Lowell Group - and its not me!!

[darricottgirl]

Hi everyone! I am new here, I am at my wits end and wanted to see if any of you can help me out.

 

I have received a letter from Lowell Financial of Leeds to my home, but with a slightly different spelling of my name (and the title is different). They are demanding I repay a debt from a company I have never heard of, which was on an address I have never lived at.

 

I have ignored the first 2 nasty letters as I am of the opinion that I don't have to prove I am not that person, they have to prove that I am - but now they are threatening to send a debt collector round. Can this affect my current credit rating (which is OK, I have checked!). As mum to a small child I don't want anyone knocking on my front door demanding money with menances, and from what I can gather they have no legal right to chase such a debt anyway. What should I do? Should I contact them and tell them that it isn't me? Or do I just continue to ignore their bully boy tactics and instead contact my MP about it?

 

Any advice would be gratefully received and thanks for reading this.

[42man]

Hi Darricott and a warm welcome to the CAG forums....i'm going to move your thread to the debt collection forums where you will get some more valuable advice....

[dannyboy660]

Just a personal opinion, but I suggest you ignore them completely.

 

If you contact them they will try to argue that you ARE the person they looking for without doubt, and you MUST make a token payment to avoid further action and to protect your credit record, and you may lose your home/job/sanity/hair if you do not.

 

Alternatively, go to CAB or your local TS/OFT office with proof of ID, and if possible your credit file, along with this latest work of fiction from the UK's best tracers.

 

Once it has been established they, once again, have missed the cows a**e with a banjo, you will be asked to sign third party mandate allowing the OFT/TS to act on your behalf.

 

Then it's just a case of whether you want to turn the tables and make a few quid out of them.

 

 

The best thing....least stressful??.....continue to ignore them.

 

They can't take you to court. They can't win anyway.

 

It only takes a minute, to bag it, and bin it. (recycling, of course)

[ODC]

Lowells talk about their Licensed Field Agents. These agants are invisible and only exist in the imaginations of the Muppets who run Lowells and send these silly letters out.

[darricottgirl]

Got to tell you my update - just got home from work and I have received (what I think is) a hand delivered postcard from a representative of Lowell Group!!

 

All the postcard reads is that they have been trying to contact me and will do so again - But I can only assume that someone has been to the house, which I didn't think they could do?

 

Should I just give in, ring them and tell them they have totally the wrong person as I am now starting to feel a bit intimidated and the dam debt isn't even mine or ever was.

 

Any advice folks? Thanks in advance.

[dannyboy660]

Got to tell you my update - just got home from work and I have received (what I think is) a hand delivered postcard from a representative of Lowell Group!!

 

 

 

It was delivered by the postman. It's one of the oldest tricks in the book.

 

Next comes Hampton Legal, but don't worry - it's just Lowell using a different name.

 

Yoy don't have to prove anything, they do.

[ODC]

 

Was it like this

Edited October 14, 2008 by ODC

[dannyboy660]

I can't get that to work ODC - but I'm sure it won't be anything I haven't already seen from this shower of s...

[ODC]

Its just their usual silly card pretending that one of their Imaginary Licensed Field Agents actually called at your door

[darricottgirl]

Yes it was

 

Feel a bit of a plonker now for being wound up by it.

 

Apologies for wasting your time - I will file it alongside all the all the threats and bullying letters and wait for the next one to arrive.

[darricottgirl]

Being female I have now decided to throw a wobbly about this and have just contacted the Trading Standards in my area to see if something can be done.

 

I have been reading several posts within this forum and it seems that Lowell Financial are appearing again and again. Is there not something we, the people can do to get them to stop harassing us mere mortals? I dislike bullies and threats and am happy to send a letter to any organisations if it helps rock the boat a bit.

 

I will post when and if I hear anything.

[PossVox]

Good for you!

 

I think that many others have complained to all and sundry about this despicable firm but another complaint to Leeds TS won't do any harm whatsoever!

 

CAG POWER.

 

PV

[mr.ton]

Dont worry about Lowells - there are enough people on here who are "dealing" with them just fine

Lowells wont send anyone round to you home as its a waste of their time & they can just be told to go away & the police called if they dont for breach of the peace.

The name on this card wasnt a Mr Green or Mr White or Mr Brown was it by any chance?

[darricottgirl]

Hello everyone, update on the situation.

 

I have received a reply from the tranding standards offshoot, ConsumerDirect and they are advising me to write to Lowell Financial, telling them that the name is incorrect and that I never lived at that address, and if possible providing proof of this.

 

However, I am still in 2 minds about doing this - surely if I write and give them this information then they have more of a stick to beat me with? I am not convinced at all they will suddenly leave me alone, after all they didn't check whether they had the right person in the first place so how is saying that I am not that person going to make the slighest difference?

 

I know I shouldn't be doubting the advice from trading standards but I want to know what you guys think before I do anything, so any advice would be gratefully received.

 

Thanks in advance

[ODC]

I would keep it short and sweet

 

Dear Cretins

 

I am not the person mentioned on your threatogram with the reference number 123456.

 

Please be advised that I will not be entering into any discussion with you about this matter whatsoever. If I am forced to respond to any letters from you I will invoice your compant £25 for each communication. Replying to this letter will indicate your agreement to these terms.

 

All correspondence from your company will be copied and forwarded to, Trading Standards, the OFT, the FOS and my MP. I trust I make myself clear. If you do not understand this letter I suggest you seek legal advice.

[mr.ton]

I wouldnt suggest writing to Lowells giving proof of anything personally.

I do question the consumer direct sometimes & wonder if the advice they give is actually genuinley in your best interest or not

My advice is to simply tell Lowells to get lost, they will anyway eventually even of you dont tell them that, but its always nice telling them that they havent got a leg to stand on without going through the county court 1st

[dannyboy660]

Have you got as far as the Hampton Legal stuff yet??

 

You've had your home visit from Casper T Spiritcard, so I think you may already be getting near the end of the auto threatomatic cycle.

 

I wouldn't even bother to contact them at all, you will only restart the cycle and encourage the destruction of the rainforest. Just put them in the shredder unopened put it out for recycling, and enjoy life. You have no obligation to inform Lowell you are not who they are looking for - and they won't believe you anyway.

[ScabHunter]

I know I shouldn't be doubting the advice from trading standards

 

You should be doubting the advice from anywhere, even here!

 

It never does any harm to get second and third opinions.

 

Trading Standards are still as useless as ever. Did you report Clownells to the Leeds TS as well as your own? They must have a file big enough to sink a battleship by now, but nothing changes.

 

As there is no way on Earth they can possibly prove the debt is yours, because it simply isn't, a letter similar to ODC's is clearly in order.

 

It is not your job to provide proof of anything. If they want to chase people for money, the burden of proof is theirs.

 

The only thing I would add to ODC's letter is to consider this the initiation of a formal complaint. If they keep harassing you without proof, it can then go to the FOS.

 

SH

[darricottgirl]

Thanks for all the advice guys.

 

I have just sent a letter to them, recorded delivery, along the vein of the template that ODC kindly gave me (thanks for that). So at least I have taken the advice of consumer direct and in theory they will take further if I continue to be harrassed.

 

I didn't send any proof of who I am and didn't sign the letter, in fact I just put my home address at the top and then ended it with "The Occupier" so they don't have any more information than they did before.

 

Lets see if it actually has the desired effect - I will keep you all posted and thanks again for all your time.

[darricottgirl]

Afternoon all.

 

I have had another letter from our favourite people, this one is threatening that they are going to send my case onto the legal department who will take me to court (didn't think they could do that out of the statute of limitations, even if the debt was mine). This will result in them taking my homes contents, selling my daughter on Ebay, you get the picture.

 

Is this another threat in a long line of persuasion or should I be worried? Is this to scare you into thinking that they really can do this to you?

 

The letter I sent recorded delivery will have arrived this morning I imagine, so do I just ignore this or is it serious?

 

Thanks.

[mr.ton]

Just another standard threatogram, with as much authority as toilet paper quite frankly

They are simply powerless to do anything unless they go through the county court system & because it will cost them money to do that, not least all the legal rights you have that comes with the CC system - the clowns wont go there & they darn well know it

[ODC]

I agree with Mr Ton. This is BOG standard drivel from the Leeds Losers with BOG being the operative word. You will probably get a letter from their silly so called Legal Department which goes by the name of Hampton Legal. Its basically just another desk in the Leeds Threat Centre that uses the same empty threats on different headed paper. By using the word Legal in their name they try to make themselves sound important. They are as much use as an ashtray on a motorbike

[darricottgirl]

Thanks guys, I was starting think it was another ploy to scare me - they even used capital letters in some of it!!

 

In theory I shouldn't hear anything more now I have said that if I have to write again I will charge them £25.00 per letter. Is that actually enforcable? I just wondered if "we" (the people) could actually enforce such a thing.