if you don't find out, then you are in the dark. If you just sent Argos a subject access request you could be wating over a month to get the information back.

The info you need from Argos is when you last paid them and when you missed a payment. Whoever handles admin for Argos is more likely to have accurate info than Lowell.

If your anxiety is too much, just send the CCA request to Lowell.

Hi Uncle Bulgaria

I appreciate I sound like a scared twit, sorry.

Generally I'm a strong advocate for facing your fears but clearly I am also a hypocrite.

It's just that I thought we had got past all the debt problems and this has just appeared out of the blue.

if you've not heard or done anything with this debt in years I wouldn't bother with a CCa request yet if at all

if its statute barred

then in matters not what paperwork the powerless dca hold...:lol:

it still SB'd..

go ring argos card services and ask date of late payment/use

don't forget the botoom line here

a DCA is NOT A BAILIFF

they have no more powers that you or I

all we can do is raise a claim if someone owes us money

that's all they can do too..

dx

Hi

I have now sent a CCA request to Lowell but since my last post I have read that Argos have been known to arrange for debts with Lowells to be transferred back to Card Services so they can recoup the debt themselves.

Because of this I am concerned about sending an SAR letter to Argos and raising their attention. I did mention this in one of my previous posts but I am even more concerned now having read that they have a practice of buying the debts back from Lowell if it suits them.

Do I need to contact Argos or should I wait for Lowell to respond to the CCA request?

Thanks

Dibdob

that's why I said p'haps its not a good idea to CCA Lowells.

but ring argoes and ask last payment date.

if its SB'd its SB'd, nothing can unbar it

and if its not, a phone call is not admittance

theres always logic in why I say do certain things...

Hi

Thanks for your response. It is not my intention to disregard your comments, for which I am grateful. However the letter from Lowell was phrased differently from others I have seen from them over the years. Comments such as ''may' and 'could' were not being made and Lowell were stating they 'intend' to take legal action.

My concern was that in not responding to them by the deadline on the letter (22 Feb) then they would start legal proceedings and that would be a more complicated position to be in and defend - hence my CCA to them as Uncle Bulgaria suggested initially.

It is the matter of contacting Argos themselves that is worrying me as they have not made any contact for many years and I am reluctant to raise their interest now. If Lowell respond with any documentation that gives support to their claim couldn't I then SAR Argos at that point, when I am more aware if Lowell even have the rights to pursue this debt?

Thanks again

so..i intend to take my dog for a walk tomorrow

if I do is a totally different matter

sorry but you appear to be a bit green about understand certain things by the looks of it.

stuff their deadline,

they are not bailiffs and can do nothing more than you or i could do

that's raise a court claim.

they have no special powers nowt zilch ...

argos have sold the debt

go ring 'em

an sar takes 40 days

a court claim is 33

dx

Thank you for your reply.

so..i intend to take my dog for a walk tomorrow

if I do is a totally different matter

 

 

sorry but you appear to be a bit green about understand certain things by the looks of it.

 

dx

Yes, you are quite correct. I am indeed "a bit green about understanding certain things", That is why I am politely asking questions and seeking advice on this forum.

Dibdob