Lowell bought old HBOS debt

[Ant80]

Hi folks, looking for advice, background here: http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/...e-help-request

I have received the following from Lowell, who appear to have bought an old HBOS personal loan. Alleged outstanding amount ~ £2k plus ~£500 of penalty charges, I can't remember exactly when I took the loan out but I think it was 2006 or 2007. I know this is relevant due to changes in CCA, I am spring-cleaning this week and will try to find it. Specific questions:

- I found the 'Prove It' and non-acknowledgement-of-debt templates for CCA dealing with DCA, mainly here: http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/...ing-with-DCA-s
I note the threads were started in 2008, is the method still valid, and any required amendments over the years?

- the BOS letter is clearly faked, printed off by Lowells as a batch with the other letter. Any mileage in this?

- I presume the mention of the data controller stuff is so they can mess with my credit record. I can live with the defaults from the original debt being on there, I'm not so fussed about a DCA buying the debt for peanuts and then starting to mess with a 'new' default. Anything I can do about?

This also runs concurrently with a HBOS credit card deby bought by Cabot - I have started a similar thread on the Cabot forum, please let me know if it is easier to merge the two as I suspect the advice will be the same for both?

Thank you!

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Lowell bought old HBOS debt

Hi folks, looking for advice, background here: http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/...e-help-request

I have received the following from Lowell, who appear to have bought an old HBOS personal loan. Alleged outstanding amount ~ £2k plus ~£500 of penalty charges, I can't remember exactly when I took the loan out but I think it was 2006 or 2007. I know this is relevant due to changes in CCA, I am spring-cleaning this week and will try to find it. Specific questions:

- I found the 'Prove It' and non-acknowledgement-of-debt templates for CCA dealing with DCA, mainly here: http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/...ing-with-DCA-s
I note the threads were started in 2008, is the method still valid, and any required amendments over the years?

The method is still valid but the wording has changed, for starters the OFT is no more, having been replaced by the FCA. The CCA requests are here, despite being a post from 2007 you'll note it was updated in March 2014. http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/...y-of-Agreement

The new prove it letter can be found here: http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/...171#post440171

- the BOS letter is clearly faked, printed off by Lowells as a batch with the other letter. Any mileage in this?

Probably not, you also have the NoA from Lowell.

- I presume the mention of the data controller stuff is so they can mess with my credit record. I can live with the defaults from the original debt being on there, I'm not so fussed about a DCA buying the debt for peanuts and then starting to mess with a 'new' default. Anything I can do about?

Yes, if Lowell record a fresh default on your credit file (as they so often do :mad2, you should write to them, ideally with something that would show the original default date. If they don't amend the records, you'd complain to the ICO. :thumb:

This also runs concurrently with a HBOS credit card deby bought by Cabot - I have started a similar thread on the Cabot forum, please let me know if it is easier to merge the two as I suspect the advice will be the same for both?

Every account is different.

I can see a statement with a zero balance. :noidea: But nothing that resembles an agreement, have you sent a CCA request or just a prove-it letter? If so, when did you send it?

[Ant80]

Re: Lowell bought old HBOS debt

Hi FP, thank you for replying. In reverse order:

I can see a statement with a zero balance. :noidea: But nothing that resembles an agreement, have you sent a CCA request or just a prove-it letter? If so, when did you send it?

Sorry, not zero - I've covered up the amounts in question in case Lowells snoop on the forum. It's a white covering box on white background! I've not sent anything yet, that's what I'm hoping for advice on. I've been ignoring the previous round of fishing letters when HBOS still held the account but not it looks like the debt has been sold to Lowells I think I might be better taking action now instead of risking them CCJ'ing or SD'ing me? This is the first letter I've received from Lowell.

Yes, if Lowell record a fresh default on your credit file (as they so often do :mad2, you should write to them, ideally with something that would show the original default date. If they don't amend the records, you'd complain to the ICO. :thumb:

Thank you - is there somewhere I can find more info on how to defend against this, any existing templates?

The method is still valid but the wording has changed, for starters the OFT is no more, having been replaced by the FCA. The CCA requests are here, despite being a post from 2007 you'll note it was updated in March 2014. http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/...y-of-Agreement...

Excellent, thank you so much!

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Lowell bought old HBOS debt

Sorry, not zero - I've covered up the amounts in question in case Lowells snoop on the forum. It's a white covering box on white background! I've not sent anything yet, that's what I'm hoping for advice on. I've been ignoring the previous round of fishing letters when HBOS still held the account but not it looks like the debt has been sold to Lowells I think I might be better taking action now instead of risking them CCJ'ing or SD'ing me? This is the first letter I've received from Lowell.

Absolutely! It pays to be prepared!

Thank you - is there somewhere I can find more info on how to defend against this, any existing templates?
Excellent, thank you so much!

These are the new principles for reporting to the CRAs: http://www.scoronline.co.uk/files/sc...ment_final.pdf

Below are some bits you may want to quote. It would help if you had something showing the date when you actually defaulted, even if not the default notice itself, notices of sums in arrears, other letters or statements dating back to when you stopped your payments. :thumb:

Should your account be sold or referred to another lending organisation or a debt collection agency, the record(s) provided to a CRA by the creditor/and or purchaser must still be accurate and up to date. In all instances you should be told whether and how the information will be reported on your credit file.

The date of default recorded on the file would normally be the date on which a decision to file a default becomes effective, e.g. 28 days from the date of the default notice.