Letters from Lowell Financial out of the blue....

[snrtasape]

Hi, this is my first post so please be gentle.
today, my girlfriend received two letters from Lowell Financial DCA asking for two bills to be paid amounting to just shy of £700. This came out of the blue and a big argument followed.
We phoned this company asking what this was all about and they were quite abrupt to say the least. The two bills are from T Mobile and JD Williams. the other half as never had a t mobile phone or contract and has never had an account with JD Williams. When speaking on the phone the person on the other end said the bill for t mobile was from 2008 and for JD Williams 2011.
They said they would phone back but never did which hasn't helped.
i have read some posts on your forum but I am confused what we should do next and how, basically I need spoon feeding.
i don't agree I should just pay to clear the credit rating as I believe the other half. No letters have ever been received at her previous address and her husband vouched for that, again he's trustworthy and amicable. She has lived here with me for two years and there has been no correspondence prior to today.
Can one of the members who use this forum please assist and give me direction and guidance to what I should be doing / do next. Any help would be most greatly appreciated. Thanking you in advance...

[Celestine]

Re: Letters from Lowell Financial out of the blue....

Hi there, welcome to Legal Beagles :beagle:

Firstly.....stop panicking and don't fall out with your girlfriend over something that can be tackled logically.

Firstly, do not speak to Lowell on the phone, it gives you no proof and gives them far too much useful information. Keep everything to email or letter. Now that you've spoken to them on the phone, they will ramp up the letters and demands so you need to hit this head on.

Your girlfriend needs to write formally requesting statements for both accounts. For the JD Williams account she also needs to send a CCA request for a copy of the original agreement. Essentially you are asking them to prove that she owned either of these accounts, but throughout she must maintain her position that she genuinely does not recall either account and therefore they need to evidence their rights.

http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/...y-of-Agreement

[snrtasape]

Re: Letters from Lowell Financial out of the blue....

Hi Celestine,
thank you for your reply, I will send both letters in the morning on her behalf. Do I send the £1.00 fee via cheque or postal order?
I really appreciate your help, it's a bit tense at the moment here but you have put our mind at rest for the time being. I will keep all posted.

Hi there, welcome to Legal Beagles :beagle:

Firstly.....stop panicking and don't fall out with your girlfriend over something that can be tackled logically.

Firstly, do not speak to Lowell on the phone, it gives you no proof and gives them far too much useful information. Keep everything to email or letter. Now that you've spoken to them on the phone, they will ramp up the letters and demands so you need to hit this head on.

Your girlfriend needs to write formally requesting statements for both accounts. For the JD Williams account she also needs to send a CCA request for a copy of the original agreement. Essentially you are asking them to prove that she owned either of these accounts, but throughout she must maintain her position that she genuinely does not recall either account and therefore they need to evidence their rights.

http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/...y-of-Agreement

[snrtasape]

Re: Letters from Lowell Financial out of the blue....

Sorry, I have just read that it is a postal order.....

[Celestine]

Re: Letters from Lowell Financial out of the blue....

Only send a CCA request for the JD Williams account as it falls under s.78 CCA. the phone contract will need statements of account and proof of ownership enquiries. It may be worth doing a subject access request separately to TMobile to try and get to the bottom of this? Given that the TMobile debt is from 2008 it could also be time barred?

[Tools]

Re: Letters from Lowell Financial out of the blue....

Does anything appear on her credit file?

[nemesis45]

Re: Letters from Lowell Financial out of the blue....

If Lowell continue in this vein make a Formal Complaint to:

Ms Sara de Tute
Director of Legal & Compliance
The Lowell Group
Ellington House
9 Savannah Square
Leeds Valley Park
Leeds
LS10 1AB

Mark it Private & Confidential.
Paying these will not help the credit score the defaults remain on file for 6 years and are then removed paid or not.
Customer (dis) service at Lowell is always unhelpful and abrasive in attitude, they have only the company "script" to spout and have little or no authority other than the scrip.

nem.
A suggestion:

Dear Ms de Tute.

I refer you to correspondence from Lowell dated xxxxxxxx, bearing Lowell references XXXXX & XXXXX, please take note I do not acknowledge any debt to Lowell.



BTW it is always unwise to deal with any DCA by phone, keep ALL contact in writing, anything discussed/agreed on the can/will be denied by the DCA.

I am not know nor ever have been a customer of xxxxxxxxx & Xxxxxxxxxx, .

I believe Lowell is in breach of FCA guidance on contacting alleged debtors when it is unsure if it contacting the correct person, therefore given the information above Lowell will cease All contact with me and remove all data relating to me from its records.

This is my final response.

This has seen off Lowell's speculative debt collection tactics many times in the past.

[snrtasape]

Re: Letters from Lowell Financial out of the blue....

Hi,
Thank you for your help so far, the atmosphere is better here luckily, perks of taking on another mans wife I suppose....
Anyway letters are drafted, time to go to the Post Office.
I have checked her credit file and she has 5 debts all in all amassing to £2300, however three were started when she was in hospital and she knows nothing about them. No letters or correspondence have ever been received, is this normal??

[seduraed]

Re: Letters from Lowell Financial out of the blue....

O the three started hen she was in hospital are they hers or are they fraudulent?
Are they attached to the correct address ?
Might be worth writing to the credit reference agency and getting a copy of the credit report £1 still I think .
If these two acconts are potentially fraudulent when were they discovered and have the police been informed?

[snrtasape]

Re: Letters from Lowell Financial out of the blue....

I have only just found out, didn't know what to do first, get the ball rolling because they have to prove it was my GF or report it to the Police.......

[nemesis45]

Re: Letters from Lowell Financial out of the blue....

Hi,
Thank you for your help so far, the atmosphere is better here luckily, perks of taking on another mans wife I suppose....
Anyway letters are drafted, time to go to the Post Office.
I have checked her credit file and she has 5 debts all in all amassing to £2300, however three were started when she was in hospital and she knows nothing about them. No letters or correspondence have ever been received, is this normal??

It would help us to advise if you could post up a screen print of the CRA entries (suitably redacted of course) otherwise the details
such as the name of the original creditor and the DCA showing as owner, the amount OS and the default date: and if shown the date the accounts were started.

[snrtasape]

Re: Letters from Lowell Financial out of the blue....

Hi nemesis45, I will do this tomorrow morning for all to see, once I suss out how to upload pictures, sorry I'm not very computer savvy.....

[nemesis45]

Re: Letters from Lowell Financial out of the blue....

Hi nemesis45, I will do this tomorrow morning for all to see, once I suss out how to upload pictures, sorry I'm not very computer savvy.....

Nor am I sorry to say, too many years with others to do things for me!!:tinysmile_cry_t:

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Letters from Lowell Financial out of the blue....

Hi nemesis45, I will do this tomorrow morning for all to see, once I suss out how to upload pictures, sorry I'm not very computer savvy.....

This thread may be of help: http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/...r-details-safe!) :nerd:

[snrtasape]

Re: Letters from Lowell Financial out of the blue....

Hi, I have just received two letters from Lowells. Reference the JD Williams one they have put it on hold until they have gathered the paperwork.I still deny all knowledge and have never had an account with them.
The second letter reference T mobile bill they state is from April 2008. I have never had a T-Mobile phone or contract ever but they say that I inserted a SIM card so have to pay.....
reading other places on this forum it is more than 6 years old, doesn't this mean it is statute barred, if so what do I need to do now? As always your help is most welcome and greatly appreciated.