Please help-very confused and worried!

Nick.v70

Hi people, my first post here.

Im very worried about a letter i have recieved and no nothing about debts etc. Ok, i have recieved a few letters recently from Mackenzie Hall saying we are trying to contact you regarding a personal matter. Nothing about money. (unfortunately i destroyed these letters) And now i Have a letter from them again saying FAILURE TO RESPOND NOTICE / PAYMENT DEADLINE. Apparantly i owe £283.

Now, this is the worring bit...the client, or pusuers are 'Lowell Portfolio 1 Limited'. I typed this into google to read scary stuff about this company being major scammers. The letter doesn't say what the money is owed for.

From what i can tell, a debt collectors are trying to collect debt for another debt collector? Am i missing something here? Please help-i don't want to get black listed or anything! I have no debts and never have.
Thanks in advance,
Nick.

Deep_In_Debt

Hi
They could be "fishing". They are probably trying to contact someone with the same or similar name.

Do not phone them. They are well known on this forum (just do a search!). They buy unenforcable debts and try and bully anyone into paying.

I'd sit tight and ignore them.

I'm saying this as my ex received similar and he rang them to find out what it was all about and got bullied into paying a debt that wasn't his (before we found this forum) as they said the fact that he had rung them was that he was admitting to the debt - just think how many people that ring up and get bullied into paying?

Don't do anything and don't worry.

Nick.v70

Many thanks for the reply!

But whats the worst that could happen? The letter went to my mums address as thats where all my stuff goes because i rent a house in another town so its easier. What are the chance of bailifts?? I dont understand how any of these systems work.

Yes, i have read lots of bad things about both Mac HAll and Lowell portfolio. The deadline says 13th oct-Monday! What will happen then?
Thanks again
Nick

Happytogetdebtfree

i dont know much but maybe ask citizens advice but what the person says above sounds right dont ring i would have phoned worried they had mistaken me but i couldnt pay iuf the bullied it ourt of me no cash to pay and if they default me wipee i dont intend to applyfor anything for a few years im sure all will be ok nick if you know you dont have a debt dont worry about it hopefully someone more wiser will be along :Dx

Deep_In_Debt

If it's not your debt then the worst that can happen is nothing! Apart from threatening letters etc. Just ignore them if you know it's not yours.

Nick.v70

Hi happytogetdebtfree!

Im just concerned about what steps they can take! How can they request money and not specify exactly what its for? I will ignore it though as people advise. not a good start to the weekend eh!

Has anyone ignored these companies totally? If so, what happened?

Nick.v70

Deep in debt-

Do you know what powers these companies have?

Deep_In_Debt

Please do not worry.

If it is not your debt, it is down to them to prove it is not your debt.

They can only instruct bailiffs if you have defaulted on a court order. They will threaten all sorts. If they do send someone, you don't have to answer the door, and if you do, they have as many rights as the paper boy. Just tell them to bog off or you'll call the police.

I've had creditors threatening me with bankruptcy (I do owe money and am paying it back at a rate I can afford) and mostly they are full of hot air. Please do not let them bully you and do not ring them. Do not worry.

You could send them a CCA request. However, if you know you don't owe the money, i would be inclined to leave it in case you open a can of worms.

Honestly, please do not worry.

GeorgeUK

If you do not believe this debt to be yours, you can send the "prove it" letter. The worst they could do is possibly put a default on your account (i've heard a few cases where this has happened for a debt not owed), but this is very rare.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.html?p=11570893&postcount=3

Deep in Debt - i hope your OH reclaimed the money as it wasn't his debt?

Fi27

Hiya

Similar thing happened to us a couple of years back. My partner recieved, out of the blue, a letter from a debt collection agency stating he owed £800. There was no mention of what the £800 was for and he didnt have a clue either so VERY STUPIDLY he rang them. DO NOT RING THEM.

My partner was considering paying the money as he was so worried about it going further but i said no way, not when we dont even know what it's for! We rang the national debt helpline (do a search on line for them and get their number) They were fab. They suggested we sent off one of their standard typed letters saying we disputed the debt and asking for proof of the debt, they have clear guidelines on what to do so it's quite easy to follow.

Anyway the long and short of it was that after we sent two letters to the debt collector we recieved one back from them saying the case was closed and we owed nothing. They send out lots of letters to unsuspecting people in the hope that even some of them will pay up. Not bad for the price of a few stamps. So, if you know the debt is not yours then you should have nothing to worry about. If it is yours from more than 6 years ago (or 5 years if you live in Scotland) it would most likely be statue barred and they can no longer chase you for it.

Send off for your £2 statutory credit report and see if there is anything lurking on that. Anything older than 6 years is wiped off the report so it is a good indication that old debts are statute barred.

Good luck

Fi

Nick.v70

Thanks for the replies!

I will not ring them. I have only had credit a couple of times and as far as i am aware it's all paid and finished. After racking my brain, i moved a couple of years ago and had no post from my previous address. But I still can't see anything that could have not been paid for.

When you say after 6 years the debt is wiped off, is that 6 years after you took the finance out of 6 years after you stopped paying?