Credit agreements and documents

If your account is not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), in accordance with the Consumer Credit Act then we will not be able to supply a copy of your credit agreement.

If your account relates to a former current account, there is no requirement to supply a copy of an agreement (as stated in Section 74(b) of the Consumer Credit Act 1974). If we can’t supply a copy of your agreement, we will provide statements to fulfil your request.

If the original agreement can’t be obtained a ‘reconstituted’, or ‘true copy’ of your agreement can be sent. This is a copy of the original credit agreement that has been recreated from the information that your original creditor held about your account.

This should include:

• what your original agreement was, and if there were any changes made to it later
• your name and address at the time you signed the agreement, but it doesn't have to include your signature, or the date you signed it
• the statements about your rights that were in the agreement you signed

It doesn’t need to include:

• a signature box
• a signature
• the date of signature from your original agreement

Statements are from the original creditor who we purchased this debt from.

Sometimes the original creditor can only provide the statements for a certain time period. The amount of time that has passed since we purchased the account or the age of the account may mean that not all statements are available.

Copy statements aren’t always available in their original format. This may be due to the time that has passed since we purchased the account or the age of the account. In these cases, the original company has provided the transaction history of the account, over a fixed period.

Sometimes the original creditor will give us the transaction history for a specific period instead of the original statements. The transaction history will show all financial transactions over a fixed period.

The difference in the balance may be due to the addition of charges and fees after your final statement was produced. The original creditor will have made you aware of these in writing at the time.

A transaction history is a summary of financial transactions that have occurred on your account over a specific period of time.

All the transactions on your account are recorded by the original creditor. The original creditor has extracted this information from their system and forwarded this to Lowell.

When Lowell purchases the account from the original creditor, the balance is transferred to Lowell and the balance with the original creditor is cleared.

The transaction history provided shows transactions up to the date the account was closed on the original creditor’s system. Any transactions made on the account after this date won’t be shown in this history but will have been forwarded to Lowell and deducted from your balance.

The information provided shows the balance at the date the account was closed on the original creditor’s system. Any payments applied to the account since this date won’t be showing on this statement.

Telecommunication accounts are billed in arrears. This means that even though you made a payment when you cancelled the contract, when the account closed a final bill would have been produced that reconciled all payments made and services received. Any outstanding balance would have been reflected on the final bill.

An Early Termination Fee is added when the terms of an agreement are broken or ended before the agreed finish date. For example, the contract entered in to is for 12 months but you requested cancellation of the contract after 8 months.

An ETF equivalent to the remaining four months of line rental is added to the final bill. The ETF will also be applied if payments are not made and the provider has to cancel the contract.

Airtime is the actual time spent on an active mobile phone connection, including incoming and outgoing calls, messages, e-mails, faxes. It also includes the line rental for bills generated before the contract was terminated. Providers calculate customers’ bills on the basis of airtime used during a specific period of time, plus the agreed line rental.

If you have requested a copy of your agreement on a mobile phone contact you should be aware that a mobile phone contract is a service agreement and not a credit agreement, as defined by the Consumer Credit Act 1974. As this is not a regulated agreement under the Consumer Credit Act, there is no obligation to provide a copy signed agreement. For mobile phone contracts, inserting the SIM card and usage of the equipment is taken as acceptance of the terms and conditions of the contract. 

Some mobile / communication accounts are regulated as the device purchased may have been financed. If your contract is regulated we would inform you and in this instance we would supply a copy (or reconstituted copy) of your agreement in accordance with the Consumer Credit Act 1974.

If we are unable to provide a copy of your agreement it does not mean that the debt is not owed, only that it is not enforceable in court until the agreement can be provided.

A ‘Standing Charge’ is a fixed amount billed per day. This helps to cover your supplier’s fixed costs relating to meters, pipes and the national grid.

A meter reading may have been provided by you, the new occupier, letting agency or your landlord. If a meter reading hasn’t been provided your supplier has the right to estimate your usage. The estimate of usage will be based on previous energy usage at the property.

This may take into account adjustments to reflect usage during seasonal changes, previous meter readings, the type of home you live in and any changes to your tariff.

The balance may be from before the PAYG meter was installed. When you topped up the meter, a percentage of your credit would have been deducted to repay the outstanding balance. If the debt wasn’t paid when you moved out the balance would have become payable in full. The balance may also have accrued by using emergency credit.

Anyone who is legally responsible for the property can be asked to pay for an energy debt if it isn’t paid by the bill payer. If you were a tenant, the electricity and gas bills for your home may have been in your landlord’s name. If you’re not sure who was responsible for the bills, please check your tenancy agreement or contact your landlord.

Your ‘supply’ address is the address your energy was supplied to. Your ‘billing’ address is the address the bills were sent to.

Ofgem and Citizens Advice can provide more information on utilities accounts.