Lowell bought mothers Provident loans debt

[ryan5]

Hi everyone, i really could do with all your help with this.

 

My mother received a letter(oct 2014) from Provident stating they have sold her account to Lowell.

 

In the letter sent by Provident it says:

The total balance sold was £XXXX.XX.

The individual agreements included in your account are detailed on the enclosed letter from Lowell(6 loan agreements listed).

 

My mother has a letter from Lowell saying it's formal notice of the account being sold

and assigned to Lowell.(i'm assuming this letter is the one the Provident letter refers to).

 

The 6 loan agreements listed all have an agreement date along side, each date is in 2010.

 

My mother has tried to pay the Provident a number of times via doorstep collections

but whenever my mother couldn't pay, the collector got a bit narky and wouldn't return to collect any more payments.

My mother would call them asking when will they be collecting her payment.

 

Finally the doorstep collections stopped and now Lowell have bought the debt.

 

My mom want's to pay so i'd really appreciate your help in sorting this out for her.

 

I don't know what to do, any suggestions. thank you

[citizenB]

So were the loans taken out in 2010 ?

 

Had your Mother advised the Provident of financial difficulties and is the full interest still being applied ?

 

What is the amount outstanding?

 

Your Mother could let Lowell know that the Provident had not been collecting on a regular basis

and that she is more than willing to honour her obligations to the debt.

 

 

That she is unable to make the full contractual payments and would be able to pay £X amount

and because of her financial difficulties she would request that they cease adding interest and charges.

 

However, if she enters into a payment arrangement with Lowells, then she must stick to whatever she says she is going to pay.

 

Almost certainly they will require an income and expenditure form.

 

Does she own her own home ?

[dx100uk]

did the loans refinance each other?

 

 

did the agent take a payment for the new loan the day he gave her the extra money each time?

 

 

did she sign the agreement each time the debt was rolled?

 

 

if any of the above ring bells

I would send Lowells a CCA request

 

 

it is very well known that some provi agents mostly operated outside of company rules during that period

 

 

an sar to provi might not be a bad idea either

to get all the statements

and hard copy from the agents book of the time.

 

 

if provi has sold the 6debts, odds on its smelly

and they want nothing more to do with the debts.

 

 

dx

[ryan5]

thank you citizenB,

 

So were the loans taken out in 2010 ?

She thinks it's around 2009/2010 but really isn't sure

 

Had your Mother advised the Provident of financial difficulties and is the full interest still being applied ?

Yes she explained she wasn't able to keep up the original payments and completed a I/E sheet, they agreed £20 pw. interest still being charged.

 

What is the amount outstanding?

c5000 but this is going of the amount in the letters received.

[ryan5]

thank you dx,

 

If i CCA the dca do i send a seperate CCA request for each agreement and if so how? they only gave 1 Lowell reference number covering all agreements.

 

did the loans refinance each other?

yes, she would owe so much on a loan and took out another loan, the agent would then first deduct what was owed from the previous loan and give my mother the remainder.

 

did the agent take a payment for the new loan the day he gave her the extra money each time?

The agent would deduct the previous amount owed but not take a first payment on the new loan until the following week.

 

 

did she sign the agreement each time the debt was rolled?

yes she signed something.

[dx100uk]

ok then they were refinanced

 

 

so 1 cca for the loan quoted by lowlife.

 

 

remember don't sign anything

leave the po blank.

 

 

get that sar done too.

 

 

dx

[ryan5]

thank you dx,

 

i think i didn't explain the agreement reference correctly.

 

Lowell included a sheet with 6 loan agreement numbers sold to them from Provident, but like i stated earlier only 1 Lowell reference number.

 

My mother does want to pay the debt but i do agree with you in getting the CCA's and SAR as it would at least show what has been paid so far and if she was talked into paying PPI or some other extra.

 

When my mother signs the SAR letter should i have her sign over 3 lines of XXXX's or use something else to stop signature lift. Also do i have to ask for specific things.

[dx100uk]

the sar goes to provi

 

 

theres no need to worry about sig issues.

she must sign that.

 

 

if lowells are after payment on each loan

 

 

they get 6 cca requests sadly!

[ryan5]

Update:

 

Yesterday as i handed the SAR to mother for a signature, she shows me where she has been storing 8 carrier bags bursting with debt letters, agreements, statements etc.

 

Now i have found a letter from the Provi dated oct 2014 which again states Lowell are now the owners of the debt BUT it also says:

"Under the terms of this assignment, Lowell Portfolio l Ltd is now the Data Controller, as defined in the Data Protection Act 1998, of your Personal Data relating to this account."

 

I have also found 5 letters from the Provi which say in a green box at the top "Your Provident Credit Agreement".

 

I also found 3 of the actual agreements signed on the day of the loans.

having a quick look on 1, the interest rate stated is 133.6% p.a

 

 

Should i still SAR to the Provi

 

Should i still CCA Lowell for all 6 agreements

 

And do the loans come under s.77(also found letter stating a change to agreement now varied)

 

 

thank you all so much.

Edited November 25, 2014 by ryan5

[Bazooka Boo]

Take some time and go through all the letters first, put them in order.

 

SAR the OC (Provi) yes.

[ryan5]

Thank you Bazooka,

 

Sent the SAR today, not many letters in 2014 most are 2013/2012 mainly demands for money from Lowell acting as DCA for the Provi in 2012/2013. Now Lowell own it so will await the next letter and act upon it.

[ryan5]

Update:

My mother made an offer of a small monthly payment and they have accepted. It's to be paid by standing order and i'm wanting to do it all through my bank account so it gets paid, do you think paying it through my bank will be ok.

 

I'd like to keep the thread open as i'm still waiting on the SAR reply from the OC.

[Bazooka Boo]

Hold on hold on...

 

Pay who exactly?

 

Pay Lowlifes NOTHING!

 

Have you got sight of the CCA yet?

Reclaimed all charges/fees?

[ryan5]

hi Bazooka,

 

It's paying Lowlife as they now own the debt, i have 3 of the original signed agreements so didn't think it was worth doing the CCA's as they look compliant.

 

Still waiting on the SAR reply to see how much in charges was added.

 

My mother is very happy with the little she has to pay per month on the offer and i can see it has put her at ease now.

[Bazooka Boo]

I fully understand what your mother is feeling and thinking, mine doesn't like to rock the boat either and would

much sooner pay something just for a quiet life, than have all the hassle of endless begging letter etc.

 

My real concern is the fact that this outfit has it, and I am very dubious that they really do own it.

If they do own it, then it is likely to be full of reclaimable charges.

 

If you pay them anything, then it should be the minimum legal payment of £1 a month, and as it is going to be paid via standing order that is something which you have control over.

 

DO NOT give them your bank details, and never ever set up a direct debit with them, do NOT give them any card details either.

 

Provi will need to have gone through the whole process of sending out default notice, which needs to be in the prescribed format,

then the termination notice, all of which should be in the SAR when it arrives.

 

What is the state of your mums credit file? Have you checked this yet?

You can do it for free using Noddle, or take out the free 30 day trial period with Experian, but ensure you cancel this well within the 30 day time frame else

they will fleece you out of 15 quid a month for checking your own credit file!

 

Alternatively you can send off for a hard copy of them £2 is all it costs.

[ryan5]

Hi Bazooka,

 

They did want a standing order mandate returned to them but i have told them it will be paid by standing order without the need to send a mandate to them.

 

It's very little over the £1 you suggest paying and mother is very happy to pay that amount.

 

I do believe from what i've seen that a lot of non payment charges have been added by the Provi while trying to get payment prior to selling the debt, so will need help in looking into getting them removed from the balance.

 

My mothers credit file i have never seen, but believe it is in very poor shape due to all the debt which she gets into(borrowing from peter to pay paul).

 

I'd like to use Noddle, can you explain how to use it and where. Thank you

[Bazooka Boo]

I fully understand.

 

Here is the link to Noddle https://www.noddle.co.uk/

 

I joined some time ago so the process may be different, I believe now you have to use a bank or credit card to sign up?

This is purely for ID purposes, no money is taken. And it is free.

 

The ONLY down side to this CRA is that they are not always as accurate and up to date as Experian or Equifax, as they are a trading name of callcredit, so some of the info can be out of date.

 

Once you get the SAR back from Provi then you will be able to go through it and highlight all the charges they have added and then go about reclaiming them under the hardship rules..

[ryan5]

Than you Bazooka,

 

I will use Experian or Equifax after reading that, still not received a reply from the provi and the royal mail tracking is saying the letter is still at my local post office. Should i resend the SAR.

[citizenB]

ryan, when did you send the SAR ? It might be worth telephoning their help line - usually items sent to banks are signed for in bulk.

[ryan5]

Hi citizenB,

 

I sent the SAR on the 27th Nov, i don't feel comfortable calling them, how long should i wait before calling RoyalMail to see if the postal order has been cashed. thank you

[citizenB]

The SAR should take 40 calendar days to be sent to you. You can contact the post office regarding the postal order at any time I would think, although it is possible they might not cash it until the last minute.

 

You can contact RM to ask if your item has been delivered - or perhaps email them and say.. my letter is still showing in the system, has it been delivered or not ?

[mikeymack2002]

hi Bazooka,

 

It's paying Lowlife as they now own the debt, i have 3 of the original signed agreements so didn't think it was worth doing the CCA's as they look compliant.

 

Still waiting on the SAR reply to see how much in charges was added.

 

My mother is very happy with the little she has to pay per month on the offer and i can see it has put her at ease now.

 

 

Wait for the SAR to come back as provident may have lost the agreements, if they can not produce one then tuff on Lowell this is why you wait until you have the documents before speaking to the DCA

[ryan5]

Happy new year everyone.

 

Update:

Got the SAR papers on boxing day and all the agreements are their. All from 2010 onwards and all the debt was sold by the Provi in Sep 2014.