confused about reply to my CCA request, please help!***WON***

[stadium_arcadium]

Hi guys, I recently sent a CCA request to Lowell (yup, them again) for a debt that I have been paying £5 pm for about a year. I had this reply and it has totally confused me:confused: the debt is approx 4/5 years old and the account was originally with a Littlewoods catalogue. I am unsure of the next step to take and would really appreciate some guidance. Thanks in advance if anyone can help:)

[Seminole]

Is their description of the product accurate, eg did you have an Electron card?

[PriorityOne]

Littlewoods Flexible Account Plus ?? Sounds like a bit of word play... do/did the Woolwich have such a named account and if so, did you have one ? You said in your post that it was a catalogue debt, which would have nothing to do with the Woolwich anyway... and certainly wouldn't require an Electron card to operate it.

[lookinforinfo]

Whatever Lowells may say, section 78 requires the creditor under a regulated

agreement for running-account credit to comply with aCCA request. There is

no exclusion mentioned there about accounts with overdrafts.

[stadium_arcadium]

Thank you all for your replies:)

 

While I had my catalogue account I was offered what I think was a credit card type account, the so named 'Flexible Account Plus' with which I had a £1000 limit. I struggled to keep up the repayments so it was passed on to Lowell. I think it was tied in with my catalogue account but, to be honest, it was too long ago for me to remember. I have looked at a friends current Littlewoods book to try and get some info but they don't seem to be offering anything like that at the moment. Sorry I can't give any more information about it. I don't know whether to reply or wait to see if they come up with a copy of my original agreement.

[stadium_arcadium]

Well after a load of harrassment calls from Lowell this week, the final straw was a call at 8.45 this morning!!! The woman didn't believe me when I said I was about to take my kids to school!! I am going to ring them back later today, armed with recording equipment. I am sick to death of this company, speaking to me like I'm some kind of low life! I will state what lookinforinfo said above, plus ask for all communication to be in writing from now on.

 

Wish me luck.........

[PriorityOne]

Good luck !!!... although personally, I would not phone a DCA about anything. For one thing, it adds to the stress levels and yes, they do speak to us like low lifes.

 

If you want them to communicate in writing only, then request that they do so in writing.

[stadium_arcadium]

Thanks PriorityOne, I will follow up my request with a letter. I wouldn't normally ring them, but I have just about had enough and want to put this to bed today. I sent them my CCA request on the 2nd, so they are well past their 12 days already, will remind them about that too. I am gathering the info I need from this site at the moment, in readiness. I want to be fully armed when I speak to them later.

[PriorityOne]

Two of mine have also gone over the 12 days... but I am not going to contact them about it until they have also committed a criminal offence after the calendar month. If they are not aware of their legal obligations... then they shouldn't be chasing you for money in the first place.

 

There is a lovely bog off letter in the bank template section about telephone harrassment. Scroll down and you will find it. Adapt it to your needs and send it by recorded delivery today and you should hear no more.

 

My life is very peaceful at the moment...

[stadium_arcadium]

Good point about not reminding them of the timescale! OK, you have managed to change my mind lol, plus I have calmed down somewhat. I will get the harrassment letter off to them today instead of ringing them. I am still unsure on how to reply to their letter above though, I am hoping someone will be able to help me with that:oops:

[PriorityOne]

Unless someone comes here and advises you otherwise, I would ignore it. What they are saying sounds ridiculous... you don't get current accounts through catalogues ! They might be calling it a current account in order to confuse you... when it's actually called a running credit account.

 

Hold tight and wait for them to stuff up and not produce the CCA documents. File the letter somewhere safe though... and keep everything !

[stadium_arcadium]

Yep, I have done that. My filing system is very organised and growing by the day lol. Thanks for your advice and support, it's much appreciated:)

[PriorityOne]

You are very welcome...

[stadium_arcadium]

As it goes, they rang me back. I requested all communication be in writing (and informed them I had sent a letter) and was told that the calls would still come as it was all automatic. I was also told that it was only classed as harrassment if I had more than 5 calls a day!! (they kept it at 4, but so far none since the 24th)

I was also told that they had requested the signed credit agreement on the 4th and someone was chasing it up, and was asked if they had a copy of my signature. I replied that it would be on all my recent correspondance. I'm unsure why they asked that, wish I'd asked.

So for now, I'll sit and wait.

[tiglet]

Request that they remove your telephone number from their system. i was getting constant calls from Robinson Wade, even after requesting them not to, but when I asked them to completely remove the number, they agreed they were obliged to do so and everything has been put in writing since. If they refuse - report them!

[PriorityOne]

As it goes, they rang me back. I requested all communication be in writing (and informed them I had sent a letter) and was told that the calls would still come as it was all automatic. I was also told that it was only classed as harrassment if I had more than 5 calls a day!! (they kept it at 4, but so far none since the 24th)

I was also told that they had requested the signed credit agreement on the 4th and someone was chasing it up, and was asked if they had a copy of my signature. I replied that it would be on all my recent correspondance. I'm unsure why they asked that, wish I'd asked.

So for now, I'll sit and wait.

 

There is a wonderful letter in the Bank Templates section - Harrassment by Telephone, response letter ... send it by recorded delivery and it should get then off your back. Harrassment is whatever you perceive it to be, not them.

 

A copy of your signature ? I hope they are not considering something fraudulent... very unwise.... and the clock it still ticking for them to produce the CCA in the timeframe allowed.

[stadium_arcadium]

I have posted that letter (they should get it today) and I told her that I had posted it, it remains to be seen if they actually abide by it:|

A copy of your signature ? I hope they are not considering something fraudulent... very unwise....

Exactly what I thought, they'd be stepping on very thin ice if they do something like that. If this agreement ever shows up I will be examining it very closely!!

[tifo]

i've actually put certain dots and lines in my (scanned) signature i use in all my letters. This makes it look like my normal signature but i know that it is not.

 

if they ever try any 'fraud' and copy this signature to an agreement, i would know straight away ... then the fun would start.

[stadium_arcadium]

Thats a very good idea tifo, I will try and remember to do that in the future!

 

Just a quick update, had a letter from Lowell this morn, in response to my telephone harrassment letter....I quote...

 

"We would advise you that during our dealings with you we have adhered to the guidelines laid down for debt collection by both the office of fair trading and the credit services association. Consequently, your claim to the contrary is not accepted and we would state that our purchase of an account also entitles us to all rights and benefits associated with that account. Amongst other things, this entitles us to pursue payment where a debtor has failed in their obligation in respect of the account concerned, namely, to repay the debt.

 

We note from our records that you have recently requested a true copy of the original credit agreement in line with the CCA. We can assure you that this has been requested from the original creditor and will be forwarded on to you upon reciept, in the meantime your account will be held in abeyance."

 

Hmmmm, they recieved my request on the 4th of Jan...12 days plus one month works out to them commiting an offence as from this Friday.....no rush Lowell, no rush....

 

Must admit, their telephone calls have dwindled since I sent the letter, but they do tend to ring me once or twice a week. I'm not worried about speaking to them cos I remind them I am waiting on the CCA request wich makes them hang up! As they've now put my account on hold maybe they will stop altogether.

[PriorityOne]

They have also admitted that the account was "purchased"... doubt you will get a CCA from them. Purchasing an account does not entitle them to the rights and benefits that go with an account, unless they can produce a CCA. So they are wrong. No CCA = no debt... because you never entered a contractual agreement with them in the first place.

 

Good luck...

[indebtstudent]

Re harassment I'm pretty sure they are lying. I'm going back to A level law here but I'm pretty sure harassment = five instances, not five a day that would be ridiculous.

 

Good that you have this in writing please forward this when you complain, after checking more on here, as I'm sure they are manipulating the truth.

[adelaidebull]

Re harassment I'm pretty sure they are lying. I'm going back to A level law here but I'm pretty sure harassment = five instances, not five a day that would be ridiculous.

 

Good that you have this in writing please forward this when you complain, after checking more on here, as I'm sure they are manipulating the truth.

 

I was told by a credit company when i defaulted on my loan they could phone me as many times as they wanted from 6 am till 10pm 7 days a week....

The funny thing is after a couple of days of the phone ringing at all hours,i started pretending i couldn't heard them on the phone,it wound them up so badly they gave in phoning me...

[stadium_arcadium]

Hi guys, well it's been a good month since lowell defaulted on my CCA request and this morning I recieved a letter from them, along with a copy of my APPLICATION FORM......

 

We write in respect of the above debt, which, as previously notified in writing we have purchased from Littlewoods Credit cards.

 

We are now entitled to recieve payment of the balance of £XXXX from you and enclose a copy of your agreement as requested. Neither Littlewoods Credit Cards nor ourselves are aware of any reason for non-payment.

 

Please kindly make payment of the outstanding debt or contact us within 7 days of the date of this letter to agree acceptable payment proposals, failing which we reserve the right to instruct our solicitors to issue legal proceedings against you without further notice.

 

They obviously think I'm stupid!!! The application form has no mention of the credit agreement. I also notice that the PPI box has the tiniest of ticks in it, something which I know i wouldn't have taken up as I was not working at the time.

 

I think I will write a letter to Lowell, pointing out that they still haven't supplied the information I asked for, and I want to send an SAR to Littlewoods because I am sure there will be extortionate charges on the account. I'm just not sure if the address on the form is the same one used today. I will have a good look through the site see if there's any info.

It states at the bottom in very small print:

Littlewoods is a trading name of Littlewoods Personal Finance Limited, a joint venture between Littlewoods Retail Limited and The Woolwich.

The address is:

Sir John Moores Building

100 Old Hall Street

Liverpool.

L70 1AB

 

there's also an address for the Woolwich....

 

Watling Street

Bexleyheath

Kent

DA6 7RR

 

So, it was a credit card of sorts, but I'm still a bit confused over exactly what it was. In their words on the application form... " a multifunction card to use in conjunction with your account." All I remember is I already had a catalogue with them and they offered me some kind of card! As the very helpful Priority One said earlier, they like to play with words!!

 

Any advice would be much appreciated:)

[gizmo111]

I seem to remember having one that you could use at Index stores as well.

[stadium_arcadium]

It sounds like the same sort of card Gizmo.

 

Just an update...

After not hearing anything from Lowells since last month, I get a call today, chasing me for payment. I politely asked the caller (Chris) if he'd actually looked at the notes on my account. Of course he hadn't. so after checking he says, along the lines of "we have sent you your agreement, you need to pay us". I pointed out to him that they had actually sent me my application form which was not acceptable (even tho he argued it was!) I also told him that they had commited an offence by not supplying the info within the required time and offending again by chasing me for payment. he didn't really have alot to say after that, apart from that I would still get telephone calls as I am on the automtic call system. My last words were that "If thats the case I will be reporting you to TS and OFT. So, thats what I will do.

Will update as and when:)