Old Debt? Mackenzie Hall

andrewman

STRESSED12 if there was no communication with yourselves since 2001 and you have not contacted them either then the debt could be statute barred. If you sent them a CCA request then they are obligued to send you the relevant information and can not refuse to do so. If a company refuses to sent you information then i beleive the company has not got a leg to stand on, also no court action can be taken without a default notice being served.

If you are unsure how to deal with this problem you should seek proffessional advice and assistance from trading standards or citizens advice. If you sent a request for CCA request did you tell them they have 12 working days to reply in writing,if these people keep saying that they work from the default date is untrue, companys should contact you as soon as you stop paying,not wait 6years to so. you will get other replies from members for you to look at and act on if they have anything to help.

stressed12

I haven't sent off the letter asking for the cca, it was something i asked about when they phoned me. They then went on to say they didnt have to provide anything, which with hindsight struck me as strange.
If that is true i will phone them back asking for money they dont owe me and tell them they have to pay me and i dont have to prove a thing:D .

But i am now tempted to send the cca request letter off aswell as the one i have already sent saying that the debt is statute barred.
:beer:
What also confuses me is the credit limit on the card was 900 ponds but they said my wife owed them just short of three grand, even with interest that is a massive jump.

alhggyb

stressed12 wrote: »

I haven't sent off the letter asking for the cca, it was something i asked about when they phoned me. They then went on to say they didnt have to provide anything, which with hindsight struck me as strange.
If that is true i will phone them back asking for money they dont owe me and tell them they have to pay me and i dont have to prove a thing:D .

But i am now tempted to send the cca request letter off aswell as the one i have already sent saying that the debt is statute barred.
:beer:
What also confuses me is the credit limit on the card was 900 ponds but they said my wife owed them just short of three grand, even with interest that is a massive jump.

MH threats are all a bunch of scaremongering crap. As I stated in an earlier post, I sent them a copy of the letter from the National Debtline:

http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_wales/factsheet.php?page=25_liability_for_debts_and_the_limitation_act

I received a letter back saying they will no longer be pursuing my debt.
When you originally wrote to them, did you ask who the debt was from, how much and the reference number for the debt? You will need the reference number for the letter on the Debtline letter (just for reference purposes!!)

Do NOT ring them. Any correspondance should be done in writing and always keep a copy of what you send.

Another thing you and your wife should do is send off for copies of your credit reports. You'll see from them when the last time any contact about the debt was.

Don't panic too much about MH. You arrived here and are now more knowledgable about your situation.

Knowledge is power, and you've regained your own power back through it

debt_management

Readers may be interested to know that MH have now stopped contacting my clients after we threatened them with proceedings under the Protection of Harrassment Act after they continually tried to contact my clients and also were acting in their usual illegal ways regarding "out of time" matters - chasing debts over 6 years old etc. The lesson is to be more aggressive (but legal) than them if is possible..

lilybun

i too got some really rude letters from these people in feb.07, claiming that i owed them £130, apparently from an account with sears (selfridges) prior to 1999, although i had closed and paid off the account 'in full and final settlement'.
they were quite aggressive on the phone, and claimed that it was up to me to prove that i had no debt with them, not for them to prove that i did.

being under the c.a.b. at the time, i asked them to write to mackenzie hall on my behalf, explaining that the alleged debt was uncollectable as it was more than 6 years ago, and unsubstantiated.
this february mackenzie hall tried their luck again.
the c.a.b tell me that they're entitled to chase me for ever, if they so choose, even though they cannot legally do anything. is this really true?

fermi

lilybun wrote: »

the c.a.b tell me that they're entitled to chase me for ever, if they so choose, even though they cannot legally do anything. is this really true?

They can ask nicely but the OFT has this to say.

From: Office of Fair Trading - Debt collection guidance

Statute barred debt

2.13

This guidance applies to the pursuit of debt regardless of its age. We will be carrying out further work on this aspect of debt recovery including analysis of relevant legislation and practice throughout the UK.

2.14

In the past we have dealt with a number of statute barred debt cases governed by the Limitation Act 1980, which applies to England and Wales. Based on that experience our position with regard to England and Wales remains:

a. we accept legally the debt exists

b. it is the methods by which the debt is collected that can be unfair as follows:

• it is unfair to pursue the debt if the debtor has heard nothing from the creditor during the relevant limitation period

• if a creditor has been in regular contact with a debtor before the debt is statute barred, then we do not consider it unfair to continue to attempt to recover the debt

• it is unfair to mislead debtors as to their rights and obligations, for example, falsely stating or implying that the debt is still legally recoverable and relying on consumers not knowing the relevant legal provisions, and

• continuing to press for payment after a debtor has stated that they will not be paying a debt because it is statute barred could amount to harassment contrary to section 40 (1) of the Administration of Justice Act 1970

andrewman

I beleive that if you have a statue barred debt and you have informed the company then by rights they should stop contacting you, if not then i would class it has harrassment and file official complaint with trading standards. also trading standards can help you with getting your message across if companys ignore your letters. I have used trading standards to deal with mackenzie hall who contacted me earlier this year stating i owed them money from 2004,as no payment has been made to MH since before 1994, i previously informed MH that the debt was statue barred and they have no rights to chase me for it, their letter earlier was passed to tradinng standards because of MH trying to say i made a payment to them in 2004,this i beleive was the year i sent them a statue barred letter curtousy of citizens advice. so in short go to trading standards if idiots like this cause you problems, trading standards are there to help you.:cool:

derek99

Hi I Am New To This But I Am Glad I Found This Site.

I Am Having A Few Problems With Debts From 10 Years Ago
I Had My Own Company But Due To Ill Health My Company Went Bust And I Am Now Disabled.

The Problem Is I Started Paying Them Does This Mean I Have To Continue Paying These?

I Have Tried To Call These Companys To Tell Them These Debts Are Statue Barred But They Said I Still Must Pay As I Have Been Or They Will Take Me To Court. Can They Do This?

I Have Asked Them For Proof But They Said I Dont Need It As I Have Been Paying It.
I Only Started Paying Them As They Said They Would Send Baliffs
Round Or Make Me Bankrupt.

I Would Be Grateful For Any Help. Urgently..
Many Thanks
Derek

rog2

derek99 wrote: »

I Have Asked Them For Proof But They Said I Dont Need It As I Have Been Paying It.
I Only Started Paying Them As They Said They Would Send Baliffs
Round Or Make Me Bankrupt. Derek

Hi derek - first of all, they MUST give you proof - it does NOT matter whether or not you have been, or still are, making any payments. If a period of six years (five in Scotland) elapsed, during which you neither made any payments towards, nor acknowledged the debt in writing, then that debt is statute barred. It does not magically 'unbar' itself if you make payments after the limitation period.
A DCA has no power to 'send in bailiffs'. Only a Court can do that (other than for Council Tax bills) and only after you have defaulted on a County Court Judgement.
Talk to one of the Debt Counselling Charities such as National Debtline - 0808 808 4000, CCCS - 0800 138 1111, or your local CAB.

RAS

Derek

rog is right. MH are well known on here.

Contact one of the debt charities, but above all - do NOT phone this mob again.

There is a letter you can send demanding that they only contact you in writing. This makes them very much less keen to suggest that bailiffs etc are coming because there would be prooof of them not telling bending the truth.