Under no circumstances should you acknowledge a debt by a third party. It is upto them to prove the case in a court of law. They will need to supply documented evidence including written signatures on documents and also prove that it is your signature / hand writting. You can claim ID theft which they will need to also disprove to a court.

Yes, they will threaten court action, home visits, bankcruptcy, abusive phone calls, etc.

In reality, it is very difficult for these third party debt recovery agancies to prove, unless you make payments or acknowledge the debt in writting.

If you need any further guidance or help then email XXXXX

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Hello,

good old lowell can some one point me in the right direction here as i seem to be hitting a brick wall with these "£$%^&. you get the point! Anyway i owed a small amount of money to them and i gave them my card details to take one amount of 30 pounds then in the next month they have subsequently taken the remaining balance of my account. I was under the impression that this was completely illegal to do. As in keep my card details recorded on their dadabase and then go eland use them without my consent or even my knowledge. this has now made me go overdrawn massively. I have spoken to Lowell and they are not co-operative in any way shape or form as happy days for them they have cleared yet another spurious debt for Capital One. Which i have always contested oweing.

Can some one please help me in a resolution to this as now my bank are hammering me for charges.

xbx26:Hi to everyone,i too have recieved a letter from this company.apartly i owe them money??? but after reading to everyones letters i feel much better that i'm not a lone in this problem.i phone them to ask about the debt and all they could tell me is that it was to do with a overdaft on a bank account i had over 10 years ago and i do not use anymore or have contact with so to my knowledge i thought the account was closed.i recieved the letter on 07/04/2008 and phoned them straight away,have i made a mistake by phone them?this is my question!while talking to them they nearly had me,we even started talking about monthly payments to pay back the money but when i asked if they could send me details about the debt and the monthly payments the guy said that he couldn't do that till i paid at least £5!!!.so then i explained i didn't want to give out my bank details over the phone without some proof.to that he had no relpy so then i asked well have you got a web site so that i can check you out so he said just put the lowell portfolio 1 in the search engine.BIG mistake because this is how i found out about this forum.so what do i do now?shall i just wait till they send me another letter?

Interesting! A debt which you had over 10 years ago would likely be "statute barred" by the Limitation Act 1980 Section 5 (which someone else has already quoted on this thread). For you to be forced to pay an amount in settlement of this debt before the debt collection agency would even discuss repayments with you could thus potentially be construed as a tactic to make you make a payment towards that debt, in an attempt to reset the 6-year clock under the legislation and thus attempt to make the debt legally enforceable once more.

In which case, by not making a payment, and by not having admitted the debt in writing, it should still remain statute barred. In which case, refer to this link, http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_wales/factsheet.php?page=25_liability_for_debts_and_the_limitation_act and use a variant of their sample letter to write to the debt collection agency to say that you do not acknowledge the debt, citing the statute barred legislation.

Ronnie R:

You won't have heard the last of them. They have a really bad trace system. They will send appox 50000 debtors details to Experian to be searched. If they get details of a linked address,recent Credit applications or X/D telephone number they will send out a letter asking to be contacted. Well with the motto of "throw enough mud and some will stick" what else can you expect. If they don't get a reply it will just go back into the system and retraced at a later date. You did the right thing asking for proof as they will not be able to provide it.

Are you certain that this is the case? If so, then this could possibly be deemed an "unfair practice" by the Office of Fair Trading under their guidelines for debt collection, http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/business_leaflets/consumer_credit/oft664.pdf

In particular, Section 2.8(a) of this document cites the following practice as being unfair:

"sending demands for payment to an individual when it is uncertain that they are the debtor in question, for example, threatening debt recovery action to 'the occupier' or sending a payment demand to all people sharing the same name/date of birth as a debtor in the hope that contact with the correct debtor will be made."

The BBC's "One Show" recently did a report where Lowells were explicitly mentioned as allegedly contacting the wrong person with regards to a debt that he did not owe, http://www.bbc.co.uk/theoneshow/article/2008/06/dld_debtletters.shtml (click on the video link for the report by Dominic Littlewood which mentions Lowells by name).

Debt collection agencies must abide by guidelines set down by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT). The following link on the OFT's website gives more information: http://www.oft.gov.uk/advice_and_resources/resource_base/legal/cca/debt-collection

In particular there is a PDF document which you can download which gives a comprehensive list of what the OFT deems "unfair practices" - http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/business_leaflets/consumer_credit/oft664.pdf and a Word document complaint form which can be used to contact the OFT if you believe that a debt collection agency has broken any of the guidelines: http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/business_leaflets/consumer_credit/DebtCollectionComplaintForm.DOC

The Office of Fair Trading has the power to revoke a Consumer Credit Licence should a company be found to be in serious breach of the rules.

Hi Mr....

In reply to your question. You are in luck as they can no longer ask you to pay ths debt off. As they have left it for over 6 years. This means that the debt as to be deleted. It only stays on a credit report for 6 years after this it as to be deleted as Payment OK.

Dont pay it... They are trying to get money out of you that they are no longer intitled too. Go to the CAB they will tell you. And if that guy calls again, Tell him to check this forum out. And then he will see for himself that there company are not successful.....

Jai

Hi to everyone,i too have recieved a letter from this company.apartly i owe them money??? but after reading to everyones letters i feel much better that i'm not a lone in this problem.i phone them to ask about the debt and all they could tell me is that it was to do with a overdaft on a bank account i had over 10 years ago and i do not use anymore or have contact with so to my knowledge i thought the account was closed.i recieved the letter on 07/04/2008 and phoned them straight away,have i made a mistake by phone them?this is my question!while talking to them they nearly had me,we even started talking about monthly payments to pay back the money but when i asked if they could send me details about the debt and the monthly payments the guy said that he couldn't do that till i paid at least £5!!!.so then i explained i didn't want to give out my bank details over the phone without some proof.to that he had no relpy so then i asked well have you got a web site so that i can check you out so he said just put the lowell portfolio 1 in the search engine.BIG mistake because this is how i found out about this forum.so what do i do now?shall i just wait till they send me another letter?

tyre man:hi everyone i have been sucked into the lowell trap i got a letter a few months ago for a credit card i had when i received it i was shocked at the amount outstanding so i started paying back over a hundred pounds a month but because at the moment i have swapt employment i have had to stop payments since i have done this i have about 8 calls on my mobile aday and 4 calls on my home phone i think this is harrasment i know i owe money but when i have got it the will get it i have asked if my payments can be reduced by half a month if not i said i would take legal advice do you think i am doing the right thing .

Hi Tyer Man.

Sorry this is a bit of a late response. I was so tiard last night i couldn't see my pc screen LOL!!!!

Yes you are doing the right thing. Please dont get stressed because of Lowell Financial. Did you know that your credit card company didn't give the debt to them Lowell Financial buys the debt from the credit card comapny.

This is why thet are calling you so much because every payment they get from you they get there money too. hey arrased me for over a year regarding a debt that wasn't mine.

My advise is when they next phone you. Tell them if you have not already done so that you have recently changed employment & explain that you cannot affored to pay the ammount you was paying and dont ask them if it can be reduced tell them you want it reduced they cannot say no as you can pay as little as a one pound a week, I know this as my friend only pays one pound a week they cannot refuse. And if they do they cannot take any furthure action as you have made them an offer and they declined it...

This is harrament what they are doing to you they should not be calling you like this. Tell them to stop calling as it is harresment and that you have exlained your circumstancies and to leave you alone until you have sufficiant funds to give to them, And if the calls continue. I advise that you logg all your calls and go to the CAB and make a complaint they will help you... I know it sounds like a long process but it is well worth doing. I hear nothing frm Lowell now as i went to the CAB and they wrote to the company explaining.

Hope this helps

Jay

• Post Points: 5

hi everyone i have been sucked into the lowell trap i got a letter a few months ago for a credit card i had when i received it i was shocked at the amount outstanding so i started paying back over a hundred pounds a month but because at the moment i have swapt employment i have had to stop payments since i have done this i have about 8 calls on my mobile aday and 4 calls on my home phone i think this is harrasment i know i owe money but when i have got it the will get it i have asked if my payments can be reduced by half a month if not i said i would take legal advice do you think i am doing the right thing .

You won't have heard the last of them. They have a really bad trace system. They will send appox 50000 debtors details to Experian to be searched. If they get details of a linked address,recent Credit applications or X/D telephone number they will send out a letter asking to be contacted. Well withthe motto of "throw enough mud and some will stick" what else can you expect. If they don't get a reply it will just go backinto the system and retraced at a later date. You did the right thing asking for proof as they will not be able to provide it.

Hi, I had this problem with Lowell Fianace, They kept sending letters to my address for the previouse occupants, I then told them that he does not live here and returned all there letters back, they then sent another letter saying that they have proof of the last occupants living at my address. I then sent a letter back asking them for proof along with a letter saying that if they dont stop harrasing me i will take them to court, never heard nothing since, Try it it works

Big Jasey I am afraid you are incorrect. Payement of the £1 is laid down in the Consumer Credit Act 1974 and does need to be paid to secure the copy of the signed agreement. Paying it, as long as it is accomapanied by a "I do not acknowledge the debt" is not an admission of liability.

Hi there,

Wow! That is amazing. How can they be allowed to do this? Where has their authority come from?

A question springs to mind, once a debt has reached statute barred status (because it hasn't been pursued for 6 years), surely it must remain that way, how can responding to their letter make it 'chaseable' again if it is after this period has elapsed?

I have looked at HMRC website and viewed the 1980 Limitations Act. In my opinion the debt collector cannot legally make a debtor pay in such circumstances!!

Thanks,

Richard

Hi I have posted my problem earlier and I am so glad i found this website its amazing so many people having probs with Debt Collection Agencies. I am currently being persued for debts that aint mine, apparently I share the same name and dob as the debtor. That company Lowell have been sending me loadsa letters so have that McKenzie Hall arent they horrible people to deal with. How did your partner prove her dispute?

hi everyone. as you may remember last week there was a discussion about lowell buying bulk load of statute barred debts and attempting to chase people for these, or if you are new to the forum, please take note.

this applied to my partner as i explained and as we all discussed, i made sure that my partner disputed the debt and requested proof as required by law.

my partner has now received a letter from lowell saying that if a cheque is sent to them for £1.00, they will provide my partners credit agreement showing the debt.

lowell, i hope you see this.

this is a trick, do not respond to the letter.

lowell are required by law to provide proof of the debt, and the fact that it is outstanding within twelve days of the request, otherwise the debt is 'still' classed as statute barred and unenforcable. any attempts by the collector to resume contact for its collection is tantamount to harrasment, which can result in the removal of their licence.

if you respond to the letter or send payment you will be classed as 'admitting the debt' where they will commence legal proceedings by passing the account to mackenzie hall to issue a claim form and you will be liable to further costs and heartache.

please make sure you reas this and take note.