Lowell Portfolio chasing old debt

[Blaz]

Long story short - I was young and silly and took out a loan for £2000 back in 2004 not even realising what APR or interest even meant. In short Welcome Finance saw me coming and pounced! The loan was a joint loan in mine and my ex girlfriends names. We split up and shock horror she moved back to Northern Ireland and stopped paying. I tried to be the good one and kept paying my half of the debt, while they kept telling me theyd keep chasing my x for her half. After a while I asked for a statement to actually find out what we owed thinking itd be around £2300 with interest, i was very wrong and SICK to discover it was actually £6000+

I continued to pay Welcome Finance up until around April 2009, then they transferred my debt to an aggressive debt collector. I made 1 payment to Lewis Debt Recovery in Nov 2009 and then after years of me paying for this debt and them quite happy to harass me for money and not my X, i had enough and said im not paying any more until you make my x start paying. I also had a default in 2007 on my credit file (that has now gone from my file), there is also no mention of WF or this debt on my file.

I have since moved around but this morning had a letter from Lowell Portfolio saying "you have not repaid your welcome finance account" so they have passed me onto BW Legal.

So I have a few options in front of me, and Id like some advice and opinions please.

Option 1 = Dont respond dont do anything
The letter they have sent me is almost identical to the one theyve sent to my dads house a year ago. My dad called up told them i didnt live there. No court no CCJ, (i checked my credit file). Numerous companies have sent letters there acting on behalf of Lowell or Frederick International, all chasing this - no CCJ has ever come back on me.

Option 2 = Reply asking for proof of the original credit agreement
This debt is from 2004, would they really still have the original documents? Has anyone else heard of Lowell's losing out on welcome finance debts because of this? Especially as WF went bust years ago. As I mentioned above, Ive never had a CCJ issued against me, could this be because they dont have the original CCA.

Option 3 = Claim the debt is statute barred
My last payment was in 2009, does it go from there? or does it go from the default date? If it does go from the last payment would they really be able to prove when I last made a payment, it wasnt to them it was 1 payment of £1 to Lewis Debt Recovery and then WF before them. Would they have access to their accounts to check this?

So what do you guys reckon? Thanks in advance!

PS - dont judge me for avoiding paying this debt, i've paid my half.

[Amethyst]

Re: Lowell Portfolio chasing old debt

No judgment here, don't worry, we more than know what Welcome Finance are like :beagle:

Send Lowell a CCA request - that's the first job (will get you a link)

Then send Welcome Finance a SAR request to get full transaction lists and statement of account.

And try not to worry we'll help you.

It won't be statute barred (unless you are in Scotland?) as it's 6 years since last payment

back in a tic (daughter bugging me for something sorry)

[Amethyst]

Re: Lowell Portfolio chasing old debt

Right sorry, had to write the short and long term reasons for a car crashing into a tree , not sure 'the tree grew' would cut it as a long term causation, but there we are lol.

So

Option 1 = Dont respond dont do anything - If the letter isn't a 'letter before action' (ie telling you they are bringing court action) then ignore and file it away.

Option 2 = Reply asking for proof of the original credit agreement - yes, if it is a letter before action. also ask them for a statement of account.

Option 3 = Claim the debt is statute barred - unless you are in Scotland it won't be.


the CCA request is http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/...=7670#post7670 - that should go to Lowell and will get you a copy of the original agreement to check it is complaint and that Lowells can enforce the debt. If they don't have the agreement they will have trouble enforcing the debt in court.

The other letter is the SAR (subject access request) you can find this here > http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/...ection-Act-%29 That needs a £10 payment and should go to Welcome finance.

[Blaz]

Re: Lowell Portfolio chasing old debt

Wow thanks for the speedy advice Amethyst!

The letter is from Lowell, but included in the envelope was another letter from BW Legal that states "if payment or a response is not received within 14 days, we are instructed to commence legal proceedings" I've ignored these kinds of letters before but they went to my dads house not mine. Tempted to get my gf to call up and say we're not together its an old address etc.

So is this a letter before action then?

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Lowell Portfolio chasing old debt

Option 1 = Dont respond dont do anything
The letter they have sent me is almost identical to the one theyve sent to my dads house a year ago. My dad called up told them i didnt live there. No court no CCJ, (i checked my credit file). Numerous companies have sent letters there acting on behalf of Lowell or Frederick International, all chasing this - no CCJ has ever come back on me.

Not a good idea to ignore, a CCJ won't just come to you, they'd have to issue a claim first and you'd have the opportunity to defend, but it's always best to nip it in the bud before reaching that stage.

Option 2 = Reply asking for proof of the original credit agreement
This debt is from 2004, would they really still have the original documents? Has anyone else heard of Lowell's losing out on welcome finance debts because of this? Especially as WF went bust years ago.

Probably not, but you need to follow the process and send the CCA request and wait for the 14 days to elapse before you can dispute the account. :thumb:

As I mentioned above, Ive never had a CCJ issued against me, could this be because they dont have the original CCA.

Not necessarily. Lowell routinely issue claims without ever having a single piece of paper in their possession.

Option 3 = Claim the debt is statute barred
My last payment was in 2009, does it go from there? or does it go from the default date? If it does go from the last payment would they really be able to prove when I last made a payment, it wasnt to them it was 1 payment of £1 to Lewis Debt Recovery and then WF before them. Would they have access to their accounts to check this?

Default date is immaterial, it's the last payment that counts. They may be able to obtain statements from Lewis if they still have them. Sadly in England and Wales it's 6 years rather than 5 as is north of the border - no wonder they want independence! :lol:

So what do you guys reckon? Thanks in advance!

PS - dont judge me for avoiding paying this debt, i've paid my half.

Judge? We wouldn't dream of it! We just help and leave the judging up to the courts. :juge:

You are by no means alone in this, here are some of us here who also haven't paid some debts in years and are just keeping an eye on the ticking clock. :clock: I'm one of them. :grin: :grin: :grin:

[Amethyst]

Re: Lowell Portfolio chasing old debt

Sounds like it, and BW legal sometimes don't give a lot of notice. As this is from Lowell and BW Legal I would respond to it, as they DO go to court action.

Have a read of http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/...any-solciitors and I'd get the CCA request sent off.

I'd send a formal CCA request to Lowell, and also ask them to send you a statement of the account, and evidence of assignment. You should cc any letters to BW Legal too with a breif covering note to explain you enclose copies of letters sent to Lowell to find out more information about the alleged debt.

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Lowell Portfolio chasing old debt

The letter is from Lowell, but included in the envelope was another letter from BW Legal that states "if payment or a response is not received within 14 days, we are instructed to commence legal proceedings" I've ignored these kinds of letters before but they went to my dads house not mine. Tempted to get my gf to call up and say we're not together its an old address etc.

So is this a letter before action then?

It does sound like one. Do you think you could post up the letter, after removing all personal details?

You should still send the CCA request. :thumb:

[Blaz]

Re: Lowell Portfolio chasing old debt

I've taken a photo on my phone of both letters, just uploading now. thanks!

[Blaz]

Re: Lowell Portfolio chasing old debt

[Blaz]

Re: Lowell Portfolio chasing old debt

So would you guys wait or act on this?

[Nibbler]

Re: Lowell Portfolio chasing old debt

Look at the Received a Court Claim ? section of the forum to see how many cases Lowells have been going to court for lately.

If me I think I would want to try to head this off before they issue a claim.

[Blaz]

Re: Lowell Portfolio chasing old debt

Look at the Received a Court Claim ? section of the forum to see how many cases Lowells have been going to court for lately.

If me I think I would want to try to head this off before they issue a claim.

Its a tough call, i've evaded this for nearly 5 years. Im reluctant to reply as in the past ignoring them (or getting my dad to call up and say i dont live there) has been enough to make them go away for a while. So admitting I live somewhere and going down the whole CCA route seems like a big gamble, I've no idea why they havent taken me to court in the past without my knowledge.

So would you all agree the letter above is a letter before action? If I do ignore the letter and the next letter to come is court papers - couldnt I just ask for CCA proof then?

[Blaz]

Re: Lowell Portfolio chasing old debt

I did some digging and found an old Welcome Finance letter from 2009 - its a "Sums in Arrears" letter and states -

"This notice is being given in compliance with the Consumer Credit Act 1974 because you are behind with your payments. New rules came into affect in 2008 which requires us to send you this notice" The letter then gives me a breakdown of payments between 2008 - 2009.

So my debt is from 2004 (however ive found another agreement from 2005, cant remember why they got me down to their office again to sign something) this letter is from 2009 - Should I be worried requesting a CCA, does this letter from WF make it more possible that Lowell may have a better chance of finding the original CCA?

Also why should I ask Welcome Finance for a SAR? Shouldnt I just send Lowell a CCA request and leave it there?

[stevemLS]

Re: Lowell Portfolio chasing old debt

It's very common for proceedings to be commenced just prior to the limitation period for precisely that reason, it is just prior to the expiry!

I wouldn't ignore it if I were you.

[Blaz]

Re: Lowell Portfolio chasing old debt

Should I send BWLegal the CCA request? Wont that help to delay things further rather than go straight to Lowells?