debt recovery bullies

youmitegetian

Hi I am looking for advice as I have recently received a letter from a debt recovery agency saying i owe nearly £900 and threatening to pass the account to a solicitor to comence action to recover the debt, I don't know what this is for but it did say it was a co op account, i called for information and was told it related to an account 2 years ago at an address i have never lived at.

They also told me they had a signature against the debt and wanted to compare my driving license against this, I have sent a copy of my license to them but am concerned about the debt.

I have checked my credit file and there are no outstanding or overdue accounts in my name so where are they finding the this alleged debt?

I did have a similar instance about 3 years ago for an address i had lived at but they said it had been taken out at a time when i wasn't living at the address, I told them this and they said they would not be taking further action, could this be the same debt? I'm at a loss as to what to do and don't want this to keep popping up if it is all the same debt they are talking about,

Any advice would be greatly appreciated

Birkonian

Hi

I have had this problem in the past. If you don't owe this money, it is upto them to prove otherwise.

Here are some letter templates to write to them:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=26867957#post26867957

unhappy_with_ecar

Ok, first thing - never send anything with your personal details on to a DCA particularly your signature. You've done it now, but its something to remember for the future.

Secondly, the basis of what you are saying is that the DCA is pursuing you for a debt that you don't believe you owe. Write to them explaining that you have no knowledge of the debt that they allege you owe and ask them to send proof.

It is not necessary for you to prove you don't owe the money, it is for the DCA to proof that you do owe it. This is defined in the Office of Fair Trading Debt Collection Guidelines, furthermore once you have raised a dispute any collection activity on the account should be suspended.

Sadly there are too many DCA that attempt to bypass the rules, deceive people and lie. Ultimately they make money from people paying on debts they owe, if some end up paying for debts they don't actually owe then they don't really care.

You don't say who this firm is that is chasing you, however based on the actions of the many 'bad' DCA's out there, if you write to them as I've said, they will probably write back ignoring what you've said and chasing the debt, you'll probably also get a letter claiming to be from a solicitor when in fact its just another trading name of the DCA.
If you do, write again stating you don't owe any money and that they must prove the debt as per the OFT guidelines and state that until they provide proof no further correspondence will be entered into.
Eventually they will go away.

One word of warning, should you receive anything from them as proof that you owe the money, check that the signature is not identical to the one on your driving licence. It would not be the first time proof has been created by scanning the signature you have provided to them. If this happens, send me a message and I'll help you get rid of them.

youmitegetian

Thank the lord for this site lol
When i said i had sent a copy of my license what i should of said is that i have it in an envelope ready to send, definitley wont be sending it now

Just out of interest what happens if i totaly ignore them?

youmitegetian

The company is rcs in Sunbury on Thames (revenue collection services)
Part of Belmont Finance UK
Anyone heard of them??

fermi

If they are asking for a copy of your driving license, then report them to the OFT.

That is out of order and breaks the OFT guidance that debt collectors must follow if they are to keep their license.

Read this:

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

Deceptive and/or unfair methods

2.7 Dealings with debtors are not to be deceitful and/or unfair.
2.8 Examples of unfair practices are as follows:

..................
..................

j. requiring an individual to supply information to prove they are not the debtor in question, for example, driving licences, passports, full name, date of birth, signatures

youmitegetian

Hi thanks for the info its very useful to know the sort of company i'm dealing with and breaking the rules is a good indication, think i'll give them as good they give me and let them waste there time, maybe even wait for the home visit as they are a good 2 hours away from me

unhappy_with_ecar

these companies rarely do home visits, despite the cards they post saying they are coming round. Write to them as I've said asking them to prove the debt and stating no further correspondence will be entered into until they do. Then just ignore them unless of course they provide proof. But you can cross that bridge when you get to it, just watch for the flying pigs at the same time.

magpiecottage

Have a look at this thread and make a complaint.

The OFT guidance says, at 2.8j, that unfair practice includes:

"requiring an individual to supply information to prove they are not the debtor in question, for example, driving licences, passports, full name, date of birth, signatures"

Paul_Varjak

youmitegetian wrote: »

Hi thanks for the info its very useful to know the sort of company i'm dealing with and breaking the rules is a good indication, think i'll give them as good they give me and let them waste there time, maybe even wait for the home visit as they are a good 2 hours away from me

Better to say that because the debt is not yours they must NOT come and visit!

confused76

youmitegetian wrote: »

Thank the lord for this site lol
When i said i had sent a copy of my license what i should of said is that i have it in an envelope ready to send, definitley wont be sending it now

Just out of interest what happens if i totaly ignore them?

oh i am sooo glad you didn't send them a copy of your drivers licence!!! :eek: phew.....