Topic: Debt Collectors

[zigzig]

My counsin who is not the sharpest star in the sky showed me a letter they had received out of the blue a couple of weeks back asking them if they were the same

Harry Hobnob who used to live at 99 Letsbe Ave. (false name and address here for obvious reasons)

That was his address some 12 to 15 years ago. The building was bought up by developers, demolished and the land was used to build new houses well over ten years ago.

I told him to ignore the letter it was probably a scam.

Any way yesterday Harry gets a letter from these same people telling him that he owes them £250  and a debt collector will call to make arrangements for him to repay them the money in the next two weeks.

Harry, knows nothing about owing any one any money and for the life of him can not think what this is all about and is worried.

Now I know about the 1980 Limitation act, which is not precise enough to just say, that any debt is out of date. It must be old if it dates back to his old address.

I have checked the name of the company on the letter on the internet and they are 'known to buy up old and written off debts for pennies then try to bully people into repaying them'.

There is a lot of advice for people who do owe money.

Fair enough, if a debt was ever owed. People should pay their way.

I have told Harry to get to CAB on Monday, but I rather think that they will have a lot of work on and might not be able to help him quickly. That means more worry for longer for him.

Does any one else know about this sort of thing and what to do for the best? He lives alone and is now going to be afraid to answer the door to anyone.

[djbrenton]

Send a letter to the debt collection agency, that states that you have no idea about any such debt that the agency claims. Mention the account numbers or reference number that they are making the demands for.

According to the guidelines set by the Office of Fair Trading and CUPTR (Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations) 2008:

    * It is unfair for debt collectors to demand for payments from an individual when they are uncertain about the debtor/debtors.
    * It is unfair to track third parties for payments when they are not legally liable.
    * It is unfair not to freeze collection activity during the investigation period of a queried or disputed debt.

Disregarding or ignoring claims of debts that have been disputed or settled and continual unjustified demands for payments result in psychological harassment and can be subject to prosecution.

Ask the debt collection agency to make no further contact with you regarding their demands for payments without evidence except a letter from them that clearly confirms that the matter is closed. Otherwise you may lodge a complaint with Trading Standards and inform the OFT about the same.

If a Debt Collection agency threatens you to make a doorstep visit then draft a letter that states that you will communicate only via mails. Let them know that you have logged their constant attempts to contact you by telephone which includes the time and date of every call they have made so far. This should stop most debt collectors.

If they make an attempt to further contact you over phone it would be considered as harassment and will be dealt with accordingly.

If they intend to organize a ‘door step call’, advise them that under the rules set by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) , they can only visit you at your home if you wish to make an appointment and you have no such wishes.

Under English Common Law for people in the United Kingdom, they can not visit you on your property without your permission. Inform them that you may revoke the implied license under English Common Law (that allows people to visit you on your property without your conveyed permission) for them and any of their representatives. If they still visit you on your property then they will be trespassing and action will be taken against them; in police attendance if necessary. Please remember never to sign your name on the letter.

[PurpleHeather]

DJ these companies who demand money with menaces(within the law) according to a lot of reports must have already have had all the replies you have suggested. They ignore them and just continue to claim money. A small amount like £250. It is better to pay off and get rid of the hassle for an awful lot of people, whether they ever owed it or not.

I know that the debt collectors are aggressive and even people like the CAB have reported that they ignore them and continue to harass the person they think owes.

People have actually committed suicide as a result of their aggressive behaviour.

I used to work for a company who incurred debts which they then sold off what they thought was irrecoverable and even when I rang the debt recovery company who had bought the debts to point out that the debt which had been sold to them was irrecoverable  and 'we' were taking it back to write it off permanently.  They still  tried to refuse to sell it back. Wanted to keep the debt because of the profit they were going to make.  They were aggressive to me.

It is a horrible area.

I completely agree that if you borrow £100, you owe £100 plus of course any reasonable interest.

But some people have had their identity stolen or have been subject to fraudulent transactions and they honestly do not owe what is recorded in their name.

I do not dispute for one moment what you say, but the thing is when some one is a victim (not a debtor trying to avoid not paying) they can make life hell.

Hopefully, Harry Hobnob will stand his ground on this and fight it out. For a lot of people, paying off is cheaper than running the risk or loosing their credit rating and getting rid of the hassle.

[lorna]

Debt Collectors!! Not very  long after my husband died I received a letter demanding over £4000 for a debt from a well known credit card company which was incurred years before in a county that we had never lived in (debt had been sold on) My son rang the debt collector who asked if he was Mr //////, which of course he is, my son tried to tell him the debt wasn't possible. He was told "See you in court" I knew for a fact that my husband had never had a credit card (I did all the paper work) and he only ever signed one cheque in 50 years of marriage. I even went to the police because I thought it might be a scam. After many telephone arguments and letters the debt collector finally asked my husbands date of birth. when I told him he just said "I don't think you will hear any more!!" I was then given the sum of £150 compensation for the inconvenience!!! It seems that as we have an unusual surname my husband had just been picked out of a hat!!! Just happened that christian and surname were the same as the debtor.

[froglets]

I had a steady stream of debt collectors at my door for the first couple of years at my current address for a couple of serial defaulters who lived at the same address in the next village, same postal town and first half postcode.

In the main, as I was forearmed, the doorstep callers didn't give me personally any grief.  I was always polite but firm, told them the situation & refused to discuss anything more and asked them to leave.  I always followed up on phone calls and call me notes that came through the door as I wanted to be in the clear and have a record of co-operating.  Only once did I have to write a formal threatening letter saying I had reported them to the police for harassement ( actually for being thick really) and I heard no more on that one.

It pays to play the system with these guys and stand your ground.  it's an interesting situation though as I used to get mail for the defualters and some of the debts they had run up were shocking ( british gas, phone companies, mobiles, loans) & at the end of the day, we all pay for that in higher bills, so it needs to be tackled.

If I ever win onthe premium bonds and those nice people come round to tell me, if they're wearing long coats I'll probbly give them the debt collectors speil and close the door!

[zigzig]

Went to CAB with Harry today and guess what?

They have so many people calling with the same sort of thing that they have a pre-printed letter to send back to them.

We are sending off the letter and will await the reply.

Looks like any one could be a victim of this sort of thing. So worth knowing.

Harry, shall I say has never ever had a credit card and always pays his way. Shopping in local markets and even charity shops, he has never had anything 'posh' nor has he any desire for anything like that. He knows his limitations and lives within them. The family help out if he wants them to but rarely does.

Personally I wonder if he has been a victim of identity theft or fraud. He tells me  he remebers that some years ago some one called and told him he had not repaid an installmant on a debt.

He said he had never taken out any debt and that, in his words, 'The lady brought the man round and he said it was not me so the lady said, we will write it off because it was not you.'

Harry had allowed an 'old friend' to stay over for a few weeks at the time because the 'old friend' needed a bed for a few days around that time

I think some people might be ahead of me here. I recall him having a friend round about seven or eight years ago. He was similar to Harry in build etc and I know Harry keeps all his documents in a special drawer. Including his passport.

Not hard for some one to do a dirty deed here is it? Take some one elses passport as proof of ID which is eight years old........... Passport photos are notoriously bad.  a reasonable resemblance is often, good enough. Get the lender to call round when Harry is out at church or playing bingo?

That is my estimation of what has happened. The debt was written off and after 6 years the owner sold it off.

Wish that I kept a diary, I could check back and be totally sure.

Any one want to know any more here?

[zigzig]

Just to let you know Harry got a letter back saying

They are not persuing the debt further.

Nice but the tone of the letter does not suggest that there has been a mistake or any thing like that .

[Pomona]

Just a word of warning- if Harry is told again it is all cleared up, keep notes of dates, names and any other details. I had a similar thing happen to me years ago: they were chasing someone of the same name and birth date but from somewhere I'd never lived. I was told it was all ok, and lo and behold a year later it all started again- same debt had obviously been sold on again to another company.