[help] red dca and lowell

[Ihatedca's]

Ok here goes i am new to this stuff and i am trying to help my mum and dad with there debt please could you advise me?

 

My mum and dad both got mobiles on contract and they finished their contract and never missed a payment now this was about 2-3 years ago and then all of a sudden they got letters through the door asking for money my dad got 3 letters and my mum got 6 in 4 of the 6 letters that my mum received the name was wrong on them and they are saying that they had 4 contracts for mobile phones they are basically demanding the money.

 

I have more details if you would like them just ask and i will provide them.

please help me :-?

[SharpmanTF1]

sounds a little dodgy to me. try contacting the 'phone company' concerned and enquire what they are playing at. if you cleared the contracts then why are they chasing you.

 

bumping for a mobile phone bod for this one

 

sharpman

[Ihatedca's]

yeh they only had 2 accounts but they are saying that they had 4.

[Jesteruk]

Red/Lowell are the same company, one buys the other chases.

 

Your parents need to contact the mobile companies, in writing preferably, to find out what is owed and for what. In the mean time get them to send a "prove it letter" to lowells, this should delay them for a while.

 

Make sure they do not sign the letters and only Print there name.

Never speak to them on the phone either, all communication is to be in writing only.

 

Prove it letter:

 

Dear Sir/Madam

 

Account no:

 

You have contacted me/us regarding the account with the above reference number, which you claim is owed by myself/ourselves.

 

I/we would point out that I/we have no knowledge of any such debt being owed to (insert company name).

 

I am/we are familiar with the Office of Fair Trading Debt Collection Guidance which states that it unfair to send demands for payment to an individual when it is uncertain that they are the debtor in question.

 

I/we would also point out that the OFT say under the Guidance that it is unfair to pursue third parties for payment when they are not liable. In not ceasing collection activity whilst investigating a reasonably queried or disputed debt you are using deceptive/and or unfair methods.

 

Furthermore ignoring and/or disregarding claims that debts have been settled or are disputed and continuing to make unjustified demands for payment amounts to physical/psychological harassment.

 

I/we would ask that no further contact be made concerning the above account unless you can provide evidence as to my/our liability for the debt in question.

 

I/we await your written confirmation that this matter is now closed. Otherwise I will have no option but to make a complaint to the trading standards department and consider informing the OFT of your actions.

 

I/we look forward to your reply.

 

**Edit to suit**

 

pinched form another post somewhere! LOL

[Ihatedca's]

ok can i send one of those cca requests to them?

If so can you point me to were i can find out how to do it or direct me on how to do it and what should happen

thanks in advance

[Jesteruk]

CCA request is no good for mobile phone contracts

send the letter above edit to suit ya needs.

if that brings up nothing the next best step would be to request a SAR

 

Basically it costs £10.00 and you end up recieving everything the company holds on you, this will also include copies of all statements.

 

but in the mean time send off that letter, they should put all action on hold whilst they investigate it with there client.

[Ihatedca's]

just like to ask aswell my mum and dad also have a debt with iqor recovery that was passed on to them by child support can you send a cca to them.

 

and also if i send the above letter to lowell what do i send to the mobile company.

 

thanks in advance

[Ihatedca's]

Help anyone oh yes and by the way my dad is disabled and he is my step dad but i refer to him as dad and also the child support debt is for £9000 and at the minute they can barely afford to feed themselfs never mind pay these debts which are not theres.

[Jesteruk]

The debt with the CSA is not something covered by a CCA request. CCA is for items such as Credit cards or anything else governed by the consumer credit Act.

In my opinion your parents need to get onto this site and start reading some of the posts, it would be better that way rather then you relaying what you have read, if hey read it themselves they may have a better understanding of the things they need to do

[Ihatedca's]

believe me they wont that is why i am trying to do it for them my dad is like 50 and does not really know how to even use a pc nor does my mum lol

[Ihatedca's]

help please

[Ihatedca's]

please can someone help me i also need help with a child support debt that has been refered to iqor debt recovery

 

thanks in advance

[rory32]

The first thing to do is send the letter that was previously posted, preferably via recorded delivery. A DCA has no legal powers. They can not just demand money. They have to prove that any debt exists.

 

Regarding the CSA debt, I would start another thread on that and deal with it seperately. Is the CSA debt your Dads? Is he on state benefits?

[Ihatedca's]

Yes it is my dads and he is on dla and they are asking him for £9000 from 1996 to 1999 and he has 2 kids in the house to care for plus he signed the house over to his ex wife when they split up plus in the time that they are claiming for 1 of my stepbrothers actually lived with us for 10 months.

[Ihatedca's]

He does not even get income support either.

[rory32]

When did they first ask for this money?

 

The account may be effectively barred from any enforcement.

 

From 12th July 2006, a liability order can be sought no matter how old the debt, except for amounts that became due on or before 12 july 2000. Debts that are older than six years on 12 july 2006 cannot be enforced and will be recovered by other methods such as Deduction from Earnings orders (which wouldn't be possible in this case). The six years do not begin to run until the non-resident parent is notified of the assessment or calculation.

 

So, in essence, the time limit starts when the debt became due, any idea of when this was?

 

Even if it is enforceable the amount that they would be able to reclaim from your Dad would probably be no more than 1 pound a month due to being on dla.

[Ihatedca's]

They took £600 of him in 98 and i think this was the first time and the last time they contacted him up until a couple of months ago

[rory32]

Okay. I think what he should do is send the statute barred letter initially to IQOR and see what they come back with. They may just decide to pass the account back to the CSA.

 

Also include that you are aware that child support debts that are older than six years on 12 july 2006 cannot be enforced via a liability order.

 

You can find the statute barred letter here (template M). Again this should be sent recorded delivery and unsigned.

[Ihatedca's]

we might not be able to use that because my dad was stupid and agreed to pay because they were being so intimadating please could you tell me if we can still use it thanks.

[rory32]

How did he agree to pay? Was it over the phone? And did he actually make any payment?

[Ihatedca's]

it was over the phone and he made 4 payments of £25 by check because they bullied him into it.

[rory32]

Okay. It weakens his case slightly as it's been acknowledged but he can still send the statute barred letter because the Limitation Act limits the time that can be taken to take a course of action to enforce a debt i.e court action through a CCJ or a Liability Order. Once the 6 year period is up then this time period can not be reset even if the debt is acknowledged.

[Ihatedca's]

cool so even if it is a child support thing it can be statute barred.

[Ihatedca's]

anyone

[rory32]

The 6 year limit doesn't apply to child support anymore as it was removed but the change only affects debt incurred after 12th July 2000. So as the debt would appear to be before this date they are very limited in how they can collect it.

 

However, the limitation period only prevents the sum being recovered in court proceedings; it does not preclude the Secretary of State from recovering it by way of deduction from benefits. That being said any deduction would be set at a very low rate.