Debt collectors chasing money I don't owe - Help!

slinky_jo

SRJ Debt Recovery are chasing me for £150 on behalf of AOL Broadband. Only thing is I've never been a customer of AOL so I know I don't owe this.

Besdides, I have no other debt apart fro my mortgage and all my bills are paid by DD.

I've never had any correspondance from AOL and never used their services.

Another debt collection agency was pursuing this debt last year and I used the template 'prove it' letters and took advice from the CAB. It appears that company has passed the debt onto another collection company.

SRJ have had the 'prove it' letter and initally wrote to say the account was on hold. Now they want me to phone them to discuss the dispute. I'm reluctant to call - prefer to have written correspondance.

This has been going on for months and it's taking up a lot of my time. I don't owe this money and while I have no way of proving it no-one else has been able to prove it either. I've asked for copies of contracts or agreements from AOL but they have nothing.

What can I do to stop this? There's no way I'm paying £150 just to get rid of them - it's money I don't owe.

Can I just ignore them and hope they go away?

LilacPixie

I am having similar problems with red debt collections. In you situation I would be tempted to write again and say you will not me contacting them via telephone. Reiterate it is not your debt and say you await their written confirmation that they will not contact you again

DarkConvict

You do not have to prove you do not owe the debt.


THEY must prove you owe the money, if you have requested proof and they do not provide it and charge in for a CCJ. You have a perfect defence against it stating you do not acknowledge the debt and after (multiple) request(s) they did not provide any proof. You could then go and counter claim of personal expenses against them for taking you to court, day off work etc.

adyhowes

Thanks DarkConvict. I agree and will still hold them responsible for proving I owe the debt.

In the meantime, I think there's a lot of mileage in me covering my back and still gather the evidence to prove my case. I have to give a big shout out to Sky (new provider) who are providing a letter that will help to prove my innocence. They have been most helpful.

In the meantime, I will use the letter template on here to explain to them, quite clearly, I expect them to be doing what THEY need to do to prove THEIR innocence.

Will be interesting to see how this pans out!

DarkConvict

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

The above might be handy if writing a letter to state you are not responsible for proving you do not owe the money or not the debtor in question. As such the evidence i have provided has been in good faith, and if you continue your unjustified and illegal harassment i will have no choice but to charge you for any further information you may want as i am not not obliged to provide it, furthermore any legal action attempted will be defended and costs sought against you.

slinky_jo

Thanks for the input here. I've written back to SRJ saying it's not my debt and I look forward to hearing that the matter is closed. I can fully relate to everyone who says they feel sick and really worried by their letters. They shouldn;t be able to get away with it but people like us are powerless to do anything other than stand our ground.

fatbelly

Guys

Keep complaining to the OFT about their guidelines being abused by this bunch of crooks. It may seem that they (OFT) aren't doing anything but eventually they (SRJ) will get a shot across their bows.

The FOS may have more teeth here and i recommend a formal complaint to srj, give them eight weeks for a response then refer the matter with the response (if any) to the FOS using their complaint form (pdf or word version here)

There's a useful thread here:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=2111667

slinky_jo

SRJ have written again (5 days after their previous letter and clearly crossing my response in the post) to say that as I haven't made any contact with them and have made no effort to repay the debt they are recommending court action to their client (AOL Broadband).

This is getting scary. I KNOW I don't owe this money and in the grand scheme of things it's not a huge amount but the stress of these letters is starting to show. I hope to remortgage soon and don't want anything on my credit record whihc could jeapordise that.

Do I sit tight and hope they'll go away, wait for the court summons and fight my case (which I can;t afford to do) or just pay up????

fatbelly

slinky_jo wrote: »

SRJ have written again (5 days after their previous letter and clearly crossing my response in the post) to say that as I haven't made any contact with them and have made no effort to repay the debt they are recommending court action to their client (AOL Broadband).

This means nothing.

Fire off the complaint letters!

DarkConvict

they are recommending court action to their client

^^ They aren't doing anything! Its a scare tactic. They could easily just say we are thinking about making you bankrupt and sending some big scary men to your house to talk to you.

Sit tight and wait, court action could be a good thing in that you asked for proof, they provided none. Judge would not look kindly on the DCA and may even award costs in your favour if they put you out of pocket.

Bigdavieboy

fatbelly wrote: »

This means nothing.

Fire off the complaint letters!

Is this productive advise?

Slinky-jo contact aol quote the account number on the letter, ask them what the charge is for, dispute it to them and take it from there, get the situation dealt with at the source and get on with your life.

Why keep telling people to complain about everything? Not only is a complaint in this instance not valid, but also a waste of time. It would not sort the situation just prolong it, clearly the recovery agent has done nothing wrong. Fatbelly, please explain what guideline they have abused?

Will be surprised if this post isn't deleted like my previous ones.