Firstly I have been reading through your site and must congratulate you on a wonderful service and website. If only I had put my thinking cap on earlier and paid more attention! This is a big one and I have followed your advice so far... here go's.... I had loads of debt in 2006 when my company went into a CVA, I have kept a lot of the information and letter replies including an experian report dated may 09. I had numerous debts up to about 100k, with a remortgage I paid around half and tried and have succeeded in removing another 25k to date. Lowell then wrote to me saying I had a debt of £16k with barclaycard, I am being honest in this forum to hopefully get the best advice I did have a barclays select account which was owed around 15K and one small barclaycard for around 1k , I also had two MBNA cards, 2 Capital One's, blah blah you hopefully get the picture I did speak to them and said that I thought they had it wrong and that they were chasing the barclays select account which I had paid off with my remortgage, in-fact most cards were cleared at this time, they were however also chasing a small debt for capital one £678.00 of which I didn't clear - naughty I know Every three days or so I had a call and gave them the same response, asking for original proof, the last payment to barclaycard that I can find on any statement is in Dec 04 - I believe this is for a barclaycard which i'm sure didn't have a big limit. Lowell's keep moving the debt between all their companies - Red, Lowell's, Hampton's etc for about a year. I gave them the same response and they say they will put the account on hold and look into things - they then move it to another collector in their group. Good news I hear nothing for a year or two then in 2009 they are back in contact and a little more upset. Again I tell them the story, they have tried to catch me a couple of times as I have this other account with them, which also floats between all their companies. In may 09 I decided to get a credit report via Experian to try and clarify things, I have kept this report as well, I notice Lowell's have their £678 debt listed but the Barclays listings are as follows: Barclays Bank Default Barclays Bank PLC Woolwich Account - Bank Default Balance - £14,964 Current - Satisfied Defaulted on - 16/05/07 Barclays Bank Default Barclays Bank PLC Woolwich Account - Bank Default Balance - £2,530 Current - £1,437 Defaulted on - 13/02/07 Barclays Bank Default Barclays Bank PLC Woolwich Account - current Default Balance - £2,890 Current - Settled Defaulted on - 27/06/07 Barclaycard Credit Card - Satisfactory £0 10//05/09 Entry number C15 Barclaycard Account - Credit Card / Store Card Started 23/01/1997 Current Balance - £0 Credit Limit - £1 Credit Limit History - £1,000 (12/08; File updated for the period to; 10/05 2009 Summary of payment history - in the last 36 months account activity 1-2 is 0 - 3+ is 0 Balance £0 £0 £0 £0 etc etc Payment Account as above Payment statement as above Cash Advance 0000000 Payment code .. .. .. .. etc Promotional Rate n n n n n etc I wont bore you with the other bits I sent a letter to the effect as above saying what did I owe, I then heard nothing I got two different reports yesterday including Equifax - This stills shows the £678 opps, it now shows that I have cleared a lot of my debts and more importantly the Barclays accounts are all still on there apart from the Barclaycard that they are chasing?? I had thought this had gone away, no excuses now but again into huge problems again with the business, some massive legal actiion against close finance (bless them) which I lost for the tune of £35k Ready for the huge mistake... I didn't like the letters from Lowell's so I left them to last to pay up, I had a recent telephone call about the £678 amount which I did really owe and agreed £10 a month, I finally got fed up with them insisting on raising the amount so only paid a few payments. Started having letters again about Barclaycard, I was advised to just ignore it, which I did, then had some really nasty letters from Hampton's a few months ago threatening to send people to the house and bankruptcy, insolvency, and the latest saying they know we have equity in the house, therefore they will get judgement and charging order and sell the house to get paid in full - also send we should contact the local housing association to discuss alternative housing - this really panicked the wife as we have children, one on disability. It seems I accidentally paid a few payments on this Barclays account as they moved the other one elsewhere ((((( - we're talking about 50.00 paid and I did ring them after cancelling saying that they had put payments to the wrong account - which was 50% my fault for not checking their account codes. I could have easily walked away from my debts but have worked hard to clear them ( if owed ), having cleared 75% and gone through a company CVA many of our files which were kept at work have vanished, I do have around 75 letters from all companies and a few that I wrote to them. Having looked at your site and the OFT report it seems they have broken nearly every code in the collection guide! They have started legal action and I told them by phone that I was recording the conversation and that I disputed the debt, and always have, I reminded them that the payments were incorrectly put against the wrong account, I also asked for the following : A true copy of the assignment* A true copy of the default notice* A true copy of the termination notice* I have got a claim form from the Northampton CCBC court and have today sent a AOS and sent online, here is the claim they are making: The defendant entered into an agreement with the assignor, regulated by the consumer credit act 1974. The defendant failed to comply with the terms and the agreement was terminated in accordance with the statutory notice of default. The benefits of the agreement were assigned to the claimant. Debt assigned on 21/05/08 by Barclaycard. The Claimant claims: 1. 16841.62 2. Statutory interest pursuant to section 69 of the county courts act ( 1984 ) at the rate of 8% per annum from 21/05/08 to 20/10/11 4595.69 and thereafter at a daily rate of 3.69 to date of the judgement or sooner payment. Agreement xxxxx ; 21/05/08 ( my agreement with them? ) Claimed £21,437.31 Court Fees £310.00 TOTAL £21747.31 I did have debts, A lot! Due to our paperwork and no help from barclays or lowell's, I have no idea if this is right, honestly if I thought I did have the debt then I would go after them for harassment, I really don't remember, I did have a Barclaycard and did pay it off, If I can remember rightly.... also the credit file makes sense listing it as paid and a limit of £1000. Really sorry to hit the CAG with such a biggy on my first post, will send some pennies and hugs and even a happy bonus if you can finally help me out of this nightmare I hope all is included... The deadline for the AOS was today and this has been done, so I have 14 days but want to jump sooner rather then later (jump onto getting this sorted out, not cliff Dave

hi Hi, I'd would like some advice on saving my home from repossession (sales) Lovell portfolio declared me bankrupt July 2011 for £3000 credit card debt they purchased, I offered to pay at £200 per month which they turned down, I've been paying of my debts at this amount successfully for 3 years. I only own a small amount on my mortgage, which is not in arrears, all my debts together amounted to £12,000. I entered into a payment agreement with the appointed Trustee, so far paid £2,100. Really suprised to recieved a court date for possession and sale of my home! The amount owed has multiplied to £48,000!! with costs etc. I work full time and am prepared to carry on paying - can anyone help? how do I contact the courts etc, continue to pay the arrangement (I've never defaulted) I sought legal advice last year and was told an IVA was useless as I had too much equity in my home. Not got to the eviction stage yet but suffering legal fatique after all the hassle, even had to change to a less stressfull job, now thinking maybe just giving up and go on the dole, it's a long hard fight. thanks to anyone with any ideas.

Its in the letter I received this morning that the desk has a new title.

Have there been any recent changes in what cca request we send ie Credit card cca and loan cca? Mr W

Hi, Firstly if I am posting this in the wrong section, I do apologise. Please advise where it should go if this is wrong. My question is that Hamptons are chasing me for a debt which I believe is owed to Vanquis bank. I am not currently in a position to settle this. My problem is that this morning my 16yr old son received a text on HIS phone looking for me. Now he is on a pay as you go sim, in his name and it absolutely nothing to do with me. What I want to know is where they would/could have got his number from and are they actually even allowed to contact his number with him being only 16. Any answers would be very appreciated and thank you in advance.

We have started receiving letters from Lowells re a Cap one account. In March 2010 it was being handled by another DCA and we requested a CCA from Cap one. They didn't provide one, but provided terms and condition and a reconstituted copy of the agreement. I then sent an account in dispute letter and they replied sending the same reconstituted agreement. It was shortly taken back by Capital one and nothing was heard from since, until Lowells and hamptons started chasing, as I believe they have done to others lately. I haven't been around for a while, does the bemused letter still apply these days to send to lowells, or can anyone suggest anything else. I know things have changed and want to get it right Thank you

My partner received a letter asking for over £350 - she wrote back on 31st May 2014 with an offer, to which they never replied. Shall we ignore this until they reply? I've prepared a standard letter requesting a true copy of the credit agreement, will send that tomorrow with £1 and sending it recorded to ensure it's signed for. In the meantime, should she just wait?

Sorry if this in the wrong section. Hubby has o/s debt which has been passed from cabot to hamptons. I am pretty sure it is over 6 yrs old but I will have to get the paperwork out at the weekend. They constantly text his mobile but he hasn't spoken to them. 3 weeks ago he took over a business (inc phone number). The telephone company is Titan telecom (i know there are **** but there is 2 yrs left on the contract!). The first odd thing was a couple of days after he took over - he had about 10 phone calls on his mobile from utility companies trying to get his business. He pays the landlord for electric so told them where to go. Today, Hamptons phoned the business land line asking for him. He panicked & hung up. (I've told him never to talk to them anyway). I've googled his name, company name & address and the telephone number does not come up, so my question is, do you think Titan have sold his number on? However I cannot see the connection between them and Hamptons. If they have, is there anything I can do about it. Thanks

Hello again all, After your advice once again, after the help you have gave us has resulted in 4 DCAs backing down, but now we have come across one we aren't sure of. My partner has received a letter today from Red Debt Collection with the usual threats of courts and bailiff action etc, stating that she owes £440 to Three Mobile. We did in fact set up a standing order to Lowell over a £210 Three Mobile account, as the debt wasn't statute barred as she had been paying Lowell £11 a month a few years ago - so a few weeks ago we set up a £40 a month standing order to get it paid. Now while we have been trying to get our finances in order with your help, we also regularly check our credit files. We checked my partners this morning. The £210 Three account is on there (with Lowell), as is a Three account defaulted for £68 (the a/c number doesnt match the Lowell paperwork), but there is no account for this outstanding £440 that Lowell/Hamptons/Red are demanding. There are no accounts that match the a/c number on the paperwork on her credit file. The thing is, we don't believe that the debt is statute barred as she believes she was paying it along with the other one a few years ago. As such, we're not really sure what to do because she thinks she was paying it, but it isn't on her credit file and I'm reluctant to give them money for it, when it doesn't seem to be tied to her. Any suggestions? Many thanks and keep up the great work. Lenny.

Hi, My son has had a number of threatening letters regarding a '3 ' phone contract, they(lowells) reckon he owes £446, he said the debt was originally for £90, they have obviously sold it on to 'Lowells'. He has just had a letter saying they will half the bill if he pays it all at once, but I think they will only take it in instalments for the full balance! He is worried it will affect him getting a mortgage, he says 3 did not replace the phone he states was damaged. Any advice? Should he offer to pay the reduced amount in instalments? Cheers

I received a royal mail "while you were out" card for a special delivery letter. I can't pick the letter up until next week now. I have no idea who could be sending me a letter, I've not bought anything online recently and it wont be friends or family either. However, I do have a couple of old accounts that are going to be come Statute barred in a few months and lately I have been receiving the usual cycle of garbage from Lowel/Hamptons and Red (threats, discount letters, etc). I have ignored this as they did not reply to my CCA in 2010! I'm now a bit stressed wondering if they have sent this letter and are trying to serve papers or something?

Hi all, hope someone can provide advice/help. Been receiving letters from Lowell and now passed across the desk to Hamptons Legal. It's for a Lloyds TSB credit card from 2010, balance of just under £2000. Previous letters have said, pay up, we may commence legal proceedings/CCJ etc etc. New letter is saying we'd like to make one final offer to resolve the matter: Pay 50% of the balance to settle the account Pay £40 per month Call us to agree a monthly plan. If you don't agree a payment plan, we will have no alternative but to commence with legal action against you. This will result in you receiving a summons from the court as we will apply for a CCJ. If we are successful in obtaining a CCJ it will remain on your credit file for 6 years. Now, from researching I gather that if they offer a discount on the balance it means that they know they have no CCA (I haven't sent off for it yet) and know it's unenforceable. Is this the case generally? What worries me is that the letters now say 'will' instead of 'may'. Is it just a tactic or do you think they'll pursue with the CCJ. Any advice is much appreciated on how to deal with this (ie a letter to reply with) Thank you

Hi dnt know if posted this in the right place. I have been receiving letters from lowell for a debt I owe to litlewoods to the sum of £1170.32p this has been going on for about 15 months. I have now received a letter from hamptons legal stating they are the litigation department for lowell and they have been instructed to assess the account for litigation. They claim to have a copy of my credit file. It also states that when they have assessed it they will be in a position to commence with either litigation or instruct a home visit agent to discuss repayment. litigation could lead to charging order against propert (I dnt own a property) Attachment of earnings (currently unemployed) Court bailiff to remove goods can I have some info as how to follow this up or should I just keep ignoring as I have never contacted lowell or anyone confirming its my debt. thanks

Hi Just recieved letter from above parasites. What is best course of action to take with this and any links/etc be helpful to me for reading purposes as new to this. ---------------------------------------- My name and Your Lowell account: address Lowell reference number: xxxxxx Original company name: xxxxxx Original account number: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx You owe: £xxxxxxxx Dated xxxxxxx Dear xxxxx Overdue account After repeated requests for payment, Red Debt Collection Services have instructed us to pursue you for the overdue balance on your Lowell Portfolio I Ltd Account. You are contractually responsible for paying the debt. Unless you send payment to us or Red Debt Collection Services immediately, we may prepare for more serious action, which could include applying for a county court Judgment (CCJ) against you. Once legal proceedings have begun, we may be able to claim the money you owe together with : . The interest accrued on your overdue account. . Legal costs of recovering the money you owe. If we are granted a CCJ you could face the following consequences. 1. Any CCJ against you will be recorded at the Register of County Court Judgments and remain there for up to 6 years 2. We may apply to enforce the Judgment for example by using bailiffs or applying to recover the money you owe by making deductions directly from your earnings. 3. Failure to repay your debts may have an impact on your ability to obtain credit in the future or the terms on which credit is available to you. Lenders will look at how you have repaid your debts in the past before the decide to grant further borrowing. If you do not contact us or arrange payment we may begin proceedings. Call us on 0113 394 6317 to agree affordable repayment plan. Our range of payment methods can be found overleaf. Yours faithfully (photocopied signature) xxxxxxxxxx Director of Legal Services.

Hi, just wondering if anyone could help. I was abit reckless in my late teens/early twenties, I'll spare you the details. I ran up quite a few debts in this time through nativity and lack of financial education. having settled most debts and with my one and only default (from a c.c) being six years old in two weeks, I have a loan from hbos of around £1200 outstanding, took out in 2003. I've checked equlifax, experian, noddle and annualcreditreport all have no sign of this debt. However I have red/Lowell/hamptons chasing me for this, threatening ccj. Would I be safe to think this debt is SB? I don't want my nativity to strike again. I can't for the life of me remember if it's been six years since payment or contact. Your help will be much appreciated. I am not a home owner either if that helps the ccj part. Thanks

Hello could you check this please if this is for real?!

I have today received a letter from Bryan Carter Solicitors informing me that they WILL issue court proceedings on the 22nd of Feb if I do not pay them £1100. Their clients or reference appear to be Lowell finance and I believe the original debt was from Capital one credit card. I believe the original debt may date back to mid 2007, but having moved house and misplaced most of my paperwork I only have this letter along with a letter from capital one dated feb 2009 informing me they have sold the account to Lowell. I have not had any contact (bar that letter mentioned above) with anyone or made any payments on this debt for 2 years, so I was a bit stunned to see they are going to drag me in to court next week! I could really do with some advice from someone in the know - will they follow through with this threat or not? How do I proceed, should I request a CCA from Bryan Carter or should I just offer a full and final settlement, bearing in mind I am currently unemployed and on Incap benefit due to poor health. I'm also not sure why they are asking for £1100 as the original debt was not that big, but again I have no paperwork to disprove it! I already have a default on my credit files from capital one on this debt and I could really do without a CCJ and bailiffs knocking on the door due to my health! any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Received a letter today from Hamptons Legal threatening me with a SD. This is the first I have heard from them. It apparantly relates to an old Co-op credit card. The letter goes on about what action they may take, and finishes with "we would be willing to accept £50.00 a month till the debt is paid" etc etc. This is one that has been passed around a few times, and on each occasion when asked for s.78 request they have not complied and passed it on to someone else. The letter says it is a Lowell account which is puzzling as I have had no communication from Lowell. Should I now send Hamptons a s.78 request? Any advice welcome. IRM

Hi people I have keep getting letters of this company Hampton's Legal on a debt that i don't believe i owe to Orange as I'm sure i payed but can't prove it, the latest letter states that they will go for a CCJ (not too bothered about) but if they cant get the money owing they said that they will do attachment to earnings. The bill owing is on £71.26. Also they say that they have seen what i earn and see that i can afford to pay it, how the hell have they done this legally? Any advice will be greatly appreciated

Hi There, I had my mobile phone stolen in 2007 and a £792 debt was ran up within 1 day and resulted in a default. (I thought I had simply lost my phone in my university dorm room) when it was in fact left in a taxi. Anyway, the debt was due to expire in 2013, however Lowells have taken over the debt this year and for some unknown reason the default has been transferred to them, and it says that I defaulted in 02/2012. Which of course is false nothing happened in 02/08/12. I presume that this debt will now be on record for a further six years from 02/08/2012... How have they done this and what can I do about it. Lowells continue to send letters threatening to give me a CCJ and have recently offered a discount of 50% on the debt to which I have ignored. Kind Regards

hi there, just need a little help, i recieved a letter from hamptons to persue my old contract with o2, well its couple years old, i am fully aware i owe the money, i have a finacial statement ready to send but i cant find a letter template that i could use in order offer of payment, if anyone can help that would be great

Hi folks, I have spent some time today trying to understanding Statutory demands, having aparently recieved one hand deliverd last week. I just wonderd if there was a final consensus on how these things from hamptons should be handled, ie ignored, cca'd, apply to set aside etc. Below I will give brief details on this situation and would welcome any comments. cheers So some day last week I came home and found a brown envelope had been posted through, no post mark and only my name on it written in blue biro. Nothing else apart from the words "Private and confidential in" red. Inside lurked a letter and SD from Hamptons legal both dated early May, a good 3 weeks before it was actaully served?! Also inside with hamptons letter is a SD under section 268(1)(a) of the insolvency act 1986. Debt for liquidated sum payable immediately. by Hamptons on behalf of creditor Lowell portfolio l ltd. The sum demanded is for two different debts of which I recall not, both total around the 2k mark . But from what ive read hamptons add the debts up all the time? I'm in two minds wether I should send a CCA to hamptons and start work on a set aside defence or just ignore it as scare tactic? Whats the word these days? Also is the SD served as it was just posted through by hand no post marks no proof?

Hi I have been an avid reader of this site for many years now and have always found the advice I needed to deal with my many ups and downs over the last few years. I always do my best to find out the information I need trying not to block up the site with my issues when there are many many people that need more help than I do but I'm afraid today I could really do with some advice please! I have been handed a letter (not in an envelope) by a stranger knocking at my door today. It is a Statutory Demand from Hamptons Legal (Lowell Portfolio). I did not need to sign for it and the guy actually apologised for giving it to me!! Question 1. It has a date on it of 20th July 2012. This means they have taken almost 3 weeks to get it to me! How do I prove the date of service on me? The 3 account numbers quoted on the SD are not my Barclaycard account numbers as such! They are for the right amounts but it seems that when Barclaycard sold my accounts to Lowell they changed the account numbers (or did they sell an account that doesn't even exist??) I am not even convinced of the validity of this letter! It has a form 6.1 attached to the covering letter, it says it is served by the creditor but between pages 3 and 4 of the form 6.1 they have added another page telling me that if I want to avoid a bankruptcy petition I must pay the debt shown or attempt to come to a settlement with the creditor. This seems like just another scare tactic that these people try. So anyway I have had a couple of Court Claims which I have had to deal with but never a SD and Bankruptcy. I have spent the entire day reading and trying to take it all in and I am a little confused about how the procedure works. It appears that I have to apply in the next 18 days (or maybe not if they can get away with saying they sent it on 20th July!) to get this application set aside. If I don't and they decide to file for Bankruptcy they will automatically win and I will be made bankrupt. If however I do apply to have it set aside I automatically bring the case to court and the Judges decides if they can indeed make me bankrupt. So my question is do I try to set this aside and risk bringing it to court when I am not convinced that Lowells will take this action themselves. I have a property in joint names with my partner (not married) with almost no equity (£10k at most before fees) I owe many many people (am I right in saying if I am made bankrupt all my creditors will be issued a share of any money I have? - this would lead to them getting pennies literally!) I am now on a very low income with 3 children to support so part of me thinks let them try!! Can they even do this if the account numbers are wrong? The only default notice I have received on these accounts were from Mercers (not sure if that is allowed - thought it had to be from Barclaycard themselves) and they did not allow for service so not enough time given. If anyone can shed any light on any of this or if I have misunderstood any of it I would really appreciate anyone's advice. Thank you so much for reading Dearyme Ps I hope this all makes sense!

Hi Everyone, I am new to this site and need some advice.... I have been receiving letters from Red relating to a 3mobile debt that I'm pretty sure is statute barred. I have checked both Experian and Equifax and there is no default recorded on either. Today I received a letter from Hamptons threatening court action. What should I do? I have attached a copy of the letter. Thanks Ani

Long time since I had to post, things will have changed so any help most welcome. I have received a threat-o-gram from Hamptons Legal having ascertained I am a home owner they will issue at court or issue a SD if I don't pay. This relates to an ancient Barclaycard / Goldfish / MSDW account I sent a S77 years ago & got vague responses, I have also SAR'd BC but got no original agreement. Should I ignore (as I have with previous letters) until they do something or issue s new S77 & SAR? There has been no acknowledgement for 3 1/2 years so not SB Many thanks NTTF