This is the thing, how can you dispute something, when you're not sure whether you're guilty of this 'offence' or not, she cannot recall whether she was at 35mph or not, like most people she wouldn't be constantly looking at the speedo. To me it's a [problem], if you dispute it in court you lose the right to the speed awareness course, which seems like punishment for DARING to dispute the offence. To someone who's unsure surely it should be classed as clarificatiion rather than disputing, and the right of the course shouldn't be forfeited afterwards, makes my blood boil.

Fixed camera we think, it's at a place called Cross O'Cliff Hill in Lincoln, if it's the one we think it is a steep hill, and she'd have been travelling downhill at the time they've got it recorded.

Hi all, My girlfriend was issued with notice of intended prosecution, which arrived this morning, for doing 35mph in a 30 zone on 27/7/2013. Even though it was last week she cannot recall if she was speeding, so can't really contest it. She was travelling through Lincoln to see her daughter who had had a major operation the day before and had her pregnancy teerminated. Clearly my girlfriend would have been in a stressful and anxious frame of mind, albeit she is usually a careful driver with no other speeding offences in 32 years of driving. The other issue is that because of this poxy Government's cutbacks our local hospital in our town is useless, so for things that are more than minor we have to travel 30 miles to Lincoln. And my girlfriend is unfamiliar with the town and it's road systems. My question is will these people listen to a genuine reason/excuse and exercise some leniency,

Cheers batman, had a quick glance at it, am i reading it right that it only applies to Income and Capital Gains Tax? Will have a more detailed look when i get home. Do you mind me asking what your wife owed for? Can you give me ideas of letters/templates and the type of content, etc...? Private message me if you want to keep it more discreet.

Aaah cheers uncle, is there a letter template i could follow in regards to raising a dispute with HMRC? I find it incredible that she hadn't heard anything for about 3 years, and the thing is i wouldn't call it a debt as it's there fault for overpaying, then they have the cheek to ask for it back all in one go, when they know in her position it is unlikely. I'm sure if boot was on the other foot, the old clique 'possession is nine tenths of the law' would come into effect in so many words.

Hi folks, Hope as always someone can help me from this great site. About 3 years ago my girlfriend was contacted by the HMRC and told she was overpaid tax credits and she needed to repay, she ignored them out of anger as she thought it their fault and was hit with a lump sum demand out of the blue. She's told me that she hasn't heard anything else until 3 weeks ago when they demanded repayment again, again she ignored them, but last week she got a letter from Fredrickson International, of which the contents are below :- Dear Mrs xxxxx, We have been instructed by HMRC who has passed this account to us for collection. We are appointed as their agent to act in this matter and you should now make sure you contact us in connection with the payment of this debt. If you are experiencing financial difficulties which are preventing you from settling this debt, you must tell us now to avoid further recovery action. We will work with you to find a method of repayment that suits your circumstances. Detailed below are up to 20 of the most recent items. Payment reference no. Date Tax year due Amount xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 05/04/2010 2010 1235.20 xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 27/07/2010 2010 101.86 xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 27/07/2010 2010 136.44 Total 1473.50 If you recently made a payment or need help in understanding how this figure is calculated please contact us. Alternatively you will find links to websites which you may find helpful overleaf. YOU MUST CONTACT US IMMEDIATELY ON 0845 0349812 AND THE PAY THE BALANCE IN FULL. Payment should be made to Fredrickson International Ltd and can be made by credit card, which will attract a 1.4% administration fee,or you can pay free of charge by debit card. Yours Sincerely Fredrickson International Ltd. Anyway, two things came to my mind, why would a powerful organisation like HMRC pass this debt to a DCA like Fredrickson, and can they enforce the debt repayment???? Again with these people it seems they are slow to payout, but woe betide you if you are overpaid. Is there a letter template i can fire off to this DCA, does anyone feel??? Finally Fredrickson's grammar leaves a lot to be desired, plus they got my girlfriends NI number wrong, which is the payment reference number as above. Any replies/help/advice would be most appreciated, i'm off to work now but back online later. Regards Steve

Hi all, Just a quick threadstarter before i go to work, i will answer any replies when i get home tonight, any help is much appreciated. I let my girlfriend sort any holidays out and last year she booked us a week in Tunisia, with a sea view, for this June commencing June 24th. We paid in 3 instalments and the last one was due and paid 1st April. Yesterday she received an email from Thomsons informing that building work would be ongoing outside our accomodation and there will be noise and dust, but they may be able to move us to the back of the hotel. MY girlfriend and i are livid and she is very upset, she is also asthmatic so that enviroment is going to be no good whatsoever. She is so upset she is demanding a full refund even a transfer to another hotel will not placate her, i am due to go to the local branch on Monday to sort it out. What i am angry about is that Thomsons took our last instalment on 1st April, yet sent that email yesterday, in my mind they would have known about these building plans yonks ago and didn't inform us. We are not happy. We want a full refund, is there anyway they can refuse this? My girlfriend insisted on a sea view and that's what was agreed. Regards lincs

Thanks broke, i think she's going to pay the £50.15, One Call is allowing to do so. Strange though ain't it, One Call and JOL both being from Doncaster, hmmm.

Hi forums, A friend of mine had her car insurance with One Call, but decided to end the account after she sold her vehicle on October 23rd this year, 2 months short of the insurance year ending. She no longer has the details of her insurance policy, so i can't read or put the finer details of her policy up here, so no sure what type of case she has. One Call insisted she still owed the £50.15 that was outstanding, but my friend disputes this as she no longer has the vehicle. She was contacted via letter by One Call a couple of times asking for payment, but she ignored them. Then One Call has obviously sold the 'debt' to a DCA called Judgement Order Listings. Less than a month after her car was sold JOL sent her this letter :- Judgement PO Box 576, Doncaster DN1 1XW. Payments : jol.onecalldirect.co.uk Order Tel: 0844 248 7000 Listings Mx xxxx xxxxxxxxx Our Ref: LISTINGS/AOO/xxxxxxxx/x 22nd November 2011 Dear Mx xxxxxxxxx RE: One Call Insurance Outstanding Account Our client, One Call Insurance, has requested that we contact you about your unpaid account of £75.15. As a result, we have included a handling fee of £25.00 to the above amount and are now responsible for the collection of this debt. Any query you have relating to this debt must now be directed to ourselves as One Call have given you several opportunities to settle this balance and discuss any query with them without success. To resolve this matter and avoid any further action, you should choose one of the following payment options and respond to us within 7 days from the date of this letter. Option 1 - Payment in full by post Please send in your full payment by cheque or postal order made payable to Judgement Order Listings using the enclosed pre paid envelope. Option 2 - Payment in full by Credit or Debit Card Please contact us by telephone on 0844 2487000 to make a payment to one of our processors. Option 3 - Payment online Visit our online payment facility @ www.jol.onecall.ws& follow the simple online instructions using your Credit or Debit Card. Be sure to quote the reference number shown above. Option 4 - Payment plan by standing order We also offer the option to pay the outstanding balance by standing order over 24 months. We have attached a standing order form with this letter for you to complete should you choose this payment option. If none of these payment options are suitable but you would like to discuss an alternative payment plan, then please call us within 7 days and one of our advisors will be pleased to assist you. An account administrator will review your account after seven days and we must stress the importance of resolving this matter by this date. Yours Sincerely Mrs B Ash Debt Recovery Department A couple things here, they refer to the unpaid account as being £75.15, when it's £50.15, and they are adding a further £25. Also my friend says she was only contacted twice by One Call. They also enclosed a standing order stating she could pay £3.13 over 24 months. I wrote a letter stating my friend was disputing the that she still had to pay the last 2 months of her insurance and was refusing to accept extra charges by of £25 by JOL. Yesterday she received 2 further letters, the first was in response to the letter i wrote. Mx x xxxxxxxxx 1st December 2011 RE: Outstanding Debt Thank you for your recent letter dated 24/11/2011. We have been instructed by One Call Insurance Services Ltd to collect an outstanding balance on their behalf for an insurance policy that was provided. If you are disputing this balance we recommend that you contact One Call Insurance:- Email Address: [email protected] One Call Ltd| Saturn| First Point| Balby Carr Bank| Doncaster| South Yorkshire| DN4 5JQ|UK Phone Number: 0845 344 02 34 If you have any queries please contact our office on the above number. Yours Sincerely Recovery Department The same day this letter arrived dated 2nd Dec :- Dear xx xxxxxxxxx RE: One Call Insurance Outstanding Account Despite our recent letter sent to you regarding your current outstanding account with us and the options of clearing this debt, you have chosen not to contact us leaving us with no alternative but to take the following action. We have searched your personal credit history and have recorded that debt collectors are now pursuing you for money. The above debt has now had interest and a recovery charge added to it of £27.00. This charge will only be removed if your debt is paid within Seven Days using the payment options offered to you in our first communication. It is essential that you resolve the debt issue as failure to do so may result in a review of these other debts. If you pay the debt of £102.15 no further action will be taken. If the debt remains unpaid, details may be entered on a credit reference database. Other companies you may wish to do business with will have access to this information. Additional, details of your debt may be shared amongst our clients wuthin the insurance industry. This may result in future insurance proposals being declined, for both motor and hosehold policies. Any current installment plans may also be withdrawn. If you cannot pay in full please telephone this office immediately on 0844 2487000 Yours Sincerely Mrs Beth Ash Debt Recovery Department Now, firstly they say she hasn't chosen to contact them, she HAS via my letter the thick chunts. Also the letter is dated 2nd Dec, she received it on the 5th Dec, so are they going to add more interest on the 9th, again not giving enough time to respond. I find this letter threatening and provocative and feel she shouldn't be threatened with details of her previous credit history. My friend is anxious and is contemplating contacting One Call to pay the initial £50.15, but is refusing to pay JOL. Can the forums please help? Sincerely lincs

ok m2ae, i have sent a letter asking them whether they have the executed legally signed credit agreement, not sure what 'execution per Carey' means but i've sent a letter anyhow thanks again lincs

Afternoon ladies and gentlemen, The member means2anend, recommended that i ask for further help on this section to my questions and what further action to take, he specifically mentions CPUTR and i would be most appreciative should any member point me in the right direction. The thread is titled 'Red debt help' in the Debt Industry forum and i have just made a post in there so should be easy to find, my username being 'lincsloon', thanks in advance. regards lincs

Hello m2ae again, thanks for the info. once more. So, i write asking to confirm or deny whether they have the legally signed executed CA? Sorry, didn't understand the second bit of the sentence, i assume i can look at some kind of a charter under CPUTR to determine whether they are misleading me from their response? Would i find the misleading statements section in the CPUTR charter? I must let you know that the 2 copies of the credit agreement they sent neither had signatures or dates on them. Anyhow, i will go to the link you highlight and ask on there, see if i get any more response. Thank you m2ae for your valuable time. regards lincs

Thanks for the info m2ae, very kind of you, any idea where i go from here though, the girlfriend's getting jittery and believes Lowells will start adding interest again soon?

As an aside, they didn't enclose the guide 'Your Complaint and the Ombudsmen', with the letter dated 16th June. However my girlfriend received this along with a letter dated 18th July, today, (after i fired off a letter stating this), she has also been given a further 30 days to evaluate their decision.

Hi, My apologies for not putting the letter up as stated in the above post straight away, been so busy at work here it is, what do the experts on here think? They did send copies of the original credit agreement, letter from Shop Direct stating they were assigning the account to Lowells and a summary of transactions:- Our reference: xxxxxxxx Original Creditor: Shop Direct Dear xxx xxxxx I am writing in response to your letter, received 24 March 2011, having now completed my investigation into the issues you have raised. I apologise that it has been necessary for you to contact us regarding your concerns and am grateful for the opportunity to address these. Before i proceed, i would like to apologise for the delay in offering a full response to your concerns and for any inconvenience this has caused. My understanding of your complaint is you are dissatisfied with the content and tone of our letter of 14 March 2011. It is evident the balance of the account has been accumulated by charges and interest between the period of 27th February 2010 to 22nd October 2010, as the minimum required payments as stated in the terms and conditions of the contract were not met. This is why the balance has increaserd and i have included a statement of the account showing a breakdown of the balance. You have mentioned the paragraph in our letter which is headed: 'Our intentions', as you believe this breaches certain sections of The Consumer Protection From Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (CPUTR). This statement is intended to make it clear to you that we are legitimately able to view your credit file, which can contain data recorded by the credit reference agencies relating to Credit Applications (CAPS) you may have made. As part of a credit application, the applicant may be asked by the creditor to provide certain information about their employment status. It is this information which this paragraph refers to, however, this does not state we will be in contact with your employer and i can confirm that we do not obtain any employment information in this way. The information obtained from an individual's credit file helps us to make informed decisions about that person's financial circumstances, which in turn informs the approach we may take to attempt to settle an account. Further to your comments in relation to a Debt Collection Agent visiting you at your home to discuss payment, i would respectfully respond this is a valid option that is available to us if previous attempts to reach an agreement with you have failed. We are by no means suggesting, however, that an agent can unilaterally visit your address without making an appointment to do so with you and it is for this reason that we refer to 'arranging any such visit. I would like assure you are we are well aware of our obligations under CPUTR 2008, as this is the case with all industry guidelines and legislation under which the company operates. With regard to your specific reference to Section 7 1b of CPUTR, respectively i cannot agree that our letter constitutes harassment, coercion or undue influence. The purpose of the letter is to indicate that the matter has escalated due to our inability to reach an agreement with you to settle the balance outstanding. These options outlined are legitimate alternative recovery methods available to us in instances where we have previously been unsuccessful in reaching an agreement with our customers. Furthermore, with reference to Section 7, 2a,b, and c of CPUTR, i must advise that our practices are fully in keeping with our responsibilities and obligations as a debt purchasing company abnd cannot agree that our attempts to settle this matter with you constitute harassment, coercion and undue influence through the timing, location, nature and persistence of our actions. I would also advise that our communication with you has not at any point been threatening, abusive or exploitative. In reference to Section 11, again we are well aware of our obligations under this clause and as stated above we do not agree that out commercial practice is in anyway aggressive nor represents a criminal offence. A letter of assignment was originally sent to you at your current address on the 1 November 2010 and this satisfied our obligations under section 136 of the Law of Property Act 1925. I must respectively advise that we have established processes that enable us to commence litigation against an individual who has failed to work with us to settle an outstanding balance, which includes the ability to issue a claim through the County Court. In relation a statutory demand being issued, this is an option that is also available to us if an account meets certain criteria. In this case, after reviewing your file, your account does not meet the necessary requirements for a statutory demand to be issued. Though this is the case, i cannot agree that our reference to this is threatening, as the purpose of the letter is to transparently outline to our customers the avenues we are able to consider if our attempts to work with a customer are not reciprocated. Please be advised that we strongly refute your allegation that we have committed several criminal offences. Though your comments are duly noted, i am satisfied that we have taken all reasonable steps to try and enter into reasonable discourse with you with a view to settling this matter. As these have failed, we are left with no alternative but to outline our further options, though i would like to take the opportunity to reiterate our commitment to working with you should you agree to cooperate with us and remove the need for us to consider the other recovery methods available. I have enclosed a copy of the original credit agreement for your perusal and will keep your account on hold for 14 days to allow you sufficient time to contact us to agree a suitable repayment plan. I would like to assure you that the Lowell Group of Companies is committed to resolving complaints in a fair and consistent manner and i do hope you have found this to be the case. I would also like to confirm that this letter represents our final response on this matter. Should it be the case that you remain dissatisfied, you have the refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service. You need to do this within six months of the date of this letter. For more information, please see the enclosed guide 'Your Complaint and the Ombudsman' Yours Sincerely signature Sahir Fazal Complaints Resolution Officer Tel: 0800 542 0058

Well well well, after all this time Lowells have responded and it appears they think have a case to prove. I will write their letter word for word when i get back from work later tonight and put it on here. However, again with their unprofessionalism, their letter was dated 16th June 2011, my girlfriend only received it on Saturday just gone, the 9th July, and in the last but one paragraph they state they are giving her 14 days to contact them regarding repayment, lol. I was going to fire off a quick letter stating receipt of their letter, we are considering our options and need to gather more info and point out their little gaffe regarding dates, does the board think i should do this? regards

Latest update & letter from Lowells portfolio, signed from a different person who's the Complaint Resolution and Quality Assurance Manager, apparently :- Dear xxx xxxxxx Thank you for taking the time to contact us recently, we have fully noted all the points you have raised. I can confirm that the Complaints Resolution Department now owns your complaint and will be conducting a thorough investigation into your concerns. Upon completion of this investigation we will write to you again, with our resolution. Before we have reached a resolution we may need to contact you again to update you with the progress of the investigation or to request further information, the easiest way to do this is via telephone, if you are happy for us to do so. I would like to reassure you that whilst our investigations are ongoing we will place your account on hold , which means we will not be carrying out any collections activities, until your complaint has been resolved. We have enclosed a copy of our internal Complaint Procedure for your information. Please take the time to read this, as it explains fully the steps we will follow in responding to your complaint. In the meantime, if you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact my team by calling the free telephone number: 0800 542 0058*, which brings you directly through to the Complaints Resolution Department. Yours Sincerely *signature* xxxxx xxxxxxxx Complaint Resolution and Quality Assurance Manager Now, firstly the tone since the first letter is decidedly respectful & creeping. Secondly, they didn't enclose the copy of the Complaint Procedure not that it would've been read by me. What does the board think?

He had no estate or assets so to speak, the original creditor was Natwest, that's all i know, the debt being just over £1000. Thank you to everyone who replied, few things to think about, probably fire off a 'sharp' letter, then send contents of their letter to the appropriate organisations.

My girlfriend received a letter today addressed to her sons name, but her address, from Red saying he owes over a grand. My girlfriends son passed away in Sept 2005. My gut instinct is to fire off a letter full of expletives, telling 'em how disgusted we are & basically to f o. My girlfriend says she had a similar letter, (but can't remember from whom), a few years back saying the same thing, she phoned them then, told 'em he'd passed away, but whoever it was wanted proof, basically my girlfriend told 'em 'if you want proof get it yourself' and told 'em to f o. What's the best thing to do?

No carry on, if we can all glean something from the info. bandied about that's a good thing, isn't it?

Besides anything else Tingy, i wouldn't waste the cost of a call on them.

Thank you, if you look at when i joined CAG it was when i had some strife off of Red over an alleged t-mobile account, the guys on here helped me no end. I sent a template letter recorded delivery & never heard from them again. So, i'm not worried by them in the least, in fact i'm probably too bullish. When my girlfriend needed help i stepped in & knew who to contact. Always keep CAG in your favourites.

Lowells, Red and Hamptons are all the same company operating from an office in Leeds.

Not a problem with starting on my thread, now it seems to me you have grounds to attempt to put 'em to the sword. Don't ignore anything again, 'cos like you say, they are bullies. Good luck with your journey, i'll be keeping an eye out for your thread and having an input. lincsloon

Exactly what i thought about the grammar, also it was 'query' then an 'enquiry', crikey.