help!! I received a county court claim for northampton county court off lowells on the 18th july for £393 for an alledged old studio debt. I sent lowell a prove it letter asking for the deed of assignment, notice of assignment, default warning letter and the default notice. I received a letter back from them stating the deed of assignment will not be sent as it is a confidential agreement between their client and the original creditor and no other agreement/deed of novation exists between you and our client. I sent a second letter asking for the same details plus the original credit agreement , today i have received a letter off lowell with what they claim to be a copy of the agreement , which is printed on cheap paper , my details are printed on it but where there should be my signature it is blank with the date of signature printed next too I would like to add that I have filled in my defense to court saying I note i have had a account with studio but do not recongnise the amount or any of the account numbers. Where do I stand ? Do they have to produce proof of the original debt? That im liable for this debt?

Hi All, Does anybody have any information on online applications for credit cards? I know that as of 31/12/2004 a written signature is not required on a credit agreement for an online application, but how does this affect the copy of the CCA that the creditor has a duty to supply under S78? Do the T&Cs still have to be within the four corners of the CCA? Vanquis and Lowell don't seem the think so. They have just supplied a screenshot titled 'Digital Signature Application Details' along with a generic copy of the T&Cs which states that it is a 'Credit Card Agreement Regulated by the Consumer Credit Act 1974'. Any ideas guys?

2 YEARS AGO I STARTED PAYING HBOS PLC CREDIT CARD A STATUTORY PAYMENT OF £1 THROUGH LOWELL. I STARTED DEFAULTING ON HBOS IN 2006. I AM NOT SURE WHETHER I ASKED for a CCA file or not but all of their correspondence mention the original creditor name. So far I have been advised by DX to send them a CCA file. Which I shall do as soon as my printer is fixed. A new development is that none of these appear on my Equifax credit file any more. Do they still have enforcement powers as I have been paying them a statutory payment for each account. They have offered discounts in the past. What should I be doing meanwhile, apart from sending the CCA file? And while I am sending the CCA file, should I keep paying £1? And also should I ask for one CCA file for all of them or separate? In the past they have sent me letters with all three debts mentioned on one letter. LOWELL HAS SENT ME LETTERS OFFERING DISCOUNTS. I am just worried if I do not send them the £1 payments then they might do the traces on my file. They have been hiring McKenzie Hall to do the trace SEARCHES on my CREDIT file. The last one was done in April 2012. Nothing appears after that. Let us suppose that they do not comply to CCA then how come they had the powers to do searches on my file? Thanking you in anticipation.

Hi All, below is brief summary of current issue: 1. BW legal issued statutory demand for lowell (ex barclays (OC), Morgan Stanley) 2. I applied for set aside 3. Court wrote and set hearing for BW to provide original signed agreement, statements, notice of assignment(NOA) and letters they had sent 4. BW turned up without the agreement but had statements and NOA, Court adjourned hearing till 13th June so they could get original agreement from the OC. Court gave them till 1st May to file and serve written evidence so that I can file and serve by 24th May - they haven't sent anything 5. Hearing on 13th June is non attendance pre-trial review. 6. Today I received letter from BW serving me with statement of account (again?) no mention of agreement or any witness statement. My question is what is best way to proceed? 1. Write to Court telling them that BW have not complied (again) with one of their orders? 2. Wait and file my witness statement as ordered By the way statements show late charges or £12, also account quoted in NOA is not same as in statements. Thanks for any responses!

I had a debt of 20K resulting from the collapse of a company where I was a director and had provided a personal guarantee. The original debt was to HSBC, but they passed this on to Robinson Way. I have made regular payments up until may this year. I stopped making payments in May after 3 attempts to make a full & Final and reciving no response at all from RW. The balance is now Cirac 6.5K. Stopping payments was meant to focus their attention in getting a settlement. Since doing this, I have heard nothing from RW. Slightly strange as I got mothly letters when I was paying, reminding me payment was due. I was informed this week that Lowells had accessed my credit report and although they have not contacted me, I am wondering whether they are now involved. What advice do you have if indeed Lowells make contact. The debt will be 6 years old in October and is the last default showing on my credit report. Any advice greatly appreciated. John.

In March 2010 I had a statement from Barclay card stating I owed them £940.52, it had been forwarded from my old address. I called them as I have never had a barclay card or a barclay account I told them all this on the phone. They said it would be passed on to their fraud department and they would write to me letting me know what happened. This was the last I heard from them, until I got a letter from Lowell on March 2012 stating I owed Barclay card £940.52 saying This notice is being given to you as required by the consumer credit act 1974 because you fell behind with your payments under agreement with original creditor. Opening balance 01/10/2008... £940.52 I called them stating I had never had a barclay card or account, I was unable to get credit because I went Bankrupt in 2007 at my old address I gave them my bankruptcy details. Thats when I was told on the phone that the card was taken out in 2005 and was being used and balance was being paid up until 2007. .I exlained I had lived at that address after my bankruptcy till March 2010 when I moved to new house, where Barclays first contacted me. Also that I had never had a single letter/statement or phone call from Barclays. I got a letter saying they had noted my comments and they had done an internal trace procedure using various credit reference agencies, and they believed that I am in fact the debtor. They have sent me a copy of the original credit agreement., It is not my signature on the form I do not know what to do as I never had anything with Barclays, What can I do. sorry for the long story but I thought it was easier to explain the whole thing

Hi all, Longtime no speak. I am after a little advice. The back ground is as follows:- My wife has two CCJ's going back to early 2008 for HSBC Loan & Credit Card accounts. The original defaults/last payments on these accounts go back to Jun 06 and Jan 07 consecutively. These payments were made after the accounts were transferred to the DCA CL Finance. Recently, these accounts have been chased by the DCA's Zinc Recoveries and Lowell Portfolio I Ltd. I sent a CCA request to both of these DCA's on 17/10/11 and neither have been able to produce any CCA's etc. I received a reply from Lowell Portfolio I on 11/11/11 saying that they had not received a CCA from HSBC and were therefore putting the account on hold. Since then I have received a "Notification of Oustanding Account" from UK Default Recovery for the same account. Zinc Recoveries continue to bombard the telephones with nuisance calls from 'Mr Allen'. I am proposing to escalate matters now by sending "Account in Dispute" letters to all three DCA's. Can anybody tell me what I should do after this if no CCA's are forthcoming? Can I get these debts written off as they are unenforceable and can I get the CCJ's removed from my wife's CRA report? Is it a case of waiting until Jun and Jan for the original debts to become "Statute Barred" or do the CCJ's mean that the period for this would extend to the date that these were imposed? Any advice would be most helpful.

Hi all, I am new here so I hope I am doing this right! I have an ongoing dispute with Lowells over a catalogue debt. It is not statute barred as it is only 3 years old. I sent the standard CCA letter to first of all Scotcall along with £1 postal order which they returned a week later saying they were referring it back to the client. 2 weeks later I had a letter from Red Collections ( Lowells) demanding payment. I again sent a CCA request and £1 PO, 2 weeks later I had a letter from Lowell saying they had applied for a copy and were waiting to hear from their client. I allowed them 17 days and as I heard nothing I sent them the CCA failure letter to which they replied that they were still trying to retrieve the CCA and would not remove my data although they did not demand payment. Today I have received a letter and what they call a "reconstituted" CCA which is basically a blank CCA and they state that " under section 77/78 of the Consumer Credit Act of 1974, we are not obliged to send you an exact copy of your signed agreement. We are required by those sections of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 to provide you with a reconstituted copy of the version you would have signed." They seem to think they have upheld their obligation to me by sending this and are now demanding payment within 7 days. Has it come to the end of the line now and should I just pay or is there anything else I can do?? I don't for one second think they have fulfilled my request for a true signed copy of my CCA from my creditor as what they have sent is blank. What do I do now? I have 7 days to reply before they come knocking again!

Hi All Brand new to this forum so sorry if Im in the wrong place, this also might be a little long winded so please bear with me. In 2007-8 I took out 2 x 18 month contracts with 02, one for me, one for the Mrs. In mid 2008 I fell out of work and so could not afford the contract. After a few months of non-payment, both accounts were disconnected and referred to 02s external company. Due to lack of income I had stayed in a few different houses etc while I got back on my feet. I heard nothing from 02 until earlier in 2011. They had passed the debt onto a company called Lowell portfolio, who asked for the full payments of both contracts. The letters were ignored, (shame on me) and I was then contacted by post later in 2011 by a company called Mckenzie hall. In July this year, I was in full time work, and looking to pay off some of my previous owings, so I contacted them. I owed on 2 accounts, totalling, £489.32 and £452.89. The arrangement was to pay the initial "token fee" of £9.32 and £12.89, and then a direct debit of £10 per month just after my payday (agreed for the 1st of the month, paid on 27th) This was confirmed in writing on the 29/07, 1st payment made and the next direct debit due out for 1/09. So far, so good. On around the 5/09 I received a letter for each account saying "broken arrangement - default visit" and basically explaining I had defaulted on my repayment plan. I contacted the agent, and was told that all my details were on system, but the payment was not taken, and could not explain why. Payment plan was confirmed to restart, this time by pre-agreed debit charge, rather than DD and has been successful since. On that conversation, I asked for a call back from a manager, and for them to update my credit record to show the default was incorrect. Now to my problem: I have taken out subscriptions to 2 credit reference agencies: Equifax and Noddle/Call Credit. (Experian apparently have an account for me but i cant get in: another story!) Although Equifax do not show anything for this, Noddle do. My account shows something like this: Lowell: £421 - Updated 14/12/2011 - Status: Default Lowell: £449 - Updated 14/12/2011 - Status: Default I contacted Mckenzie Hall who say this needs to be updated by Lowell as they are the company who sent the action, however, it was Mckenzie hall, who made the mistake. So where do I go from here to have this updated and the false defaults removed, and do I have any legal stance in terms of Mckenzie Hall breaching contract? I have letters and and bank statements to show the arrangement made, and that funds were available. Any help would be greatly appriciated.

Hello all, Brand new here but need some further advice. Basically Red/Lowells have wrote to me ((I know you've heard it all before)) but I thought I'd go it alone in writing to them and taking them on. Basically Lowells wrote to me initially for a Barclaycard Debt dating back to 2003 for £690. I ignored it at first but then another letter came from Red Debt Collection Services demanding the amount. From reading your threads etc I wrote to them RECORDED DELIVERY on the 15th December 2010 with the following: I do not acknowledge any debt to you or any other company or organisation that you claim to be representing. Acc/Ref No: XXXXXXXX Dear Sir/Madam Account No: XXXXXXXX Thank you for your letter dated 09/12/2010, the contents of which are noted. I also note that "Red Collections" is simply a "trading style" of Lowell Portfolio LTD. Therefore your claim to be acting on behalf of Lowell Portfolio LTD is spurious, as you are clearly one and the same company. I would point out that under the Limitation Act 1980 Section 5: “An action founded on simple contract shall not be brought after the expiration of six years from the date on which the cause of action accrued”. I we would also point out that the OFT say under their Debt Collection Guidance on statute barred debt that: “It is unfair to pursue the debt if the debtor has heard nothing from the creditor during the relevant limitation period”. The last correspondence/payment or acknowledgement of this debt was made over six years ago and no further acknowledgement or payment has been made since that time. Unless you can provide evidence of payment or written contact from me in the relevant period under Section 5 of the Limitation Act, I suggest that you are no longer able to take any court action against me to recover the alleged amount claimed. The OFT Debt Collection Guidance states further that: “Continuing to press for payment after a debtor has stated that they will not be paying a debt because it is statute barred could amount to harassment contrary to section 40 (1) of the Administration of Justice Act 1970”. In particular the OFT has recently stated that: The Consumer Credit Act 1974 (the Act) requires debt collectors, businesses that offer goods or services on credit and/or are involved in activities relating to credit or hire to be licensed by the OFT. Following implementation of the OFT's new powers under the Consumer Credit Act 2006 on 6 April 2008, the companies could also have specific 'requirements' imposed on them by the OFT. If such a requirement was not complied with, the business concerned could be subject to a financial penalty of up to £50,000. The OFT can also refuse or revoke a licence if it decides that a trader is not fit to hold one. The OFT can take into account any circumstances which appear to be relevant when considering the fitness of an applicant or licensee, including evidence that the company has contravened the Data Protection Act 1988. Therefore I wish to formally notify you that unless I receive confirmation that this matter is now closed, then I will not hesitate to make a formal complaint to the 'Office of Fair Trading' and also to 'Trading Standards'. Furthermore, any attempted contact (other than to confirm that this matter is now closed) by any: • "trading style" of the Lowell Group (including Hamptons Legal) • constituent member of the Lowell Group (including Hamptons Legal) • a third party acting on your behalf • a third party that claims to have been legally assigned this alleged debt will result in an immediate complaint to the aforementioned regulatory bodies. Also please note that any legal action you may consider will be FULLY and VIGOROUSLY defended, and you will be put to a strict proof of the alleged debt and any payment or acknowledgement that you claim within the relevant limitation period. Furthermore, you may consider this letter a FORMAL COMPLAINT under the complaint procedures set out by the Financial Ombudsman. If you wish to correspond with myself with any other purpose than to confirm that this matter is now closed, then I require you to supply me with a written copy of your complaints procedure and a "final response" that I may forward to the Financial Ombudsman with my complaint. This COMPLAINT is NOT going to go away and ignoring this problem could potentially make your situation worse. I therefore strongly recommend that you send written confirmation that no further contact will be made concerning the above account and confirmation that this matter is now closed. I would appreciate your due diligence in this matter. MR X XXXXXX .......... Ok, so I thought that was the end of it... BUT NO! They have wrote back to me with the following: 13th January 2011 Dear Mr XXXXXX OUR REF: XXXXXXXX ORIGINAL CREDITOR: Barclaycard BALANCE: £690 Thank you for your letter, concerning the above account. Your account is not legally unenforceable under the Limitation Act 1980 on the basis that a default notice was served on you by Barclaycard on the 13th October 2005 Section 5 of the Act mentioned says that following the date when a cause of action arose for payment of the debt, any creditor such as Lowell Portfolio 1 Ltd has a period of six years to enforce such a right to payment. The date of the default notice is when the debt in this matter became due for payment in full and the period from which Lowell Portfolio 1 Ltd has to enforce their right to payment in the absence of any payments or written acknowledgements being made by you in between this date. We trust this now resolves your query and look forward to hearing from you to discuss repayment. If we have not had contact from you in the next 14 days, your account will transferred to our Debt Collection Agent; Lowell Financial who will contact you regarding this account. Regards, RED DEBT COLLECTION SERVICES ........... Ok, so what the hell am I to do now? I have checked all my credit files and Im a member of Experia, Equifax and Call Credit. No defaults or even the previous address of where the debt was originally at!!! Everything 100% satisfactory!! I have wrote a reply which I am sending Red Debt tomorrow morning which reads as follows: I do not acknowledge any debt to you or any other company or organisation that you claim to be representing. Acc/Ref No: XXXXXXXX 17th JANUARY 2011 Dear Sir/Madam Re:− XXXXXXXX Thank you for your letter dated 13/01/2011, the contents of which are noted. I also note AGAIN that "Red Collections" is simply a "trading style" of Lowell Portfolio LTD. Therefore your claim to be acting on behalf of Lowell Portfolio LTD is spurious, as you are clearly one and the same company. You state in your later dated 13th January 2011 that account: XXXXXXXX is not legally unenforceable under the Limitation Act 1980 on the basis that a default notice was served on the 13th October 2005. Again this is another spurious claim and DEMAND THAT YOU PROVIDE PROOF of such information as defined under the Consumer Credit Act 1974. I would like to point out that under the OFT’s Debt Collecting Guidlines July 2003 (Updated April 2008) you are clearly using Deceptive/Unfair methods to retrieve said debt! This is explicitly confirmed in Section 2.7 and 2.8 a) , and k) 2.7 Dealings with debtors are not to be deceitful and/or unfair. 2.8 Examples of unfair practices are as follows: a). sending demands for payment to an individual when it is uncertain that they are the debtor in question, for example, threatening debt recovery action to 'the occupier' or sending a payment demand to all people sharing the same name/date of birth as a debtor in the hope that contact with the correct debtor will be made k). not ceasing collection activity whilst investigating a reasonably queried or disputed debt. This letter therefore is a formal request pursuant to s.77/78 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974. I require you to provide me with a true copy of the credit agreement & default relating to the above account, together with any other documentation the Act requires you to provide. I expect you to comply fully and properly with this request, within the statutory time limit. You are reminded that should you fail to comply with my request, the provisions of s.77 will apply. If it is your view that you are not the creditor, s.175 of the CCA 1974 applies in the case of a simple assignment, and places a duty upon you to pass this request to the creditor. In the case of an absolute assignment, you are a creditor as defined by s.189. If you contend that you purchased the rights but not the duties of any agreement, you are reminded that s.189 of the Act is clear that an assignment is of both rights and duties. Your attention is drawn to ss.5(2), 3(b),6 and 7 of the Consumer Protection From Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (CPUTR). I enclose a postal order in the sum of £1.00, which is the statutory fee. Note that these funds are not to be used for any other purpose. If you are unable to comply fully and properly with this request, you should confirm this in writing at the earliest opportunity, and certainly within the statutory time limit for compliance, and return the fee. The onus is on YOU to prove this debt is indeed enforceable! Therefore I wish to formally notify you AGAIN that unless I receive proof of alleged debt or that this matter is closed; then I will not hesitate to make a formal complaint to the 'Office of Fair Trading' and also to 'Trading Standards'. Furthermore, any attempted contact (other than to prove the debt is enforceable to myself or that the matter is now closed ) by any: • "trading style" of the Lowell Group (including Hamptons Legal) • constituent member of the Lowell Group (including Hamptons Legal) • a third party acting on your behalf • a third party that claims to have been legally assigned this alleged debt will result in an immediate complaint to the aforementioned regulatory bodies. Also please note that any legal action you may consider will be FULLY and VIGOROUSLY defended, and you will be put to a strict proof of the alleged debt and any payment or acknowledgement that you claim within the relevant limitation period. I await your response. MR XXXXXXXX ............................................................ Could anyone tell me what kind of action is likely to occur? I'm fighting them the best I can but Im worried they're gonna do their best to nail me... PLEASE HELP FOLKS!!! X

Hi I wonder if anyone can advise me asap. Iv just received a letter from Lowell portfolio 1 ltd, Enterprise house, 1 apex view, Leeds, Ls11 9bh saying We hereby give notice of the assignment of the dept due to us from you in respect of the balance of £131.95 outstanding on your shop direct finance company ( previously known as Littlewoods finance company) Retail brand account. On 04/03/2011 your account was legally assigned to Lowell Portfolio 1 ltd and as such any further communications and payments regarding the above account must now be addressed to.... The address i gave above. My question is what do i do next im worried because iv got no money at the moment because of my disability benefit being stopped im living on my family tax credit until the problem is sorted out which will be next week after the CAB have spoke to the benefit people. Im a single mum with bad health and one of my son's has M.E and all this worry is making me feel so ill... Please someone help me... Thanks Mandy

ok so ive just braved myself and had a look at my credit report and now i am really confused, keep getting lowells and red etc spouting their usual spat that i owe them for a littlewoods and GU catalogue, i am 110% ive never had any catalogues and they are not showing up on my credit report even though they are stating i am in default, the only things i have on there is my contract phone which is upto date and my credit card also upto date, so my question is how can they pursue a debt that i dont know about let alone it being on my credit file??? any input would be great

i am currently recieving letters from them trying to chase a debt they have apparently purchased, but there is no way on hell i can start paying for at least 6 months as i am currently paying off other debts as fastas i can which leaves me with very little cash left to play with, let alone settle other debts, i'm just wondering where i stand with this an if there is any chance they can do anything as i havn't acknowledged the debt or contacted them in any way, any information on this would be greatly appreciated.

Hi Everyone, I hope someone can help me please. I have received a Letter from London House posted through the door on the 30/09/10. I was going to be served with a Statutory Demand on the 04/10/10. I sent a Fax letter to London House stating that I do not know of any outstanding debts and only contact me in future by mail. The Statutory Demand was posted through the letter box on the 04/10/10 I was not there till thursday. On Friday 08/10/10 I sent the standard CCA letter to Hamptons and Lowell Portfolio 1 with 2 £1.00 Postal Orders. I also sent a SAR Letter to Lloyds TSB with a £10.00 postal order. Please see attached scans: http://i1228.photobucket.com/albums/ee442/Design-Time/SDScans.jpg http://i1228.photobucket.com/albums/ee442/Design-Time/SDScans1.jpg http://i1228.photobucket.com/albums/ee442/Design-Time/SDScans2.jpg http://i1228.photobucket.com/albums/ee442/Design-Time/SDScans3.jpg http://i1228.photobucket.com/albums/ee442/Design-Time/SDScans4.jpg I have been reading loads and loads of threads and I am now starting to get confused! I know I have to apply for a set aside using the form 6-4 and 6-5 is this the next step? I had a Access card 2004 that I walked away from because I was in a very bad financial place at the time. I have a few other questions to: The Statutory Demand has an account number I don't recognize? I the amount is owed I don't recognize? I am not sure they have the right person? They haven't sent anything for me to identify the debt and I have no records left. I never received any letters? I have never had any verbal contact at all. I have never been informed the debt had been sold. How should i fill out the set aside as I have no information on the debt? Can anyone tell me what to do next please. Thanks in advance DesignTime