Old Debt? Mackenzie Hall

derek99

rog2 wrote: »

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.

HI ROG2
I HAVE FOUND YOUR REPLY (EVENTUALLY) THANKS FOR GETTING BACK TO ME SO QUICKLY SO IF I STOP PAYING THERE IS NOTHING THEY CAN DO. IS THIS CORRECT ROG I AM AT MY WITS END WITH THE PHONE CALLS AND LETTERS. ONCE AGAIN MANY THANKS. DEREK.

rog2

derek99 wrote: »

HI ROG2
I HAVE FOUND YOUR REPLY (EVENTUALLY) THANKS FOR GETTING BACK TO ME SO QUICKLY SO IF I STOP PAYING THERE IS NOTHING THEY CAN DO. IS THIS CORRECT ROG I AM AT MY WITS END WITH THE PHONE CALLS AND LETTERS. ONCE AGAIN MANY THANKS. DEREK.

Derek - Check out the following link:

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

If you are happy that your 'debts' meet the criteria, then simply send them the template letter and stop making any payments.
They will, obviously, try to tell you otherwise, but they will be unable to pursue a 'statute barred' debt through the courts.
If they continue to 'harrass' you, report them to the Trading Standards as they will be acting in direct contravention of the OFT Guidelines for Debt Collection:

http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/business_leaflets/consumer_credit/oft664.pdf

debt_management

Derek

One thing you should do is log EVERY phpne call and letter from MH.If they are continually contacting unreasonably, and you have requesterd them IN WRITING not to contact you you will find that they are in breach of the Protection of Harassment Act 1997. Take no nonsense from them and they will go away, but as previously stated by me and others here, correspond with them in writing only.

TrikerAndBiker

We received the standard letter from MH

"Please call 01563 556548 no later than XXXX. If the above person is not you please call 01563 556550. This is not a circular or junk mail. We need to speak to you urgently. Regarding Reference Number M*******. Thank you."

Having read all the posts I am a little confused as to whether we should respond in writing with the "we acknowledge no debt" bit or should we just ignore this letter and see what happens?

Thanks for any advice

RAS

triker

Have you any idea what this debt relates to? How old is it?

rog2

TrikerAndBiker wrote: »

We received the standard letter from MH

"Please call 01563 556548 no later than XXXX. If the above person is not you please call 01563 556550. This is not a circular or junk mail. We need to speak to you urgently. Regarding Reference Number M*******. Thank you."

Having read all the posts I am a little confused as to whether we should respond in writing with the "we acknowledge no debt" bit or should we just ignore this letter and see what happens?

Thanks for any advice

IF Mackenzie Hall were that certain that they had found the right person they would have given you details of what they wished to discuss in the letter.

Certainly do NOT phone them. If it were me, I would be inclined to ignore it, but if you wish to reply, I would suggest that you do so by letter only, stating that you have received their letter, ref M******, and that you do NOT intend to phone them - could they, please, clarify, IN WRITING, exactly what they need to 'urgently' discuss with you.

TrikerAndBiker

RAS wrote: »

triker

Have you any idea what this debt relates to? How old is it?

Him indoors has a couple of old debts (way before my time!) (one possibly over 6 years, one just under) but MH do not state which debt they are trying to collect.

rog2

TrikerAndBiker wrote: »

Him indoors has a couple of old debts (way before my time!) (one possibly over 6 years, one just under) but MH do not state which debt they are trying to collect.

In that case, T&B, I would suggest that you ask MH to provide you with a true copy of the original consumer credit agreement, to which you are entitled and MH are LEGALLY OBLIGED to provide under the terms of the Consumer Credit Act, 1974, and without which, they can no longer enforce the agreement (ie pursue you/OH for payment.
In the unlikely event that MH were able to provide you with a true copy of the original consumer credit agreement (personally I don't think they even know what that means) then this would show whether or not the 'debt' is indeed Statute Barred, or even enforceable.
For more information on how you can request the original cca and up-to-date statements, with a 'template letter' that you can send to MH, have a look at the following link:

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

If you use that 'template letter' I would preface it with the following sentence:

"I acknowledge no debt to your company, or to any organisation that you claim to represent"

Good Luck

Dicko45

I have been lied to by a debt coolector, had evasive responses over telephone with their instructors, MacKenzie Hall, and the firm (boxclever) who set them onto us with a "debt" - actually a badly calculated final account for renting a washer - aged about 6 yrs & 6months have failed to explain themselves and cannot do anything to call-off their dogs!
MacKenzie Hall are stopping action because there is a dispute but can't say nobody else will chase us up in future - BUT THEY BOUGHT THE "DEBT" IN JULY 2007!!!!!
This is bullying, as their conduct (and MIL Collrctions@ too) has amounted to intimidation. My wife is inclined to pay up, but I can't give in to bullying, too old to start that now, never done it before.
Is there a simple way to achieve what I want, which is to ensure that either the debt is acknowledged as invalid? Ideally I'd like to have proceedings brought against all involved, but that would only be effective if enough others feeling likewise would complain to whoever you recommend.
Am I alone? I intend to try, I've complained to Consumer Direct and am waiting to hear from them.

Juan90

I hope this is the correct place to post this as this relates to MH and friends, and I would appreciate some advice please. Recieved a letter from MH the first week in January this year (2008), although the date on their letter was 29th November 2007 - very slow post! :rolleyes:

Basically the letter said it was a final notice to my wife to pay £1500 by noon on 6th December 2007 to MH for Phonenix Recoveries (UK) Ltd SARL for a debt to an original creditor which was Shop Direct. I rang MH (this was before I found this forum) as neither my wife nor myself had any recollection
of this and we had actually, to the best of our knowledge, cleared all our outstanding debts in 2003 when we had a small windfall. MH said it was for a Great Universal account from the 1990's. Obviously I agreed with nothing and said I would get back to them.

Then the phone calls started, including one from a rather offensive lady who could not understand why I would not give out any of my personal information to someone who rings me out of the blue. We then received a letter from them asking for a reduced settlement offer of £1071. Then they sent a letter for a standing order mandate. I then did some research and found this forum, I sent MH a copy of the letter
posted by file_wizzard (much appreciated :beer: )at the beginning of this thread on the 8th of April by recorded delivery.

The phone calls stopped. We then received on the 28th April a letter from Shop Direct Financial Services quoting a GUS account number and a Intrum Justitia reference, giving us notice that the account was legally assigned to Phonenix Recoveries (UK) Ltd SARL on 27th March 2007, and if we
had not made an arrangement to pay to contact Intrum Justia.(It also said do not make any attempt to contact SDFS as regards this - is this normal )

On the 13th May we received a letter from Geoffrey Parker Bourne solicitors as follows:

" County Court Claim No. XDxxxxxx

We give you notice that the name of the claimant has been changed to Phonenix Recoveries (UK) Ltd SARL.

This will have no effect on the case and you must ensure you maintain payments on the account."

Essentially we would like some idea what, if anything we should do now. We have not made any payments on this account in this century and we have had no notification from any County court as regards any case. Any help would be appreciated.