Lowell, etcetera.

[Hheyes]

I have a friend with various debts totalling several thousand and which are now with Lowell.

To date she's ignored all requests for payment because a) she doesn't have any spare money with which to make payment, and b) I told her that I've had a similar situation with my own debts which suggests they're unlikely to seek a CCJ - possibly ever and certainly not quickly.

Realising that b) is thoroughly cavalier and recklessly poor advice, I'm wondering how she should sensibly proceed? She can accept the wrecked credit rating, but doesn't want the additional hassle of CCJ.

[Inca]

Re: Lowell, etcetera.

:bump:

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Lowell, etcetera.

I have a friend with various debts totalling several thousand and which are now with Lowell.

To date she's ignored all requests for payment because a) she doesn't have any spare money with which to make payment, and b) I told her that I've had a similar situation with my own debts which suggests they're unlikely to seek a CCJ - possibly ever and certainly not quickly.

Realising that b) is thoroughly cavalier and recklessly poor advice, I'm wondering how she should sensibly proceed? She can accept the wrecked credit rating, but doesn't want the additional hassle of CCJ.

Sorry about the late reply.

It's never a good idea to ignore letters from creditors, even less so where Lowell are concerned, given how fond they are of statutory demands! :scared:

What to respond with depends on the nature of the debts, for some it may be appropriate to send a CCA request, others may be statute barred if there's been no payment or written acknowledgement in 6 years.

[Hheyes]

Re: Lowell, etcetera.

Thanks.

Much later than intended (I'd been unwell and then simply forgot/didn't bother with this issue), my reply is even later than yours. Sorry.

Anyway...

Yesterday she received a 'we've been instructed to file court papers' letter from Bryan Carter, so clearly my advice was crap. (I must have just been lucky with my own situation never being pursued).

With the latter being dated March 27 and apparently taking 3 weeks to arrive, their deadline for 'payment or agreement' has passed, so I assume she'll get Court paperwork soon.

Debt is Shop Direct or similar (not sure which because paperwork has long since been binned) and probably since 2009 so unlikely to be statute barred.

And although the amounts may be wrong, I can't see any possible defence to 'you owe a considerable amount'.

I suppose it's still worth contacting them with a 'sorry, can I make an arrangement to pay - how little will you accept?' request.

Other than that I see no option to admitting the claim and asking for an affordable repayment schedule.

Beyond that, and although perhaps not the decent thing to do, I'm wondering what the options are for 'repaying as little as possible to settle'... a few years ago one of my daughters had a Court order under which she made minimal payments for a year and then the debt was reduced to just 10% of the original - which she then paid and was clear.

[Celestine]

Re: Lowell, etcetera.

Has she sent CCA requests on any of the debts? (If theyre credit cards, loans, catalogues?)

[Hheyes]

Re: Lowell, etcetera.

Has she sent CCA requests on any of the debts? (If theyre credit cards, loans, catalogues?)

I've no idea what's been received - and didn't want to lose goodwill be needlessly querying things.
Clearly she owes something, for which there's a moral duty to repay - but my less-than-pure motives tend toward finding a get-out if there is one.

[Celestine]

Re: Lowell, etcetera.

OK...

If a creditor or debt purchaser plan to sue you or bankrupt you, don't you think they should produce a copy of the original contract which created the relationship in the first place?

[Hheyes]

Re: Lowell, etcetera.

OK...

If a creditor or debt purchaser plan to sue you or bankrupt you, don't you think they should produce a copy of the original contract which created the relationship in the first place?

Yes, of course the paperwork should be right.

Naively, I'll guess that they're legally able to proceed and that their numbers are accurate - with everything computerised it'd be hard to get it wrong and plain silly to fake stuff.

As this case is genuinely that of a friend rather than me personally, I'm trying to be responsible and look after her best interests.

She spent some money and should pay what she owes. But she doesn't have it.

And whilst I don't want her to needlessly struggle financially through paying money to someone who can afford to do without it, neither do I want to risk loss of goodwill by messing the creditor and/or Courts around.

Whatever my view of of bulk debt purchasers and the associated industry, I don't think she's being treated badly or unlawfully - I'm just trying to find the smart way to help her.

Perhaps irrelevantly, whilst I'm all for genuinely helping those who really need it, I'm personally troubled by the many trying to 'find any way possible to avoid paying what's owed'.

I include myself among the latter group; over the years, part of me has always wanted to do the honorable thing and pay what's due. Another part hasn't - and has in consequence thereof sought ways to wiggle out.

[Ruby]

Re: Lowell, etcetera.

I have three 'accounts' with Lowell, none of which have supporting paperwork ie. I have done CCA requests and got either nothing back or else a sloppy application form. All three are very old credit cards. I would like to believe that I am a decent human being but Lowell are a company that has the morals of a sewer rat therefore in this case I sleep easy.

Despite the above they still periodically send threatening letters, which I ignore. I am pretty certain that all three accounts are now statute barred or about to be.

[Hheyes]

Re: Lowell, etcetera.

I would like to believe that I am a decent human being but Lowell are a company that has the morals of a sewer rat therefore in this case I sleep easy.

Despite the above they still periodically send threatening letters, which I ignore. I am pretty certain that all three accounts are now statute barred or about to be.

That's something which I understand and have done myself. It's also a position I'd lean toward here with my friend.

Although she spent the money (several years ago) she isn't now able (there's a back story of longer term illness) to meaningfully repay and I don't want her to struggle financially. Moreover though, I want to avoid the issue of a CCJ and associated bailiff enforcement. The credit rating is probably now screwed anyway so that's not a consideration.

Not having enough knowledge, I'd imagine the plaintiff morality or lack thereof would be irrelevant to a Court - with some presumption that they actually have the right to bring the action.

It's not an issue of them blatantly abusing the process or unfairly treating my friend, simply them trying to do something they're legally and morally entitled to.

Personally, my preference would be to do what I've done for myself and others years ago - explain 'there's no chance of meaningful repayment now, but that may change in 6 months - will you accept a token monthly payment and take no further action during that time?'.

Hence my reluctance to compromise possible goodwill by seeming to unreasonably question things or otherwise take an adversarial stance.

My considered view is that I should simply approach the creditor on her behalf, briefly explain that I'm a friend helping her deal with this and various other issues in a difficult period, and then try to get a third party 'helper' organisation (CAB?) to continue the contact with them.

Suggestions appreciated - please, thanks, etc.

[wales01man]

Re: Lowell, etcetera.

She has 3 choices really

1 Ignore the debts until a CCJ is threatened

2 Try to come to an arrangement to pay however small the payments are and what she can afford either with or without outside help

3 Pay off the totals to avoid further action and CCJs probably not possible

Some of us on here cannot pay our debts some have CCJs and some have agreed payment plans. Doing the right thing as you say is OK if circumstances permit but if they have no money to pay the debts they simply cannot.
Whatever is decided there is plenty of help and advice on here take time to think with your friend the way forward Debt is common to a lot of people help is always there and don't let the debt collectors get on top of the situation all they want is the money and do not give a monkeys how they get it hassling people is the norm

[Hheyes]

Re: Lowell, etcetera.

She has 3 choices really

1 Ignore the debts until a CCJ is threatened

That's what I'd advised - and it's now at the point where I believe they'll issue... I'd previously though that because they apparently buy the debt so cheaply that they wouldn't want to spend the Court fees, but I'm sure I'm wrong on this and that they do in some cases proceed.

Maybe someone else can add to this - in what point, in which circumstances etc do they seek a ccj?

[wales01man]

Re: Lowell, etcetera.

In our case despite being pestered with threatograms for over 4 years for several debts with several DCAs we have not been taken to court the reason I suspect that by looking at our credit files and no doubt with other info they can obtain that we have no money to pay this may or may not be the case here but even the thickest DCA knows you cannot get blood out of a stone

[ostell]

Re: Lowell, etcetera.

Naively, I'll guess that they're legally able to proceed and that their numbers are accurate - with everything computerised it'd be hard to get it wrong and plain silly to fake stuff.

To err is human, to really cock things up takes a computer.

Never believe what the computer says. Garbage in, garbage out

[Ruby]

Re: Lowell, etcetera.

I went down the route of requesting supporting documentation for the accounts and all I got back was one piece of paper, which was an application form for one account. They have tried to fog me off that the accounts are legally enforceable and that is all the documentation they need to supply blah, blah, blah.....

This all happened sometime ago and I know that regulations are tightening all the time to bring DCA's into line, but whether it is working is another story.

My penny's worth of advice it to do a CCA request