Mackenzie Hall / CCJ

itsnever2lateisit?

Tisviv wrote: »

So glad to have found this forum. A few months ago Mac Hall starting sending letters to my late father at my address, demanding £550.34. I wrote back and explained that the person they'd written to was dead and gave date of death (it was in 2000). I also explained that he'd only used my address for correspondence purposes and had in fact lived abroad (all true). They sent me more letters, and each time I sent the same reply as before. One of their letters offered my father a reduced payment if he'd settle. I received another about a month ago and replied as before, asking them to PLEASE make a note on their files of the fact that the person they were pursuing was dead. On Saturday there was another "payslip" type letter demanding that he phone a number immediately to avoid further action as they had received no response to their letters. The letter further stated that their "field collectors" - by which I assume they mean bailiffs would be calling within the next seven days if he didn't respond to their communications. I'm a bit of a quandary - I really don't want to engage with them on the phone - why should I? But I am a bit worried by the prospect of bailiffs at my door.....incidentally, my father did not leave me any money. Perhaps I should not to have replied to their letters in the first place - but I can't change that now. I've no idea if my father owed this money or not. My step-mother was his next of kin and inherited what he had and she has since also died. ANY ADVICE VERY GRATEFULLY RECEIVED.

'They' cant send bailiffs, a bailiff only becomes involved once a CCJ is obtained, and then only on the order of the court. If I were you I would write to MH (recorded delivery) informing them that the person they are writing to is deceased, stating the date and refering them to your numerous calls you have made to them to this effect. Further that there continued harassement is causing you much distress

I would probably also send a copy the Office of Fair Trading and Trading Standards, clearing marking the letter as such.

If they then continue to call or write to you, then IMHO they are beneath contempt and I would have no hesitation in taking a civil action against them

Edit re-reading this I see that you have already written to them, point this out in your next letter, if you have a copy of it then defo send it to the OFT and TS as well

Tisviv

Thanks for that, itsnevr2lateisit. Has anybody any advice about what I should I do if their "field collectors" do come knocking at my door as promised?

itsnever2lateisit?

Tisviv wrote: »

Thanks for that, itsnevr2lateisit. Has anybody any advice about what I should I do if their "field collectors" do come knocking at my door as promised?

Its very unlikely they will call, its just a pressure tactic on their part. If in the unlikely event that they did call the collector has the same powers as the milkman, so send him/her on their way, if they refuse. call the police

snapz

I got 2 letters from "mkh" them today both diff M6******* numbers with the usual re- a personal matter I've read in the forum that they are the ambulance chasers of the dept world ?? and not to contact them as no specific dept is on the letter so is that the advice of the forum ?? dont phone and dont acknowledge any dept to them im in scotland dose the statute of limitations apply here too??? HELP PLEASE :eek: :eek: :eek:

rog2

snapz wrote: »

I got 2 letters from "mkh" them today both diff M6******* numbers with the usual re- a personal matter I've read in the forum that they are the ambulance chasers of the dept world ?? and not to contact them as no specific dept is on the letter so is that the advice of the forum ?? dont phone and dont acknowledge any dept to them im in scotland dose the statute of limitations apply here too??? HELP PLEASE :eek: :eek: :eek:

'Ambulance Chasers' would be too kind a phrase to describe this 'Festering Carbuncle' of a 'tribe' that inhabits the murky swamps of the 'easy-money' making Industry that has spread, like a cancerous virus, fuelled by the misfortune of often innocent victims of a Finance Industry that is motivated purely and simply by greed.

That said, snapz, as you are in Scotland, the Law, there, is somewhat different to that in England and Wales. The relevant Act is the 'Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973.
The Limitation Period in Scotland is FIVE years, as opposed to the SIX years in the rest of the UK.
For more information, and a template letter that you can send to these recidovist 'scum' (assuming that they have at least one employee who can read) have a look at:

http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/scotland/factsheet.php?page=23_prescription_and_limitation_act

Hope this helps

snapz

Thanks rog2 for all the info you've got then down to a T i havent phoned them or nuthin and dont intend to ! do the have any legal right to enter my home (sublet ) and take goods as they see fit ??? or is it all B.S. to scare me ?? also got a letter from westcot as well 2 day am I in Deep DOO DOO poss abt 25k gulp :mad: :mad: :mad:

Peterhad

Today I received correspondence from them for the first time stating that I owed them money (£561.81) re a mobile phone company called Peoples Phone, I called them and was told it was a debt that I had ran up with Peoples Phone who since sold out to Vodaphone, I pointed out to the Woman on the phone that I had never owned a mobile phone (she couldn’t give me the exact date of the contract as she didn’t have any of the paperwork or letters they had apparently sent me regarding this matter) however she did tell me that it was around the time of 1993/95, I again pointed out that I had never owned a Phone at that time, which she ignored and just said “well you owe the money” I then said that I refused to acknowledge this debt as 1/ I never had or had attempted to apply for a mobile phone at this time and 2/ could not see how they could pursue me for the money as they themselves had no proof or could at least not produce proof that I had this” so called phone”

She still persisted that I Must pay the money, I pointed out that IF there was a phone then it would have been obtained fraudulently, at this she advised me that if I were to contact the police and supply her with an incident number then the debt would be written off ??????

So I took her name and said I would call her back, I then called the Police, to which they said they could not give me a Incident number until I provided proof that there was a valid contract, I then explained that the Mackenzie hall had told me they didn’t have this information, the Policewoman was very surprised at this, however as the “said phone” was potentially a fraud case she did have to open an incident and as such could give me a ref number (of which I am waiting a visit by the police so it can be taken further) she then began to question me about Mackenzie Hall and asked me to describe the letter to them, at this point I pointed out that this letter is the first contact I have ever received regarding this “alleged phone contract/bill” It consists of a brief sentence stating “You have been written to on numerous occasions however the above debt remains outstanding. To avoid further action, a monthly repayment plan must be in place within the next 7 days”. It then has a Standing Order mandate underneath prompting me to enter personal banking details, needless to say the police are now looking into Mackenzie Hall as they believe they are not genuine or at least that they use dubious tactics to obtain money from people in this aggressive manner.

The interesting thing was that when I called Mackenzie Hall back and told the woman what the Police had said and were going to look into Mackenzie Hall she almost sounded worried, and assured me that if II gave her the incident number then she would write the debt off immediately, I told the Woman that I will expect confirmation of the cancellation of this debt and that I expect Mackenzie Hall’s co operation in any potential police investigations regarding this “alleged fraud”.

My reason for complaining is the frank “bully boy” tactics that they seem to use with people. I thought that it was illegal to treat people this way. As the policewoman pointed out to me, if I wasn’t so sure that it was fraud would I have doubted myself and paid the debt off, the letter seems to be a poorly photocopied piece of paper with my name address amount and ref number slapped into the appropriate parts. It almost seems like they want to scam people with the hope that they will pay them money.

inmypocketnottheirs

Peterhad wrote: »

Today I received correspondence from them for the first time stating that I owed them money (£561.81) re a mobile phone company called Peoples Phone, I called them and was told it was a debt that I had ran up with Peoples Phone who since sold out to Vodaphone, I pointed out to the Woman on the phone that I had never owned a mobile phone (she couldn’t give me the exact date of the contract as she didn’t have any of the paperwork or letters they had apparently sent me regarding this matter) however she did tell me that it was around the time of 1993/95, I again pointed out that I had never owned a Phone at that time, which she ignored and just said “well you owe the money” I then said that I refused to acknowledge this debt as 1/ I never had or had attempted to apply for a mobile phone at this time and 2/ could not see how they could pursue me for the money as they themselves had no proof or could at least not produce proof that I had this” so called phone”

She still persisted that I Must pay the money, I pointed out that IF there was a phone then it would have been obtained fraudulently, at this she advised me that if I were to contact the police and supply her with an incident number then the debt would be written off ??????

So I took her name and said I would call her back, I then called the Police, to which they said they could not give me a Incident number until I provided proof that there was a valid contract, I then explained that the Mackenzie hall had told me they didn’t have this information, the Policewoman was very surprised at this, however as the “said phone” was potentially a fraud case she did have to open an incident and as such could give me a ref number (of which I am waiting a visit by the police so it can be taken further) she then began to question me about Mackenzie Hall and asked me to describe the letter to them, at this point I pointed out that this letter is the first contact I have ever received regarding this “alleged phone contract/bill” It consists of a brief sentence stating “You have been written to on numerous occasions however the above debt remains outstanding. To avoid further action, a monthly repayment plan must be in place within the next 7 days”. It then has a Standing Order mandate underneath prompting me to enter personal banking details, needless to say the police are now looking into Mackenzie Hall as they believe they are not genuine or at least that they use dubious tactics to obtain money from people in this aggressive manner.

The interesting thing was that when I called Mackenzie Hall back and told the woman what the Police had said and were going to look into Mackenzie Hall she almost sounded worried, and assured me that if II gave her the incident number then she would write the debt off immediately, I told the Woman that I will expect confirmation of the cancellation of this debt and that I expect Mackenzie Hall’s co operation in any potential police investigations regarding this “alleged fraud”.

My reason for complaining is the frank “bully boy” tactics that they seem to use with people. I thought that it was illegal to treat people this way. As the policewoman pointed out to me, if I wasn’t so sure that it was fraud would I have doubted myself and paid the debt off, the letter seems to be a poorly photocopied piece of paper with my name address amount and ref number slapped into the appropriate parts. It almost seems like they want to scam people with the hope that they will pay them money.

First of all, welcome to MSE.

These people are a bunch of *******. They are seriously ******* me off, and others too, no doubt.

Here's the thing, regardless of whether you owe the debt or not, after 6 years debts are not enforceable in law. This is because of the Statute of Limitations Act, which precludes any debts over six years of old being enforced in court. There are exceptions, but your case is not one of them.

I would just completely ignore them, they can not and will not do anything. They know the debt is uncollectable and are just relying on your innocence (and may I say naevity) and will lie, cheat, decieve and bull**** you in to admitting the debt. Incidentally, a debt that is statute barred, deos become collectable if you admit it.

You could write a letter along the lines of:

Dear Sirs

Reference your recent correspondence regarding the alledged debt to Peoples Phone, I am writing to inform you that I do not acknowledge any debt to this company.

I would also wish to point out, that the debt that you allege exists is statute barred, and bearing in mind that fact the a) the debt is not mine and b) that the debt is barred, any further mail regarding this will be destroyed and no further correspondence will be entered into.

Yours sincerely


I guarantee you you will not hear anymore from them.

Hope this helps.

PS, stick around here and have a good look round the site, and sign up for the email. You will save loads and learn even more!

tcalamity

i have a problem with these people, i keep getting letters from them so i looked on this site and decided to send this to them:
Dear Madam/sir,

In response to your , I need you to clarify the particulars of your claim before I can discuss this matter further.

I do not acknowledge any debt to your clients, and have never received any correspondence from them. I require you to supply the following documentation before I will correspond further on this matter.

1. You must supply me with a true copy of the alleged agreement you refer to. This is my right under your obligation to supply a copy of the agreement under the legislation contained within s.78 (1) Consumer Credit Act 1974 (s.77 (1) for fixed sum credit) - your obligation also extends to providing a statement of account. I enclose a £1 postal order in payment of the statutory fee. I understand that a copy of this agreement should be supplied within twelve days.

2. A signed true copy of the deed of assignment of the above referenced agreement that you allege exists.

3. You are notified that you are obliged to supply these documents, whether you are the original creditor or not under S189 of the CCA 1974.

Non-compliance with my request is a criminal offence under the above Act and will result in a report being submitted to the relevant statutory authorities.

As you are aware, a credit agreement that is not properly documented and signed by the customer is totally unenforceable under the CCA and therefore is a complete defence to any court claim that is issued.

Take note at this stage, that any legal action you may contemplate will be both vigorously defended and contested.

Yours sincerely,

PLEASE NOTE £1.00 P/O IS NOT FOR PAYMENT TOWARD THE DEBT BUT FOR THE ADMINISTRATION OF DETAILS REQUIRED.
enclosed a £1 postal order in payment of the statutory fee no:

this letter i sent on the 3rd november, they got it on 7/11/07 and today i got in the post dated 9/11/07 which is a standing order mandate for payments of £35.00 if i do not pay further action will be taken. i have had none of the above info i asked for sent to me. what do i do now? this debt is not mine, what do i do next.

inmypocketnottheirs

tcalamity wrote: »

this letter i sent on the 3rd november, they got it on 7/11/07 and today i got in the post dated 9/11/07 which is a standing order mandate for payments of £35.00 if i do not pay further action will be taken. i have had none of the above info i asked for sent to me. what do i do now? this debt is not mine, what do i do next.

What do you do next?

It is simple. You do absolutely nothing.

I am guessing that as you know when they received the letter, that you sent it recorded delivery.

Staple the recorded delivery receipt on to your copy of the letter, print off and attach the acknowledgement from the Royal Mail that the item has been delivered, and file it away.

They are not going to take any legal action against you. They are fools, granted, but not so foolish as to take you to Court. And if they did, you just produce the letter as above with the Royal Mail recorded delivery and a print of the Royal Mail acknowledgement.

Just do not correspond with them any further, ignore any threats and if you like return their mail unopened. Unless of course, they provide the documentation to prove that you do owe the money - then it is a whole different ball game.

Good luck. HTH