• Welcome to the LegalBeagles Consumer and Legal Forum.
    Please Register to get the most out of the forum. Registration is free and only needs a username and email address.
    REGISTER
    Please do not post your full name, reference numbers or any identifiable details on the forum.

HELLO, I think I may need some advice

Collapse
Loading...
X
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • HELLO, I think I may need some advice

    Firstly hello, I have come across this superb site whilst looking for information to help me fight what I believe to be a fictitious debt demand sent to my daughter (who now has mental health issues and is not in a state to deal with this). I have therefore requested that the company who sent the demand "Lowell Portfolio 1" direct all correspondence to me (her father). They have since sent a letter to my address asking for more details as I was reluctant to give them full information as I wanted them to go and do some work to prove this debt. The debt is allegedly from a Vodafone account my daughter had back in 2016, but strangely enough Vodafone have NOT sent any demands for payment or letter of default etc to my daughters address during the last two years since she closed the account with Vodafone so where this debt come from I'm not sure ? Now to put the history side of thing on th table, my daughter did acquire some arrears back in March of 2016 and I negotiated with VF to clear the arrears and re-instate the contract going forward with a new direct debit for the remaining four or five months to complete the term of the said contract. The approx debt back in march 2016 amounted to around £450 which comprised of approx £240 odd of arrears and the balance was for the remaining term of the contract (4 or five months). I agreed to pay them there and then the arrears by debit card the £240 arrears (I have record of transaction in my online banking) I also then asked them if they would re-instate the contract as my daughter might as well have the benefit of the airtime for the remaining 4 or 5 months IF they were going to charge for it anyway. They (VF) agreed to both of these requests, my daughter who was this time back living with me and my wife and was working again and set up a new direct debit with them (VF). At the end of the 4 or five remaining months left on the said contract my daughter cancelled the contract and went elsewhere for her phone needs. Now I think its fair to say that VF would a: not closed the contract if there were any arrears and certainly would have requested by letter any payments due for several months after the end of that contract, 2 years go by and last week my daughter recives a letter from a company called Lowell Portfolio 1 demanding £896 and odd pence for the alleged arrears from her mobile contract ended back in 2016.

    Due to my daughters current medical/mental health condition I have started to deal with this alleged debt and company, I can only say they do NOT listen to anything you tell them but continually ask how do you want to pay this debt ! I have since given them the full story as above with the exception of the amounts I paid to VF, I gave them the date the amounts were paid, the card number it was paid by etc etc, they then say well tell us the amount you paid and we'll deduct it from the debt, I said there is no debt to deduct it from and have since made a formal complaint to the company and since spoken with a more senior member of staff who is supposed to be investigating this and informing her my daughter has severe mental health issues and has absolutely no money and has only just been housed by the local authority following the birth of a child, they asked what her income was and her outgoings etc, effectively building up a income and expenditure profile, my daughter genuinely has nothing to her name at present. Now my ex wife who I have spoken with, we're on good terms (and to who's address all my daughters mail goes to) says she does not remember receiving anything from VF and certainly not in the last two years and I genuinely do believe this to be a mistake as in VF never removed the arrears and have since sold the false/alleged debt to these money chasing low life's (trying to be polite about them). As you can imagine it is difficult for anyone to remember what happened two years ago but my daughter is certain she ended the contract with VF without any debt owing to them, and as she was earning very good money back then I tend to believe her and from what I can read between the lines reading on the net VF do this to a vast amount of people.

    I have asked them (lowell) for a copy of the CCA, their answer was there is not one ?? as phone contracts can be taken up online in shops etc and are not subject to the regular CCA, which sounds very dodgy to me ?? I have also asked them to provide a complete breakdown starting with the original debt (assuming there was one) all charges and interest added to the original amount they are demanding.

    They now tell me that they have locked the account for 8 weeks to investigate my complaint. And thats about were we are now. ANY thoughts or advice gratefully received as these people are like vulchurs. I'm disabled and not in the best of health and struggling financially due to surviving on benefits and really could do without this at the moment I have my own financial issues since the rounds of benefit cuts.

    Thank you, if you require anything else to aid me or advise please ask and if I can I will obviously oblige.
    Tags: None

  • #2
    Hi and welcome

    Lee Vodafone Company Rep works for Vodafone and maybe able to shed some light on how the account was cancelled and if any amount was owing.

    If Lee doesn't respond within a day or two you should send a Subject Access Request Letter to Vodafone asking for the call logs of the account along with all the other information you hold. There is a £10 Statutory fee and they have 40 days to reply, but that's within the 8 weeks and so still should be useful.

    Your daughter needs to get her bank statements and if she doesn't have them then go to the bank to get them as you need to see that she actually paid the Direct Debit as proving she paid is what will be asked of you.
    COMPLETING AN N180 DIRECTIONS QUESTIONNAIRE (SMALL CLAIMS TRACK) GUIDE

    My posts here are based on my experience of a variety of life events. I have no formal legal training & if in doubt take professional legal advice or contact CAB. If you follow anything I write here you do so at your own risk & I accept no liability for any loss, costs or other outcomes.

    Private messages are disabled as help is only offered publicly. I do not come on here in the evening, at weekends or on public holidays.

    Comment


    • #3
      You say that Lowells have put the account on hold for 8 weeks while they investigate. Hopefully they will be contacting Vodafone for the account history during that time.

      If they establish that there was a dispute (so no money owing) then they may have the freedom to reassign the account to Vodafone depending on the conditions in the Deed of Assignment.

      Lowells have a good reputation for acknowledging the needs of consumers with medical and mental health issues. Perhaps providing them with some evidence of your daughter's issues would help such as a GP letter etc.

      Did your complaint with Vodafone end in 2016 or was it ongoing until the debt was assigned to Lowells in the last 12 months? If it hadn't reached an acceptable resolution in the last 12 months then you can refer it to the Ombudsman Services - Communications (complaint about Vodafone not Lowell) > https://www.ombudsman-services.org/s...communications

      Di

      Comment


      • #4
        Hi AJWrigley,

        Thanks for making me aware of this matter.

        Although I appreciate that you're helping your daughter, unless she's granted us permission to discuss the account with a named third party, I wouldn't be able to disclose any information to you.

        So I can access her account to see what's happened, please ask her to email me via the form here.

        To access the form she'll need to enter the code WRT135.

        As well as stating her query in the question box, she'll also need to quote "Legal Beagles".

        Once sent, she'll receive an automated reply with a reference number. Post it on here and I'll check that I've received it.

        Kind regards,

        Lee

        Vodafone Social Media
        I am an official company representative of Vodafone UK.

        LegalBeagles has given permission for me to post in response to queries about the company, so that I can help resolve issues.

        This does NOT imply any form of approval of my company or its products by LegalBEAGLES.

        Comment

        View our Terms and Conditions

        LegalBeagles Group uses cookies to enhance your browsing experience and to create a secure and effective website. By using this website, you are consenting to such use.To find out more and learn how to manage cookies please read our Cookie and Privacy Policy.

        If you would like to opt in, or out, of receiving news and marketing from LegalBeagles Group Ltd you can amend your settings at any time here.


        If you would like to cancel your registration please Contact Us. We will delete your user details on request, however, any previously posted user content will remain on the site with your username removed and 'Guest' inserted.
        Working...
        X