Lowell bought Lloyds student credit card

[highwire]

Afternoon all,

I've started getting letters from Lowell about an old student credit card account they've bought (balance is about £1200). It's not statute barred, but I know Lloyds never actually defaulted it and there's been no record of it on my credit file for over a year.

I stopped paying it a couple of years ago after I realised Lloyds had removed the 'student benefits' of the card without any notice, i.e interest free payments for 90 days etc. Therefore the interest payments were 2-3x times what they should have been for at least a year. I formally complained to Lloyds and they eventually refunded the overpayments of interest back to the card. The issue was, because the dispute took so long and there were no payments made during this time, by the time it was sorted, Lloyds (unfairly imo) closed the credit card account completely! It was shown on my credit file as 'late payment' for the first year then completely dropped off about 14 months ago.

My question is, do I now raise a further dispute with Lloyds /Lowell for unfair termination and the subsequent assignment, or just ignore Lowell altogether and see if they issue legal proceedings? I know I could start requesting documents but my thinking is, the longer I string it out, the less chance they will have of retrieving everything?! I've not had any calls from them at all either, should I expect them to start soon?

I know Lowell will have bought this debt for about £100 and it makes me sick to think they can make so much profit out of other peoples misery. I can't and won't be making payments to them, but I just need to know the best way to go about dealing with them? :doggieyes:

[highwire]

Re: Lowell bought Lloyds student credit card

Anyone? Need to know whether it's worth contacting Lowell early on or whether it's best just ignoring them completely?

[highwire]

Re: Lowell bought Lloyds student credit card

Anybody, no? :tinysmile_hmm_t2:

[nemesis45]

Re: Lowell bought Lloyds student credit card

Hi,
It's a bit late to be claiming " unfairness" at this late stage.
Was this reported on your credit files by Lloyds?
If so what information was there?
There is no telling what Lowell paid for the debt, it would have been part of a large
portfolio of similar debts, what was paid is of no relevance to the debt they are trying
to collect.
You can make a CCA Request to Lowell for a copy of the credit agreement, there is a £1 statutory
fee payable (use a cheque or postal order endorsed for "statutory fee only", Lowell has 12 + 2 Working days to comply.

Lloyds have no further interest in the account or any dispute Lowell is the " beneficial " owner of the debt.

Maybe able to advise further if you put some dates to the events.

nem

[highwire]

Re: Lowell bought Lloyds student credit card

Hi,
It's a bit late to be claiming " unfairness" at this late stage.
Was this reported on your credit files by Lloyds?
If so what information was there?
There is no telling what Lowell paid for the debt, it would have been part of a large
portfolio of similar debts, what was paid is of no relevance to the debt they are trying
to collect.
You can make a CCA Request to Lowell for a copy of the credit agreement, there is a £1 statutory
fee payable (use a cheque or postal order endorsed for "statutory fee only", Lowell has 12 + 2 Working days to comply.

Lloyds have no further interest in the account or any dispute Lowell is the " beneficial " owner of the debt.

Maybe able to advise further if you put some dates to the events.

nem

Hi, there is nothing on my credit file at all any more for this credit card. There was a Late Payment marker last year from Lloyds but that dropped off and there has been no record of it for a year. As I say, Lloyds never formally defaulted it. it just dropped off.

The last payment made was actually exactly 12 months ago. Lloyds told me to start repaying to avoid default. So I did but then they closed the account altogether without warning.

Lowell said the assignment was in March this year, but I've received nothing from Lloyds about it. I've had no phone calls or anything, just 2 letters from Lowell with account numbers that bear no relevance to me or the account.

As I say, I don't know whether to ignore them completely, or just writing to them requesting documents. Either way I can't pay a penny atm because I don't have a penny to my name. I'm reconsidering a DRO so maybe worth informing Lowell of that to keep them at bay?

[highwire]

Re: Lowell bought Lloyds student credit card

They've just sent a text asking me to call them urgently! And there was I thinking perhaps they didn't have my number ffs!

[nemesis45]

Re: Lowell bought Lloyds student credit card

How many payments were made, are you still paying?
I think you need to make a Subject Access Request under
the Data Protection Act 1998 to get all the personal data Lloyds
hold on you and the account as something is very definitely
not right.

There is a £10 statutory fee for the SAR address to the Data Controller.
Lloyds has 40 days to comply. (template in the forum library).

This should put you ahead of "the game" if Lowell start pressing hard for payment or threaten court action.

nem

[highwire]

Re: Lowell bought Lloyds student credit card

How many payments were made, are you still paying?
I think you need to make a Subject Access Request under
the Data Protection Act 1998 to get all the personal data Lloyds
hold on you and the account as something is very definitely
not right.

There is a £10 statutory fee for the SAR address to the Data Controller.
Lloyds has 40 days to comply. (template in the forum library).

This should put you ahead of "the game" if Lowell start pressing hard for payment or threaten court action.

nem

I'm not sure why you're asking how many payments were made? It was a student credit card I paid every month for about 3 years. My last payment to Lloyds was a year ago and I've paid nothing to Lowell.

All I'm asking is how to go about dealing with Lowell? Should I contact them, request documents and explain to them I'm utterly broke, OR ignore them for as long as possible until they start legal action?

A SAR isn't to going to reveal anything I didn't already know. I'm presuming they just forgot to keep reporting it to my credit file after they closed the account down.

[nemesis45]

Re: Lowell bought Lloyds student credit card

You said Lowell said pay to avoid a default, so you did, this is state after you say the last payment was 12 months ago???

Making the SAR or not is your choice, but you believe Lloyds did not default the account before selling it??
This could lead to all sorts of abuse extending the time available for pursuit of the debt.
So in fact no payment have been made since.
As said a CCA request to Lowell £1 statutory fee payable and Lowell has 12 + 2 Working days to comply use the template from the forum library.

nem

[highwire]

Re: Lowell bought Lloyds student credit card

You said Lowell said pay to avoid a default, so you did, this is state after you say the last payment was 12 months ago???

Making the SAR or not is your choice, but you believe Lloyds did not default the account before selling it??
This could lead to all sorts of abuse extending the time available for pursuit of the debt.
So in fact no payment have been made since.
As said a CCA request to Lowell £1 statutory fee payable and Lowell has 12 + 2 Working days to comply use the template from the forum library.

nem

No I didn't, I said Lloyds said that.....? I've had no contact with Lowell whatsoever. They have only just started contacting me which I've ignored so far.

Isn't it Lowell's responsibility to provide evidence the original agreement was formally terminated. Lloyds won't even speak to me about anything over the phone, they say I have to go into branch to confirm my identity.

I'm done with Lloyds, I'm simply looking for advice in dealing with Lowell.

[highwire]

Re: Lowell bought Lloyds student credit card

Jeez... getting advice on this site is hard work. Think I'll head over to CAG

[spirit2534]

Re: Lowell bought Lloyds student credit card

Jeez... getting advice on this site is hard work. Think I'll head over to CAG

It does seem that you have already made your mind up about this site.
This is not a site where you pay for advice so you can either accept or reject it.

It seems to bear out the advice :

"You can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink"

I speak as an independent commentator.:badidea:

[nemesis45]

Re: Lowell bought Lloyds student credit card

No Lowell has to rely on the data provided by the original creditor, you have as said
the right to make a subject access request to Lloyds to find out exactly what has occurred
in regard to defaulting or not defaulting on this account.

You have also the opportunity to send a CCA request to Lowell and a " prove it " letter as well.

It seems to me that you let matters " ride" once Lloyds closed the account some two years ago
or more without drawing the matter to a conclusion a simple Formal Complaint at that point which
Lloyds would have been obliged to investigate and report on would have at least revealed any of the wrong
doing you allege now.

BTW all who advise here are volunteers giving time freely to help others, if you are unhappy with the advice given or it does not agree with your take on the situation perhaps seeking the advice of a local solicitor would be ideal for you.

As " hearing nothing about it from Lloyds" it seems that a Notice of Assignment was sent to you by Lowell, an NOA can be sent by the original creditor and/or the debt purchaser.

I cannot say if a DRO is suitable for your case as there is too little data to work with.

nem