Red/lowells shop direct debt ........scary letter......help please.

[bflare]

Hi all,

 

I apparently have an outstanding debt of £237.48 to Shop Direct &

now i am guessing Red have bought the alleged debt.

 

I cannot remember any dealings with Shop Direct plus the letters from Red have been addressed to Antony

and not Tony as i am called.

 

i have two questions:

 

1. This is the letter i have received, what does it mean?

 

Final Communication

This is the final communication you will receive from Red Debt Collection Services in relation to payment of this account.

 

It is very disappointing that you have chosen not to respond to any requests for repayment

despite us offering you on a number of occasions the opportunity to pay a small monthly amount to clear debt.

 

What happens next

 

The next contact you receive will be from a process server who will be serving you personally with a Statutory Demand.

If you fail to comply with the terms of a Statutory Demand, Lowell Portfolio Ltd (Lowell) may petition the court for your bankruptcy.

 

Alternatively, you may receive a letter from the court regarding legal proceedings,

which Lowell may issue you against you

 

or

 

a debt collections agent who will be visiting you at home to discuss repayment.

 

If you want to avoid any further action you must set up a payment plan now.

We are still willing to accept monthly payments of £15.

 

2. I also have another alleged debt that Red are chasing me for thats around £2000 but its over 6 years old

so im guessing it Stature Barred,

due to this i have ignored the letters from them.

 

If i decide to pay the above in installments will that indicate that i must of received the other letters as they have been posted to the same address.

 

Thank you for reading.

 

Any help appreciated.

 

Tony.

[renegadeimp]

A SD for 237? Yea...... thats not going to work.

 

Send them the prove it letter, as they have not proven the debt is yours. Lowell seem to love using the SD as a scare tactic. Thats not to say they wont go for a CCJ, but since you say you havent had any dealings with Shop direct, and they have refused all attempts to prove the debt, a judge would look down on them.

 

Regarding the second debt, it wouldnt surprise me if Lowell merge the accounts together to try and get bankruptcy. You really MUST send them the SB letter if you are 100% sure the debt is statute barred, as they can continue chasing you until you tell them the debt is SB.

[oleg]

The "What happens next" paragraph employs a bog standard debt collection tactic:

 

start with the scariest threat then slip in an "alternative" or two.

 

In practice the scariest threat is the one least likely to be carried out.

 

Lowell are surfing gaily aboard their recently enhanced reputation, SDs-4-All, whether they intend it or not.

 

For such a measly sum, methinks not.

 

Others will disagree but, personally, I wouldn't even send them the "prove it" letter unless

and until they send a more substantive threat of legal action by way of eg a CCJ.

[fkofilee]

A SD for 237? Yea...... thats not going to work.

 

Send them the prove it letter, as they have not proven the debt is yours. Lowell seem to love using the SD as a scare tactic. Thats not to say they wont go for a CCJ, but since you say you havent had any dealings with Shop direct, and they have refused all attempts to prove the debt, a judge would look down on them.

 

Regarding the second debt, it wouldnt surprise me if Lowell merge the accounts together to try and get bankruptcy. You really MUST send them the SB letter if you are 100% sure the debt is statute barred, as they can continue chasing you until you tell them the debt is SB.

 

 

Imp is right, they may merge, which we have seen a few times, but it still means that they have to list out the full amounts for each individual debt.

Even so, if it is SB and they issue a SD for you, then you can have it set aside on grounds of it being SB... It may require a hearing but hey, the support here we can get it through.

 

Oleg, with Lowell Group (Coincidently Red and Lowell are one and the same) i would send a prove it letter for the Shop Direct account.

Could be interesting to say the least. Also Lowell are a PITA and are slowly becoming a real B****** to deal with

[unclebulgaria67]

They obviously think you are the person who had a Shop Direct debt. You could send them an amended CCA request letter and see what they come back. By amend I mean, you could state that you do not remember having a Shop Direct account and think they have contacted the wrong person. But then ask them to supply the CCA, if they can find one containing your details. ( Check your credit record and if it showing, ask for it to be removed, if Lowell group cannot prove that this debt is yours)

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?387435-CCA-Request-Consumer-Credit-Act-1974&p=4384118#post4384118

 

For the other debt of £2000, I think you really need to establish the date when you missed the payment due and the account went into default. Probably best to contact the original creditors to find out this information, by making an SAR request for copies of all statements of account, copies of all data held. I would not trust Lowell to provide the information. Once you know for definite it is statute barred, then you just tell Lowell that the debt is statute barred and that you do not want to be contacted again about it. The debt is effectively dead and should not be on your credit record.

[dx100uk]

as pointed out

 

READ the letter CAREFULLY.

 

its NOT an SD.

 

its a cleverly worded thread-o-gram

 

we 'could' go for an SD

alternatively we 'could' go for a CCJ

 

or

 

we could send a no legal powers doorstepper

 

have that letter loads of time before.

 

I very much doubt they'll merge the debts either.

 

I've got a neighbour whos got 7 debts of varying value all with lowells.

 

been that way since 2008

 

just keeps getting the same series of letters

from lowells/red/hamptons

over an over ..

 

pers I would NOT respond.

 

dx

[mikeymack2002]

DX100 is correct just forget till they try it on further down the line, keep the letter you may need it later.

 

MM

[dx100uk]

just for your ref

 

here is the exact letter you got

 

been around ages in many differing colours and formats

[bflare]

just for your ref

 

here is the exact letter you got

 

been around ages in many differing colours and formats

 

Yep thats the exact same letter!!!

[citizenB]

Have you ever received a Notice of Assignment from Lowells indicating that they have purchased a debt they believe to be yours ?

[renegadeimp]

Nice catch there DX

[dx100uk]

I've got every letter under sun here.

 

one day

it would be fun to post them up and actually dissect what they ACTUALLY mean to people

however, the answer is usually the same bugger all!!

[bflare]

as pointed out

 

READ the letter CAREFULLY.

 

its NOT an SD.

 

its a cleverly worded thread-o-gram

 

we 'could' go for an SD

alternatively we 'could' go for a CCJ

 

or

 

we could send a no legal powers doorstepper

 

have that letter loads of time before.

 

I very much doubt they'll merge the debts either.

 

I've got a neighbour whos got 7 debts of varying value all with lowells.

 

been that way since 2008

 

just keeps getting the same series of letters

from lowells/red/hamptons

over an over ..

 

pers I would NOT respond.

 

dx

 

Im back!!! I did not reply to the threat of Statutory Demand & i heard nothing until today when i have now received a letter from Lowell's explaining

 

"becuase you have failed to repay your account it will be sent to Advantis Credit Limited who are one of our approved debt collection agencies. All correspondence should be referred to this company from 06/12/2013"

 

Any idea who this bunch is now???

 

Thanks,

 

Tony.

[renegadeimp]

Some bottom of the barrel DCA who can safely be told to do one as the debt is in dispute.

[silverfox1961]

Hi

The Leeds Losers lose again they have realised you are not going to bite so they pas it on to another DCA to do the legwork.

 

Expect a few more 'oh-so-threatening' letters shortly.

 

You have to ask, If Lowell were sure of themselves, why did they pass it on? Makes you think!

[dx100uk]

yes that's the next in the chain of events.

 

expect phonecalls and emails

2-3 std threat-o-grams

 

then it'll goto RED and

 

you'll get discount letters

ranging from 25%, then

40%

50%

70%

 

hold your nerve

 

dx

[renegadeimp]

If lowell has passed on the debt, then you know theres something fishy with it.

[bflare]

Right guys i have received another letter from Advantis tittled NOTICE OF INTENT TO COMMENCE DEBT COLLECTION ACTION.

 

its saying i have 14 days to reply or possible action may be taken against me which is "a debt collector may be instructed to visit your address

and review your ability to repay this debt"

 

or

 

"Advantis credit may instruct solicicitors to commence legal action such as applying to the county court or a sheriffs court for judgment

or a decree against you to recover the outstanding debt"

 

Im guessing we need to look at the words "may" & "or"..........more scare tactics........am i correct????

 

Thanks,

 

Tony.

[oleg]

You are reading far too much into the mulch you are receiving.

When Lowell have exhausted their standard threat letter chain and decide someone is not worth pursuing in court, they simply farm it around what they call their "approved" DCAs, one of which is Advantis.

That letter you've now received, Notice of Intent to Commence . . . , is usually in reality a Notice of Decision to Give Up if You Don't Bite the Bait.

(I speak from experience, not speculation.)

It will get passed back to Leeds and eventually Lowell will send it to another bunch of clowns.

STOP YER FRETTING.

Seriously.

ps: Some of the senior mickey mouses at Advantis are ex-Lowell staff. FWIW.

[dx100uk]

exactly

 

dx

[bflare]

Thanks guys

[somethingelseplease]

Some good reading and I'm exactly the same as you mate, I read too much into some of the things these companies write

 

Some of it just gets my head going again and I statt getting worried and have to come on here to panic write haha

 

Your in the right place so don't go anywhere, these guys on here give fantastic advice and will steer you in the correct direction

 

I'm actually surprised Lowells get away with these actions, surpriesd the Government hasn't applied strict procedures on trying to claim debts

[oleg]

I will soon need to have an extension built to store the masses of letters I keep receiving from Lowell and their running dogs.

 

I am loathe to throw it away just in case they turn nasty but also, more importantly, because I may one day get round to posting up a gallery of Lowell Fine Art.

 

People are easily scared.

 

They fail to distinguish real intention from bluff and Lowell play on this with great relish.

.

@ bflare . . . How you getting on?

 

Did Advantis burn you at the stake,

 

baptise you in the Trent, set their Staffordshire Pit Bull on you . .

. or skulk off sulking?