Lowell Finance and the next step

[Guest c0rnland]

Well if i'm going to lose my forum cherry this is probably the best place to do it!

I have recently been contacted about an outstanding debt with a current high street bank which has now been defaulted. Lowell have kindly taken this debt on and are now ready to take me for every penny i have!

My aim here is to hopefully help those who are contacted by Lowell in the future AND receive invaluable assistance myself while dealing with Lowell.

After constant badgering and threats of all manner (from taking me to court to reposession of goods) i decided to contact 'National Debtline' on 0808 808 4000 for advice. They were very helpful and sent out copies of letters and an infomation pack to assist me. 1 very important thing to remember is to deal with Lowell in writing only as the agents you contact by phone work on a comission structure and will do anything to take your money from you there and then!

From the pack provided i sent a letter (body below) on the 20th September along with £1 to gain a copy of the original agreement and a statement of the account. If they can not provide this, within 12 working days, then they can not take further action against you until they do so. If they do not reply within 1 month, they can be prosecuted.

Letter 1

Dear Lowell Finance,

With reference to the above agreement, I would be grateful if you would send me a copy of this credit agreement and a full breakdown of the account including any interest or charges applied. I understand that under the Consumer Credit Act 1974 (sections 77-79), I am entitled to receive my credit agreement and a statement of the account on request. I enclose a payment of £1 which represents the fee payable under the Consumer Credit Act 1974.

I understand that a copy of my credit agreement and a statement of the account should be supplied within 12 working days.

I understand that under the Consumer Credit Act 1974 creditors are unable to enforce an agreement if they fail to comply with the request for a copy of the agreement and statement of account under these sections of the Act.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Lowell replied on the 28th with a copy of my credit agreement, prompt but not everything i asked for, they await my proposal for payment within the next 7 days. I would like to check what the balance is made up of, interest and bank charges i'm sure play a big factor in the figure i have been sent and this is 1 thing i do not want to pay for. Reading through my pack I'm under the impression that this is something i shouldn't have to pay for but this is something i need a confirmed answer to, if anyone has that answer?

Anyway, i will send my second letter tomorrow.

Letter 2

I am in receipt of both your letter (dated 28th Sep 07) and a copy of the credit agreement as requested in my original letter (dated 20th Sep 07).

With reference to the above agreement, I would be grateful if you would send me a full breakdown of the account including any interest or charges applied as stated in my original letter. I understand that under the Consumer Credit Act 1974 (sections 77-79), I am entitled to receive my credit agreement and a statement of the account on request. I enclosed a payment of £1 which represented the fee payable under the Consumer Credit Act 1974 with my previous letter.

I understand that a statement of the account should be supplied within 12 working days.

I understand that under the Consumer Credit Act 1974 creditors are unable to enforce an agreement if they fail to comply with the request for a copy of the statement of account under these sections of the Act.

This is pretty much letter 1 just a few words added and a few changed.

As i said, my first posting to a forum, hopefully this wil help others and hopefully i will get the assistance i require too. I'll keep you posted on further developements. Until then stay calm, don't fall for the threats and, if you need it, seek advice (not from me though - i'm in the same boat as you!

[firstwithit]

Right, how do you know its the Credit Aggreement? Cause they say it is?

Dont believe it, they have got hold off it with record speed, must be fastest ever!

I suppose you signed your letter requesting the aggreement from them, ever heard of cut and paste or photo jobs?

If you scan it blanking out personel details and put it up here someone on here will tell you if it is genuine or not, doubt it myself.

 

Remember, sign nothing you send to them, just print and NEVER talk to them on the phone!!!!

[Guest c0rnland]

It is my agreement, i remember having to alter something on it and resigning that bit. I signed it in Jan 2002.

 

After reading through some posts i've noticed how open people are - The high street bank i didn't mention is HSBC. The original agreement was for £4500, they are now chasing £3677.

 

Are they still obligied to send a copy of my statement detailing the amount owed within the 12 day period as of the 20th September?

 

~Thanks for your help, really appreciate it!

[Curlyben]

Clownells are a funny bunch.

They operate under (at least) 4 names.

Lowell Portfolio buys the debts then Lowell Financial demand payment, if that doesn't work then they send it to their pseudo legal arm, Hampton ilLegal.

After this they send in the heavies of RED collection.

Now these guys threaten to cancel Christmas if you don't pay.

 

Yeah right.

 

I see you have sent a CCA request.

Now as you know there are some time limits involved.

After 12 WORKING days the "debt" is in default and stays that way until the request is complied with.

If a FURTHER month passes then the DCA has committed a summary criminal offence and the matter should be referred to Trading Standards for action.

 

IF they do respond with an agreement please scan and post it here and we will check t make sure it is enforceable.

There are certain things that MUST be included to make an agreement enforceable.

As well as your's and their signature there must be ALL the prescribed terms.

 

 

S61(1)(a) CCA provides that, for a regulated agreement to be properly executed, it must contain all the prescribed terms of the agreement and conform to regulations under s60(1) – see Q1.14.

 

Reg 6(1) provides that the terms specified in Sch 6 to the Agreements Regulations are ‘prescribed terms’ for the purposes of s61(1)(a) and s127(3) – see Q8.2.

 

8.2 What if prescribed terms are missing or incorrect?

 

s127(3) provides that the court may not make an enforcement order unless a document containing all the prescribed terms of the agreement was signed by the debtor – see Q1.21.

 

If therefore any of the prescribed terms is missing, or incorrect, the agreement is not enforceable against the debtor, and the court is precluded from making an enforcement order.

 

 

8.3 What are the prescribed terms?

 

The prescribed terms specified in Sch 6 are as follows:

 

* amount of credit – see Q8.

 

* credit limit – see Q8.5

* repayments – see Q8.9.

* rate of interest – see Q8.6

 

Sch 6 was not amended by the 2004 Regulations.

 

 

Also check out Peter Bard's excellent thread on the subject: http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/general/103383-agreement-enforceability.html

 

So they could send what, to the untrained eye, looks legit, but in reality isn't worth the paper it's printed.

For example, alot of credit card mailer application do NOT comply as they are lacking the prescribed terms, so cannot be enforced in court, basically making your debt uncollectable.

 

Keep us updated and we'll help.

[ODC]

Clownells=Hampton iLegal=Red Debt

 

Same sh!t different notepaper

[Guest c0rnland]

I'll make a point of scanning the CCA they returned later this evening and posting it here (although i'm not to sure how to do that). Can somebody confirm for me that my request for a breakdown of the account needs to be provided within the time limits?

Thanks again:)

[DBY]

Clownells are a funny bunch.

They operate under (at least) 4 names.

Lowell Portfolio buys the debts then Lowell Financial demand payment, if that doesn't work then they send it to their pseudo legal arm, Hampton ilLegal.

After this they send in the heavies of RED collection.

Now these guys threaten to cancel Christmas if you don't pay.

 

Yeah right.

 

I see you have sent a CCA request.

Now as you know there are some time limits involved.

After 12 WORKING days the "debt" is in default and stays that way until the request is complied with.

If a FURTHER month passes then the DCA has committed a summary criminal offence and the matter should be referred to Trading Standards for action.

 

IF they do respond with an agreement please scan and post it here and we will check t make sure it is enforceable.

There are certain things that MUST be included to make an agreement enforceable.

As well as your's and their signature there must be ALL the prescribed terms.

 

 

 

So they could send what, to the untrained eye, looks legit, but in reality isn't worth the paper it's printed.

For example, alot of credit card mailer application do NOT comply as they are lacking the prescribed terms, so cannot be enforced in court, basically making your debt uncollectable.

 

Keep us updated and we'll help.

 

Hi all!!

 

My first time here guys - My wife has had a similar letter from Lowell, I have sent them a special delivery letter back requesting the relevant information (they receive morning 24th September). They said it may take longer than 12 days to receive.

I'm interested to see what they come back with.

[DBY]

Also, can someone confirm the time limits Lowell have, I know its initially 12 days from receipt, is that working day? What happens then?

[Curlyben]

Once the 12 WORKING days is passed then the account is in default and you can legally stop any payments.

[DBY]

Once the 12 WORKING days is passed then the account is in default and you can legally stop any payments.

 

Thanks!

[Guest c0rnland]

Guys, please help.

 

I've requested my CAA, i've recieved my CAA (which i'll scan and post here later) but they didn't send a breakdown of the account. I requested this breakdown as part of my initial letter which was based on a template. Should this have been provided along with my CAA, are they still required to send it on to me?

[Curlyben]

They should of sent you a statement of account as well as all documents referenced in the "agreement"

 

Can you post the CCA scan from photobucket or similar ?

[Guest c0rnland]

Not sure how to but i will give it a go later this evening. Thanks for the answer though.

[rory32]

You can find out to insert documents here http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/welcome-consumer-forums/107001-how-do-i-dummies.html last post.

[Guest c0rnland]

Thanks rory. Here it is. Question - Do i send my second letter requesting the account details?[/img]

[Guest c0rnland]

Well that didn't work did it! I've tried to attach it as a file instead.

[Guest c0rnland]

[/img]

 

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[Guest c0rnland]

Ha ha. Done it!

[rory32]

The agreement should show the total amount payable. There is also no info on charges, cancellation rights, or amount payable on early settlement.

[Guest c0rnland]

So what does that mean?

 

It shows the amount of the loan but not the figure that Lowell are asking for, where do i go from here?

[Curlyben]

Get A SAR into the bank and get a full breakdown and reclaim the charges.

Send Lowell this letter telling them that the account is in dispute.

 

ACCOUNT IN DISPUTE

 

Dear Sir/Madam,

 

Your ref:

 

 

Thank you for your letter of DATE, the contents of which are noted.

 

 

I am disputing the total value of these debts with BANK due to unlawful and unreasonable charges. As such Therefore I consider this account to be in dispute and no further action shall be taken until this matter is resolved.

As per OFT guidelines Section 2.8k "not ceasing collection activity whilst investigating a reasonably queried or disputed debt."

 

This process may take some time, due to the Office of Fair Trading's test case, but I will try to expedite this issue as a matter of urgency.

 

I hope that you will enter into a sincere dialogue with me about this matter and I am writing this letter to you on the assumption that you would prefer to do this than merely respond with standard letters and leaflets.

 

I would appreciate your due diligence in this matter.

 

I look forward to hearing from you in writing.

 

Yours faithfully

[ODC]

Clownells have not complied with you CCA request either

[Guest c0rnland]

Splendid!

 

I've had a look over this site but i can't find said SAR anywhere, can somebody point me in the right direction please?

 

Does it not matter that the bank account is now closed and Lowell are collecting? Do the bank still hold the responsibility to provide those details?

 

I'll send a copy of the above letter on to Lowell and another to the bank (SAR) once i find it.

 

Thanks guys this is great news!

[rory32]

SAR template is here http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/bank-templates-library/516-1-data-protection-act.html

[Guest c0rnland]

Ok.

 

Today i'm sending the above letter to Lowell or Clownells whichever you prefer. I need to get proof that the account is mine as i have changed address but i thought i'd pop up HSBC and get them to confirm i'm me in writing and send that with it along with my £10. I assume i then sit back and count 40 days as of tomorrow (working or days?), once i recieve the info i go through it and check for interest, charges etc i assume, i'll ask more questions when that arrives. I'll keep everybody posted on clownells response to the above letter.