3 Letter method not worked.Now County Court Claim.Overdales.

Hello good people,
After falling into arrears with Very Catalogue company after illness and unemployment the debt was purchased by Lowells.I followed the 3-Letter process and heard nothing for months after.
I then received a letter from Lowells headed 'Internet Myths' stating that as i have received a 'notice of assignment ' the 3-letters do not apply.
Now Lowells have instructed Overdales solicitors to file a County Court claim against me.
I am at my wits end ,suffering from depression after the loss of my Mother three weeks ago.
I have no assets or possesions of any value and rent my house privately.
I have used your services some years ago with success and am very grateful for that.I will be making a donation after i receive a refund from the funeral directors after they failed to provide two limousines on the day,which was all paid for in advance!
I would greatly appreciate any advice and have attached documents for your scrutiny.
Many thanks
Regards Raymondo

cant see any attached docs

Hi and welcome,

Take a look at this thread and if you wish try as a start the letter in the
post dated wed 22. Just switch things around a bit so it does not look like
a template.

https://goodf.forumotion.com/t6063-letter-from-lowell-debt-collector-any-advice-appreciated

In the meantime read and study these;
https://goodf.forumotion.com/f44-new-goodf-approach

https://goodf.forumotion.com/t4987-notice-of-conditional-acceptance-for-debt-purchasers-only

the thing is with overdales they take any old crap to court because they know Judges are largely biased in their favour

i have seen some shockers

but you need to read the letter from Lowells that you refer to and let us know what it ACTUALLY says have seen a 100 cases like yours where lowells say they are passing to their legal team for possible claim, pre action protocol must be followed

so little further info it is impossible to truly ascertain where this is actually at.

Got problems uploading docs.Seem to be too large for upload.not sure what to do

Raymondo1959 wrote:Got problems uploading docs.Seem to be too large for upload.not sure what to do

can you type in a message the key parts of this letter ? word for word ?

time could be of the essence here and Lowell letters are rarely very long usually 50% is irrelevant and repeat template stuff

Apologies as I am away from home today and do not have the letters with me.I will forward a transcript of them ASAP.Thanks

Raymondo1959 wrote:Apologies as I am away from home today and do not have the letters with me.I will forward a transcript of them ASAP.Thanks

Make sure your transcript omits your personal data plus any reference numbers etc. Also ideally round UP the alleged sum owed to the nearest £100. Ideally you would also change any dates appearing in the letters too, but I appreciate that time is of the essence, and therefore exact dates are important in helping the likes of Waylander62 (maybe send him the dates via a private message).

Doing all these things can help stop you from being identified by trolls (yes, debt collectors etc troll these sites).

Hello ,
Only to say I dealt with Lowells / Overdales (whom are inhouse)
I got in a tizz for no particular reason but with Waylanders help pulled it together at the last minute and won ,
The representative for Overdales came on Zoom after I demanded he not appear via phone as he had requested in a hoody sat in what looked like a locker room nice and sweaty guzzling water ,
They clearly thought I was not going to appear and "caffle" and win by default ,
Have to say I thought my case was 2pm at 10.40am I double checked , it was 11am , I was sat in my slippers ! so just shows....
Feel free to search my thread ,

So take a breath get organised and treat them like you're in charge  ,

Waylander is correct they hope your 98% of the population who will wither at their bullying ,  


How old is the alleged debt ?  could it be statute barred or have you checked this ?

Apologies for not geeting back sooner as I have spent few days in hospital recently.
I have a transcript of Lowell's letter of rebuttal of 3 letter process for your consideration please.
Letter was from Robert Taylor Uk Director of Customer Engagement.
Internet myths.
' We know some websites say if you send certain 3 letters we have to close the account.These websites contain information which is or misleading.They refer to laws which often don't even apply to your account or are irrelevant to the industry within which we are regulated.We will still be able to contact you.
Subject access request and other privacy request,this has been passed to the relevant department who will be in touch.'
They then go to list six valid reasons why they can use my personal data.
Your Questions -
'Original instrument ofIndetness/consumer credit agreement.
This means the agreement you entered into with Shop Direct,including T&C's that were agreed to when opening your account.Please find enclosed copy of the agreement and statement from the account.(No copy was supplied).
'As we are authorised and regulated by the FCA ,we don't need a credit licence.
Amount we paid for the account?This is confidential information and cannot share with you.
Irrevocable estoppel.We have answered all the questions you have asked us.Sending these letters doesn't mean that we have to close your accounts.Please find copy of letter stating your account was assigned to LPI.This is the legal notice also know as Notice of Assignment.'
The letter i received stated clearly that LPI had Purchased the debt !
'Notice to cease and desist.Lowells have a right to contact you to request repayment of the outstanding balance and an obligation to inform you about the potential next steps.'
Lowells have now instructed Overdales for county court claim against me in the amount of £1400.Alledged debt 2 years old.

please provide the wording used in respect of lowell instructing overdales to issue a county court claim against you probably a small paragraph

have overdales been in contact with you at all ?

so they state enclosed is a copy of your agreement and terms and conditions and statement of account but nothing was enclosed ?

if they are ready to issue a claim then time really is of the essence.

Thankyou Waylander 62 for the reply.
Lowell's letter regarding instructing overdale reads,
'As you have not maintained a suitable payment plan,your account remains overdue.We've now passed your account to Overdales Legal Limited who we've instructed to act on our behalf in relation to this matter '
Overdales have written twice.First letter was to give 30 days to prevent legal action.Second letter was titled 'Notice of Acting'.
They have not supplied copy of agreement with original alledged creditor or terms and conditions.What they sent was on their letterheaded paper stating period of statement,assignment balance,and total payments.
Do you need any other information? Regards

yes tonnes more information but lets take it a bit at a time

so lowells sent it to overdales and you have in fact heard from overdales since then.

30 days to prevent legal action sounds like a letter before claim can you re read that letter carefully and say thats what it actually is ?

however the most important thing is to stop them from issuing a claim so firstly to try and stop it in its tracks send overdales an official CCA request for a copy of the agreement with full terms and conditions upon inception and any subsequent changes to those terms and conditions

i have no idea how long you may have before a claim is issued but it would likely be 30 days after the date on the letter before action ( if indeed that is what it is )

DO NOT PAY £1.00 ..

This is a CCA I use as a basic , If you can copy /paste on to an email and print 2 copies ,
Some times if time is of the essence I will email them and put
*letter to the same effect has also been sent , *
You can also pay around £8 for special next morning signed for delivery ,



Dear Sir/Madam

Re:− Account Number **********

I am in receipt of your letter dated DD/MM/YYYY  and received DD/MM/YYYY .
Take note I reject  and rebut entirely your assumption / presumption that I owe your corporation money.

Please treat this letter as a formal request for you to supply a copy of my Consumer Credit Agreement as is my entitlement under sections 77-79 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974.

I require you to provide me with a true copy of the credit agreement relating to any account you deem to be mine, together with any other documentation the Act requires you to provide. I expect you to comply fully and properly with this request, within the statutory time limit.

Your obligation also extends to providing me with a statement of account. I enclose a £1 postal order, which represents payment of the statutory fee payable under the Consumer Credit Act. I understand that a copy of my credit agreement should be supplied within 12 working days from the date of this letter.

If it is your view that you are not the creditor, s.175 of the CCA1974 applies in the case of a simple assignment, and places a duty upon you to pass this request to the creditor. In the case of an absolute assignment, you are a creditor as defined by s.189.

I understand that under the Consumer Credit Act, creditors are unable to enforce an agreement if they fail to comply with a request for a copy of the agreement under these sections of the Act.

Yours faithfully,



If you have already asked I sent this one ,

DD/MM/YY



Dear Sirs,

Reference: ***********



I received your letter dated DD/MM/YY on DD MONTH regarding an alleged  debt .

I have previously contacted your client via letter dated DD/MM/YY.

Bellow is the contents of the afore mentioned letter which I shall request again .

I hereby formally request a copy of my Consumer Credit Agreement, pursuant to s.77-79 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 (CCA1974).

I require that you provide me with a true copy, or reconstituted copy of the credit agreement relating to any account you deem to be mine, together with any other documentation the Act requires you to provide. I expect you to comply fully and properly with this request, within the statutory time limit (12 + 2 days).

If it is your view that you are not the creditor, s.175 of the CCA1974 applies in the case of a simple assignment, and places a duty upon you to pass this request to the creditor. In the case of an absolute assignment, you are a creditor as defined by s.189. If you contend that you purchased the rights but not the duties of any agreement, you are reminded that s.189 of the Act is clear that an assignment is of both rights and duties. Your attention is drawn to ss.5(2), 3(b), 6 and 7 of the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (CPUTR).

I also remind you of your duties, in line with recent FCA Consumer Credit Sourcebook (CONC) guidelines surrounding Unenforceability I presume you're aware that it suggests that 'sections 77-79 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 outline the information creditors must provide to debtors under fixed-term, running account & Hire Agreements'.

1. a copy of their agreement
2. copies of some of the other documents mentioned in their agreement
3. a statement of account

If this information is not provided within 12 working days the debt becomes unenforceable. This means a creditor cannot:

1. make the debtor pay the debt before they're supposed to
2. get a court judgment against the debtor


So, in line with these (FCA CONC) guidelines, and the Consumer Credit Act, , which is the statutory fee to request any such documentation regards this account .
If you are unable to comply fully and properly with this request, you should confirm this in writing at the earliest opportunity, and certainly within the statutory time limit for compliance, and return the fee and then remove the incorrect entry from your systems.

I do, expect the main actions to be dealt with, as matter of course, and look forward to hearing from you within the prescribed time-scales quoted however, in the meantime, I require that you clarify your position on this point as failure to do so, even by omission or lack of a response, will be regarded as an attempt to deliberately misrepresent or conceal the legal position regarding this matter to which an appropriate complaint will be made to the Financial Conduct Authority.

Yours faithfully,

I should also say from this point deal with Overdales , I fell foul sending to Lowell even though they where in the same office same address the Judge was a t%at and awarded them a few hundred because apparently they had not received my defence so I had wasted their time ,
This was bollox of course but the judge assumed they wouldn't lie through their teeth in court ..

not received your defence ?

you file a defence with the court it is up to the court to send a copy to the claimant ?

if this is true the judge was more than a tw*t !!

Waylander..
I mean what I term evidence bundle ..
Which is the ' 14 days before court date ..
I may of stated that incorrectly above ..

yes that makes sense

witness statement i think is what you mean with any supporting evidence

That's the one ...

Thankyou memegirl777.I am slightly confused as to which letter to send.What do you mean 'If you have already asked I sent this one ' ?

Morning,
I am not sure what you mean by the above ?
But you have already contacted them and practically already asked have you not ?

not trying to be funny here but........

it is now the 13th april, on 3rd april i asked if overdales had been in contact at all

you replied on the 7th that they had and had sent 2 letters the first being what appeared to be a letter before action giving 30 days most likely from the date of that letter i am estimating by the 7th April at least 10 days would have expired.

6 days further on and we are still seemingly nowhere ?

i have said before this is likely to require urgent attention to try and stop the claim being made.

my guess would now be action is IMPERATIVE

i did first post asking for certain info on 28th March!!

PLEASE what is the date on the 30 day letter

Apologies.Date of 30 day letter is 14th March 2023

thank you

16 days of march 14 days of april = 30 days. so deadline 14th april. tomorrow.

oh dear have you replied in any way to this letter ? ( which i am assuming is a letter before action )

if not i would expect a claim form to land on your mat sometime next week.

Thankyou.i have now posted and emailed letter recommended by memegirl777.