HELP! Lowells,Red,Hamptons,Bank ruptcy

[fishtank1]

Hi,

 

I really need some help. Last August Lowells contacted me to say that I owed them £1200. The original debt was supposedly with Natwest. I wrote back to them with the following:

 

Dear Sir/Madam

 

You have contacted me regarding an account with reference number xxxxxxxxx, which you claim is owed by myself.

 

I would point out that I have no knowledge of any such debt being owed to NatWest or Lowell Portfolio l Ltd.

 

I am familiar with the Office of Fair Trading Debt Collection Guidance which states that it is unfair to send demands for payment to an individual when it is uncertain that they are the debtor in question.

 

I would also point out that the OFT say under the Guidance that it is unfair to pursue third parties for payment when they are not liable. In not ceasing collection activity whilst investigating a reasonably queried or disputed debt you are using deceptive/and or unfair methods.

 

Furthermore ignoring and/or disregarding claims that debts have been settled or are disputed and continuing to make unjustified demands for payment amounts to physical/psychological harassment.

 

I would ask that no further contact be made concerning the above account unless you can provide evidence as to my liability for the debt in question.

 

I await your written confirmation that this matter is now closed. Otherwise I will have no option but to make a complaint to the trading standards department and consider informing the OFT of your actions.

 

I look forward to your reply.

To that I recieved a a response saying that they were looking into it,but it could take some time.One month later I recieved a letter,saying I could buy back the alleged debt,by bidding for it(VERY BIZZARE)

I have ignored all of the letters apart from the first one. I get 2 letters a month at least and they come from Lowells,Red and Hamptons,threatening this ,that and the other.

This morning however,I got one from Red saying Pre-Bankruptcy Petion.

It states that the Head of Litigation has reviewed my case and they are now going to fast track to the bankruptcy division,to consider filing a petition through the courts.

I have never had this letter before and I am a bit worried about it. Can they do that? Can I get some advice please.

Thanks

Fishtank1

[flintstones1960]

hi

I would write back saying that they are welcome to try and take you to court for a debt that they haven't proven dispite you requesting they provide you with unrefutable evidence. Inform them that should they take such action you would put in a counter claim based on this lack of evidence. I'd also check my credit file to see if they have registered a default against you for the debt.

[dx100uk]

just a typical threat-o-gram fishing letter.

 

i would just ignore thwm totally

 

there is nothing they can do to you, they are a dca they have NO LEGAL POWERS!!

 

if you continue to reply, you enter into their game......

 

dx

[sam614]

bidding for it?

absolute prats who do you bid against,lowell,red or hamptons?

maybe muck hall want it for 6p;)

 

losers getting really desperate for any funds me thinks,as they KNOW THAT UK26 WILL WIN:)

 

SAM:pLOWELL DETESTER

[fishtank1]

Hi,

 

I had Lowells write to me back in the begining of July 2008 saying I owed £1200. The original creditor was NatWest.

 

I have had 2 letters a month ever since,either from Lowells,Red or Hamptons. For the last few months I have only had letters from Red.The last 3-4 letters have been threatening a bankructcy petition. The one I got this morning says the following:

 

WARNING.

This is an important document.You should refer to section 2"How to comply with a statutory demand and how to prevent a bankruptcy petition being possibly served upon you".

 

ATTENTION

Please read the information below carefully,if you feel any of the information is incorrect then please call immediately on ******* in order for us to amend your details.If a statutory demand is served upon you,the details below in section 1 will be incorporated into the statutory demand.

Section 1 includes my name and address,original creditor and current creditor,the sum owed.It then goes on to say that the creditor sent a letter of assignment last year,that they have requested on 6 or more occassions payment and that I have not entered or tried to enter into a payment agreement with them. It says all the information above is believed to be true and acurate and is witnessed by,the cheif operations officer(there is a signature.

It then tells me how to pay and then there is section 2.

 

WARNING-Section2

 

To aviod bankcruptcy petition being served,you must pay the debt within a period of 21 days once the demand has been served.Or come to an agreement with them.It tells me I have 10 days from the date of the letter 14/04/09 before they will serve me.

 

Way back at the beginning,I sent the prove you own the debt and I dispute it letter,but never got anything back from them apart from lots of threatening letters. I have never conntacted them since sending that original letter.

This one this morning is different from the others and section 2 makes it sound like they really are going to serve me.

Any advice,I am very concerned.

 

Thanks in advance.

Fishtank1

[sosumi]

Just bumping this up for you fishtank1 xx

[joemay]

You have sent a CCA request and they have not responded to your request, therefore this account is indispute and they shouldn't be chasing you or threatening action. I'm sure someone more knowledgeable will be along shortly to advise you.

[sosumi]

Have you sent a CCA request fishtank?

[fishtank1]

Hi Sosumi,

 

I sent a prove you own the debt letter and asked them to prove to me what it was for.I got nothing back.

 

Regards

Fishtank1

[sosumi]

I think you need to send them a CCA request. The template is here:

http://www.consumerforums.com/resources/templates-library/86-debt-collectors/581-cca-request-letter.html

Don't forget to enclose the £1 postal order and send it either special delivery or at least recorded delivery.

[the_shadow]

Hi Sosumi,

 

I sent a prove you own the debt letter and asked them to prove to me what it was for.I got nothing back.

 

Regards

Fishtank1

 

Then if you have kept that letter and proof of delivery if they do issue a stat demand thats a defense and a cause for you to set aside and claim some costs too

 

S.

[sam614]

absolutley send cca request as soon as poss.

dont these morons make you ache.

still stupid enough to try it,even when it would cost them 5 times the peanuts they payed for it:rolleyes:and costs.

the leeds losers and then some:)

 

thought they would have learnt after the farce with shawn!

SAM:pLOWELL DETESTER

[mr.ton]

Report them to the OFT & trading standards.

[harrassed senior]

I agree with the sentiments above, but you must get this off as soon as possible. Preferably tomorrow (Saturday) at the latest. I think most of us on here have had dealings with this shower - they are already under warning about using these tactics too oftern.

 

£1 postal order

No signature on the letter

Send by at least Recorded Delivery.

 

If, or when you get any documents back, remove identifying details and post on here for the 'experts' to tell you whats what.

[fishtank1]

OK! I sent the £1 postal order with the CCA request recorded delivery on Monday and today I have the following response:

 

We refer to your request for a copy of your original credit agreement in accordance with the provisions of the section 77(1) and / or 78(1) of the consumer credit act 1974.

This account from which the above amount is due relates to a bank account that you held with Natwest.

While this account is a regulated agreement I would refer you to section 74(b) of the consumer credit act 1974 whereby any requirement to supply a copy of the agreement is exempt for current bank accounts.

We would now request that you call the number below to arrange payment of this debt by return.

Can anyone tell me if this is correct and what I should do now?

Many Thanks in advance.

 

Fishtank

[mollyr0x]

That is correct afaik, there would be no CCA for the account.

Only thing you can do is send a SAR along with £10 and see what dodgy charges are on there. Get them removed.

[fishtank1]

Ok, so if there is no CCA where does that leave me?

 

They have not proven to me that they even own this alleged debt. Surley they have to present me with something?

[miziwizzi]

bump

[fishtank1]

I really need some help with this as I really do not know what to do next.

 

I have started this new thread as the original one is quite long,however its here if you want. http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/debt-collection-industry/194931-lowells-hamptons-bankruptcy-help.html

 

 

Lowells,Red and Hamptons have threatened me with a bankcruptcy petition. I was given advice on here to request a CCA. I did that and had a very quick response from them,saying that section 74b of the cca act 1974 any requirement to supply a copy of the agreement is exempt for current accounts. So pay now or else!

 

What can I do now? They have never produced anything that proves they own the alleged debt. I sent the "prove it letter" and they just wrote back saying they do own it and I am their customer.

 

What can I do? Please help!

[42man]

HI FT.....if this is indeed for a bank account, it is very likely that some/all of it is made up of excessive charges which you should start the reclaim process. I have to ask as well as Red chase statute barred debts, can you remember the last time you made a payment towards this debt ? If it is 6 years since you acknowledged it or made a payment towards it then it will be statute barred....(5 years in Scotland)

 

A SAR to the original creditor might be a good start....

 

How was the stat demand delivered ? normal post ?

[fishtank1]

Hi 42man,

 

They have not sent me a stat demand yet.

It was a natwest account with an overdraft from 5 years ago.

I just want to stop them sending a petition.

They have sent me nothing to show they own this alleged debt even.What can I do?

[fishtank1]

bump..

[Seminole]

Unfortunately they are correct in saying that the CCA request is irrelevant to current accounts. Was this an account on which you had lots of bank charges? Have you added up the charges and sought to claim these back?

[fishtank1]

No charges. I just want them to have to prove they own this alleged debt.

[Seminole]

Send a subject notice access request under the Data Protection Act to the original creditor. That should enable you to confirm whether they have sold the debt. A template is in the site resources section.

 

Given that this was an overdraft and you presumably stopped crediting funds against it, are you sure that there were no charges?