Received letter from Lowell's Response?

[markymark1988]

Hi All,

I received a letter from Lowell's financial yesterday basically stating that they have bought a debt from HBOS for an account that was opened in June 2008 and have ran a credit check (are they even allowed to do this without my consent?) to locate me. They basically are requesting I contact them to discuss this debt they have bought, although is contains no information regarding what it is for or amounts.

At first I had no idea who HBOS is but have narrowed it down to a credit card debt for about £500 from when I was 18. I took the card out June 2008 and basically never paid a penny off or acknowledged it in writing; so in theory I have had no contact with the bank since my account was opened in June 08,. So my understanding is this would mean that the debt is statute barred as I defaulted in July/August 2008 the very latest and 6 years has passed since this (I also checked and no court action has ever been initiated against me neither).

Now they are not threating me at this moment just requesting I contact them regarding their purchased debt and confirm my details they have are correct.

My initial feelings are to send them an acknowledgement of their letter and confirming my details are correct but stating that I am unaware of any debt owed to HBOS and request proof of this, whilst also kindly pointing out that irrespective of this, that the debt would be statute barred seeing as it was opened June 2008.

Now I am looking for advice on what response to send them if any at all so would gladly appreciate any opinions?

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Received letter from Lowell's Response?

Welcome to LB

I received a letter from Lowell's financial yesterday basically stating that they have bought a debt from HBOS for an account that was opened in June 2008 and have ran a credit check (are they even allowed to do this without my consent?) to locate me. They basically are requesting I contact them to discuss this debt they have bought, although is contains no information regarding what it is for or amounts.

At first I had no idea who HBOS is

Halifax Bank Of Scotland

but have narrowed it down to a credit card debt for about £500 from when I was 18. I took the card out June 2008 and basically never paid a penny off or acknowledged it in writing; so in theory I have had no contact with the bank since my account was opened in June 08,. So my understanding is this would mean that the debt is statute barred as I defaulted in July/August 2008 the very latest and 6 years has passed since this (I also checked and no court action has ever been initiated against me neither).

Yes, that's correct. :thumb:

Now they are not threating me at this moment just requesting I contact them regarding their purchased debt and confirm my details they have are correct.

My initial feelings are to send them an acknowledgement of their letter and confirming my details are correct but stating that I am unaware of any debt owed to HBOS and request proof of this, whilst also kindly pointing out that irrespective of this, that the debt would be statute barred seeing as it was opened June 2008.

Now I am looking for advice on what response to send them if any at all so would gladly appreciate any opinions?

No point in writing just to tell them their details are correct, you might as well tell them the debt is statute barred, that should stop them from sending you further letters:

Dear Sirs

Statute barred account xxxxx

You have contacted me with regards to the above account. The last payment to this debt was made over 6 years ago and no more acknowledgement or payment has been made since that time.

Unless you can provide evidence of payment or written acknowledgment from me within this period, under Section 5 of the Limitation Act 1980, you’ll no longer be able to take court action to recover the debt. Any court claim will be defended on this basis.

Section 7.15.8 of FCA Consumer Credit Sourcebook states: "A firm must not continue to demand payment from a customer after the customer has stated that he will not be paying the debt because it is statute barred."

If you have evidence that this debt isn’t statute barred then please send it to me within 21 days. Otherwise, please confirm that you won’t pursue me for this debt.

Yours faithfully

[markymark1988]

Re: Received letter from Lowell's Response?

Thank you for the response, yes Halifax are the culprits. They gave an unemployed 18 year old college leaver/borderline alcoholic a £2k credit card no questions asked, kind of wish I maxed it out now but no wonder the recession hit.

I shall send a letter to them by way of recorded delivery of that ilk whilst not acknowledging any debt as mine (as I want them to prove the debt is mine also by way of paperwork if they ignore me/proceed - I get paranoid of them trying to falsify documents etc.) and see what response they give, although I wouldn't be surprised if they completely ignored it. I don't understand why they took so long or even bothered seeing as now it is 100% statute barred, although unless you try you'll never get.

What am I to do if I receive no response from them within 21 days?

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Received letter from Lowell's Response?

Thank you for the response, yes Halifax are the culprits. They gave an unemployed 18 year old college leaver/borderline alcoholic a £2k credit card no questions asked, kind of wish I maxed it out now but no wonder the recession hit.

That was because bank employees get bonuses based on volume, the more credit cards issued the merrier, when it all comes back to bite them in the bum, their bonu$ would have been spent on expensive nightclubs and cheap property in Bulgaria, and they'd have moved on to another bank.

I shall send a letter to them by way of recorded delivery of that ilk whilst not acknowledging any debt as mine (as I want them to prove the debt is mine also by way of paperwork if they ignore me/proceed - I get paranoid of them trying to falsify documents etc.) and see what response they give, although I wouldn't be surprised if they completely ignored it. I don't understand why they took so long or even bothered seeing as now it is 100% statute barred, although unless you try you'll never get.

Sadly not everyone is as clued up, lots of people who don't read these sites don't know things like that and they just roll over and pay.

What am I to do if I receive no response from them within 21 days?

Nothing at all! Once you inform the creditor that the debt is SBd and therefore you won't be paying it, they should stop hassling you.

[markymark1988]

Re: Received letter from Lowell's Response?

well thank you once again for your help.

I will update this thread if I receive anything back in case anybody needs assistance and has a similar situation in time to come!

[markymark1988]

Re: Received letter from Lowell's Response?

Welcome to LB
Halifax Bank Of Scotland

Yes, that's correct. :thumb:


No point in writing just to tell them their details are correct, you might as well tell them the debt is statute barred, that should stop them from sending you further letters:

I have today received a response from Lowells stating that the default date on my account was mid February 2009 so the limitations act doesn't apply (which is 8 months after my account was opened and which miraculously appeared on my credit file in December too). I also requested in my letter a copy of the credit agreement as I wasn't aware of any debt owed, to which they've stated they have requested and will old off any collection activity until they have received this.

Now I never made a payment on this account since it was opened on June 2008, so the February 2008 default date surely is not true or legally binging. So surely they are trying it on and the limitation act is valid. am I right and what should my next steps be?

Thank you so much for your help

[nemesis45]

Re: Received letter from Lowell's Response?

Default date is not relevant as you say you never made any payment ever to the account the creditor had cause to demand payment after 2-3 missed payments.

[markymark1988]

Re: Received letter from Lowell's Response?

Default date is not relevant as you say you never made any payment ever to the account the creditor had cause to demand payment after 2-3 missed payments.

Well that's what my thoughts are exactly as the limitations act sates 6 years from cause of action and make no reference to a retrospective default notice marked on my credit report.

What do I need to do now? As I don't want to come to a situation whereby they decide to issue legal proceedings and have to spend the time defending myself and hope that the judge knows the limitations act well enough to judge fairly

[markymark1988]

Re: Received letter from Lowell's Response?

anybody offer any advice on this?

Thanks

[Amethyst]

Re: Received letter from Lowell's Response?

Do you know the type of credit card ? Might be worth checking what kind it was as there may have been a six month without payments type clause (unlikely but worth checking)

I'd reply to Lowells telling them that you still consider the debt to be statute barred and that no payment was made and that you look forward to receiving a copy of your credit agreement as requested under the consumer credit act so you can check the terms of the account.

[markymark1988]

Re: Received letter from Lowell's Response?

Do you know the type of credit card ? Might be worth checking what kind it was as there may have been a six month without payments type clause (unlikely but worth checking)

I'd reply to Lowells telling them that you still consider the debt to be statute barred and that no payment was made and that you look forward to receiving a copy of your credit agreement as requested under the consumer credit act so you can check the terms of the account.

I have no idea what type of card to be honest, I imagine it would have just been the standard and find it highly unlikely that clause would be there but I guess I couldn't be sure.

Is there any case law or any set precedent to show that the default date is not the accepted cause of action under the limitation act?

[Amethyst]

Re: Received letter from Lowell's Response?

Swansea City Council v Glass [1992]

it established that the cause of action accrues when the person can sue, that is the point when he can commence a claim for failing to meet a contractual obligation, not when the person serves a notice demanding payment

http://swarb.co.uk/swansea-city-coun...glass-ca-1992/


Seeing if I can find a specific cca debt moneyclaim type case. It is when the contract is breached, or when the creditor could bring action, this is usually one or two months after a missed payment.

[markymark1988]

Re: Received letter from Lowell's Response?

Thanks for that.

I did have a look myself for any case law for similar situations but couldn't find none which I found odd as surely there will be a specific cca debt claim of this nature to determine cause of action. Main reason I want it is so I can quote it in my letter as it'd probably be the final nail in the coffin and they would either a) disappear or b) make a payment up.

If you do find anything then please let me know as I'd be very interested to hear it.