Frederickson/Lowell/Natwest

[SideShowBob1972]

I recently received a letter from Frederickson international acting on behalf of Natwest/Lowell.

 

They claim I owe them £186.

 

I sent a standard prove it letter and they sent back a copy of a statement.

 

I did have a Natwest account which I thought I had closed in 2005.

 

The statement shows that the £186 is an overdraft which is made up purely of bank charges.

 

I just need advice on what to do now.

 

I know bank accounts/overdrafts are slightly different to loans etc as they do not have a CCA.

 

The last transaction on the account was a charge from August 2006.

 

I have not used this account since 2005 or acknowledged any debt.

 

Do the rules on statute barred apply in this case?

 

Someone suggested I make a claim against Natwest for unfair charges and then inform Freds that I am disputing this directly with Natwest.

[renegadeimp]

Find out the exact date you stopped paying or you acknowledged the debt was yours. Count 6 years after that date ( 5 if you live in scotland). If the date has passed, simply tell them, "debts SB'd, Cya!"

[SideShowBob1972]

The last transaction was 10 August 2006 so becomes SB'd on in August 2012

 

I have now had a threatening letter saying if I don't pay up in full they are going to recommend I am taken to court.

 

At the moment there is no way I can pay as I am unemployed and in severe financial difficulty.

[renegadeimp]

If you are unemployed you pay £1 a month. No negotiations. If they tried to take you to court over it, a judge would not like it one bit. Since you are on benefits, or unemployed with no income, a judge could lower the amount, tell you not to pay and come back in a few months for renegotiation and reassessment, or even wipe the debt completely.

 

Also if they threaten to take you to court unless you pay in full, then you must report them to the OFT as it goes against the guidelines on debt collecting.

[China.Blue]

If you are unemployed you pay £1 a month. No negotiations. If they tried to take you to court over it, a judge would not like it one bit. Since you are on benefits, or unemployed with no income, a judge could lower the amount, tell you not to pay and come back in a few months for renegotiation and reassessment, or even wipe the debt completely.

 

Also if they threaten to take you to court unless you pay in full, then you must report them to the OFT as it goes against the guidelines on debt collecting.

 

Without calling into question what you have said above , I have already told Fredrickson that I am on full benefits but they say they will take legal action if I don't pay in seven days. If a Judge would possibly not like what they are doing , then why would they go ahead and do it anyway , or are they just trying it on? Also , if they did take me to court , are they obliged to tell me any court date in order for me to give my position on the so-called debt?.In their "Letter before action" , they state.

Outstanding balance to pay now £190.99

Interest £15

Court fees £15

Solicitors costs £50

New balance if proceedings are issued £271.27.

I find it very arrogant to assume if it did go to court , they would win.

Any advice would be more than welcome. If I have written this in the wrong place or written out of turn , then please forgive me for my error !!!

[renegadeimp]

Let them take legal action. All you have to do is file a simple defense, request a hearing in front of a judge. That alone will cost this DCA a lot of money and force a rep to turn up and explain the companies actions to a judge. I'm pretty sure a court would like to hear the reason why they are still pursuing you, even when you have proven you are on state benefits and they are trying to take them off you.

 

In regards to your last post, could you post that letter up minus any personal info. Im pretty sure its a simple threat letter, but i would like to make sure, just incase they have already applied for court paperwork.

 

 

Remember, this group of DCA's think they are above the law and regulation. You MUST report them to the OFT and file a full and formal complaint with them so you can start the timer to get the FOS involved.

[China.Blue]

Thank you for your reply. I am afraid I do not have the means to to post the letter otherwise I would do. The only alternative is for me to type exactly what the contents are minus personal info as you suggest. I would not mind doing that if you think there may be something in there that I don't see personally.

[renegadeimp]

Its up to you, but if you want to be sure, it would be better seeing the letter. Do you have a camera or mobile phone? You can take a picture of it then edit it in mspaint to remove the info. Then use a image hosting site and link it here.

[China.Blue]

My son would know how to do this and I am seeing him this Sunday. will get him to photo the letter and to send it to the forum.

[Stigman]

This date of 10th August 2006, can you confirm this from your own records? Anyone could knock up a statement with various dates etc.

 

Also, it is only just over a month from becoming statute barred as you already know, keep off the phone, if Fred's calls you, just say "in writing only" and hang up refusing to go through their security questions.

 

You may receive a letter from Bryan Carter, he is Fred's puppet letter sender, I had quite a few off of him, I ignored and have not heard anything since (last contact was nearly 3 years ago).

 

Just sit it out and then on 11th August 2012, send Fred's the Statute Barred letter.

 

Also, have you checked you credit files and see if the debt is listed and under what owner?

 

Stigman

[renegadeimp]

The statement shows that the £186 is an overdraft which is made up purely of bank charges.

 

 

If the entire debt is made up of charges, then get reclaiming. Coupled with compound interest, this will wipe the debt and probably give you money in your pocket as well. It seems like the DCA's are trying a last ditch attempt to get the money before it goes SB an before you realise you can claim the charges plus interest back.