Old Debt? Mackenzie Hall

Raith2win

I also received a letter today from them stating I was due money from an old debt here is what I am sending to them:

Dear Sir/Madam
REFERENCE: MXXXXXXXX
CLIENT REFERENCE: XXXXXXXX
CLIENT: XXXXXXX
Original Creditor: XX

Principle Sum: £XXX.XX


I am contacting you in response to your letter dated 12TH AUGUST 2011. In respect of the above account, your company have contacted me which you claim is owed by myself.
It is my understanding that under The Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973 Part 1 Prescription Section 6:
“If after an appropriate date, an obligation (an appropriate debt) has subsided for a continuous period of five years:
(a) without any relevant claim having been made in relation to the obligation, and
(b) without the subsistence of the obligation having been relevantly acknowledged;
then as from the expiration of that period the obligation shall be extinguished...”
It is also my understanding that the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) guidance for Debt Collection Companies for statute barred states that:
“It is unfair to pursue the debt if the debtor has heard nothing from the creditor during the relevant limitation period”.


The last written acknowledgment/payment of this debt was made over five years ago and no further acknowledgement or payment has been made since that time. Unless you can provide evidence of payment or written contact from me in the relevant period under Part 1 Section 6 of the above Act, I suggest that you are no longer able to take any court action against me to recover the alleged amount claimed.
The OFT Debt Collection Guidance states further that:-
“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”.


Should you continue to pursue this account without providing this evidence I shall seek an interdict and damages accordingly. A formal complaint will also be made to Trading Standards along with a report to the OFT questioning your fitness to hold a consumer credit license. When I report you to the OFT I will specifically remind them of the action they had to take against your company in April 2009 for bad practices. And point out that you are now eligible to be fined 50,000 pounds and have your credit licence revoked due to pursuing a ‘statute barred debt' and breaching the restrictions placed upon your company by the OFT at that time.




Furthermore, any attempts to organize a door step visit will not be tolerated, as under the rules set by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), you can only visit me at my home if I wish to make an appointment and I have no such wishes. Any visit's made at my property will be deemed as trespassing and action will be taken including police attendance if necessary.

As I feel you have obviously forgotten that the OFT have taken action against your company for ‘bad practices' I am attaching details of this action for you which I have extracted from the OFT official website.

“REQUIREMENTS IMPOSED BY THE OFFICE OF FAIR TRADING ('OFT')
PURSUANT TO SECTION 33A AND SECTION 33D(4) OF THE CONSUMER
CREDIT ACT 1974 ('the Act')
REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO:
MACKENZIE HALL LIMITED (Consumer Credit Licence Number
5444071, registered office address: 58 Portland Street, Kilmarnock,
East Ayrshire, KAI I JG
THE OFT REQUIRES AS FOLLOWS:
1. That as of 15 April 2009
1 .I Mackenzie Hall Limited will not carry out Debt Collection Activity
where it has been informed, in writing, that there is reasonable cause
to believe that the debt is in dispute.
1.2 Mackenzie Hall Limited will not carry out Debt Collection Activity
where it has been informed, in writing, that the account is statute
barred.
Debt Collection Activity is defined as:
a) sending debt collection letters;
b 1 making of debt collection calls;
C) the use of any other medium for the purpose of collecting an
outstanding debt; or
d 1 the acceptance of payments offered against a debt.
A debt is considered as in dispute where:
a 1 it has been reasonably demonstrated that the debt has been
previously paid;
Requirements relating to Mackenzie Hall Limited, Consumer Credit Licence 544407
15 April 2009
Page 1 of 2
b) a request under section 77 or 78 of the Consumer Credit Act
1974 has not been complied with, and this prevents the
agreement being enforced without the permission of the court;-
c ) it is reasonably believed that the debt may have been incurred
as a result of identity theft or fraud; or
d ) it is reasonably doubted that the person being pursued for the
debt is the actual debtor.
For the avoidance of doubt, where only part of a debt is disputed
Mackenzie Hall Limited may seek to recover any other part of the debt
that is not disputed.




ANY FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH THE ABOVE REQUIREMENTS WILL
RENDER MACKENZIE HALL LIMITED LIABLE TO FURTHER FORMAL ACTION-
BY THE OFT. THIS COULD INCLUDE THE IMPOSITION OF FINANCIAL
PENALTIES PURSUANT TO SECTION 39A OF THE ACT AND/OR THE
REVOCATION OF MACKENZIE HALL LIMITED'S CONSUMER CREDIT
LICENSE PURSUANT TO SECTION 32 OF THE ACT.

Ray Watson, Director, Consumer Credit Group
Authorised signatory on behalf of the OFT”


The fact that requirements have been imposed on Mackenzie Hall appears on the consumer credit register. We will monitor Mackenzie Hall's compliance with the requirements. Any complaints about non-compliance should be sent to:
Enquiries
Office of Fair Trading
Fleetbank House
2-6 Salisbury Square
London
EC4Y 8JX


I await your written confirmation that no further contact will be made concerning the above account and confirmation that this matter is now closed. Due to it being a STATUET BARRED DEBT. Please be assured i will keep a copy of this letter including its proof of postage (and your representatives signature) should i have to report you to trading standards and the OFT. Please also remember the OFT have banned you from the use of ANY OTHER MEDIUM for the purposes of stuatue barred debts. IE searching peoples CREDIT FILES and using OTHER COMPANIES, to aid in the pursuance of a debt which has been notified in writing to be STATUET BARRED is not permitted, before you start getting any funny ideas as i will know and ensure you are prosecuted accordingly. Also STATUET BARRED debts cannot be placed on a consumer’s credit file either and again you will be prosecuted if you attempt to do so, in particular for PSYCHOLOGICAL HARASSMENT DAMAGES, as well as ALL costs I incur sorting YOUR “ILLEGAL” TACTICS OUT.
I look forward to your reply.


Yours faithfully


Mr XXXXX XXXXXXXX

charlie_g_3

hi can someone please advise me? there was a voicemail message left on my mums phone from mackenzie hall with a ref number and saying for me to call them. i did so and the person i spoke to said it waqs with regards to a debt from carphone warehouse mobile contract that i had in 2004 and last payment was in 2005 had a long conversation with him about how im not working as currently 35weeks pregnant and have a 2year old at home dont get any tax credits or benefits apart from child benefit which is £80 a month that pays for my daughters nappies and other things she requires. he argued with me saying it wasnt possible that i didnt receive tax credits and couldnt believe that my partner supported us of his wage, what a cheek! he then send he'd send out an income and expenditure form for me to fill in. when i received that i decided to look them up online and found this forum i sent them the statute barred letter and they replied saying the debt was not statuted barred. about 2days later they sent another letter saying failure to respond and gave me the day after as a deadline to pay debt. i then decided to email carphone warehouse about the debt they say after much digging the last payment received was 19th sept 2005 and to contact mackenzie hall to pay the debt. what should i do ive no money to pay the debt should i wait it out another 5weeks until it is over the 6year period or will it start again because ive contacted carphone warehouse? my baby is due the day after and cant be dealing with all this worry can someone please help i thought id paid off all my debts and cant believe someones just decided to contact me now as carphone warehouse has had my mums address ever since i had the phone i lived there when i started the contract.

fatbelly

charlie_g wrote: »

hi can someone please advise me? ... i then decided to email carphone warehouse about the debt they say after much digging the last payment received was 19th sept 2005 and to contact mackenzie hall to pay the debt. what should i do ive no money to pay the debt should i wait it out another 5weeks until it is over the 6year period or will it start again because ive contacted carphone warehouse? ...

Hi

I hope you sent the National debtline SB letter at the end of this factsheet. It is headed 'without prejudice' - the aim of that being that it should not be used in court proceedings (by either party), so can't be used to prove acknowledgement of the debt.

Having said that, it would have been better to get the facts first from Carphone Warehouse, wait until the six years were up (and add a couple of months to be safe) and then send the SB letter.

We'll now see if MH have got the balls to start court action in the few weeks thay have remaining.

My guess is they don't.

You do live in England/Wales?

charlie_g_3

yes i do live in england. i was just wondering if i ignored any letters and waited until after the 19th sept could i then send mackenzie hall a letter asking for proof of account and details and play dumb in regards to contacted carphone warehouse? and then say that the debt is SB. i did send the letter stating "without predjudice" was that right?

fatbelly

charlie_g wrote: »

yes i do live in england. i was just wondering if i ignored any letters and waited until after the 19th sept could i then send mackenzie hall a letter asking for proof of account and details and play dumb in regards to contacted carphone warehouse? and then say that the debt is SB. i did send the letter stating "without predjudice" was that right?

I pm'd you!

lilangelbex1985

Hi my boyfriend has received approx 10 letters and a couple of phone calls over the past 3/4 months about an old redit card debt. This must be about 10 years old now.

After reading all of the below we have realised that we had foolishly made payments to them summing £50 approx. still leaving at £2000 debt, which I guess means we have acknowledge the debt.

IS there still anything we can do as they are still sending red letters through threatening Door step collection action?

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

Bex

fatbelly

lilangelbex1985 wrote: »

Hi my boyfriend has received approx 10 letters and a couple of phone calls over the past 3/4 months about an old redit card debt. This must be about 10 years old now.

After reading all of the below we have realised that we had foolishly made payments to them summing £50 approx. still leaving at £2000 debt, which I guess means we have acknowledge the debt.

IS there still anything we can do as they are still sending red letters through threatening Door step collection action?

Any help would be appreciated.

The important point is whether there was ever a period of six years without acknowledgement. If there was, then the debt became statute barred at that point and cannot be enforced in court.

If MH are involved, that would seem likely.

Cullumpster

how do I find out when I last made a payment to the companies ? will it show on my credit file? If for example it's 5 years then what do I have to pay them?

Gordon_Hose

Payment dates don't show on your CF. You'd have to ask the creditor for a statement showing what you paid, when.

Cullumpster

ah ok thanks