Please help - advantis credit

mancbird

I am really hoping that someone on here can help me as I as really worried.

A few days ago I received a letter addressed to me from a company called Advantis Credit asking me to ring them regarding a United Utilites bill. I rang them assuming it related to the bill from my previous address, which is completely paid off and hadn't been in debit.

However, when I spoke to Advantis, they say that this bill was actually in relation to another property which I moved out of over 8 years ago in June 2001. Advantis are saying that I owe over £700 for water charges relating from some time in 1999 (when I didn't live there) to December 2005 (when I had moved out 4 years previously). The man I spoke to was very rude and said I had to prove I didn't live there otherwise I was liable for the full amount.

When I lived in this property I was a student and I admit I might have been a bit careless about paying bills. It was my first time living in a flat and I struggled to cope with money on my student loan. I don't know if I paid the water bill or not in the time I lived there as it is over 8 years ago and I do not have any records for this period, as my understanding was that you should keep record for 6 years.

I rang my old landlord this morning and they have no record of a) that property or b) myself on their systems so I can't ask them to help me prove the dates of my residency at that address.

As I was a student, I didn't pay council tax (I was exempt) and a lot of my bank statements etc were registered at my parent's address, not my own as I moved fairly frequently as a student.

If I do owe money to United Utilities for the 12 month period that I lived at this address, then I will be happy to pay them (even if it is over 8 years ago) but I really do not think it is right that I should be liable for someone else's bills for 4 years after I moved out of a property

Can someone please help me? I have spent the last few years working hard to pay off debts accrued as a student and finally thought I was in a position to start getting my life to where I want it to be. I have been in tears for much of the morning and lay awake all last night thinking about this. I really don't want them to take me to court but from what I can gather Advantis are a nasty bunch and they might do this, even though the alleged debt is not all mine.

Thank you, Mancbird x

mancbird

Also, just had another thought. Shouldn't Advantis have to prove that the debt is mine, rather than just saying it is?

Mancbird x

Bicky_2

Hi There,

There will be others on this site that know more about this than I do, but my first thought is that this debt - if it exists and is in your name - is statute barred, in that it is over 6 years old and no payment has been made in that time.

I think (though not an expert) that the burden of proof of this debt lies with them and not you and even then it's out of time.

As I say there are loads of great people on this site who can provide steer better than me, but just wanted to drop you a line whilst on-line;)

Good luck with it! And remember a lot of these debt recovery companies do not train their staff in correct legal procedure so don't assume they know best!

Cheers, :-)

mancbird

Thanks for that Bicky Feeling slightly better now

Can anyone tell me what I should do in this situation? Should I just ignore this letter, or there a template of a letter I should write to them? I really am not sure what to do in this situation so any help would be appreciated.

Thank you,
Mancbird x

MrsTinks

Send them the letter for "prove it" If they can prove it then send them te statute barred letter It'll cost you 2 stamps instead of one but hey - waste some of their time and cost them money
If the debt is over 6 years old then it's statute barred - however as they state that the "end" date is in 2005 then it wouldn't be statute barred unless you can prove your tenancy ended there before this date...

mancbird

Thanks MrsTine,

I'll get this lettersent off this week. Do you know if there is a template anywhere that I can use?

Also, wouldn't they need to prove I lived at the property in 2005? As I moved out in 2001 I wasn't living there. Also, my previous landlord has no record of either the property being owned by them or of me living there as it was all so long ago. Their records don't go back that far

Thanks, Mancbird x

DarkConvict

First send the Prove It! Letter

Then if they od reply, use the Statue Barred Letter

mancbird

Hi, sorry to bring up this thread again but Advantis Credit have been in touch again

I sent off the letter asking them to prove I owed the debt and they sent me back a copy of the bill with my name on it, which is rubbish as I was not living at the property then (I moved out in June 2001) and had moved out over four years previously.

I have had contact with them since then and they said the onus is on me to prove I didn't live there so they want to see a copy of a Council Tax Bill (I was a student and so was exempt) or a copy of my tenancy agreement. As I moved out over 9 years ago I do not have these and having contacted the letting agents who I rented the property from they said they sold the house years ago and have no record of me in their files

After much digging through old paperwork, I do have other documents showing I was living elsewhere:

• PAYE Coding Notices (dated August 2001 and August 2003)
• Bank statement (dated July 2002)
• Student Loans Company Statements (dated September 2002 and September 2003)
• Payslips (dated between November 2002 and July 2003)
• P60 (dated April 2004)

Would these be ok to send them (after blacking out any non-relevant information) to prove I wasn't resident at the property when they said I was? After all these are all from "official" sources i.e. HMRC, my bank etc to them? Or would you not recommend sending them these types of documents?

I have told Advantis Credit on numerous occasions that I didn't live there and they won't accept it and are now talking about legal action It makes me so mad :mad:

I have recently lost a close family member and my nanna is dying in hospital so I don't have the energy to waste on companies like these I just want it all sorted and for them to stop harassing me

Thanks in advance for your help
mancbird xx