Lowell Advice please

[paul floorlayer]

Hi new member and have a few questions, my wife currently has a plan with lowell in regards to 2 old accounts with catalogues, she is/has been paying lowell £12.50 on each per week for the last year or so and at this rate should be finished clearing the debt via them by circa march 2014 it is about £400ish on one and £500ish on the other, is it best just to keep paying the £25 per week and clear it this way or do you think their is another avenue she could go down? I thought about potentially trying a Full and final settlement offer and see if they bite, would that be a sensible route to go down for say half of what left to pay in a lump payment if we can come up with the funds?
Thanks in advance for any replies, paul

[labman]

Re: Lowell Advice please

There are a few avenues you could explore. Is all interest and charges frozen on both accounts? If not they should be and it's worth trying to reclaim that already paid.

A F&F is worth negotiating, but start much lower than 50% of the debt owing.

Have you asked Lowells to prove their entitlement to collect this debt? Have you asked for a copy of the original CCA agreement?

These are some avenues worth pursuing.

[Guest]

Re: Lowell Advice please

Are any of the sums doe on the catalog extended credit interest baring sales ?

If so you are more likely to secure a reduced full and final, in any case it is always worth a try.

[paul floorlayer]

Re: Lowell Advice please

There are a few avenues you could explore. Is all interest and charges frozen on both accounts? If not they should be and it's worth trying to reclaim that already paid.

A F&F is worth negotiating, but start much lower than 50% of the debt owing.

Have you asked Lowells to prove their entitlement to collect this debt? Have you asked for a copy of the original CCA agreement?

These are some avenues worth pursuing.

Hi thanks for the response, no at the time of agreeing to pay to clear the debt we didnt do either as we didnt know to, more clued up on these types of matters now from reading this great website, knowledge is power.

From what I can make out after checking the wifes credit file the debt is direct to lowell as in bought from the catalogue from what I can make out, does this make a difference, and from what she said there has been no interest or charges on top of the original debt owed to the catalogues.

[Celestine]

Re: Lowell Advice please

Personally I'd maintain the payments but make s.78 request as Labman suggests above.

Lowell are a debt purchaser and if you do decide to negotiate a full and final settlement, it is them you would need to pay. But if the s.78 requests show the debts to be potentially unenforceable, that could be a very nice tool to negotiate a decent settlement?

[paul floorlayer]

Re: Lowell Advice please

Would that be a cca request letter (s.78) and from reading a few other threads if lowells cannot rovide me with this information are they collecting unlawfully? and the payments would be due back to my wife but would need to send a sar?

Lots of confusing terminology but got a basic (very) gist of things from finding similar peoples experiences to mine in other threads.

[labman]

Re: Lowell Advice please

Dear Sir,



Your Ref: Account Number / Reference


I hereby formally request a copy of my Consumer Credit Agreement, pursuant to s.77-79 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 (CCA1974).


I require you to provide me with a true copy, or reconstituted copy of the credit agreement relating to any account you deem to be mine, together with any other documentation the Act requires you to provide. I expect you to comply fully and properly with this request within the statutory time limit (12 + 2 days).


If it is your view that you are not the creditor, s.175 of the CCA1974 applies in the case of an equitable assignment, and places a duty upon you to pass this request to the creditor. In the case of an absolute assignment, you are a creditor as defined by s.189. If you contend that you purchased the rights but not the duties of any agreement, you are reminded that s.189 of the Act is clear that an assignment is of both rights and duties. Your attention is drawn to ss5(2), 3(b), 6 and 7 of the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (CPUTR).


I also remind you of your duties in line with recent OFT Guidance (issued Oct 2010) surrounding Unenforceability. I presume you are aware that the OFT has stipulated that 'sections 77-79 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 outline the information creditors must provide to debtors under fixed-term, running account & Hire Agreements'. This simply means that under these sections a debtor can pay £1 to get:


a copy of their agreement;
copies of some of the other documents mentioned in their agreement;
a statement of account.

If this information is not provided within 12 working days the debt becomes unenforceable. This means a creditor cannot:

make the debtor pay the debt before they're supposed to;
get a court judgment against the debtor.

So, in line with the OFT Guidance, and the Consumer Credit Act, please find attached my £1 payment, which is the statutory fee - note that these funds are not to be used for any other purpose. If you are unable to comply fully and properly with this request, you should confirm this in writing at the earliest opportunity, and certainly within the statutory time limit for compliance, return the fee and then remove the incorrect entry from your systems.


I expect the main actions to be dealt with as matter of course and look forward to hearing from you within the prescribed time-scales quoted.

Yours faithfully,

Use a handwriting font to sign


Print name

[labman]

Re: Lowell Advice please

Would that be a cca request letter (s.78) and from reading a few other threads if lowells cannot rovide me with this information are they collecting unlawfully? and the payments would be due back to my wife but would need to send a sar?

Lots of confusing terminology but got a basic (very) gist of things from finding similar peoples experiences to mine in other threads.

CCA letter template above. If Lowells don't provide it, the account is not enforceable in a Court of Law until such time as they produce it. That does not mean they have to stop asking you to pay, nor necessarily they are collecting unlawfully - you do not have to pay if they can't provide an agreement. Your wife would not get the payments back, and if you are not in a rush to settle the debt, you most certainly don't need to send a SAR.

Make sure you get a minimum of Proof of Postage for the CCA letter (it's free); many choose to send recorded delivery to get a definite signature, but that is not a requirement of a court of law.

[paul floorlayer]

Re: Lowell Advice please

CCA letter template above. If Lowells don't provide it, the account is not enforceable in a Court of Law until such time as they produce it. That does not mean they have to stop asking you to pay, nor necessarily they are collecting unlawfully - you do not have to pay if they can't provide an agreement. Your wife would not get the payments back, and if you are not in a rush to settle the debt, you most certainly don't need to send a SAR.

Make sure you get a minimum of Proof of Postage for the CCA letter (it's free); many choose to send recorded delivery to get a definite signature, but that is not a requirement of a court of law.

That is great thanks a lot, so basically I send that letter and wait for the reply, if they can provide the cca we should go down the F&F route and if they cant provide the cca then it is an unenforceable debt and we are not legally bound to make any more payments towards it, but that would not stop lowells from chasing it via letters/phone calls, does that sound about right?

[labman]

Re: Lowell Advice please

Nearly. If they can't provide the agreement it is unenforceable in a Court of Law until such time as they do provide it. It is not uncommon for agreements to surface several months or even a year or more later. You can't assume it is UE for ever.

If they do provide it, then check they are the owner of the debt, and not an agent of the owner (they're likely to own it if it's Lowells, but not guaranteed). If all is in order offer a F&F starting at around 15% of the total amount owed.

[paul floorlayer]

Re: Lowell Advice please

Nearly. If they can't provide the agreement it is unenforceable in a Court of Law until such time as they do provide it. It is not uncommon for agreements to surface several months or even a year or more later. You can't assume it is UE for ever.

If they do provide it, then check they are the owner of the debt, and not an agent of the owner (they're likely to own it if it's Lowells, but not guaranteed). If all is in order offer a F&F starting at around 15% of the total amount owed.

Thank you very much will be taking this avenue as there is still between the 2 lowell account just under a thousand pounds to pay so its well worth a try to find out if they have all the info so I know where to go with the F&F, last question each account she has with lowell would be subject to an individual cca letter wouldnt it, or could you have both on one letter to keep paperwork to a minimum?

[labman]

Re: Lowell Advice please

One for each account sorry.

In readiness for later, if it comes to F&F's, come back here and post up (pm me with a link if you want) as F&F's can be difficult to get as watertight as it is possible to get them. You might as well use a tried and tested method.

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Lowell Advice please

Thank you very much will be taking this avenue as there is still between the 2 lowell account just under a thousand pounds to pay so its well worth a try to find out if they have all the info so I know where to go with the F&F, last question each account she has with lowell would be subject to an individual cca letter wouldnt it, or could you have both on one letter to keep paperwork to a minimum?

You'll need to send individual CCA requests for each account. If these are catalog accounts, don't expect to get anything back, those companies are well known for not having asked people to sign anything before sending out the goods! :thumb:

In view of the above, I'd say there's little point in offering anything, the defaults will remain even if Lowells were to accept a F&F and, without an agreement, they wouldn't stand a chance in court! The CCA request may well send Lowell scurrying back underneath their stone! :bolt:

[pt2537]

Re: Lowell Advice please

Perhaps we are three steps ahead of where you should be here.

First question id ask before making a s78 request, given this is a catalogue, is how did the account get opened?

Many catalogues opened before 6th April 2007 were opened without first ensuring that there was a credit agreement in the prescribed form containing the prescribed terms, signed by the debtor.

To put it in lay t erms if no signed agreement ever existed, then the s78 request becomes meritless as s78 clearly states (if any) and therefore if there never was a signed agreement the creditor will not be able to produce a copy, will they?