Old Debt? Mackenzie Hall

rubykins

I have received a phishing letter at my mothers address a couple of weeks ago, the oddness about it was that it was addressed to me in my maiden name (I have been Married 19+ years).

I do remember a problem with a house of fraser card which was the only debt I had in my name which was not actually a debt but a problem with billing i.e. I had ordered 2 sofas one I paid cash and one I put on the card £400ish by the time the sofas arrived I had a card bill for 3 sofas and severe headache from dealing with morons at barkers in Kensington. So after a long denial and lengthy letters I received a ccj which I counterclaimed in person at court, nobody from fraser card turned up so the court found for me and it was settled, this was in 89 plus it was at my new address, 4 addresses past!

But by the sounds of the past postings on this site. this may not seem like a an obstical to our friends at MH, I have told Mum to ignore any letters and I have not phoned them (luckily seeing this site before hand) but I am curious incase there is some ID fraud at hand, plus I would have to let them know that letters could be passed on. I'll leave it a while I think, My Mum is quite deaf, selectivley at times and if any one is rude to her on the phone she can be more so back, she is 82, irish and softly spoken so to hear her tell someone F*#K off is funny. I'll let you know if there are any developments.
But, if anyone has any other ideas I would be pleased to hear.

bethsmum

Hi everyone Im new on here, today I've received a letter (at my new address) from Mackenzie Hall...I have 3 debts 2 dating back to 2001 and 1 from 2002...I have never been intouch with debt collectors as Ive always been too scared does this mean that my debts are in the 6yr rule?...Also Ive moved house and recently got married and now have a new surname so can these people still chase me as my debts are in my old surname?!

PLEASE PLEASE HELP!

RAS

Hiya bethsmum.

The legal sitatuation regarding old debts is that after 6 years in England and Wales, (5 years in Scotland), the creditor can ask you to pay but that they cannot pursue you through the courts or record anything against your credit record, if they have not otherwise collected money in that time or received WRITTEN acknowledgement of the debt from you.

The OFT Guidelines indicate that once you tell them that the debt is statute barred and you are not paying, they are not entitled to chase you further or to transfer the debt to another company.

I would request your credit records to find out if any of the debts are still listed on them.

Trigger2007

Hi all,

I may have missed the reply on this one as a couple of people have posted.

Ive just checked my credit file, and an account from 1993 has just posted a default in 2007? I have had zero contact in the last 10 years and its just appeared. It could possibly be when MH have been looking as well?

whats the best way to deal with this?

andrewman

If what you say is correct then your debt is statute barred, you should send a letter to MH,if they have contacted you,otherwise i would ignore it,until some one contacts you about it. In my dealings with MH after being told it was statute barred they went away,but a few years later tried again,but this time,i had trading standards tell them.No further contact has been made. Have a statute barred letter ready incase you are contacted about this 1993 debt, You may be able to get one from this site,or from the national debt line website.:cool:

rubykins

Hi again all,

I have had another letter having marked it as gone away at my Ma's address but it was not stuck down properly so had a look, again contact us on blah blah but i just realised they have an 0870/0845 number and as this is a premium number they will proberbly make back the cost they paid for your debt just by getting you to call them, that is why they are so insistant you call them, they cannot earn out of emails and letters and any money they can get back from the less enlightend is the icing on the cake. so carry on sending recorded delivery letters and if you are going to have to spend to get these lowlife scumbags off your back be sure none of the money can get to them.

please let me know if I'm barking up the wrong tree here but if you could see my phone bill there are a number of the o870/0845 numbers which are cropping up every where and costing me a bomb.

Bertram_2

If MH or any other DCA start threatening you with legal action on a statute barred debt , you can also use the new consumer protection regulations which came into force in may 2008.

[FONT=TimesNewRoman,Bold]

2008 No. 1277
CONSUMER PROTECTION

[/FONT]The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008

[FONT=TimesNewRoman,Bold]

Aggressive commercial practices
7.—(1) A commercial practice is aggressive if, in its factual context, taking account of all of its

features and circumstances—

(2) In determining whether a commercial practice uses harassment, coercion or undue influence
account shall be taken of—
(a) its timing, location, nature or persistence;
(b) the use of threatening or abusive language or behaviour;
(c) the exploitation by the trader of any specific misfortune or circumstance of such gravity
as to impair the consumer’s judgment, of which the trader is aware, to influence the
consumer’s decision with regard to the product;
(d) any onerous or disproportionate non-contractual barrier imposed by the trader where a
consumer wishes to exercise rights under the contract, including rights to terminate a
contract or to switch to another product or another trader; and

(e) any threat to take any action which cannot legally be taken.

----


Also note 2 (b) for general behaviour of DCA staff, statute barred or not .
[/FONT]

Bertram_2

I did not post a link , my apologies.

Here it is :


http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2008/pdf/uksi_20081277_en.pdf

I've only linked the part of the document that is relevant to the topic of this thread , but if you go to the link and read through it, you'll find quite a bit you can use against dca's and their tactics .

Pethy1

I have received a letter this morning asking me to contact them if I am the person named at the top of the letter, as have other people. Having read this thread I have checked my credit file and there is nothing on there and I have just recently got a mortgage (which in current climates is good going) so I am fairly confident that there is nothing untoward with my credit report.

What do I do now?

Bertram_2

Don't do anything . There are just out fishing trying to link any old name they can find with some debt they have . If you phone them, then then have a number to link to the name to hound you with, so never ever phone them. Besides , there is no information of note that you could glean from a mere call operator drone , their brief is to get you to admit some debt / agree a repayment by coercion, intimidation etc , only people you need to deal with are their complaints department by written communication. So, ignore it for now. If they persist .. send them this : Don't sign it , just print name.


<name>
Alleged Account Number <xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>

<date>

Dear Sir/Madam

You have contacted me regarding the alleged account with the above reference number, which you claim is owed by myself.

I would point out that I have no knowledge of any such debt being owed to <dca name> or any other organization you represent.

I am are familiar with the Office of Fair Trading Debt Collection Guidance which states that it unfair to send demands for payment to an individual when it is uncertain that they are the debtor in question.

I would also point out that the OFT say under the Guidance that it is unfair to pursue third parties for payment when they are not liable. In not ceasing collection activity whilst investigating a reasonably queried or disputed debt you are using deceptive/and or unfair methods.

Furthermore ignoring and/or disregarding claims that debts have been settled or are disputed and continuing to make unjustified demands for payment amounts to physical/psychological harassment.

I would ask that no further contact be made concerning the above account unless you can provide evidence as to my liability for the debt in question.

I await your written confirmation that this matter is now closed. Otherwise I will have no option but to make formal complaint(s) to yourselves and complaint regarding to the trading standards department and informing the OFT of your actions.

I look forward to your reply.

Yours