Caesar UE Diary

[Kenny91]

Hi guys, Kenny91

As you said in December, Lowell came back with 60% discount. They have offered me to pay pay the discounted balance in 12 instalments and I have a month to accept or reject their offer. This sounds tempting because there is long way until SB, but on the other hand I feel they don't have their paperwork in order.

I will think about it, but in case I decide to accept it, how should I approached them, in order not to be tricked and forced to pay the full balance?

Hi Caesar,

I'm not an expert, but I don't think there's any right or wrong way to handle such offers, with the "correct" course of action the one you feel most comfortable with. Peace of mind is priceless.

My understanding of SB legislation is that if you don't acknowledge the alleged debt in WRITING then the SB clock won't reset. As such, I'd be tempted to offer them a figure OVER THE PHONE of just 10-12% of the debt and see if they bite/counter. You could perhaps offer to pay over 1-3 months to secure a discount at the higher end of the range.

To be on the safe side, get them to email/post it to you rather than be enticed into signing into their website that might have a hidden T&C about such a log-in being acknowledgement of the alleged debt.

My gut feel is Lowell would have taken legal action by now if they had all the right paperwork, as they are one of the tighter/trigger happy legal process DCA's according to multiple posts both here and on other reputable forums.

I note your alleged debt relates to an overdraft rather than a loan/credit card and there appear to be conflicting views about whether CCA legislation applies to ODs. JCS and other knowledgable posters here say it does, but on some other sites that view is disputed.

In terms of their offer, the letters usually state quite clearly that once the discount figure is paid in full, the account is closed/balance cleared. So, I doubt there'd be anyone chasing you in the future. FWIW, I've not seen any posts here or elsewhere saying Lowell have played dirty with partially settled accounts, so that bodes well.

I'm actually considering my settlement options with them over the next few weeks, so may have an update on my diary late next month/April.

Let us know how you get on and I'll do the same in due course.

K91

[wineaddict2020]

Hi guys, Kenny91

As you said in December, Lowell came back with 60% discount. They have offered me to pay pay the discounted balance in 12 instalments and I have a month to accept or reject their offer. This sounds tempting because there is long way until SB, but on the other hand I feel they don't have their paperwork in order.

I will think about it, but in case I decide to accept it, how should I approached them, in order not to be tricked and forced to pay the full balance?

I know you feel like SB is a long way off but it will fly by! You've come this far, why pay them anything if you don't have to? I have personally taken the tack that unless its court action I am ignoring, eve if it gets as far as court action you will still be able to negotiate paying something then if needed.

[Caesar]

I've had some discount offers past few months which have steadily gone up by 10% a time, so you might well get 60% or even 70% if you sit tight.

They own three of my credit card debts, one of which they've already failed with when it came to legal action due to lack of paperwork.


K91

Hi guys, Kenny91

As you said in December, Lowell came back with 60% discount. They have offered me to pay pay the discounted balance in 12 instalments and I have a month to accept or reject their offer. This sounds tempting because there is long way until SB, but on the other hand I feel they don't have their paperwork in order.

I will think about it, but in case I decide to accept it, how should I approached them, in order not to be tricked and forced to pay the full balance?

[Caesar]

Hi guys, thank you so much for help.

Hi Caesar,

I feel there must be something wrong with the paper trail of the largest debt given they've not pursued it, probably something that saw me get a random cheque from the card issuer a few years back out of the blue for some error they never disclosed and I was never aware of.

Personally, I wouldn't do anything for now, especially as with fiscal year end in early April they are likely to try and get as many people to settle in Q1 2025 to make their books look better/hit bonus targets etc.

K91

Kenny91 I've also had some cheques from HSBC around £5-600 for some error they never disclosed. I was surprised they sent out the cheques instead of using the money to clear the balance. I hope Lowell is aware of this.

Just remembered that I had another account with Lowell and they ask me to pay it, but without telling them anything, they realized it's SB and sent out a letter regarding the closure of my account.

[Kenny91]

Hi Caesar,

In case it helps, Lowell are widely said to be one of the more trigger happy DCAs when it comes to legal action, and also one of the tightest when it comes to settlement offers.

I've had some discount offers past few months which have steadily gone up by 10% a time, so you might well get 60% or even 70% if you sit tight.

They own three of my credit card debts, one of which they've already failed with when it came to legal action due to lack of paperwork.

I feel there must be something wrong with the paper trail of the largest debt given they've not pursued it, probably something that saw me get a random cheque from the card issuer a few years back out of the blue for some error they never disclosed and I was never aware of.

Personally, I wouldn't do anything for now, especially as with fiscal year end in early April they are likely to try and get as many people to settle in Q1 2025 to make their books look better/hit bonus targets etc.

Off the top of my head, I was first offered three months to settle with the discount offer, which they then increased it to 12 months.

Without the paperwork to hand right now, I don't think there was any deadline/date included on the offers letters, which makes me wonder what would happen if they tried legal action and then one decided to accept the offer further down the line.

If the offer was then withdrawn, I'd imagine the FOS would be interested, just defending a complaint would cost them well over a grand in FOS case fee costs regardless of outcome...

Best of luck!

K91

[stuckinarut]

Hi Caesar, I had an overdraft ( not with Lowell tho) mine was with Cabot UK, and they passed it about a few times, then it ended up back with them, they never offered me any discount other than £50 off, pretty generous ????? they thought ? they started to threaten the legal stuff, so I waited to time it right popped off the CCA Request, that stopped them in there tracks, they ended closing the account, However at no time did I offer ANY payment to them, So best of luck with your situation ?

[Night Monkey]

Your call whether to accept/negotiate/ignore, but be aware that any contact from you will likely reset the statute barred clock - it will be difficult to argue down the line that offering to pay any part of a debt was not a de facto acknowledgement.

[Dodger2]

Its a difficult one- maybe someone with more experience will come along

[Caesar]

Hi guys, thank you for your help during the time and sorry for not being active lately.

5. HSBC overdraft

• Type of account (overdraft)
• Date commenced (2011)
• Approx balance: over £6.000
• Date last paid beginning of 2022
• Not paying
• Status (default)
• Account owner (Lowell)

Lowell bought the account from HSBC and so far there was no communication between me and them. Just some standard letters from then and no reply from my side. But now offered me settle the account for 50% of the balance in 12 instalments. It's still quite a lot of money and I can't afford, but I see an opportunity here. Should I reply back with an counter offer like I could pay 25% of the balance in 12 month? Or should I wait for their next offer? If there will be any.

Another option would be to ignore and hope this would go SB, but there are still 3 more years until there.

Based on your experience and how Lowell is dealing with people, what is the best thing that I could do here.

[Pat]

Personally I would do a redirect and if you get a letter send a generic change of address . ‘ you wrote to me at x. In future please direct all correspondence to y’

There are pros and cons of each approach. Sorry I can’t say directly which is best

[The Tech Clerk]

If a creditor keeps contacting you about a statute barred debt after you've sent them the letter, you can complain to the creditor. If you're not satisfied with their response, you can complain to the Financial Ombudsman. Calls are free from mobiles and landlines.

[Still Waving]

Hi guys, I haven't posted any update for a long time, but I will do it soon. Before that, I have a question.
After more than 10 year living in the same place, I need to move out. I have a few accounts statute bared and others will be soon.

Can anyone advice what should I do in this situation? I have in my mind to update the address with every debtor, but I don't think as a very good idea, or to redirect all my letter to my address. But also not very good if I have to do it on long term because will cost me money.

At the moment I am not in danger to go to the court with any of my debts, but am I risking something if an account statute bared will go to court and I won't get the LoC or a County Court Claim?

I can't thank you enough for the help I received on this forum during the time. You guys are life savers.

How often are you getting letters regarding your various individual accounts (both SB and non-SB)? How soon do you realistically estimate that your other accounts will be statute barred?

[The Tech Clerk]

any bank etc you deal with will update credit records anyway, so up to you?

you could get a backdoor CCJ for old address if they say not known new address? mot suggesting you do what you think best sure others will comment also?

[Caesar]

Hi guys, I haven't posted any update for a long time, but I will do it soon. Before that, I have a question.
After more than 10 year living in the same place, I need to move out. I have a few accounts statute bared and others will be soon.

Can anyone advice what should I do in this situation? I have in my mind to update the address with every debtor, but I don't think as a very good idea, or to redirect all my letter to my address. But also not very good if I have to do it on long term because will cost me money.

At the moment I am not in danger to go to the court with any of my debts, but am I risking something if an account statute bared will go to court and I won't get the LoC or a County Court Claim?

I can't thank you enough for the help I received on this forum during the time. You guys are life savers.

[Colin G Quinn]

Hi Caesar,

I will email you shortly.