Help being pursued by DCAs

[A.Goodyear]

Hi there I recently was sent a letter by lowells saying they had bought my debt from egg and be recovering the amount in full my borrowing from egg was made up of credit card and loan. 3 years ago or so i could no longer afford to pay and buried my head in the sand moved to another country. now i am back it seems they are sending letters to all my last known addresses aswell as a property to which i own of which i have not live at for some years. please can anyone advise.8)

[fiftypence]

When was the loan and CC taken out?

[mr.ton]

Lowells can send letters to were ever they want...it makes no difference to the fact that they have no legal powers to obtain money without taking you to a county court 1st.

Me thinks they are just on a desperate Xmas fishing trip here anyway

[Mr Anchovy]

Hi Goodyear,

 

I have recently been pestered by Lowells too. I ignored their letters until they threatened court action, then CCAed them. They couldn't prove debt existed and closed the file. As far I know, any debt I may have had would be statue barred anyway, thus uncollectable.

I received great help from the CAGers here.

 

Heres my thread

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/debt-collection-industry/154396-advice-lowell-letter.html#post1644180

 

Good luck,

 

Mr Anchovy

[A.Goodyear]

roughly ten years ago i think cant be exactly sure, does this make a difference?

[A.Goodyear]

When was the loan and CC taken out?

 

hi there thanks for your response not in the habit of using a forum was unaware i had any responses at all.

 

10 years roughly, just been sent another letter from lowel finacial who say they represent lowell portfolio. they want me to make contact otherwise they will send a home visit agent or try the county county court. Should i send one of these cca letters I have been reading about ? I am not exactly sure how this debt is made up and what charges interest etc i actually owe. aside from this i cannot afford to pay just now.

[havinastella]

hi there thanks for your response not in the habit of using a forum was unaware i had any responses at all.

 

10 years roughly, just been sent another letter from lowel finacial who say they represent lowell portfolio. they want me to make contact otherwise they will send a home visit agent or try the county county court. Should i send one of these cca letters I have been reading about ? I am not exactly sure how this debt is made up and what charges interest etc i actually owe. aside from this i cannot afford to pay just now.

 

When did you last acknowledge this debt or make a payment towards it?

 

Jogs

[hillards]

10 years roughly...

Sounds like it would be statute barred anyway. If you've not paid anything or entered into correspondence about this alleged debt then they are hoping you don't know your rights and will talk to them about it. DO NO TALK TO THEM ON THE TELEPHONE, they WILL twist your words...

...just been sent another letter from lowel finacial who say they represent lowell portfolio.

It's the same company really, and they also use Red Debt Recovery, Hamptons Legal and another name I can't remember just now.

they want me to make contact otherwise they will send a home visit agent or try the county county court.

Always threats - full of we MAY do that or we COULD do that. Spend a bit of time reading these forums and you'll soon find how valid their threats are.

There are letters you can send to tell them they are not welcome to visit. If they do turn up then they are trespassing.

Should i send one of these cca letters I have been reading about ? I am not exactly sure how this debt is made up and what charges interest etc i actually owe. aside from this i cannot afford to pay just now.

Go here> http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/general-debt-issues/20758-creditors-dcas-letter-templates.html and you want Letter N. You send this by recorded delivery and enclose a £1 postal order. DO NOT sign the letter, just make sure it has your name, address and reference number on so they can match it to the alleged account. You use a postal order and unsigned letter so they can't lift your signature and drop it onto a copy of your agreement.

 

Don't do anything else until they reply. Usually they will say they've requested a copy from the original creditor, followed by a a special offer letter where they will take a lower amount as 'full and final payment'. This is normally repeated a short while afterwards. Then they'll say they were unable to get the document and have closed the file... Job done, just about.

 

If you get any phone calls, just ask them to put everything in writing, and hang up.

[ScabHunter]

The question that Jogs has asked is the most significant here.

 

It does not matter when the alleged accounts were taken out, or when you left or came back to the country, what matters is when a payment was last made, or when you last acknowledged the alleged debts in writing.

 

Egg agreements are more often than not enforceable. I wouldn't send the CCA letter yet.

 

How closely can you pinpoint the date on which you last paid or acknowledged these alleged debts?

 

SH

[A.Goodyear]

The question that Jogs has asked is the most significant here.

 

It does not matter when the alleged accounts were taken out, or when you left or came back to the country, what matters is when a payment was last made, or when you last acknowledged the alleged debts in writing.

 

Egg agreements are more often than not enforceable. I wouldn't send the CCA letter yet.

 

How closely can you pinpoint the date on which you last paid or acknowledged these alleged debts?

 

probably 3 and half years I would say since the last time I spoke to them. I asked them to consolidate what i owed and they refused. I said I cannot afford to pay and so here we are.

[A.Goodyear]

hi jogs

 

about 3 and half years ago!

[A.Goodyear]

thank you, very informative!

[ScabHunter]

probably 3 and half years I would say since the last time I spoke to them. I asked them to consolidate what i owed and they refused. I said I cannot afford to pay and so here we are.

 

That is a shame. Although speaking to them doesn't count, it seems as though your last payment will have been well within the six year limitation range.

 

In that case, go back to hillards' post above, and follow his advice for sending the CCA letter. Even though Egg agreements are often enforceable, it is not certain, and at least a delay will buy you time.

 

Do you know whether a significant part of this alleged debt may be made up of unlawful charges?

 

SH

[A.Goodyear]

That is a shame. Although speaking to them doesn't count, it seems as though your last payment will have been well within the six year limitation range.

 

In that case, go back to hillards' post above, and follow his advice for sending the CCA letter. Even though Egg agreements are often enforceable, it is not certain, and at least a delay will buy you time.

 

Do you know whether a significant part of this alleged debt may be made up of unlawful charges?

 

I am not sure they even know I live at this address or whether or not they are just guessing. They said in the letter they would take steps to confirm I actually lived there. As far as I am aware the amount is vastly over what I think I owe. Between payement protection and charges from DCAs or whatever I am sure it has increased significantly. The trouble is I do not have any original paperwork and cannot remember how much was a loan or on a credit card. I guess until I am paid a visit or recieve a court order there is no point in making any contact?? or should I send the CCA letter now? are they likely to have a true copy of the credit agreement? can i fight them on this basis?

[A.Goodyear]

just been sent another "packet" in the post to be picked up at the post office too big for my letter box whats that all about? , second time now.

[ScabHunter]

This is a delicate situation, and needs careful thought and careful handling.

 

Re post #15, it would appear that someone is phishing. You will need to ignore this.

 

If they are sending letters to multiple addresses, then it is obvious they don't yet know where you are. There seems little point in telling them.

 

I very much doubt whether you will get a personal visit. So far I haven't yet read of one genuine visit from a Clownell agent.

 

As for court papers, that is different. You could get served a statutory demand which you would need to get set aside, or you could get a claim through Northampton Bulk Centre.

 

To get a statutory demand set aside you would need to have a reason for disputing the alleged debt. On reflection it will be better not to send a CCA request yet. If you send a request off the very day you get a statutory demand, there is a good chance they will be in default of the request at any hearing even if an enforceable agreement does exist.

 

A court claim through Northampton gives you enough time to request documents using the Civil Procedure Rules, so that can be dealt with if and when it happens.

 

The most difficult question to answer is whether or not you should send a SAR to Egg. This would tell you the exact date of the last payment or acknowledgment, and it would also give you statement information from which you could work out the level of unlawful charges. If there is mis-sold PPI as well, so much the better. There are many ways you can challenge this, even assuming an enforceable agreement ever does turn up.

 

With Egg, your chances of an unenforceable agreement are not great. It has happened, though, and you may have to play the CCA card at some stage.

 

For now, I would stay silent. If Clownell haven't issued any court papers yet, they are not going to try to exploit the holidays so you may as well allow another couple of weeks to expire.

 

Get ready to send off the SAR as the first move. They get 40 days to comply with this, but it will give you a lot of information you will be able to use in challenging at least the unlawful parts of the alleged debt. It should also provide a copy of the agreement. This won't stop you using the CCA request as a delaying tactic against Clownell in the future, but it will tell you in advance what the outcome is likely to be. Finally, it will tell you exactly when the last payment was made, so you can be totally sure of the statute barring date.

 

SH

[A.Goodyear]

This is a delicate situation, and needs careful thought and careful handling.

 

Re post #15, it would appear that someone is phishing. You will need to ignore this.

 

If they are sending letters to multiple addresses, then it is obvious they don't yet know where you are. There seems little point in telling them.

 

I very much doubt whether you will get a personal visit. So far I haven't yet read of one genuine visit from a Clownell agent.

 

As for court papers, that is different. You could get served a statutory demand which you would need to get set aside, or you could get a claim through Northampton Bulk Centre.

 

To get a statutory demand set aside you would need to have a reason for disputing the alleged debt. On reflection it will be better not to send a CCA request yet. If you send a request off the very day you get a statutory demand, there is a good chance they will be in default of the request at any hearing even if an enforceable agreement does exist.

 

A court claim through Northampton gives you enough time to request documents using the Civil Procedure Rules, so that can be dealt with if and when it happens.

 

The most difficult question to answer is whether or not you should send a Subject Access Request to Egg. This would tell you the exact date of the last payment or acknowledgment, and it would also give you statement information from which you could work out the level of unlawful charges. If there is mis-sold PPI as well, so much the better. There are many ways you can challenge this, even assuming an enforceable agreement ever does turn up.

 

With Egg, your chances of an unenforceable agreement are not great. It has happened, though, and you may have to play the CCA card at some stage.

 

For now, I would stay silent. If Clownell haven't issued any court papers yet, they are not going to try to exploit the holidays so you may as well allow another couple of weeks to expire.

 

Get ready to send off the Subject Access Request as the first move. They get 40 days to comply with this, but it will give you a lot of information you will be able to use in challenging at least the unlawful parts of the alleged debt. It should also provide a copy of the agreement. This won't stop you using the CCA request as a delaying tactic against Clownell in the future, but it will tell you in advance what the outcome is likely to be. Finally, it will tell you exactly when the last payment was made, so you can be totally sure of the statute barring date.

 

Is the subject access letter in templates ?which letter?. do i send it recorded unsigned and with a postal order?

 

thanks for all your time on this, everyone is so helpful!

[A.Goodyear]

is it likely you can draw it out as long as the statute barring date?

[A.Goodyear]

anyone around for more advice. Recieved two new letters one from hamptons legal and another from moorcroft anyone know about these?. It seems my house has lost its value and my debts are enormous is bankruptcy a good solution?. These letters only ever seem to say we may do this or if you dont respond. i do not understand why they just dont go to the courts can anyone advise

[sosumi]

Bumping this for you

[hillards]

i do not understand why they just dont go to the courts can anyone advise

Some of us have been asking this for a long time - if they had any intention of claiming what they say is owed, they could just go to court - except they would be laughed out on all the occasions where someone takes the time to defend the case and shows they don't have the legal right to go down that route.

 

It costs money to take a case to court. They have no idea if a person is worth the risk of paying out a court fee for, the matter could easily go to court and the judge agree that there's only a small amount to be paid, which hardly covers the cost of the monkey who has to keep the accounts.

 

It's not so easy to deal with this if they are unsure where you live and are just phising at this stage. One popular course of action is to totally ignore them, and they do eventually go away. Trouble is that it will then be passed to another DCA to try their luck, and they may strike lucky in getting some info from another source that confirms who you are and where you live.

 

You could take up the challenge and write to them, ask for the CCA and follow the same procedure as everyone else in making sure they can prove they are in a position to do anything more than spout threats. Up to you.

[fiftypence]

anyone around for more advice. Recieved two new letters one from hamptons legal and another from moorcroft anyone know about these?. It seems my house has lost its value and my debts are enormous is bankruptcy a good solution?. These letters only ever seem to say we may do this or if you dont respond. i do not understand why they just dont go to the courts can anyone advise

 

Because going to court costs them money and takes time and they will lose control over how much you are told to pay by the courts, its much simpler to write a threatening letter to scare you into making a payment. Bankruptcy is not the easy option but they would have to send a stat demand to go down that route followed by a bankruptcy petition which will cost them in excess of £1000 with no guarantee of getting a penny if you really don't have any assets - too risky for most DCA's.

[A.Goodyear]

hullo

 

what is bumping?

[A.Goodyear]

Thanks for your responses, My mother has just recieved a letter from moorcroft and immediately called to tell them i did not live there. i feel like following the process of subject access and cca but it seems all the letters they send are ifs and we may!. Should i just wait it out my two debts are sizeable and I am unsure if they are enforceable one is lloyds passed to moorcroft and another egg passed to lowell. The letters only ever seem to amount to empty threats and being passed to different departments such as hamptons pre lit dept!!.

I am sure i have been mis-sold PPi and interest payments over the years are not what they should be. I have a property that i would like to keep even though it is in negative equity and do not wish to rattle any cages if i dont have to. I have not borrowed in 4 years and have no credit cards and do not wish to borrow again.