Hamptons Legal

[WalkinMan]

xxx

Edited April 22, 2011 by WalkinMan

[rebel11]

Hi walk

 

Welcome to CAG

The guys will advise as soon as they are available.

 

Thread moved.

[Bazooka Boo]

xxx

 

:noidea:What about them?

 

They are really Lowells, what do they want?

[clio2010]

Red/Lowell Financial/Lowell Portfolio 1/Hamptons Legal/Phillips Bailiff and Debt Recovery/

 

they are the must illegal debt collection agency i have ever dealt with in my life

 

they sent me a letter for my mobile phone debt saying they dont need to prove the debt abnd pay up!

[WalkinMan]

Hi, sorry Bazooka, I got a bit paranoid and thought I'd put too much detail in the original post so deleted it.

Back in 2000 I lost my job and couldn't continue payments to my bank an for an overdraft, personal loan & credit card. They defaulted and shortly after this I got a new job I agreed over the phone to pay a certain amount per month which would have cleared the debt in 5 years (the total amount payable included significant default and interest charges including numerous £35 fees for sending letters etc. but they agreed to hold the interest from then on). This arrangement was with the banks in-house solicitors / DCA and did not get as far as a CCJ.

I continued with these payments for 4 and 1/2 years during which time I never received a statement of balance or any communication whatsoever. At the 4 & 1/2 year mark I realised that I must be getting pretty close to clearing this so requested a balance as I was considering making one final payment to finish it off. However I was told over the phone that the balance was an amount close to 60% of the original amount from back in 2000! I was astounded so took advice and sent them the CCA letter together with fee (recorded & signed for) and received nothing other than a letter showing the balance they had told me over the phone less the fee I had enclosed. I sent them the relevant follow up letter (again recorded and signed for) and have paid them nothing nor heard or received anything from them since.

Now after almost 5 years I have had letters from Hamptons (Lowells, thanks Bazooka) threatening me with bankruptcy and a charging order. I suspect they have bought it for pennies and are trying their arm as it won't be statute barred for another year or so with my last payment being in 2005.

I totally dispute owing this money as I paid back a hell of a lot more than I borrowed and also they have no proof as far as I know that I owe anything. Do these people have me by the short & curlies? I've heard horror stories about statutory demands & charging orders.

I would appreciate it if you could shed any light on this, thanks so much!

[Bazooka Boo]

OK, have you got proof of all of your payments to them?

Did you pay via the bank using direct debit or standing order, cheque?

 

These clowns who have it in their grubby mitts now, are as much use as indicators on a submarine and have all the power of a blown light bulb!

 

They've rattled the wrong cage if they think they can simply demand money without breaking a sweat.

 

Dispute it with them, send them this,http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/content.php?426-A-letter-when-the-account-has-been-passed-to-another-debt-collection-agency you can send it 2nd class post but you MUST obtain "Proof of posting" from the post office counter, this will be your legal proof that they received it.

 

You could really stick it to them for acting the fool, and claim back ALL of the charges that were added to your account from your bank! And tell the bank that they can thank lowlifes for your claim, as without their puerile greed you would have kept quiet!

[clio2010]

lowells threatograms go on overtime dont forget the letters were they say we have obtained your credit file details and are looking at them now!

or its only £xxx a day makes me laugh they are so desperate to get pennies off people.

[clio2010]

also it sounds like your gonna make money off this not them they shot themselves in the foot especially without a valid cca!

[WalkinMan]

Thanks guys, I was paying by direct debit every month for 4 & 1/2 years but don't have any statements as it was from so long ago (2000-2005) and didn't expect them to try and pull my pants down like this!

 

The original bank can't have any proof I owe this or they would have provided it years ago, they just piled on masses of charges and hoped I would pay but when I challenged them they just disappeared. I wasn't worried about these letters from Lowells at first, I just saw them as a sad attempt by these soulless robot parasites to get something for nothing but when I read about statutory demands and charging orders my bum clenched a bit because it seemed they could attempt these without proof that the debt is even mine!

 

I will get that letter sorted and sent out, thanks again!

[Bazooka Boo]

They have a very very long way to go before they can even magic this in front of a DJ, then they have to continue with their magic act and attempt to foll the DJ that there is even a debt!

 

Keep an eye on your credit file (CRF) if Lowlifes have been even more incompetent than usual and left their footprints all over it, then you will be eligible to sue them for damages!

[WalkinMan]

I've just checked my credit file Bazooka and there's a whole bunch of searches by Lowell Portfolio 1 on there going back a few months. Cheeky b£&@"£)s!

[Bazooka Boo]

When you say they have searched your file, how many times exactly and in what sort of time frame?

[WalkinMan]

They have been on my experian file and done 7 searches in total in the last 7 months. 4 of them are on my current address and 3 of them are on my previous address. They are listed as unrecorded enquiries.

 

Its says on Experian that any searches of my credit report should have been made with my consent. Also it says that searches are either related to credit applications I recently made or routine checks by lenders on accounts I already have. None of this applies to Lowell Portfolio 1. Can anything be done?

[Bazooka Boo]

Well you would like to think so wouldn't you, but the truth of the matter is that DCA's pay money to credit reference agencies to search peoples credit files, the CRA's don't care who or why a company wants to search your file, as long as you pay them, exactly the same as the DVLA giving out info to anyone requesting it subject to the correct fee being paid.

 

Start a formal complaint with the CRA, exhaust it until you reach the ICO and continue the complaint with them, true that an unrecorded search can only be seen by you and the fool who searched it, but you rightly state, you have never given this clown outfit your permission to do so, nor are they in the business of offering you credit!.

 

Drop a line to your local MP also, see if they will raise the issue in the commons, they might just be able to force the CRA's to be truly independent and act within the law.

[bigshoes...bigsocks]

 

they might just be able to force the CRA's to be truly independent and act within the law.

 

Ever the dreamer Bazooka...

[WalkinMan]

I know this doesn't help solve the problem but having learned a bit about this outfit it seems they have somehow convinced themselves they are sincere, professional and have the moral high ground. There must have been a few ounces smoked at that team meeting, especially as the management are probably tax dodging, yuppie Alan Sugar wannabe's and the staff are probably people who failed the initial interview at Sports Direct and spend their time dreaming of getting laid while practising on their Mum's dog (probably a Pomeranian as bullies like to impose themselves on smaller creatures!)

 

There's nothing like a good old fashioned generalisation, I wonder how far away I am?!

[WalkinMan]

Hi folks,

 

While I'm waiting for a response to my letter I'd like to ask a question about proof of debt in the mean time please if anyone can help.

 

In court what is accepted as proof that the debt is owed?

 

Also if they do have some form of acceptable proof, what is deemed as proof that the actual amount owed is what the DCA says it is?

 

From reading other threads on here it seems a DCA can issue a SD whether they can prove the debt or not which sounds outrageous to me! Surely a court should hammer a DCA for going down this route when they can't prove the amount owed or even any debt at all!

 

Thanks again everyone for taking the time to read this and help me out.

[Bazooka Boo]

The "Actual" credit agreement, NOT a copy, although if they can prove that there has been a relationship (financial) between you and them then that might just sway some DJ's, unfortunately it is down to the DJ lottery and just how solid your defence is.

[WalkinMan]

Ok thanks Bazooka. So if they have no credit agreement would this proof of financial relationship need to show the amount owed with payments made in the form of statements or such? Otherwise my old milkman could say I owe him ten grand just because I paid him a fiver a week for a couple of years!

[Bazooka Boo]

It would need to show, that YOU made payments to them, or, they made payments to you, a financial relationship is 'usually' where someone obtains credit from another.

(landlords-tenants excluded)

 

So if say Natwest took me to court for allegedly owing them 10k, then I know, that I have never banked with them, and that they would have to show the court the original credit agreement, or, some sort of payment from them to me, tying me to an account that I owe.

 

I am not sure as to how long this 'relationship' would need to be proved, BUT I would certainly think that one single payment/transaction would NOT be enough to argue that this financial relationship existed.

[WalkinMan]

Thanks again Bazooka, you've cleared that up. So If Natwest claim I owed them 10k, have paid 6k and still owe them 4k. But I claim I only owed them 6k in the first place and have paid it all off, Natwest would have to provide the original credit agreement for 10k or some payment history between me and them on an account of 10k for a judge to agree with them that I still owe them 4k?

[Bazooka Boo]

They would most definitely have to prove where the other 4k came from! Disputed accounts are often remedied before court action anyhow.

[akasha691]

I have also had a letter off a debt collection agency for an outstanding debt on a catalogue, the letter reads that they have obtained my credit file and that if i dont pay they will send the bailiffs round i phoned them and said the ebt is charges because the catalogue company screwed up and they said that they would investigate, however i aid are you allowed to acess my credit file and the man said he was looking at it, and even read back to me credit i now have, he then said if you dont pay you could go to prison, what do i do? i have got into debt after having cancer and being off work, my bank Halifax have just withdrawn our overdraft leaving us with a £4600 debt, i had to switch to a new account. they said it was brecause we fell behind with our credit cards, it was because i had cancer and was off sick, any advice would be great......

[Bazooka Boo]

the letter reads that they have obtained my credit file and that if i dont pay they will send the bailiffs round he then said if you dont pay you could go to prison, what do i do?

 

WOW! Did you not laugh so hard you did a little squirt of wee in your underpants?

 

That is absolutely classic BS, they CANNOT send bailiffs, and they most certainly CANNOT put you in prison for being in debt!

 

First things, DO NOT talk to these little children on the phone again EVER ! They will simply fill your head with other nonsense they heard in the playground like the moon is made of cheese, and if you tell a l ie a fairy will die and you get a spot on your tongue!

 

Secondly DO NOT speak to them over the phone.

And finally DO NOT speak to them over the phone.

 

Make a formal complaint about these puerile clowns to the OFT&TS via http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Dl1/Directories/UsefulContactsByCategory/Governmentcitizensandrightscontacts/DG_195948

 

If you can start your own post then others will see it and advise you.

 

But in a nutshell, keep EVERYTHING in writing only, keep a diary of events, START a formal complaint with the bank, and exhaust it fully, you need to be able to escalate this to the FOS to investigate, Shallowfax are quite possibly the worst bank to have to deal with when you ask for help in a time of crisis. I still owe them in excess of 50k, but due to their stupidity, incompetence and immaturity they are still yet to comprehend the laws of "Honesty" & "Good manners".

[akasha691]

another Hamptons problem here, i have received a letter from Hamptons Legal concerning a Kays Catalogue debt, i did ring them (found this site afterwards) and they are investigating the case because the fees on teh Kays account are all charges caused by kays, anyhoo, the letter says they have a copy of my credit file from Eperian and that they will use that to see what other financial committments i have and then get bailiffs round, i know they cant go down the bailiff route, the debt is £160 but can they get my credit file i havent as yet accessed my credit file. what does everyone think?