Letter from Hoist Finance UK? Here's what to do

If a Hoist Finance letter has arrived for an old account, the debt has almost certainly been sold to them by the original lender. Hoist Finance UK is part of a Swedish-headquartered group, Hoist Finance AB, that specialises in buying unsecured non-performing loans across Europe. In the UK their footprint includes consumer-credit accounts that previously sat with banks, mobile-phone operators and short-term lenders.

Importantly for many readers, Robinson Way — a long-established UK contingent collector based in Manchester — became part of the Hoist group, so a letter signed “Robinson Way” or “Hoist” may relate to the same underlying account. And in late 2022 Hoist sold a substantial UK portfolio to Lowell — so a recent Lowell letter may be about a debt that used to sit with Hoist.

This guide covers who Hoist are, what they can legally do, and the realistic options for resolving the debt — including how an IVA can legally stop them and write off the balance.

Who Hoist Finance UK are

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Hoist Finance UK Limited is the UK arm of Hoist Finance AB, a Stockholm-listed group that operates a regulated bank in Sweden alongside its debt-purchase business. The UK business buys portfolios of unsecured non-performing consumer loans and credit-card debt, and previously operated under the trading name Robinson Way for collection activity.

They are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and a member of the Credit Services Association. Their FCA permission is for consumer-credit debt collection rather than originating new lending — they do not normally issue credit themselves.

Why Hoist (or Robinson Way, or Lowell) are contacting you

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Hoist and Robinson Way are the same group; Lowell is a separate group that bought a chunk of Hoist’s UK book in 2022. So depending on when the original creditor sold or assigned the account, your debt could be sitting with any of:

• Hoist Finance UK — the original buyer, group parent
• Robinson Way — the legacy UK collection brand within Hoist
• Lowell — bought the late-2022 portfolio sale

Whichever brand the letter is from, your legal rights and the limitation period don’t change. Only the party you negotiate with does.

What Hoist Finance UK can and cannot legally do

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Hoist Finance UK are debt collectors, not bailiffs. They can:

• Write to you and phone you on numbers held by the original lender
• Apply for a county-court judgment if they believe the debt is enforceable
• Once they have a CCJ, apply for an attachment of earnings, charging order or High Court enforcement

They cannot force entry to your home, take goods without a court order followed by enforcement officers, threaten arrest, or invent fees that were not in the original credit agreement. Like every UK consumer-credit firm they must follow the FCA’s CONC rules, including the requirement to consider what you can genuinely afford after essential outgoings.

Two checks worth running before you pay anything

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1. Section 77/78 CCA request for the original signed credit agreement, statement of account and notice of assignment. Send in writing with the £1 statutory fee. Until Hoist (or Lowell, if the debt has since been sold on) supply this paperwork, the debt is legally unenforceable.
2. Statute-barred check. Six years in England and Wales (five in Scotland) since the last payment or written acknowledgement, with no CCJ in that window, means the debt is statute-barred. Hoist cannot enforce it through the courts.

Don’t make a small “goodwill” payment to test the waters — even £1 can restart the limitation clock.

How Hoist tend to engage

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Because Hoist is a portfolio buyer (not a contingent collector working for a fee), their incentive structure rewards settlements rather than long-running disputes. In practice:

• They will often accept a settlement discount for a one-off payment — anywhere from 20% to 60% off the balance, depending on the account’s age and the strength of the underlying paperwork.
• They use county-court claims through the Northampton bulk centre when they want to enforce.
• After a CCJ they typically pursue attachment of earnings or a charging order on a homeowner property, rather than escalating to High Court enforcement.

What happens if you ignore Hoist

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Hoist’s escalation is similar to other portfolio buyers:

1. Letters and calls with progressively stronger language and settlement offers
2. Pre-claim letter (Letter Before Action)
3. County-court claim form through Northampton — 14 days to acknowledge service, 28 to defend
4. Default judgment (CCJ) if you don’t respond — sits on your credit file for six years
5. Enforcement — attachment of earnings or charging order

The leverage you have is highest before a CCJ is entered. Once a default judgment is in place, setting it aside is technically possible but harder.

Routes out

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• Settle in full or at a discount, always in writing, with “full and final” wording.
• Agreed monthly arrangement based on what you can genuinely afford after essentials. Get this in writing too.
• IVA if total unsecured debt is around £5,000 or more and you have a regular spare income — the IVA legally stops Hoist contacting you, freezes interest and writes off the unpaid balance at completion.
• Debt Management Plan for smaller, more manageable balances.
• Debt Relief Order for total debt under £50,000 with very low spare income.
• Bankruptcy where no realistic monthly payment is possible.

Common Hoist Finance pitfalls

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• Don’t ignore Robinson Way letters thinking they’re separate. Robinson Way collection activity is now Hoist Finance — the underlying account is the same.
• Don’t ignore Lowell letters about an old Hoist debt. If the account was sold to Lowell in 2022, Lowell now has full rights to enforce.
• Don’t ignore the Northampton claim form. A defended CCJ is treatable; an undefended default judgment is much harder to set aside.
• Don’t agree to a higher monthly payment than you can sustain. Hoist’s affordability checks are done remotely and they will accept what genuinely fits your income.

Frequently asked questions

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Is Robinson Way the same as Hoist? Yes — Robinson Way operates as part of the Hoist Finance UK group. Letters in either name refer to the same underlying business and the same accounts.

Has my Hoist debt been sold to Lowell? Possibly — Hoist sold a large UK book to Lowell in late 2022. A recent Lowell letter for an old Hoist account is the most likely sign. Your rights don’t change; only the party you deal with.

Can Hoist Finance freeze my bank account? Not by themselves. A creditor can apply to freeze a bank account through a third-party debt order, but only after a CCJ and a successful application to the court.

Will an IVA include my Hoist debt? Yes. Hoist debt is unsecured consumer credit and goes into an IVA on the same basis as any other unsecured debt. Once the IVA is approved, Hoist must stop contact and cannot enforce the included balance.

The debt is decades old — can they still chase? Probably not, in practice. If you have not paid or written to the creditor for more than six years (five in Scotland) and there has been no CCJ, the debt is statute-barred and cannot be enforced. Confirm this in writing — and do not make any payment that would reset the clock.

Related guides

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• Robinson Way — the Hoist UK collection brand
• Lowell Financial — bought a Hoist portfolio in 2022
• Do debt collectors give up?
• How long can I be chased for a debt?
• How do I apply for an IVA?