Help needed re Lowell Financial & CCA

[maggieboo]

I have a Barclaycard debt of approx £1,000 that I have been paying at £1 a month for 9 years to Mercers debt collection agents. In November last year I received a letter from Lowell Financial saying that the debt had been sold to them and I had to pay them now. I wrote to Mercers and Barclaycard asking if this was true but never had any replies from them.

 

I then got many letters from Lowell, each one ignoring anything that I had written to them, threatening court action if I did not phone them immediately to pay my debt with them. I sent them copies of my income and expenditure and 2 token payments of £1 a month. They banked the cheques but never acknowledged my token payments or income and expenditure, then I had a letter from Hamptons saying they were preparing my case for legal action.

 

Luckily for me, I then stumbled across this website and gleaned all sorts of excellent information and help.

 

I sent a CCA request to Lowell Financial on 16th April and they wrote to me on 17th April saying that they would try and request this information from their client but it could take some time.

 

Today, 26th April I received a letter from Lowell Financial dated 20th April enclosing a very poor copy of my Barclaycard Application form. I have quite clearly signed it and my writing can be read but I cannot read any of the form that I filled in as the print is so small and the copy is so dark.

 

Is this signed copy of the application form what I am supposed to have received? I cannot see any reference on it to it being a credit agreement and there are no signatures or stamps from Barclaycard.

 

Please can anybody help me out and advise me what I should do now? Should I write back to Lowell pointing out that this is only an application form which is not what I asked for? Should I just sit and do nothing, but I am worried that they may take me to court.

 

The accompanying letter said that I must phone within 7 days with my proposals for repayment, but this is also unfair as they dated their letter 20th April and I received it on 26th April so I can't contact them within 7 days.

 

I am also a bit confused because in my first letter from Lowell they said that the Barclaycard debt had been sold to them, but in their letters now, they are saying that Barclaycard are their client. Surely if they have bought the debt then they are nothing to do with Barclaycard and they cannot say that Barclaycard are their client? Are they just saying Barclaycard are their client in an attempt to intimidate me?

 

By the way, I have NEVER phoned Lowell and I have no intention of doing so. I have told them in previous letters that I will not talk on the phone and will only correspond in writing. They also do not have my phone number.

 

Thanks to anyone that give me some help!

[maggieboo]

Thanks for your replies. I've looked through your threads Dave and Zimmie - thanks - there's some really useful info there. I'll keep you posted on what happens.

[maggieboo]

Hi, here is the copy of what Lowells sent me in reply to my CCA. As you can see it is a very poor copy of my Barclaycard application. It is barely legible.

 

Do you think I should write back and point out that this is not what I should have received, or just leave it and see what happens? The 12 days is up on 2nd May. Although I am thinking about your TS suggestion Dave.

 

thanks again all.

Maggieboo:)

[maggieboo]

Thanks Dave, I didn't know about photobucket, hopefully this is a clearer image.

 

[maggieboo]

I assume then that this is not what I should have got from my CCA request?

 

Do I have to wait for the 12+30 days before contacting TS's?

 

I've been lucky so far as Lowell have never phoned me and I have NO intention of ever phoning them.

 

thanks again

 

Maggieboo:)

[maggieboo]

Hi Zimmie, I've got no idea what the barcode sticker is covering up, your guess is as good as mine, the copy that i've got from lowell's is so poor as you can see.

 

i shall re-read diskmandave's thread re: TS and take that route I think.

 

Thanks again all.

[maggieboo]

Thanks for that Dave, I wasn't entirely sure what I would receive for my CCA request. I have only been sent a photocopy of a fax of a photocopy of my application form. (sorry, bit of a confusing description!) There are no terms & conditions, no original agreements, no statements, nothing from Barclaycard to say that the debt had been sold or assigned. Although they do inform me of the balance outstanding with each letter, but this seems to vary very slightly with each letter!

[maggieboo]

Dave, I'm interested to know, when you contacted TS, did you write to them explaining the whole thing and send copies of all your correspondence?

 

Did you write to Lowell saying that they had not sent the correct document in response to your CCA request? I'm thinking about writing to lowell to point out that they have only sent me an application form just to buy me a bit of time, or does that not matter, should I just ignore Lowell now that I am going down the TS route?

 

regards

maggieboo

[maggieboo]

I've gathered together all my correspondence between myself/lowell/hamptons, and letters that I've sent to Mercers and Barclaycard that they never replied to when the debt was 'sold' to lowell, and I've got quite a lot of stuff to send off to TS.

 

diskmandave, I'm interested to know, when you contacted TS, did you write to them explaining the whole thing and send copies of all your correspondence?

 

Did you write to Lowell saying that they had not sent the correct document in response to your CCA request? I'm thinking about writing to lowell to point out that they have only sent me an application form just to buy me a bit of time, or does that not matter, should I just ignore Lowell now that I am going down the TS route?

[maggieboo]

I am going to send this letter to lowell in response to the application form that they sent me when I CCA'd them:-

 

********************************************************

 

Dear Mr Bartle

 

I refer to your letter dated 20th April 2007 that I received 26th April 2007.

 

I note that you have sent me a copy of a fax of a copy of the application form for this account.

 

However, on 14th April 2007 I made a written request for a copy of the executed agreement under section 77(1) and section 78 (1) of the Consumer Credit Act 1974. This letter was sent by recorded delivery and signed for at your office on 17th April 2007.

 

The document that you are obliged to send me is a true copy of the executed agreement that contained all of the prescribed terms, all other required terms and statutory notices and was signed by both your client and myself. If the executed agreement contained any reference to any other document, you are also obliged to send me a copy of that document.

 

I now require that you provide me with a copy of the correct document, or your written acknowledgement that you are unable to do so, within 14 days of receipt of this letter.

 

Please also note that until such time as you do provide me with a true copy of this document, the agreement remains unenforceable and no further payments will be made.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Maggieboo

 

*******************************************************

 

Any comments would be gratefully received.

Thanks

Maggieboo

[maggieboo]

Thanks Sve!

 

With regards to unreadable copies of documents:

 

Under the Consumer Credit (Cancellation Notices and Copies of Documents) Regulations 1983, every copy sent under the Act must be easily legible:

 

Legibility of notices and copy documents and wording of prescribed Forms

 

2.-(1) The lettering in every notice in a Form prescribed by these Regulations and in every copy of an executed agreement, security instrument or other document referred to in the Act and delivered or sent to a debtor, hirer or surety under any provision of the Act shall, apart from any signature, be easily legible and of a colour which is readily distinguishable from the colour of the paper.

 

Thanks to InKogneeToh for this!

[maggieboo]

Thanks Dave, much appreciated!

[maggieboo]

Thanks for the click Dave.

 

Something that I've noticed that has cropped up on other threads is to not acknowledge a debt. Well, a while ago I made 2 £1.00 token payments to Lowell and sent them a copy of my income and expenditure accounts in an attempt to come to a payment plan/agreement with them. Does this mean that I have now acknowledged the debt and can't complain to the TS about them, or can I argue that I only made these payments to them as I felt threatened by them and scared of what they were going to do? (Which is completely true, until I found this site).

[maggieboo]

I had a look at the Lowell website ( of me!), and I noticed that they have a CSA (Credit Services Association) code of practice on there which I had a look at and thought I would attempt to put into this thread (bear with me if I get it wrong).

 

 

Well, after reading through it they don't seem to be complying with it. That might be someone else to complain about Lowell to as well as TS.

 

p.s. sorry if it comes out upside down, that's how it came from the Lowell website!

CSAdocpart1.pdf

CSAdocpart2.pdf

[maggieboo]

hi dencha,

 

thanks for that, i thought i had copied the IMG link last time, but maybe not. here it is again.

 

 

 

regards

maggieboo

[maggieboo]

well, it doesn't look much better, perhaps I had better scan it in again and start again?

[maggieboo]

Hi evee

 

My 12 days was up yesterday, I counted it in working days. In an earlier post I said that I was going to write to Lowell stating that they had only sent me an application form, but I have decided not to do that at the moment. I am going to wait and see what I hear from them and then I will send that letter to them, just to stall things to the 30 day timescale. When the 30 days is up I think I will complain to TS about them. Have you read diskmandave's thread? diskmandave V lowell and won? (Sorry I don't know how to link a thread:confused: , if anyone could tell me how to that would be great). It's very inspiring and useful. have a read if you haven't already.

 

Good luck.

Maggie:)

[maggieboo]

Thanks Bigmac versus:D

 

Evee, the link is in the post above.

[maggieboo]

Hi Evee

 

well, my 12 days was up a few days ago now, I can't remember exactly when without looking! I've decided to wait until the 30 days has gone before I do anything else.

 

I've also CCA'd Cabot recently for another debt and they have told me it could take up to 8 weeks for them to retrieve archived information! Depending on what I get back from Cabot, i might need to start a new thread, but all is quiet on the Lowell's front at the moment. (Hope I'm not tempting fate by saying that!)

[maggieboo]

You're quite right Zimmie, and happy birthday Evee:).

 

Even if I am tempting fate and get some strange letter from Lowells soon, it's so nice to know that there will be help available from this great site and everyone that uses it!

[maggieboo]

Hi all

 

An update.

 

I sent a CCA request to Lowells on 14th April 2007 and they sent back a copy application form on 26th April 2007 with a letter saying I must pay within 7 days. I did not reply to this letter as they did not provide what I requested. Yesterday, I received a letter from them which states:

 

According to our records your agreed payment plan is currently in arrears.

 

If you do not keep to your agreement we will have no option but to take further action against you to recover the outstanding monies. To avoid this we must receive your payment within the next 3 days.

 

We would like to understand why you have not kept to your arrangement and unless you contact us we are unable to offer you help. If your situation has changed please call us immediately on 0845 279 7117 to discuss further options.

 

If you have paid or spoken to one of our advisors within the last 3 days from the date of this letter please diregard this request.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Angela Shepherd

Debt Management & Payment Processing Manager

 

Obviously this is one of their computer generated letters as I do not have any agreement with them and the signature is printed.

 

I am planning to send the following letter as a reply:

 

 

Thank you for your letter dated 21st May 2007.

 

I sent a CCA request to your company on 14th April 2007 and I received a reply dated 20th April 2007 in which your company enclosed a very poor quality copy of an application form. I received this copy application form on 26th April 2007.

 

Under the Consumer Credit Act s77/78 the document you are obliged to provide me with is a true copy of the executed agreement containing all prescribed terms.

 

You have sent me an application form which is a pre-contractual document and this does NOT replace an agreement.

 

As you are aware from previous correspondence I will only contact you by letter, not telephone.

 

Yours sincerely

 

I would be interested on anyone's opinions. Is it worth me sending this letter back to them or should I just ignore them and see what else they send? I am still waiting for them to send an actual agreement not an application form. The 12 days has passed and I am about 3/4 of the way through the 30 days.

 

 

Any suggestions?

 

 

Thanks all

 

[maggieboo]

Hi Dave

 

Don't write back because you'll get a letter back stating that they've complied with your request, which they have, also... Please stop ignoring this!

 

I'm not ignoring this at all, it's just that I wasn't sure if I had to wait for the 30 days to pass before I contacted TS?

 

I've already got a file of correspondence together and a covering letter.

 

Now that Lowells are sending out computer generated letters again, I can see that it is time to contact TS, otherwise it will just go on forever!

 

Thanks again Dave

Maggieboo:)

[maggieboo]

my 30 days with lowell are up in the middle of june. i recently had a letter from lowells saying that i had not kept to my agreement with them and that i've got to phone them to sort it all out! this is after me sending them the CCA request and them sending me a copy application form. obviously i'm not phoning them, i was thinking about replying to their letter, but i'm not going to.

 

i've got all my correspondence from them and me copied and ready to go to TS. diskmandave very kindly put his letter to TS onto your thread a while ago which i will use a guideline for my complaint.

 

good luck!

[maggieboo]

Hi All

 

Just a bit of an update.

 

My 12 + 30 days is up tomorrow after sending off the CCA request to Lowells and receiving the application form back. Everything is now on its way to the TS. (Thanks Dave;) )

 

I did get a letter from Lowells yesterday stating that they were going to get copies of all my Barclaycard statements and send them to me and that when they had sent them to me I would have to pay them in full, or, guess what? they'll pass me onto their legal department:rolleyes:. They also say that they are disappointed that I have failed to keep to my agreement with them! What agreement?!

 

I am sooo glad I found this site , I think I would have gone mad otherwise and I dread to think where all this would have ended up.

 

maggieboo

[maggieboo]

as they have complied with the CCA i dont see what can be done, wish you luck.

 

I didn't think that they had complied with the CCA as they had only sent a very poor copy of an application form.

 

Still, I will let you know the outcome of course.