Night Monkey's diary

[Still Waving]

And it looks like Google's intimation was correct. I now have two letters in the same envelope, one from Lowell saying that they have instructed Overdales Solicitors to recover the outstanding balance from an HSBC credit card (~£5.5k) and a 'Notice of Acting' from Overdales themselves.

The latter states that they have been instructed to recover the outstanding balance and that they have 'been instructed to initiate legal proceedings' against me unless I pay the full amount or come to a payment agreement. The rest of the letter estimates the additional costs from any legal action (court fees, costs, interest (?), etc.) which would add some £900 to the bill but also indulges in a lot of conditional statements - If I fail to make a payment or contact them, if proceedings are issued, a CCJ may be entered against me. There is no mention of a timescale in which I should respond to avoid these consequences.

I have no intention of replying at the moment, but can I ask if the Overdales letter can be considered a Letter Before Action? I tend to think not due to the number of conditional paragraphs and no time limit but it does also specifically state that they have been instructed to request a CCJ.

Are there any strict requirements for an LBA that are either present or missing from the above?

See this link for detail of information which must be included in a LBA - scroll down to "What does a letter before action have to contain?"
https://askewslegal.co/insights/debt...before-action/

It does say that a deadline for payment must be included, which you say Overdales have not included. Read their letter carefully just to be sure. Nevertheless, the purpose of a LBA is to convince a debtor to pay - https://www.saunders.co.uk/services/...before-action/

In order to comply with the Pre-Action Protocol, a letter should include a multi-page questionnaire for your response to the claim. Was there one?

[Night Monkey]

And Roger, your comment here on Linnite's diary regarding the various Lowell companies was a timely one for me, so thanks for that :-)

[Night Monkey]

And it looks like Google's intimation was correct. I now have two letters in the same envelope, one from Lowell saying that they have instructed Overdales Solicitors to recover the outstanding balance from an HSBC credit card (~£5.5k) and a 'Notice of Acting' from Overdales themselves.

The latter states that they have been instructed to recover the outstanding balance and that they have 'been instructed to initiate legal proceedings' against me unless I pay the full amount or come to a payment agreement. The rest of the letter estimates the additional costs from any legal action (court fees, costs, interest (?), etc.) which would add some £900 to the bill but also indulges in a lot of conditional statements - If I fail to make a payment or contact them, if proceedings are issued, a CCJ may be entered against me. There is no mention of a timescale in which I should respond to avoid these consequences.

I have no intention of replying at the moment, but can I ask if the Overdales letter can be considered a Letter Before Action? I tend to think not due to the number of conditional paragraphs and no time limit but it does also specifically state that they have been instructed to request a CCJ.

Are there any strict requirements for an LBA that are either present or missing from the above?

[Still Waving]

If they are so desperate to contact you, they will just have to put it in writing. Correct move.

[Night Monkey]

I've now started getting daily calls from an 0333 number, which 'whocalledme' sites flag negatively as being debt collection or scam but more interestingly one says is a 'solicitor' by the name of Overdales working on behalf of Lowell, whom HSBC sold my accounts to. It looks like they've entered the new year with renewed vigour.

Whoever it is, the calls aren't getting answered any time soon.

[Roger]

Thanks, SW & Roger.

I was just about to post a question that I suspect has been answered already. Presumably a 'holding' identity - in this case PRA - has to follow the full assignment process when moving purchased debts between internal companies and can't just give ownership away by a simple declaration? If so then every time they do it they make it harder for themselves to pursue any perceived claim.

Each Company is a separate and legal entity in its own right! Thats how Corporate Groups work.
Financial Services Register | FCA
PRA Group (UK) Limited
Reference number: 718645
KH3 1HA Kilmarnock
PRA Group (UK) Limited (fca.org.uk)
Debt Administration

Debt-collecting

Exercising or having the right to exercise the lender's rights and duties in relation to high-cost short-term credit

Exercising/having right to exercise lender's rights and duties under a regulated credit agreement (excluding high-cost short-term credit, bill of sale agreement, and home collected credit agreement)

BUT
PRA Group (UK) Limited
Reference number: 710004
BR1 1LT Bromley
This firm is no longer registered with the FCA as an Appointed Representative of an authorised firm, and can no longer carry on regulated activities.
Do not start to do regulated business with an AR that is no longer registered.

Confusing isn't it So who was Assigned the Debts originally .

At this moment PRA Group UK Portfolios Ltd. doesn't appear on the FCA register!

Hence the question of Assign!

[Night Monkey]

Thanks, SW & Roger.

I was just about to post a question that I suspect has been answered already. Presumably a 'holding' identity - in this case PRA - has to follow the full assignment process when moving purchased debts between internal companies and can't just give ownership away by a simple declaration? If so then every time they do it they make it harder for themselves to pursue any perceived claim.

[Roger]

You have issues of course with both of these two the Barclaycard and theMBNA failed court action and UE.
I believe these were Assigned to PRA Group(UK) Limited
transferred isn't the same as Assign.
Seems as if they are rearranging the lifeboats on the Titanic!
SILENCE and PATIENCE and thankyou for updating the Diaries! Much appreciated!

[Still Waving]

Two emails from PRA regarding the Barclaycard and MBNA accounts telling me that "PRA Group (UK) Limited recently transferred your account to PRA Group UK Portfolios Ltd."

Does anyone know if this is PRA just parking them, or them gearing up for further action? I suspect the former since one was the subject of failed court action and the other they have admitted to being UE.

Either way, I will not be following the link to FAQs.

Don't know the significance, but -


Pra Group UK Portfolios Ltd is an active company incorporated on 25 October 2023 with the registered office located in London, Greater London. Pra Group UK Portfolios Ltd has been running for 2 months. There are currently 3 active directors according to the latest confirmation statement submitted on 25th October 2023.

[Night Monkey]

Two emails from PRA regarding the Barclaycard and MBNA accounts telling me that "PRA Group (UK) Limited recently transferred your account to PRA Group UK Portfolios Ltd."

Does anyone know if this is PRA just parking them, or them gearing up for further action? I suspect the former since one was the subject of failed court action and the other they have admitted to being UE.

Either way, I will not be following the link to FAQs.

[Roger]

And the ClearScore changes are in. The existing HSBC current account defaults remain, one ~£4k and one ~£100 that I didn't bother to add to the diary. Lowell have added two credit cards, one ~£5.5k and one ~£3.5k. With a bit of cross-referencing with my 'time since defaults' spreadsheet I can see that the missing credit card has been added, and the overdraft has been duplicated as a credit card with a different default amount. There doesn't seem to be any reference to dates of default, and fwiw the credit 'score' remains the same, and apparently quite high when compared to the average.

It seems to me that all that's been achieved is a muddying of the waters as far as any debt chasing is concerned.

And Muddy waters is GOOD!
We know that CRA's objections etc.. Have been used in Court to prove acknowledgment of a Debt!
But these public entries work both ways especially if a Debt is clearly being misreported.

I watched my debts and took the worst case calculation of the Statute Bar Date!
Made up my mind that I would stay SILENT make notes and watch the CRA's read Diaries make personal notes.
Stay current!
Tactics have change over time and what I did at one time I would never do now!

[Night Monkey]

I had an email notification today from ClearScore that a 'credit agreement' was about to be added to my report - checking the account shows that two Lowell accounts are due to be added, both listed as a 'credit or store card'.

The HSBC accounts were last updated in April 2017, with no mention of the credit card atm. I'll update in a couple of days when the changes have happened.

And the ClearScore changes are in. The existing HSBC current account defaults remain, one ~£4k and one ~£100 that I didn't bother to add to the diary. Lowell have added two credit cards, one ~£5.5k and one ~£3.5k. With a bit of cross-referencing with my 'time since defaults' spreadsheet I can see that the missing credit card has been added, and the overdraft has been duplicated as a credit card with a different default amount. There doesn't seem to be any reference to dates of default, and fwiw the credit 'score' remains the same, and apparently quite high when compared to the average.

It seems to me that all that's been achieved is a muddying of the waters as far as any debt chasing is concerned.

[Roger]

Ain't that the truth. I tend to keep my eye on ClearScore, which is free and (I believe) sources its data from Equifax. I'm aware of one glaring omission that is reported elsewhere via Experian but I try not to overthink it. Whenever we're about to do something major (remortgage for a better rate, for example) we'll cast the net wider to see if anything is lurking elsewhere. Consistency doesn't seem too much to ask, but there we are.

Doing your homework which is very important! Well Done.

[Night Monkey]

One of the really confusing things with credit agencies is that not everyone reports to every credit agency...

Ain't that the truth. I tend to keep my eye on ClearScore, which is free and (I believe) sources its data from Equifax. I'm aware of one glaring omission that is reported elsewhere via Experian but I try not to overthink it. Whenever we're about to do something major (remortgage for a better rate, for example) we'll cast the net wider to see if anything is lurking elsewhere. Consistency doesn't seem too much to ask, but there we are.

[Pat]

I had an email notification today from ClearScore that a 'credit agreement' was about to be added to my report - checking the account shows that two Lowell accounts are due to be added, both listed as a 'credit or store card'.

The HSBC accounts were last updated in April 2017, with no mention of the credit card atm. I'll update in a couple of days when the changes have happened.

One of the really confusing things with credit agencies is that not everyone reports to every credit agency and some creditors do not always report- barclaycard for example only seem to report every three months or so and that is on a live account.