Debt Collectors Chasing for a Debt I Didn't Know About.

deviant83

Morning All,

I'm new round here and apologies for starting a new thread. I have tried searching for a problem as my own but couldn't find any the same as there are so many!

About 4/5 months ago I got a new job which involved me relocating and as such, I decided to cancel my gym membership. I went to the gym to complete a cancellation form and also informed them of my new address in case of any problems. The notice period for cancellation was 3 months which I was aware of and I made my payments by direct debit.

Now skip to today...

I have just received a letter dated the 8th Feb from Credit Resolution Services (CRS) to my new address that I owe the Gym a payment of £55.24 and that had been passed to them for collection. I checked my bank statements and it appears that I inadvertently cancelled the direct debit just before the final payment was due. Now the gym didn’t contact me to say they didn’t receive the final payment (if they had, I would have made it straight away) and the letter I have received today is the first time I’ve been aware of it. Because the CRS are dealing with it they have also added their charge of £95 making the total amount I owe £150.24. I am really loathed to pay this additional fee for what was a genuine mistake and one that I would have been happy to rectify had the Gym informed me. :mad:

The second issue is that I’m not sure where the figure of £55.24 that I apparently owe the gym is from? I believe this is the monthly membership, but I signed up to a student membership for about £38 a month (can’t recall exactly as I’ve lost the agreement).

Sorry to ramble, but in brief my questions are these:
1. Did the Gym have any obligation to try and contact me prior to engaging CRS which would have saved me the £95 handling fee?
2. How do I get CRS to remedy the amount that I owe the Gym?
The correspondence I have received states that if I do not call CRS by the 15th Feb (next Mon), they will send a collector round which is something I really don’t want as better half is home alone!
Thanks in advance for any assistance you can offer. :beer:

Tixy

Hi and welcome

Bit of an odd one this.

Firstly I would not call CRS whatever (it is very unlikely they would send round a debt collector to your door, on the slim chance that they do this person has no rights (they are not a baliff) and your OH should just tell them to leave. There is a letter you can send to say they are not allowed to visit you at home if needs be.

Generally its advisable to do everything in writing and the first action if ususally to send the prove it letter to the DCA. However in this case it might be worth calling the gym, asking if they tried to contact you and trying to find out the full situation (regarding the amount etc). If the debt has not actually been sold to the DCA they may allow you to make a payment to them to sort things out. If they inform you it has been sold then you will have to deal with the DCA.

If this is the case I would send this prove it letter first - http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.html?p=11570893&postcount=2

mystery_united

Have you tried calling the Gym direct and asking why you have been charged this payment ?

deviant83

Hi Tixy and thanks for the response.
I have tried calling the gym and they refuse to speak to me. What they have said though is that they would have tried sending me three letters. Now I have doubled checked and I have not received any correspondence from them at all. The only thing I can think of is that they may have been sending the letters to my old address by accident which would then leave me feeling extremely aggrieved that I am now being penalised due to their poor administrative abilities. The address must have then rectified this as CRS correspondence has come to my new address.
On this note, I’m not sure that the template you have linked me too would be the most appropriate? Maybe I should write a bespoke letter stating that I didn’t receive any notification that a debt was due to the Gym and request that they send copies of the letters to me along with a breakdown of what they believe the debt I owe is?
I’m so stressed as this needs to be with CRS by Mon and I’m taking OH away for the weekend so need to do this today! Grrrrrr

mystery_united

Try calling the gym again. Don't let them fob you off, if you feel like your not getting anywhere ask to speak to their boss, if your still not getting answers then we can start to write to them. You don't need to be aggressive or nasty - just state the facts.;)

Are they a national chain or are they a local gym?

deviant83

I have tried calling them again and they said that once details of the debt had been passed on to the agency, they were no longer allowed to deal with the issue personally. That was the boss and I was very nice on the phone to them!

mystery_united

The problem you have is that it's your words against the Gym's. The DCA work for the gym and they will only try to bully you into paying the disputed amount plus their costs.

All you are asking the gym to do is investigate why you haven't received any letters from them - you are not being unreasonable in asking for this information, If the boss says I'm not discussing it any further, then ask to be given the details of someone that will.

Are they a National Gym company ? do they have any customer service numbers you can contact.

deviant83

The gym is a very small chain and doesn't appear to have a central CS number. They said that any dealings now should be with CRS who will act as an intermediary.

I suppose at the min, the most prominant question is do the gym have any legal obligation to notify me of an outstanding debt prior to engaging CRS?

mystery_united

I would of thought that, yes they should notify you before getting the CRS involved - but I'm not really sure.

I know Tixy said not to call them, But if you feel confident enough, it may be worth giving them a call. Tell them what you have posted on here and see how the land lies with them - They will NOT send Debt collectors round to your house. Just don't agree to anything over the phone and ask for anything that they agree to be put in writing and sent to you. Take notes of who you spoke too as well.;)

deviant83

I thought it may be better to write to them and send it today, recorded delivery. Would anyone mind commenting on this please? It's an ammended version of the letter posted above:

Dear.........

you have contacted me regarding the account with the above reference number, which you claim is owed by me.

I would point out that I have no knowledge of any such debt being owed to GYM

I am familiar with the ‘Office of Fair Trading Debt Collection Guidance’ which states that it is unfair to send demands for payment to an individual when it is uncertain that they are the debtor in question.

I acknowledge that I was formally a member of the aforementioned organisation, but I cancelled my membership on the 11th October 2009. I have not received any further correspondence from either GYM or yourselves until I received your letter dated 8th February 2010 (received 11th February 2010) declaring that I owe any outstanding monies.

I would also point out that you have not made any attempt to detail what the alleged outstanding balance is for.

Furthermore, ignoring and/or disregarding claims that debts have been settled or are disputed and continuing to make unjustified demands for payment amounts to physical/psychological harassment.


I would ask that no further contact be made concerning the above account unless you can provide evidence as to my liability for the debt in question along with evidence as to the amounts you believe are due.


Yours Sincerely





A lot is cut and pasted but think it does the trick?

mystery_united

Looks good,

Keep us informed of how you get on.

The main thing is don't worry about it, And enjoy your weekend. :beer: