SRJ debt recoveries chasing me

jay84*

Hi, new to these forums and jumping straight in with a plea for help. I dont know if I've put it in the right section so apologies if I havent.

I used to have an AOL broadband account which after many constant issues I cancelled via telephone around 6-8 months ago if not longer before. I spoke to one of their operators when the account was cancelled and after some begging on their behalf they agreed to cancel.

However now I am receiving a letter each week from about 6 weeks ago until now from SRJ debt recoveries. It started by them simply writing that they had 'tracked me down' followed by another letter telling me that they were looking for £67.22 which I allegedly still owed to AOL. It's now at the point where the letter threatening court action has appeared and as much as I've been able to ignore them already I'm now starting to panic.

I don't know why as I dont owe that money and have never received any contact from AOL about this. I still use the AOL email account which I kept after cancelling my broadband so it wouldn't be hard for them to contact me.
I've contacted AOL myself to enquire about this and they told me that they had no record of any debt owed by myself to them.

So what do I do as I have always been told not to contact the debt agencies in this type of situation in case of making things worse? I've also read many horror stories about this debt recovery company which isn't helping me to calm my nerves and think sensibly :-/

Any help is greatfully appreciated!

jay84*

11 views and no idea's :-(

mr.ton

SRJ Recoveries are clowns....ive dealt with them myself before.
Bully for them that they have managed to "track you down" - means nothing.
Now tell them in no uncertain terms to get lost otherwise you will report them to the OFT & trading standards.
Their threats are just that, threats designed to frighten & intimidate you into paying up.
1st rule is to never answer security questions should they phone you - everything in writing only.

NorthernLas

You could send a letter asking them to prove you owe the debt: You know nothing of the Debt / Prove It

ilovebanksMCMLXXXI

Hi

Have had a similar situation myself

Send a letter to AOL explaining you do not feel you owe the money and that the debt collector calling is unfair and request they take the matter back in-house.

They probably won't but send the letter anyway. Send it recorded and keep copies.

Send a copy to SJR Recovery along with a covering letter again explaining you do not feel you owe the money and request - in writing - a copy of your contract with AOL. Provide them 14 days to supply you this documentation.

My guess is that you'll not hear anything again and even if you do, they will need to provide you with a full response before they can go any further - that's your protection from the Credit Consumer Act.

SEND EVERYTHING RECORDED AND KEEP COPIES

All the best and good luck

jay84*

ilovebanksMCMLXXXI wrote: »

Hi

Have had a similar situation myself

Send a letter to AOL explaining you do not feel you owe the money and that the debt collector calling is unfair and request they take the matter back in-house.

They probably won't but send the letter anyway. Send it recorded and keep copies.

Send a copy to SJR Recovery along with a covering letter again explaining you do not feel you owe the money and request - in writing - a copy of your contract with AOL. Provide them 14 days to supply you this documentation.

My guess is that you'll not hear anything again and even if you do, they will need to provide you with a full response before they can go any further - that's your protection from the Credit Consumer Act.

SEND EVERYTHING RECORDED AND KEEP COPIES

All the best and good luck

Hi, I have contacted AOL today and spoke to somebody over the phone. They told me that they didn't even have any details of my previous account with them on record let alone any form of debt owed to them.

I have found the template letter to send out in this situation and will be getting that sent out to them.

I hope that sorts it though, as I say I've heard stories about this debt company still pushing and ignoring the demand of proof letter.

ilovebanksMCMLXXXI

Hi

If they wish to ignore your request(s) for copies of agreements etc then believe me when I tell you that that is actually a good thing for you.

Ultimately, Debt Recovery comapnies are middle-men. They are the people acting between you and your creditor - they are paid for this role.

If they chose to ignore your requests they are in breach of the Credit Consumer Act and 100%, it will get nowhere in a court......... won't even get there because their paperwork won't be complete or in order.

Debt Recovery certainly has it's place - afterall, we can't go around getting credit and then refusing to pay (I found that out to my cost!) so they need to be there to help enforce the agreements but you'll often find they're really in it for self-gain and when that happens they normally end up digging their own grave but not acting correctly and in the current financial climate there are SO many people defaulting that only the cases that are 100% belt and braced will actually get into a court.

As I said in my previous post, just make sure your side of things is complete i.e. everything recorded delivery and copies of letters etc and you'll be fine.

Letters from debt collectors are always worrying........ they are supposed to be! Keep a clear head, it'll be fine

All the best

Hannah_10

If you don't owe it you don't owe it.

Keep calm and send out the prove it letter NorthernLas is linking to.

NorthernLas wrote: »

You could send a letter asking them to prove you owe the debt: You know nothing of the Debt / Prove It

I know it's a heck of a lot easier to say than to do as I've done it all before and I'm doing it all again now, but keep calm, they haven't got a lot of power to do anything to you except scare you and they know it- that's why they're so keen on scaring you.

In theory all they could do would be to take you to court, but that'll cost them way way over the £67 they're saying you owe and that just isn't going to happen. I know it seems like it will. They are playing thier only card- the fear card, it's all they've got. Even if by some absolute vindictiveness they took it to court, they can't get an order in thier favour while you are still waiting on them to prove it (such is the beauty of the prove it template letter). Even if (and we are totally talking fairy tales here) they did, somehow get foolish/stupid enough to break enough laws to get it to court, what's the judge going to say when faced with an illegal claim? S0d-merrily-off is what!

Stop being scared and they have nothing over you. They're a bit like bedroom-monsters in that regard, if you don't believe in them they can't get you!

That prove it letter is a good'un.

After that there will be other steps, but stick with it and come back when you have new stuff, there are people here who will walk you through it, and other people like me who are currently also wading through it!

You don't owe what you don't owe.

There are people here who can see you and I both through to a happy ending, regardless of the DCA's under the bed.

G'nite. :wave: