Back billing help please

[Valfa]

Hello
I am paying a debt to Lowell for a catalogue. I requested they amend my credit file to say I am paying them a payment every month by DD the file shows I am still in default every month with them, anyway they sent an email the other day saying seeing as though you already have an account with us how about paying these off (words to that effect)

My ex husband dumped the gas and electric bills on me in 2016 when I left him. He was paying both on monthly direct debit but he closed the joint bank account when I said our marriage was over he did this in the November 2015.The bills were in my name due to him being in the forces and living away at various times for years over a 16yr period.

Anyway I got rehoused in the April when I left him and started to get DCA letters which stated debts of £200 gas and £200 electric dating from 2006-2016 I just laughed and ignored them. Now Lowell have these debts logged onto my account with them but these do not show dates etc and I have not spoke to them yet about these.



What should/can I do?

Thanks.

[nightwatch]

ok 1st things 1st.
Hello and welcome,

2nd, the catalogue account should of been defaulted by the original company, before, it was sold to lowell, so,
who was the account originaly with and when did you make the last full payment to them,

3, when you say "the file shows I am still in default every month with them," do you mean it is registered on your file as a 'Default' if so what is the date of the default,
OR,
do you mean it is showing as missing payments?
there is a reason for the question,

as for the energy bills, do nothing for the moment,

Nightwatch

[Valfa]

Hi and thankyou for replying.

the catalogue was with shop direct and the last payment to them would have been October/November 2015. Lowell agreed to take £5 per month standing order the debt was originally 1200 but is now 1000. All CRAs show Lowell defaults every month no sign of the £5 payments. I have asked them to rectify this but they have just added the utils to the account, and are asking me to set up payment plans for those.

Update on the energy bills they are showing as settled on experian/totallymoney and clearscore.

valfa

[nightwatch]

Hi Valfa,
there should be a date on the Creditfille when the account was defaulted, it should also show the balance decreaseing by the amount you are paying.

did you ever receive a default notice from Shop direct?
Lowell are reporting correctly to the Credit reference agencys,

When you go into an AP ( arangement to pay) with a store card/ credit card/ HP agreement, with the company that originaly owned the debt, they can mark the file with AP/R/6,7 or 8, it will also say Arrangement,
when the original owner want's to pass the debt to another company, it should be defaulted, the default is placed on your Creditfile and a date is stated as the date of default,
That Default stays on your file for 6 years( 5 in Scotland ) from that date.
after the 6 (5) years the default automaticly drops of your file, even if you have not repayed the full amount, it cannot be defaulted again,

However, if the account is only being recorded as an arrangement to pay it will stay on your credit file till the full amount is repayed,

It is therefore better to have a default on the account than an Arrangement to pay.

the energy bills will show as settled with the original owners, the debt has been sold to Lowell,
just ignore the energy bills for now

[Valfa]

nightwatch
thank you for your reply on this I feel a bit better now. I did not receive any default notices from anyone for any debts My ex did not let me have my clothes never mind any mail. I just got DCAs chasing me at my council flat I had.

[Valfa]

Hi
Lowell have written to me today at my new address stating I owe money for gas and electric dating from supply between 2006 and 2016. The bills were in my name but my ex husband still lives there. He took a couple of months to change the name to his after I left him. He was paying over £100 per month direct debit for the time frame above and I have just come across old bills dated 2012 where both utilities were in credit and I am sure the bills could now not be 200+ each for gas and electric. I never received final bills or the previous bill before the final bill as I was not living there. should I wait and see what more Lowell send me.

Thanks

[nightwatch]

hello, hope you are well.

Yes I would wait and see what comes next.
NWx