Hi

Yes by paying you have admitted to the debt and should continue paying.

Lowell are a genuine company but some of the debts that they purchase or chase for are often disputed debts. The debt may not be owed, once you have looked into the matter with the original creditor Vodafone.

What you should do.

1) Keep paying Lowell

2) Start a complaint with Vodafone. Send a letter by recorded delivery addressed to Customer Service Director, Complaints, Vodafone House, The Connection, Newbury, Berkshire RG14 2FN. You could make a subject access request under the Data Protection act asking them for full details of the account in question. It will cost you a fee of £10, which is the maximum they can charge. In the information, it should contain all the statements, all account information held and all letters they have sent to you. If they have sold the debt on, they should have written to the address held on their records.

What you may find, is that following your complaint to Vodafone, is that the debt is not actually due. If this is the case and Vodafone admit this in writing, you can request the money paid back, plus compensation.

If you read some of the other threads on this site, there have been cases where people have been chased for debts in error. I have a feeling that some of the mobile phone companies are not very good with their accounts records. Perhaps they show accounts are still running, when in fact they have been cancelled.

Huckster

I received a letter today from Lowell Portfolio stating they had brought a debt of mine dating back 3 years from a previous address, the amount is £208, the debt was originally from a contract phone which i cancelled early, I was not aware of this debt until today. Without thinking i called the company who were rather rude and adamant i had to make a payment today so naively i came to an arrangement with them and gave them my card details. I've since googled the company and now an unsure what to do. It seems they buy out old debts. I just checked my credit report and there is nothing in there to say i owe money to these people nor vodafone who i since have another contract with and they did not refuse my contract when i applied again. There is 2 searches made on my name by these people but again no red mark to say i owe to these people! So my question is, as i made a payment today is that basically me acknowledging the debt and therefore now i must remain paying? Or is this some scam? How do i find out f i really do owe this money and how can i make sure that i'm paying to genuine company and that once its paid there'll be no mention of it again? Any advice gratefully received.