Vanquis and Lowell

[nick9one1]

Hi all,

I currently have a default assigned to Lowells for a Vanquis credit card with £1700 of debt.
I've been backwards and forwards a few times with Lowells, and previously Robinson way to setup a payment plan, but haven't got there yet.

background;

• The CC was taken out in 2012 and defaulted in 2014.
• Straight away Vanquis offered a 50% reduction in the debt and to remove it from my credit file if I paid.
• It then passed it onto Robinson way, who essentially offered the same thing. At this point I sent a CCA request to Robinson. Who replied saying the account was closed and returned my £1 postal order.
• Now with Lowells who are a lot more difficult to deal with. i.e don't want to take any discount and wont remove the default if I pay (I know this is a bit of a long shot).

But I started to think, if Vanquis and Robinson way were so keen to offer me discount and pass the debt on once I started asking questions, is there something wrong with the paperwork?

I've now got the CCA reply from Lowells - https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...1/20161229.pdf

Does anything look wrong here?
The one thing I notice is that the salary on application is 120,000! That's not right, I was on closer to 20,000 at the time I took out the card.

[MIKE770]

Re: Vanquis and Lowell

post 2007 on line application so no argument there. what shows would be what you typed in regardless of salary as it shows you are capable to repay at the time of the amount lower!

- - - Updated - - -

lowells will proceed in the hope you pay up, but unless there is a definitive problem then you may finally ask for a Tomlin Order! long way down the line though? see what others say

[nick9one1]

Re: Vanquis and Lowell

This debt is still outstanding. Lowells passed it on to another DCA recently, who I received one letter from. a week later I had a another letter from them saying they had passed it back to Lowells.

I wonder if I'm missing something? it seems they might have noticed something about the debt they didn't like, so go rid of it quickly?

[warwick65]

Re: Vanquis and Lowell

Lowell have various trading styles who they use as debt collectors. Who were the debt collectors ?

I would not put too much store in there being something wrong with the paperwork although there could be.

Just so you know , there is a thread on here from someone who took up the offer of a 50% discount and now has a claim for the other 50%

When a debt is sold, it is often for a fraction of the price so 50% is a lot more than they would have got if they sold it

[MIKE770]

Re: Vanquis and Lowell

seems suspect may be? see what arrives next?

[nick9one1]

Re: Vanquis and Lowell

Lowell have various trading styles who they use as debt collectors. Who were the debt collectors ?

I would not put too much store in there being something wrong with the paperwork although there could be.

Just so you know , there is a thread on here from someone who took up the offer of a 50% discount and now has a claim for the other 50%

When a debt is sold, it is often for a fraction of the price so 50% is a lot more than they would have got if they sold it

Thanks,

I cant remember the name of the second DCA, but I'll check the paperwork shortly.

I think the 50% settlement trick is quite well known - when accepting you need to make sure the DCA agrees to mark the debt as fully settled.

My goal is to have Lowell remove the default in its entirety. It seems to be down to luck weather this happens or not.
I had had two other debts;
debt 1. I wrote to the lender saying they shouldn't have accepted me in the first place as I already had x amount owed to other lenders. They agreed, removed the default and cleared the £500 debt (I only wrote one letter!).
debt 2. negotiated a 60% payment for removal of the default. I paid over 3 months and they removed it just as promised.

This is the last thing on my credit file, and while its quite a bit larger than the other two (1700 not 500), I'm still hopeful they will agree to remove it if I push hard enough.

[MIKE770]

Re: Vanquis and Lowell

any settlement should have a clause that the % rate is final and that the balance will not be passed on to another Debt Purchaser., before agreement.

[nick9one1]

Re: Vanquis and Lowell

also, going back to when the debt originally fell behind I received this email .

note the section... " I can still reverse the default in your name"

[warwick65]

Re: Vanquis and Lowell

I noticed they say they will reverse the debt but they may have marked AP and partially settled which can be just as damaging . Some creditors do not default and mark AP or arrears for years which ruins your credit file for everything

As for marking fully setlled, that rarely happens these days- they mark as partially settled however as Mike says it is the wording of the agreement that is important

[nick9one1]

Re: Vanquis and Lowell

It says reverse the default, not reverse the debt.

Reversing a default means removing it.

[warwick65]

Re: Vanquis and Lowell

Hi
maybe my choice of words were not so good but lets not get hung up on words

If you read the ICO guidance on registering defaults with your credit file , creditors are obliged to report the accurate position

Even if the default were removed and replaced with a partially satisfied marker or an AP marker it would still damage your credit file

http://www.scoronline.co.uk/sites/de...ment_final.pdf

[nick9one1]

Re: Vanquis and Lowell

Hi
maybe my choice of words were not so good but lets not get hung up on words

If you read the ICO guidance on registering defaults with your credit file , creditors are obliged to report the accurate position

Even if the default were removed and replaced with a partially satisfied marker or an AP marker it would still damage your credit file

http://www.scoronline.co.uk/sites/de...ment_final.pdf

I understand, and yes you are correct. But lets not forget, we are dealing with DCA's that often bend the rules to get a payment.

I have first hand experience of a DCA removing the default completely.
The agreement was that once I paid a negotiated amount, they would remove the default in its entirety. 2 weeks after the payment was made, the default disappeared completely and doesn't appear on any credit report at all (experian, equifax etc).

This isn't an isolated case, I've read numerous reports of others doing the same. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.