How does debt purchasing work?

At Lowell, we believe in being open and honest with our customers, working together to help you manage your debt. We understand that you might have questions about how Lowell purchases debt and how we’ve come to manage your account.

We know the process can be complicated, so we’ve created a guide to explain how debt purchasing works, how we protect your data, and how Lowell will work with you.

In this guide:

• How do Lowell buy debts?

• How do Lowell protect my data when buying debt?

• How much do Lowell buy debts for?

• Is Lowell a legitimate company?

• How will I know if Lowell bought my debt?

• What happens once Lowell has bought my debt?

Debt purchasing

Some companies choose to sell on debts to debt-purchasing companies like Lowell. Once Lowell purchases debt from another company, your debt has been 'sold' to Lowell - that means that we're the legal owners of that debt and any outstanding balance will be owed to Lowell.

Do Lowell buy debt?

Yes, Lowell buy debt from other companies and then manage those accounts with our customers.

Debt is purchased by Lowell Portfolio 1 Ltd. Your debt and your account are then managed by Lowell Financial Ltd, a debt collection company, on their behalf.

How do Lowell buy debts?

Lowell purchases debt from lots of different companies.

Debt purchase involves buying debt from product and service providers like banks, credit card issuers, utilities or telecoms providers. The debts at these companies exist for a range of reasons. Usually, these debts happen because there’s an amount outstanding to be paid, as agreed in the original terms and conditions of the agreement or contract.

This could be because payments weren’t made, or because there were additional fees and charges applied in line with the terms and conditions of the agreement or contract. Our guide to recognising your debt has more details about when you may be liable for a debt and the steps you can take.

During the sale and purchase of debt, Lowell always carries out due diligence to make sure that the information we’re being given is accurate and up to date. We make sure that all the relevant information has been included from the original creditor, so that we can check the status of your debt and get in touch with you.

If a company is owed an outstanding balance, they often have a contractual right that allows selling to a debt buyer or collection agency such as Lowell. If your debt is purchased by Lowell, we’ll work with you to help and support you to get your debt cleared. This may include setting up a payment plan that’s affordable for you.

Because Lowell have secure and robust processes for purchasing debt and managing our customer’s accounts, it means that we can get our customers up to speed as soon as the ownership of a debt transfers to us.

It’s important to us that we’re able to help and assist you from day one of Lowell managing your debt. Because we make sure to track each step that we’ve taken and create an audit trail, if you have any questions we can check back on how your debt has been purchased and managed since being purchased by Lowell.

Once your debt has been purchased, we’ll get in touch to introduce ourselves. We can help answer any questions you have and support you with tools like our free budget calculator. Our goal is to work with you to assist you and help you on the road to settling your debt with us.

How much do Lowell buy debts for?

Lowell purchases debts from a variety of companies. The terms and conditions we use can vary depending on what kind of company we're working with, what kinds of debt are being bought and lots of other factors.

Is Lowell a legitimate company?

Lowell is a legitimate debt collection company, authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). 

Our focus is on being open and honest and in helping our customers work towards clearing their debt. Building trust with our customers and putting our customers at the heart of what we do.

We are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for consumer credit-regulated debts. We closely follow the FCA’s rules and guidance to make sure that the service we provide for our customers is the right assistance for each individual customer. We’re here to help our customers to manage their accounts to help them to clear debts held by Lowell.

We’re also a member of the Credit Service Association (CSA), which is a National Trade Association in the UK for organisations in the debt collection and debt purchase industry.

The CSA have a detailed code of conduct that we adhere to when working with our customers, to help us ensure we achieve a fair customer outcome for every customer and every situation.

How will I know if Lowell bought my debt?

If Lowell has bought your debt, you’ll receive a Notice of Assignment, or ‘hello’ letter from Lowell. You may also receive a letter to let you know that the original company have sold the debt to Lowell, sometimes known as a ‘goodbye’ letter, which may be sent in the same envelope.

The Notice of Assignment letter from Lowell will explain that we’ve purchased your debt. From this point on, we’ll work with you to explain the next steps and help to establish a reasonable and affordable payment plan that you can control. For more on this, you can look at our guide on what to expect in the debt collection process.

What happens once Lowell has bought my debt?

Once Lowell have purchased a debt, we work with our customers to support them in establishing a payment plan. At Lowell, we want to make sure that your payment plan is affordable and suitable for you, but you’re in control of your payments.

We’ll help you with tools like our Budget Calculator, which can help you to work out what payments would be reasonable and within your budget and then you decide what amount is right for you and how frequently you want to pay.

Once Lowell has taken on your account, we’ll also take over reporting on that account to Credit Reference Agencies (CRA). This means that your credit file may show Lowell’s name against the debt, rather than the original company.

Throughout your payment plan, Lowell will be here to support you. If you’re going through a difficult situation and it’s affecting your payments, we can help. We might be able to pause your payments, or help you to get in touch with free, independent support. No matter what the situation may be, we’ll give you the time and space that you need while things are tough. For more information on the help and assistance we can offer, check out our debt support guide.

The debt purchasing process can be complicated, but we’ll always try to make it easy to manage your debt by working with Lowell. Get in touch with us today to speak to our friendly team and find out how we can help, or discover our helpful guides on everything to do with debt and how you can work with Lowell.

First published: 15th December, 2021