Old Debt? Mackenzie Hall

SammmeBee

Thanks Rog - it wasn't a mobile phone company.....

Andympgs

i had banged on recently about lowell portfolio and m/h, however i have had letters off 2 further companies, RED.. and HAMPTONS... i have not responded to these letters. but i am also recieving phone calls none stop from this same number starting with 0113, and harrassing me about the debt, i am now ignoring these calls to, is this really the right thing to be doing ,,, just ignoring them, i sent them the link that you sent earlier last month but this has obviously taken no effect on them, any further advice would be great, thanks in advance.

andy.

joey1986_2

hi, This morning i recieved a text on my mobile from "john at mackenzie hall" asking me to ring him immediatly, i had absolutly no idea who they were or to be honest how they got my number! so i googled them which brought me here, now i know that when i was a student i got into debts for silly reasons as you do, but as far as i am aware i paid them all off, i know i am still paying my overdraft but im not late on payments, i dont want to give them my new address because i live with my parents and frankly this would be hassle they just dont need right now. i dont know what to do! do i ring them? do i ignore them? i just dont know! someone help... please!!!

rog2

joey1986 wrote: »

i dont know what to do! do i ring them? do i ignore them? i just dont know! someone help... please!!!

Ignore them, joey - if they have something important to ask you, let them write to you.

LunarTic

Andympgs wrote: »

i had banged on recently about lowell portfolio and m/h, however i have had letters off 2 further companies, RED.. and HAMPTONS... i have not responded to these letters. but i am also recieving phone calls none stop from this same number starting with 0113, and harrassing me about the debt, i am now ignoring these calls to, is this really the right thing to be doing ,,, just ignoring them, i sent them the link that you sent earlier last month but this has obviously taken no effect on them, any further advice would be great, thanks in advance.

andy.

Red and Hamptons are two other trading names of the Lowell Group. So you are being pursued by the same people but using a panoply of different names.

Note also that section 2.6(c) of the Office of Fair Trading's "Debt collection guidance - Final guidance on unfair business practices" document (http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/business_leaflets/consumer_credit/oft664.pdf) deems it "unfair practice" to use "more than one debt collection business at the same time resulting in repetitive and/or frequent contact by different parties".

I, however, would leave it to the Office of Fair Trading's jurisdiction to decide whether or not it would be unfair for a debt collection agency to contact the same person over the same debt using different aliases for its business.

LunarTic

It is also entirely possible that the Office of Fair Trading may choose to revoke a debt collection agency's Consumer Credit Licence should they deem that particular debt collection agency to have acted unfairly. This would mean that the debt collection agency would essentially be forced to cease trading.

The following link gives more information, http://www.oft.gov.uk/advice_and_resources/resource_base/legal/cca/debt-collection

and contains a link to a Word document which can be used to complain to the Office of Fair Trading about the activities of creditors and/or their debt collection units: http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/business_leaflets/consumer_credit/DebtCollectionComplaintForm.DOC

hender1

hi, can anyone help.
i have just receiveed a text message from MH asking me to contact them. i have rang them and they say i owe £198! I asked where this is from - they advised that the debt was bought from Cetelem UK Ltd by Lowell Financial and that they were acting on behalf of LOWELL. I have had no correspondence from either of these companies re this debt. I did have an account with Cetelem but as far as I was concerned this was fully repaid. I asked for proof of this debt and they replied saying that it was my responsibility and it would probably be very difficult as Cetelem would have destroyed my records when they sold the debt. MH said that if i didn't pay then it would be sent for further action. What sort of mug do they take people for!
Can someone please advise what I should do please?

rog2

hender1 wrote: »

I asked for proof of this debt and they replied saying that it was my responsibility and it would probably be very difficult as Cetelem would have destroyed my records when they sold the debt. MH said that if i didn't pay then it would be sent for further action. What sort of mug do they take people for!

This is a typical example of 'Mackenzie Hall' at their best, hender. :mad: :mad:

Of course they must give you proof of any 'alleged debt' on your request, and the legal onus is on them to prove that you are, indeed, in debt - before they even start 'chasing you'.

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

In the first instance, you have two options:

1. You can send them the NDL 'prove it' letter that you will find on this link: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.html?p=11570893
2. You can request a copy of the original consumer credit agreement and statement of the 'account' along with any deeds of assignment proving that they are, in fact, legally entitled to 'pursue' this debt. There is a statutory fee, of £1, to go down this route, but it places MH under a legal obligation to provide you with these details - without which, they simply can not pursue you for this debt: http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_wales/factsheet.php?page=getting_a_copy_of_your_credit_agreement_and_account_deatails

Also - how 'old' is the debt? MH specialise in trying to collect debts which are, in effect, legally unenforceable providing that the debtor is aware of his/her rights and informs the debt collection agency of this fact.

hender1

i have decided to go down route 2 - i hope this works. cheers for your advice and links - much appreciated

Confused_Matty

i hope it works for you too mate. got a very similar problem need some advise.
i recieved a text message when i finished work today saying 'please call amy at mackenzie hall immediately on a certain number regarding a certain reference number' amazingly my landlord is called amy so i thought it was her trying to phone me from a work number and the reference number just confused me. so i rang the number and they started asking me personal questions eg asking for the refererence number, my date of birth, my full address. they then turned round and said to me that my last known address was a different address could i confirm i lived at this old address, they then said that they were debt collecting agency working for HSBC (midland bank) about an outstanding debt from the year 2000 immediately i remembered about an old student overdraft i had which stupidly i had ignored and have never had any contact from them since the year 2000, meaning i had never spoke to them on the phone or replyed to any letters thay have sent me i was young and stupid and regret not settling this years ago. amazingly they claimed that i have payed off 600 pound and had an outstanding balance of 106 pound to my knowledge i have never paid anything towards this debt, they then asked me (baring in mind this was after the banks were closed) if i could pay the outstanding balance today with a credit/debit over the phone. i do not own a credit or debit card so made an agreement over the phone to pay them on the 26th of this month when i get paid. in the back of my mind alarm bells were ringing as to how they got my phone number. so i asked for a letter explaining all the details. i then typed in mackenzie hall on the internet and came across this website were it was explained about the limitations act 1980 because the debt is 8 years old a,m i right in thinking that i dont have to pay this debt and can someone help me as regards of a letter to send to them explaining i will not be paying this debt bearing in mind 2 hours ago as i have said before i have agreed to pay this debt on the 26th of this month for the sake of 106 pound would it be better to just pay it to stop them sending people to me home for debt collection, or do they not have a right by law to ask for this money because of The Limitations Act 1980....
If somebody could help me it would be greatly appreciated
Many Thanks Confused Matty