Lowell prove it letter.

[Eagle1977]

Hi All

Im new here and am after some advice. About three months ago Lowell began chasing an old HFC debt. It is for approximately £4000 and dates back to 2000/2001.

up until 3 years ago I was paying this particular debt and others via a debt management plan. To cut a long story short I split up with my ex and stopped paying them. To date I had forgotten about it until Lowell began chasing me.

I have had no end of phone calls, discount offers. Now, am I correct in assuming if a discount is offered then there is something wrong with the legitimacy of the debt?

Anyway, After about a month I sent them a prove it letter. I received the standard reply stating they will aim to resolve my complaint within a week. But, it could take upto 8 weeks. If that is the case they will contact me to inform me of their progress.

It has now been approximately 7 weeks since my initial complaint although they did send me a progress letter stating that they are still investigating on the 6th week.

My question is, why does it take so long and what information are they looking for? If they are sure I'm the person their looking for, surely they will have proof?

Secondly, is no news good news?

Thanks for any help

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Lowell prove it letter.

Welcome to LB

Im new here and am after some advice. About three months ago Lowell began chasing an old HFC debt. It is for approximately £4000 and dates back to 2000/2001.

up until 3 years ago I was paying this particular debt and others via a debt management plan. To cut a long story short I split up with my ex and stopped paying them. To date I had forgotten about it until Lowell began chasing me.

I have had no end of phone calls, discount offers. Now, am I correct in assuming if a discount is offered then there is something wrong with the legitimacy of the debt?

Could be, but not so much the legitimacy (you do know it's yours, don't you?) but the enforceability, very likely due to lack of paperwork. :grin:

Anyway, After about a month I sent them a prove it letter. I received the standard reply stating they will aim to resolve my complaint within a week. But, it could take upto 8 weeks. If that is the case they will contact me to inform me of their progress.

It has now been approximately 7 weeks since my initial complaint although they did send me a progress letter stating that they are still investigating on the 6th week.

My question is, why does it take so long and what information are they looking for? If they are sure I'm the person their looking for, surely they will have proof?

Debt purchasers buy debts in bulk without any paperwork, so they'd have to go back to the lender before they can produce any documents.

Secondly, is no news good news?

I would say so.

If they contact you again, you could hit them with a CCA request, but do post up when they do. :typing:

[Corrections36]

Re: Lowell prove it letter.

Thanks for your reply

I was awaiting their response but it just seems to be ongoing! Well, dependant on what they say, I will be sending them a CCA and a SAR request to HFC.

If they are able to send proof then I will certainly claim back PPI, INTEREST & CHARGES. However, I am under the impression HFC were taken over by HSBC. So, my hope is that any paperwork has either gone or has been archived. Fingers crossed

[Eagle1977]

Re: Lowell prove it letter.

Hi

Just an update on this. Ok, the complaint is over 8 weeks now and I received a letter from Lowell today. It says:

Dear Mr @&#####

Im writing to update you on the progress of your complaint investigation. Thank you for your patience so far.

In order to investigate your complaint fully, it has been necessary to gather and review relevant information about your case and this is taking longer than anticipated. I hope to have completed my investigation and be in a position to provide you with a full response as soon as possible.

As it has now been eight weeks since we received your complaint, you do have a right to refer your case to the Financial Ombudsman Service, although I trust this will not be necessary. If you would like to discuss your case further at this stage, please feel free to contact us on 0800 542 0058

Are they playing games and stalling for time?

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Lowell prove it letter.

Just an update on this. Ok, the complaint is over 8 weeks now and I received a letter from Lowell today. It says:

Dear Mr @&#####

Im writing to update you on the progress of your complaint investigation. Thank you for your patience so far.

In order to investigate your complaint fully, it has been necessary to gather and review relevant information about your case and this is taking longer than anticipated. I hope to have completed my investigation and be in a position to provide you with a full response as soon as possible.

As it has now been eight weeks since we received your complaint, you do have a right to refer your case to the Financial Ombudsman Service, although I trust this will not be necessary. If you would like to discuss your case further at this stage, please feel free to contact us on 0800 542 0058

Are they playing games and stalling for time?

No, they are, for once, following the process. When you want to complain, you need to write to the company before going to the FOS, if they can't resolve your complaint in 8 weeks, you have the right to complain to the FOS. They haven't been able to deal with your complaint so you can go on to complain to the FOS.

Presumably they have taken your 'prove it' letter as a complaint or did you send a separate complaint to Lowell?

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Lowell prove it letter.

Thanks for your reply

I was awaiting their response but it just seems to be ongoing! Well, dependant on what they say, I will be sending them a CCA and a SAR request to HFC.

If they are able to send proof then I will certainly claim back PPI, INTEREST & CHARGES. However, I am under the impression HFC were taken over by HSBC. So, my hope is that any paperwork has either gone or has been archived. Fingers crossed

Did you send the CCA and SAR requests in the end?

The above statement is a little contradictory, in that you'd like to reclaim PPI and associated interest and charges, but you also hope they can't find the paperwork! :noidea:

To clarify, if they can't supply you with a copy of your agreement, the debt would be unenforceable until such time they do. For an old debt like this, they may not be able to retrieve it. If you reclaim on a defaulted account, any redress would normally be applied to the debt, reducing the balance, this could reset the SBd clock. :scared: If no payments have been made for several years and the debt is unenforceable, it may be unwise to do so. :nono:

In some cases, where the debt has been assigned in absolute, the redress has been paid paid to the account holder, however, there's no guarantee this will be the case. You'll need to look at the pros and cons of reclaiming once (if) you get the paperwork from the SAR.

[Eagle1977]

Re: Lowell prove it letter.

No I haven't sent a CCA or a SAR as yet.

Personally, I hope the paperwork can't be found. I think they only keep records for six years?

if they do come up with any agreements etc then I will try and go for charges etc in an attempt to get the balance down.

Do you think I should go for the CCA and SAR or just wait?

thanks

[Eagle1977]

Re: Lowell prove it letter.

No all I sent was the prove it letter, nothing else:noidea:

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Lowell prove it letter.

No I haven't sent a CCA or a SAR as yet.

Personally, I hope the paperwork can't be found. I think they only keep records for six years?

When you send a SAR, most companies will only send you data for the past 6 years, however, when it comes to copies of agreements (CCA requests), they have a duty to supply them as long as the account was opened after May 1985.

if they do come up with any agreements etc then I will try and go for charges etc in an attempt to get the balance down.
Do you think I should go for the CCA and SAR or just wait?

I would!

No all I sent was the prove it letter, nothing else

They must have taken that as a complaint. I was wondering whether you had started the ball rolling with regards to reclaiming. As this is not the case, I don't think there is a reason for you to go to the FOS even when their letter is saying you can do so.

[Eagle1977]

Re: Lowell prove it letter.

Hi FlamingParrot

Thank you for the advice. I guess I should just wait and see what happens. I am tempted to throw a CCA request off to them

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Lowell prove it letter.

Hi FlamingParrot

Thank you for the advice. I guess I should just wait and see what happens. I am tempted to throw a CCA request off to them

What's stopping you? :grin:

[Eagle1977]

Re: Lowell prove it letter.

Nothing

[Eagle1977]

Re: Lowell prove it letter.

PLEASE HELP

Today I had a reply from my prove it letter. They have sent what appears to be a photo copy credit agreement with both mine and my ex wives signature. Where our signatures are, there appears to be a statement saying ' Date(s) of signature(s)' However, there is no date there?

Secondly, they have sent me a number of computerised statements. These statements have payments that have been made on the account. They also indicate what appears to be PPI, administration fees and interest. The statements appear to show the date and month of each payment, but not the year. Also every statement has the same previous address on. I took this loan out in a different address to the one indicated. and in total lived at four different addresses whilst this was being paid.

I am sick with worry know because I cant afford to pay this. Please please help me I really do not know what to do.

Thanks you

[Eagle1977]

Re: Lowell prove it letter.

Please could somebody help me

[Amethyst]

Re: Lowell prove it letter.

Hi Eagle Just having a read back xxx