Lowell Portfolio I

[ndev2k]

I have received a letter from Lowell Portfolio I saying they have bought a debt of mine from Capital One of just short of £700. I havent had a Capital One card or heard from capital one since I was about 19-20. I am now 26 and so maybe the 6 years is up. I called them because I was shocked that I owed this money. They offered me a 25% discount as long as I cleared it that day. So they wanted £500. Needless to say I said 'Not A Chance'. Is there any way I can find out if I still owe this money and also if this Lowell group are above board.

 

How would I go about sorting this out as I am looking to get a mortgage with my girlfriend soon and don't want this hanging over me as I didn't even know I owed it. I very nearly dipped into the babies savings to pay it, then I had a brainwave of checking them out first.

 

The letter states 'Lowell Portfolio I' but says to address communications and payments to 'Lowell Financial Ltd'.

 

If anybody knows the best way to start to find out about this could you please post replies with details of the order of the letters as this is the first time I have been in this position so haven't got a clue what to do.

 

Thanks

 

Neil

[eastendboy]

Firstly, it would seem that the best advice is NOT to talk to them on the phone, ever....

 

Then as for the debt itself, there are 2 ways you can go. Firstly if you're sure that the debt is over 6 years old, you can send them "letter M" from the letters library which covers a debt that is statute barred. That should send them running.

Other than that, send "letter N" from the letter library which is a request for the original CCA. They have a maximum 44 days to comply with that request failing which they commit an offence and the debt goes into dispute, and then all actions from them should cease until they can produce it, which is quite possibly never!

You need to send a £1 postal order with letter N and remember, only print you name at the end of any correspondance with them. NEVER sign anything.

 

Good luck and should you wish more informed advice later, just call back here and for sure, someone with far greater knowledge than me will be along to help you.

Edited July 8, 2008 by eastendboy
Forgot to mention. Send by recorded delivery and keep everything relating to this...

[schrodingers cat]

hi

lowell only seem to buy debts that they have got no chance of collecting, from anyone in the know at least.

this is the way i think it goes

lowell portfolio buy the debt then farm it out to various other lowells ie lowell 1 or is it i,lowell financial and red collections to my knowledge there may be more but they all seem to live in the same house

if you have never had a crapital one card then they are fishing so i`d send the prove it letter

a S.A.R will tell you everything that they have on you but that`ll cost a tenner personally thats the way i`d go cos my s.a.r told me they had nothing on me so i asked for a copy of my credit agreement and they backed out.wait for varification tho i`m only a relative newbie

no doubt ODC will be along shortly he or is it she has a sixth sense regarding lowell posts and knows their stuff on the lowell clan

S.C

[mr.ton]

Lowells or anyone else...if its over 6 years old, its statute barred

ODC will tell you that they operate from the sewers of debt collecting.

So anything from in them future - tell them to f off effectivley

[excel1]

Whilst everyone will be laughing, Lowell are a bonifide company as in the name etc, but as ODC will testify that they chase anything, the first route i would take is as recommended that the statute barred letter is sent, also if you do have to request your credit agreement Capital one havent wrote a valid one YET:lol:

[ODC]

Capital One do not have anything which could be classed as a properly executed CCA. They merely have application forms which do not contain all the prescribed terms. You can go the Statute Barred route but for the sake of a quid got for a CCA request in the full knowledge that the Leeds Losers will not be able to produce a valid CCA.

 

In my dealings with this show they informed me a payment had been made on a certain date so the account was not Statute Barred. I had proof that it would have been physically impossible for me to have made this alleged payment. As it turned out Clownells couldnt even produce a CCA although they did offer me a 60% discount:D

[davidro99]

Hey,

 

Me and you seem to be in the same situation. Mine has now been passed to the 'pre-litigation department' who have wrote to me saying that will pass it to the 'litigation department' if I don't respond.

 

I responded to their first letter in the same way i do them all, advising them that I do not owe the debt and then invite them to prove it.

 

What I did was get my credit file (well worth the £2.00) and then this will show all debts associated with you that are not statue barred. It also has a lot of other useful things like address associations. (mine suggested that I lived in Derby at one point which is not true). This will also help you decide who to approach for a mortgage as it will give an indication of your credit rating.

 

Anyhoo, I would suggest e-mailing Lowell as you get an autoresponse which you can use in the future if they say you did not respond and tell them to 'begger off' but in a nicer way.

 

If they issue, then I'm sure a lot of people here will assist you. Please read my thread 'How I beat Cabot and Hodsons' if you wish to see how I dealt with a debt I did not owe which was litigated.

 

Welcome to the site,

 

David.

[ndev2k]

What about the fact that I called them. Does that make me liable for the debt??

 

I did have a card with Capital One many years ago but I am more or less certain that it was over 6 years ago.

[rory32]

What about the fact that I called them. Does that make me liable for the debt??

Nope. Once a debt is statute barred it can not be unstatute barred. Anyway a telephone conversation would not constitute acknowledgement. You can only acknowledge a debt by making a payment or an offer of payment in writing.

[schrodingers cat]

cca them it`ll cost a quid and if you are right about the dates your sailing

but i`d imagine they cant supply it either way they really are useless

they just rely on people who have no knowledge of their industry (tho i cringe at calling blood sucking an industry) to get their money and that isn`t you not anymore

S.C

[ODC]

They can send it to the pre litigation department, the pre statutory demand department, the pre bankruptcy division or their licensed field agents (all silly names used by these clowns) but if a debt is Statute Barred they can do sweet FA and in fact are probably committing an offence if they suggest they can take legal action and should be reported using this fantastic letter. http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/consumer-protection-unfair-trading/147893-complaint-about-being-threatened.html

 

 

Do not worry about these bullies as most of their letters are full of IFs and MAYBEs

 

They are actually full of Bovine Excrement

[ndev2k]

I have sent the Statute Barred letter by recorded Mail today. What do I do if they come back and say it isn't 6 years? Should I just CCA them?

 

Anyways lets wait and see what they say to the first letter.

[ODC]

Make them prove its NOT. The burden of proof rests on THEM as per

London Congregation Union Inc v Harriss and Harriss [1988] 1 All ER 15, CA at 13.3)

[ndev2k]

Sent it on Wednesday, would you expect them to reply or just to leave you alone??

[ODC]

Lowells will send you a few more begging letters including offers of a 60% discount. In fact they have been known to come up with alleged phantom payment.

[ndev2k]

I received a letter this morning from Lowell Financial saying they have been instructed by the client Lowell Portfolio I to write to me in connection with the debt.

 

I am going to send the same Statute Barred letter to them.

[ODC]

I thought you had already sent it

[ndev2k]

I have just noticed that I sent it to Lowell Financial after I received he letter from Lowell Portfolio I. Should I just ignore this letter or send the CCA letter

[ODC]

Lowell Financial, Lowell Portfolio, Red Debt, and Hamptons Legal are one and the same.

 

You have informed them that this debt is Statute Barred. They have chosen to ignore that and are in breach of the OFT guidelines and probably the new CPUTR Regulations 2008.

 

Sit tight for the moment and see if they send any more begging letters. I trust you sent you SB letter by Recorded Delivery.

[ndev2k]

I got my mum to post it recorded delivery but she has lost the ticket with the tracking number on it. Might have to post another one just to be sure. But this time I will post it myself.

[ODC]

Dear Lowell Portfolio aka Lowell Financial aka Redt Debt aka Hampton Legal

 

Ref ac no. 123456

 

Please be advised that I have previously informed your company that the above account is Statute Barred by virtue of S5 of The Limitation Act 1980. Your continued demand for payment is a clear breach of the OFT guidelines on the collection of Statute Barred Debt and may also be an offence under the Consumer protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008.

 

Please be advised that unless I receive written confirmation this matter is now closed I will be makining a formal complaint to but not limited to Trading Standards, the OFT and my MP.

 

yours etc

[ndev2k]

I received a letter today telling me the issue is now closed, this time from RED DEBT. They have my account at £0

 

I have just checked my Experian credit report and there is a Default on there from Lowell. Can I have this removed due to the Limitation as I thought the only people who could put the Default on was Capital One.

[schrodingers cat]

hi

seems to be the same thing going on here.Maybe this will help

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/debt-collection-industry/144140-lowell-debt-recovery-agency-3.html

S.C

[ndev2k]

I have checked my credit report and the default will come off my report in february next year. I it worth going through the hassle of trying to have it removed before then??