MacKenzie Hall, Appointing a Debt To Provident Personal Credit

Dinkyflop

Hi Guys,

I'm a long standing member here but due to the fact numerous workmates use this forum, I have registered a new name so I can keep my business private.

This morning, I received a letter from Provident Personal Credit, advising MacKenzie Hall had appointed them to collect a debt to the tune of £303.57, for Singlepoint.

I have been receiving letters from MacKenzie Hall for long enough and chose to ignore them, having read on here about their bullyboy tactics.

I had an o2 contract with Singlepoint back in 2002/2003 and cancelled it due to the fact they were as competent as a brush. I heard nothing at all after this.

What concerns me, is the fact MacKenzie Hall have now passed this debt over Provident Personal Credit. I wasn't aware of Provident being in the business of debt collecting.

The letter from Provident states and angent will be contacting me to discuss this in the next few days - and I will have to sign up to a new agreement which will be 0% finance. It also goes on to say how it will help my credit rating etc.

I have no intention of paying this debt as I cancelled the contract, and I haven't made any payment in the last 6 years which I believe would class the debt and statute barred anyway.

I'm just a little concerned over them now passing a debt to Provident.

Anyone have any ideas on how I should handle this? Should I contact Provident and tell them to get knotted? Should I contact anyone to advise this is now the tactic MacKenzie Hall are now doing?

Many thanks in advance.

Tixy

Hi Dinky

Second instance on this board today if provident kindly asking someone to sign a new agreement. (I'm sure it you have no intention of signing it and for anyone else reading in a similar situation, don't sign it whether they offer 0% or not)

If you haven't acknowledged the debt in writing or made a payment for 6years I would send the statute barred letter to Provident. Did you ever send this type of letter to MH?
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.html?p=11571227&postcount=3

fatbelly

Dinkyflop wrote: »

I wasn't aware of Provident being in the business of debt collecting..

It's a recent (and not very welcome) development

Tixy's advice is good - send the statute barred letter if you're sure it is over six years since the debt was last acknowledged,

Dinkyflop

fatbelly wrote: »

It's a recent (and not very welcome) development

Tixy's advice is good - send the statute barred letter if you're sure it is over six years since the debt was last acknowledged,

I'm in Scotland so I think it's 5 years - either way, I will get a letter sent to both of them.

I can't believe Provident have now turned debt collection though. Totally ludacris - because to pay them the debt, you sign up to a credit agreement.

nicmh7

Hi, I've also received a letter from Provident acting on behalf of Mackenzie Hall trying to claim a £266 unpaid electricity bill from Cambridge Electricity who I have never heard of. If you check out the OFT website (using Mackenzie Hall as a search) they have actually issued a letter to them earlier this year regarding their practices of debt collection. I have issued both Provident and Mackenzie Hall the statute barred letters today and hope this will be an end to it!

Tixy

Hi Nicmh

If you don't beleive the debt is yours or don't know what the debt is for then the statute barred letter is not the correct one - you should instead send the prove it letter - http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.html?p=11570893&postcount=2

dougz_2

Similar position here as the OP. Should I send the statute barred letter to PPC, MH or the original company Euphony?

Also, does it make any difference that I had disputed the bill from the original company, or is that now irrelevant because 6 years have past?

fermi

dougz wrote: »

Similar position here as the OP. Should I send the statute barred letter to PPC, MH or the original company Euphony?

Also, does it make any difference that I had disputed the bill from the original company, or is that now irrelevant because 6 years have past?

For now it would be simpler to rely on the fact that it is statute barred. That prevents them taking action against you regardless of any dispute that might exist.

However, you may also like to add to the letter that the original debt is also disputed. May make them "get lost" with less argument.;)

oscar007

Hi,

I am looking for some advice and I'll start from the beginning!

My partner received a letter to his parents address around a year ago from Mackenzie Hall regarding outstanding debt but it only quoted the amount and when he had to pay it, not where it was from. As he knew he had no debt and I searched this forum about Mackenzie Hall, we chose to ignore it. (He hadn't lived at his parents address for over 4 years). He then got another from MeritForce doorstep collections, which we now know are the same company, so again ignored it.

We have recently moved and I have a loan with provident, which I also had at our old address. Whilst making my weekly payment, the agent asked me my partners surname, which i gave and was then told they had linked him to me from our old address and had bought his 'debt' from Mackenzie Hall for £284 but if he paid to them at a weekly rate would only be charged £255! i explained the above about Mackenzie Hall and was told with Provident only dealing in ligit business they would not have bought the debt if they weren't able to legally collect it. I was told it had originally come from a phone company but again no date. my partner was not in to deal with this so was told to see him about it and get back to provident within the next week as they needed to know if he wanted to pay this back to them. if he chooses to pay this to them I was told the default would be immediately removed from his credit file, a default we are not aware of.

I am aware we will need to get the credit report so we can see if it is on there but in the meantime does anyone have any advice - what shall we say/ask for from provident, shall we just ignore it - assuming this must be old debt from at least 8 years ago when living at his parents, is it really wrong that Provident should be collecting this or is it perfectly legal?

DarkConvict

oscar007 wrote: »

Hi,

I am looking for some advice and I'll start from the beginning!

My partner received a letter to his parents address around a year ago from Mackenzie Hall regarding outstanding debt but it only quoted the amount and when he had to pay it, not where it was from. As he knew he had no debt and I searched this forum about Mackenzie Hall, we chose to ignore it. (He hadn't lived at his parents address for over 4 years). He then got another from MeritForce doorstep collections, which we now know are the same company, so again ignored it.

We have recently moved and I have a loan with provident, which I also had at our old address. Whilst making my weekly payment, the agent asked me my partners surname, which i gave and was then told they had linked him to me from our old address and had bought his 'debt' from Mackenzie Hall for £284 but if he paid to them at a weekly rate would only be charged £255! i explained the above about Mackenzie Hall and was told with Provident only dealing in ligit business they would not have bought the debt if they weren't able to legally collect it. I was told it had originally come from a phone company but again no date. my partner was not in to deal with this so was told to see him about it and get back to provident within the next week as they needed to know if he wanted to pay this back to them. if he chooses to pay this to them I was told the default would be immediately removed from his credit file, a default we are not aware of.

I am aware we will need to get the credit report so we can see if it is on there but in the meantime does anyone have any advice - what shall we say/ask for from provident, shall we just ignore it - assuming this must be old debt from at least 8 years ago when living at his parents, is it really wrong that Provident should be collecting this or is it perfectly legal?

If it is over 6 years old, which you believe it is then it is statue barred. And the statue barred letter suggested above should be went.

Is it legal to try and collect it but only if they know it is not statue barred, if they know it is and is unenforceable they should not attempt to do so.

Alot of debt collectors are bad, and they by bad debts at dirt rate in the hope someone falls for one of there tricks. As if you pay even 1 pence, or write to them to say you had this debt. Then the 6 year clock starts again and he has to pay the debt.

Send the statue barred letter and await a response, if you even get one.

oscar007

Thanks for your reply. The provident agent will be collecting at my address next week and will ask me about this and has asked me to contact them this week regarding if my partner wants to pay this. Should I contact them to state it is statute barred debt and that I will write a letter to confirm this?

We don't have any other information about the debt and when it is from although I do know its from a phone company that was bought by Vodafone in around 1996 so assume this debt is very old.

Rather than probing them further about it, do you suggest I just do the statute barred letter or do I need a reference number etc for this?

Thanks