Lowell Notice of acting - advice please

[sdw-oscar]

Hi to all and thank you in advance for reading my dilema.
I have received a Notice of Acting from Lowell Solicitors for a debt that belonged to my son for Unpaid T mobile bill 2012. When he first took out the mobile contract I think I signed the agreement as he was not on an electoral role at the address. Well he had the contract for a couple of years and got into financial difficulty and failed to pay. The debt has now reached £640 and appears to be in my name. I have never paid anything in relation to this account, as is not my debt. I have received numerous letters from Lowell but I have ignored them as not my debt. (my son has now moved away and doesn't have the means to pay either)
Please can anyone advise me on what the notice of acting letter means, are they preparing to take this to court? Can I dispute this as not being my debt.?
I am a single person, working for a small wage, paying rent, bills etc and do not have any disposable income to be able to settle this.
I have thought about sending a prove it letter, if this is a good idea then can someone provide a simple template that would be applicable, the ones i have found on here are too complicated for me to understand, I feel I cant send a letter that I do not understand myself. Any advice greatly appreciated, thank you.

[wales01man]

Re: Lowell Notice of acting - advice please

Who signed the agreement if ir was you its your debt others on here can advise what to do may take some time getting late now Can you ask your son to pay it?

[sdw-oscar]

Re: Lowell Notice of acting - advice please

So today, I have received a letter of claim from Lowel solicitors for pre action conduct and protocols contained in the civil procedure rules CPR, in particular paragraph 13-16 of the pre action PD bla bla bla. (didn'y understand that bit) I have 30 days to respond and a reply form to fill out. I have spent all afternoon online seeking advice. I am preparing to tick box C and box I, requesting a copy of the original agreement/contract, notice of assignment (if someone can tell me what that is I would be grateful), the default notice and a statement of account including interest charges. I am also planning to send a letter to Lowell requesting a copy of the agreement with a £1 postal order. Can anyone please advise on what this letter should contain. -

[Amethyst]

Re: Lowell Notice of acting - advice please

Morning [MENTION=110280]sdw-oscar[/MENTION];

There is some info on the pre-action procedures here -> PRE-ACTION

BOX C is I don’t know whether I owe the debt.

BOX I is I need more documents or information.

So yes those would be the right sections to complete in your case and sounds like you have the right documents to be asking for

original agreement/contract, notice of assignment, the default notice and a statement of account including interest charges

I'd also ask for a full breakdown of the account from it's inception.
Notice of Assignment is asking for a copy of a letter that T- Mobile should have sent to you originally informing you the account had been sold over to Lowell. They are obliged to notify you by law and they need to prove they have the rights to claim this money from you/your son.

You can find details on what to put in your CCA Letter here --> CCA Request Letter However with a mobile phone contract it may not be valid as airtime/data contracts are exempt from the CCA - unless your Son ( you really) had a separate handset credit agreement as well - it doesn't hurt to send one though. £640 is quite a lot, although usually if a contract is defaulted on in the early days they charge the full contract amount ( so 24 months etc ) and a cancellation charge.

Also check your credit file as it likely you will have a default showing on there for the debt if you signed the contract and put it all in your name.

[sdw-oscar]

Re: Lowell Notice of acting - advice please

Morning @sdw-oscar;

There is some info on the pre-action procedures here -> PRE-ACTION

BOX C is I don’t know whether I owe the debt.

BOX I is I need more documents or information.

So yes those would be the right sections to complete in your case and sounds like you have the right documents to be asking for

I'd also ask for a full breakdown of the account from it's inception.
Notice of Assignment is asking for a copy of a letter that T- Mobile should have sent to you originally informing you the account had been sold over to Lowell. They are obliged to notify you by law and they need to prove they have the rights to claim this money from you/your son.

You can find details on what to put in your CCA Letter here --> CCA Request Letter However with a mobile phone contract it may not be valid as airtime/data contracts are exempt from the CCA - unless your Son ( you really) had a separate handset credit agreement as well - it doesn't hurt to send one though. £640 is quite a lot, although usually if a contract is defaulted on in the early days they charge the full contract amount ( so 24 months etc ) and a cancellation charge.

Also check your credit file as it likely you will have a default showing on there for the debt if you signed the contract and put it all in your name.

Thank you so much 'Amethyst' I appreciate your advice, will submit that information.

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Thank you so much 'Amethyst' I appreciate your advice, will submit that information.