Hillarious, lowells offer "buy back you account" bid

[mak71]

My friend rang me yesterday, after sending of for a cca for a cap one credit card,and their usual reply of no cca but current terms and conditions nonsense,he replied with the account in dispute letter about a week ago,

Yesterday he recieved a letter from Lowells offering him the chance to participate in a unique solution to buy back his own account,

They say its simple, he places a bid and if hes succesfull the account is his and he will no longer receive debt collection letters and any pending legal action will be stopped,

 

Funniest letter ive seen all week, my friend isnt going to pay a penny anyway , but ive told him he should bid on it just for a laugh, and bid 1p for his own unenforcable account;-)

 

Are these letters common?also note they ask for his signature on the seperate buy back bid form, oh am i suspicious in thinking thats a crafty little way of getting your signature:)

 

Heres the letter,

 

Edited December 14, 2008 by mak71

[Monty2007]

This surely is beyond a joke and should be reported to the FSA. How can this be fair, reasonable or morally justified. It stinks!

[LilyLou]

Pmsl

[mak71]

Monty, as far as i am aware the account is still with cap one,the cca request definately went off to cap one and was returned by cap one as i have seen it, so havnt a clue how Lowells have it so quick,the account in dispute letter only went off about a week ago,

Is this a new desperate tactic by cap one?

i know i never got this letter when i placed my account in dispute,they replied to me saying they deem the account enforcable and will defend it all the way;-)

Maybe i should send in a bid for mine as well, maybe 2p cause the balance is almost twice as much as my friends;-)

Edited December 14, 2008 by mak71

[WormHasTurned]

some manager has obviously put a formula in the letter producing computer - they ask for cca - we haven't got it - send the buy back letter and see what happens next ..

[sillygirl1]

Where do they get £40 per month from, if it is direct debit they could walk in and empty your bank account.... report this as is is really OTT and they should have their licence taken away for that.

[zazen.warrior]

Dear me they really are getting desperate!

[mak71]

I dont know where the £40 a month comes from, the account balance is just over £500,

Will the oft or fob take this seriously,seems to be like the dca"s get away with murder with no fear of the authorities,

is Lowells a dca? how have they got this account so quick if it only went into dispute with cap one last week?

 

My friend is more than happy to do whatever needs to be done, and is more than happy for me to forward an unblanked version to a member of the cag site team if required if its of any use to any of them.

[KER]

Remember, your bid has to reach their Reserve Price!!!!!!

 

So that's probably 20% off the debt then!

[sosumi]

Silly, silly debt collectors.

Or some weird cunning?

Making a bid would acknowledge the debt... which is probably what they're hoping for. ?

[mr.ton]

 

 

Incredible

[MARTIN3030]

From their website-presumably a mission statement ?

 

 

 

Lowell Group maintains the highest standards of professionalism to both protect our clients' reputations and to establish ongoing and long term client relationships.

 

 

We are committed to taking a fair, sensitive and ethical approach to debt recovery. We comply fully with Government guidelines and industry trade and regulatory bodies. We are also:

• A founding member of the Debt Buyers and
  Sellers Group
  
• Regulated by the Credit Services Association,
  the Debt Buyers and Sellers Group and the Data Protection Authority
  
• Members of the Consumer Credit Trade Association and the Civil Courts Users Association
  
• Committed to complying with the Banking Code of Conduct
  

Ethical approach ?

Better practices ? I would say "Questionable practices"

 

The 2008 unfair consumer terms regs for starters.

[adamski]

I am sure I have heard of this before on this forum but the letter is signed by a Kevin Allmark (account review manager) he is new on the Lowells scene.

 

stinks of pure desperation.

[dannyboy660]

Where do they get £40 per month from

 

If the debt is 500, then as a rough calculation 40 quid is what they need to recover to be in profit. If they can CONvince you to set up a DD, not only are you putting them in profit after just one payment, you are accepting their right to collect a debt which you will have accepted and admitted - and Court action will almost certainly follow to recover the rest. They may not need to produce a CCA once you start paying, so this is worth reporting as it is possibly unlawful.

 

It's just another dirty trick.

 

This is beginning to look like sheer desperation. Are Lowells feeling the squeeze???

[mak71]

Spoke to my friend, hes going to send copies to trading standards,FOB and OFT, is there anyone else he should send a copy to, ?

[Monty2007]

Spoke to my friend, hes going to send copies to trading standards,FOB and OFT, is there anyone else he should send a copy to, ?

 

His MP and the press.

[MONX]

I must be very jaded as this does not surprise me in the least!...Just saddens me that they are using another despicable tactic to force someone to pay up on a allegedly unenforceable debt!

 

Absolute Arxeholes!

[fiftypence]

Its just a twist on their existing discount letter. Afterall you wouldn't offer the full amount would you, you would try and come in at the lowest figure possible to buy it back.

 

Ignore it. (but do send copies to OFT etc) They will send a couple more similar pieces of rubbish before closing the account anyway

[dannyboy660]

Just saddens me that they are using another despicable tactic to force someone to pay up on a allegedly unenforceable debt!

 

What you have to bear in mind here, is that although this tactic seems a bit laughable when they don't have a CCA'74 agreement, under CCA'06 someone responding to a letter of this type could very easily be trapped into accepting/admitting liability for a debt they do not even owe!!!

 

CCA'06 may not require production of a properly executed agreement - they merely have to satisfy the court that the debt is owed and they have the right person.

Being threatened in the usual manner and then receiving a letter of this nature, people may be tempted to cough up 50 quid or so in the belief it will get rid of Lowell once and for all, whether or not they actually owe the debt.

By doing that, you open the door for a CCJ etc for the full amount - and Lowell are just the type of lowlife s--ts to lead people into such a despicable trap..........

 

This something that I suspect has been overlooked in the 'reform' of the rules. It needs to be brought out in the open asap, because it obviously hasn't taken long for the parasitic element to find a way around it.

[mak71]

What you have to bear in mind here, is that although this tactic seems a bit laughable when they don't have a CCA'74 agreement, under CCA'06 someone responding to a letter of this type could very easily be trapped into accepting/admitting liability for a debt they do not even owe!!!

 

CCA'06 may not require production of a properly executed agreement - they merely have to satisfy the court that the debt is owed and they have the right person.

Being threatened in the usual manner and then receiving a letter of this nature, people may be tempted to cough up 50 quid or so in the belief it will get rid of Lowell once and for all, whether or not they actually owe the debt.

By doing that, you open the door for a CCJ etc for the full amount - and Lowell are just the type of lowlife s--ts to lead people into such a despicable trap..........

 

This something that I suspect has been overlooked in the 'reform' of the rules. It needs to be brought out in the open asap, because it obviously hasn't taken long for the parasitic element to find a way around it.

 

Dannyboy, very good point, if the account was a few years old, ie pre 2006, does any admission of the debt at all make it easier for companies to take you to court,ie can they make an unenforcable agreement enforcable cause youve at some point in the last few years say agreed a lower repayment or rang them to discuss the account or any aspect of it ,or does it only apply to more recent agreements where they dont have to produce the original for a judge to deem it enforcable.

[dannyboy660]

Dannyboy, very good point, if the account was a few years old, ie pre 2006, does any admission of the debt at all make it easier for companies to take you to court,ie can they make an unenforcable agreement enforcable cause youve at some point in the last few years say agreed a lower repayment or rang them to discuss the account or any aspect of it ,or does it only apply to more recent agreements where they dont have to produce the original for a judge to deem it enforcable.

 

 

I've always believed under CCA'74 no agreement = no debt, but CCA'06 puts a slightly different spin on things.

CCA'06 can't be applied if you signed under '74, but it is something people need to be aware of now that DCA's and purchasers in particular will be looking for new tactics to pin a debt on someone.

[KER]

I've always believed under CCA'74 no agreement = no debt, but CCA'06 puts a slightly different spin on things.

CCA'06 can't be applied if you signed under '74, but it is something people need to be aware of now that DCA's and purchasers in particular will be looking for new tactics to pin a debt on someone.

 

OK so that doesn't apply then if you had your "alleged" debt before the 06 rules came into force?

 

You got me slightly worried with what you said before (all mine come under the 74 regs, none acknowledged!)

[fuzzybobble]

I had to laugh at that letter from Lowells.

 

I'd bid £0-00 and mention that the CCA is unenforceable as the reasoning behind my offer.

 

Damn, why won't DCA's play these games with me? All I get is boring theats of legal action unless I pay the full amount within 7 days. Then 700 days pass and still no fun from them.

 

Ever get the feeling you're missing out. lol

[Jessica87]

Just a quick note lol, the little black box above "Buy back your account" looks like a QR code or more likely a Data matrix code, they could use this to find out who the letter was to originally, if that matters.

[mak71]

Just a quick note lol, the little black box above "Buy back your account" looks like a QR code or more likely a Data matrix code, they could use this to find out who the letter was to originally, if that matters.

 

Thanks jessica,i wondered what that box was for,

what does data matrix mean?