Lowell - Default with wrong date now being threatened with court action

[DickyRobbo44]

Hi all,

Been having a battle over the years to clear my date now finally achieved it in all but one debt. Its a debt originally with HFC for a tv from PC world which I bought via credit agreement on27/12/2006. On 27/11/2007 I made my last payment to the account and no acknowledgement since. Despite this I have a default on my credit file and the date of default is 30/11/2011. After sending several SB letters with no response, I sent for an SAR and raised a dispute on my credit file. I received the SAR which agreed that I hadn't paid since 27/11/2007 and got a letter from Lowell saying that they have contacted HFC and they sent me a default notice 11/11/08 (default was placed on my file by Lowell in 2011 as mentioned).

Now I have a letter of intent to begin court proceedings which I'm not too concerned about as I can prove its SB, but how can I go about getting the default removed from my file?

[nemesis45]

Re: Lowell - Default with wrong date now being threatened with court action

Hi,
HFC and dodgy default dates again.
When you sent the SAR was a DN included with the data?
Have you kept the data from the SAR?
Was this a loan or a Hire purchase agreement?
1. Lowell cannot place a default in its right and can only update the
original lenders default entry.
2. Defaults should be placed with in 6 months of the cause of action.
3. Do not be complacent about Lowell the will take any opportunity to
start a claim.
4. Address default dates: (see below)

I suggest that you give the ICO a call over these default dates, get all your information together in chronological order so you can give the ICO advisor a logical account of what's happened.

nem

Meanwhile send Lowell a Stat Barred letter with proof of last payment, not admitting Liability of course!!

[DickyRobbo44]

Re: Lowell - Default with wrong date now being threatened with court action

Thanks for the reply.

When you sent the SAR was a DN included with the data?
It didn't include a default notice, nor any letters threatening a default or anything like it which was surprising. The SAR was sent to HFC.

Have you kept the data from the SAR?
Yes. The SAR was slightly confusing to me, a lot of the data contained what looked like print screens from their system. It did show the original agreement and a break down of all payments I have made to them confirming that my last payment was on 27/11/2007.

Was this a loan or a Hire purchase agreement?
Its marked as an unsecured loan on my credit file

So my best step now is to talk to ICO. I've sent a SB letter to Ms. De Tute or whatever her name is but got no response and continue getting threatening letters from various solicitors acting on Lowells behalf (Fredricks, Bryan Carter). As said I no the debt is SB buts its the default I need addressed.

[Nibbler]

Re: Lowell - Default with wrong date now being threatened with court action

Key thing is that the recorded default date is not accurate, does not represent the actual account history fairly, was not placed in accordance with ICO guidelines at the time, and by being incorrect unfairly prolongs the time adverse data remains on your report.

You can complain to the ICO, but they may need you to have actually complained on those points to Lowells first.

ICO are usually slow and can be unhelpful, so may also be worth getting the FOS in on any complaint.

Again you will need to have complained on that specific issue first and had a final response, or waited 8 weeks, but would certainly tell Lowells that you intend to progress with the FOS anyway.

Depending on how long ago you complained on them chasing a statute barred debt, you may be able to move any complaint on that score with the FOS sooner.

Even if you cannot make the complaint formal with the FOS yet, they will often offer to write for you themselves at this stage outlining your complaint.

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.u...complaints.htm

First, give the business you’re unhappy with a chance to put things right. They have up to eight weeks to give you an answer.

If you’d like us to contact them for you, just get in touch.

Many times a simple letter from the FOS repeating your complaint gets debt collectors to pay attention and deal with a complaint that they otherwise ignore.

[DickyRobbo44]

Re: Lowell - Default with wrong date now being threatened with court action

Again thanks for the advice.

So going forward I'm going to;

1. Send SB letter to Lowell with attached proof (again) and also a copy to Bryan Carter who are threatening legal action. I sent a letter a long time ago referring to the date of default being incorrect and referred to the guidelines at the time.
2. Get in touch with the ICO, better to get the ball rolling
3. Make a complaint via the FOS and I believe I have all the relevant info to make the complaint formal.

That sound like the correct things to do?

[DickyRobbo44]

Re: Lowell - Default with wrong date now being threatened with court action

Ok guys, had a bit of a result via email. Decided to email directly to the CEO and not use a template when contacting Lowell, got the following back. Too good to be true???? 'm happy to accept can anyone word a response? I guess the £100 is because I have PPI to claim back maybe? Its only a £500 debt though.

Dear (removed)

Lowell Complaint Reference: removed
Lowell Reference: removed
Original Creditor: HFC Bank Ltd

Thank you for your email dated 4 March 2015 to Mr James Cornell, Chief Executive Officer. I have noted your comments and will respond on behalf of Mr Cornell.

Summary of your Complaint

You state that the default date for the account is incorrect, as it is should now be subject to Section (5) of the Limitation Act 1980 and you have evidence to support this. Therefore you ask that Lowell stop any legal action to recover this debt and supply evidence that the debt is valid.

You are unhappy that we have not responded to your complaint previously regarding the default registered for the above account.

Our Findings

I was very concerned to learn that the default date for this account may be reported incorrectly and that you had not received a response to your previous complaint regarding this matter.

For background information, Lowell Portfolio I Ltd is a specialist debt purchasing company. We purchase customer accounts from various companies and then work with each customer to build realistic and affordable repayment arrangements. In this case, we purchased the account from HFC Bank Ltd on 23 December 2011 and our letter of assignment was sent to you advising you of this. Please be aware that we purchased the above account in good faith believing it to be valid and due.

Our records show that this account was opened at PC World on 27 December 2006. The last payment date was 27 November 2007 and HFC Bank Ltd registered the default on 30 November 2011. Once we became the legal owners of the account we were required under the Data Protection Act 1998 to update the default entry to our name.

In view of your comments and the above information, it appears that this account is now subject to Section (5) of the Limitation Act 1980 and as such I have requested that the account is returned to us from our outsource agents Fredrickson International Ltd. I can confirm that we will take no further action to recover this debt and once the account is returned I will arrange for it to be closed. In the meantime I have requested for the default to be removed from your credit file. Please allow up to five working days for this administrative process to take place.

In regards to your comment that your previous complaint had not been answered, I can see that we disputed the default information with HFC Bank Ltd in February 2014, following a query received through the credit reference agency Callcredit, and a response was sent to you on 20 March 2014. In this response we confirmed that HFC Bank Ltd had issued the default notice to you on 11 November 2008, and had given you 90 days to respond before the default would be registered. However, in view of this information, we did not take the necessary steps to correct the date of the default on your credit file and I apologise for this.

Whilst I am satisfied that only since 11 February 2015 has the account become subject to Section (5) of the Limitation Act 1980, I appreciate that we missed the opportunity to correct the reporting of the default date.

On this basis, I feel it appropriate to make a payment to you in recognition of your complaint and for any distress or inconvenience this may have caused. I would like to make a payment to you of £100 in Full and final resolution of your complaint. I believe this is fair and reasonable, and if you feel able to accept my offer, please advise me by return email so that I can arrange payment.

I hope that this response concludes the matter to your satisfaction. If I can be of any further assistance please do not hesitate to contact me on the telephone number 0800 5420 058 or reply to this email.

The Financial Ombudsman Service provides a dispute resolution service to assist customers who feel their complaint remains unresolved. You have a right to use this service for up to six months from the date of this letter. For more information please visit the Financial Ombudsman’s website using the following hyperlink: http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.u...er-leaflet.htm.

Should you require a paper copy of this leaflet, please let us know and we will arrange to send one to you.

Yours sincerely


Annie Cunningham
Customer Relations Officer
complaintsresolution@lowe llgroup.co.uk
0800 542 0058

[nemesis45]

Re: Lowell - Default with wrong date now being threatened with court action

Well Done DR!!
That's an excellent response!
Just show going to the top first gets results.

nem

[MIKE770]

Re: Lowell - Default with wrong date now being threatened with court action

They have been reading the LLOYDS case no doubt??

[DickyRobbo44]

Re: Lowell - Default with wrong date now being threatened with court action

Can I just accept or shall I get it in writing first? Shall I wait to make sure the default is removed?

[nemesis45]

Re: Lowell - Default with wrong date now being threatened with court action

Accept and make the point of the default removal, you have Lowell's e-mail it's
highly unlikely that they will play silly buggers at this stage.

nem

[DickyRobbo44]

Re: Lowell - Default with wrong date now being threatened with court action

I just wrote

Thanks again for the response. After consideration of your response and the points you made, I have decided to accept your offer outlined in the email you sent. I only request that it is also put in writing to me for my records. To confirm;

1. Lowell will take no further action to recover this debt and the account will be closed
2. The default will be removed from my credit file
3. A payment to me in recognition of my complaint and for any distress or inconvenience this may have caused of £100 in full and final resolution of my complaint.

[nemesis45]

Re: Lowell - Default with wrong date now being threatened with court action

Spot on!!

nem

[DickyRobbo44]

Re: Lowell - Default with wrong date now being threatened with court action

Thanks to the help of this forum, I am now debt free! :rockon:

[nemesis45]

Re: Lowell - Default with wrong date now being threatened with court action

Thanks to the help of this forum, I am now debt free! :rockon:

Well done!!
A good feeling!!

nem