Mackenzie Hall / CCJ

James_Kellett

Received several letters to my home address stating that I had a mobile phone contract debt going back 7 years and I owed £65. Interesting because I have never had a phone contract always going the pay as you go route. Googled them like everyone else and saw all the blurb.
Ist letter gave no detail on the debt...just said I owed money. I did not answer it. The second letter mentioned the debt....after reading the blurb I ignored it. Third letter said bailiffs would be round. Ignored this. 4th letter said they would reduce the setlement amount to £50.08..........how kind! Ignored that and have received a final letter (6th).......intend to ignore that also. Well you know where I live, the kettles on, do pop in for a chat.......... anytime.
It may well be different for you but enjoy ignoring them. It is really nice having someone write to me. Don't get much interesting mail. :T

JK

mippy

Hello - I had a 'debt' referred to Aktiv Kapital, and am now receiving correspondance from Mackenzie Hall about it. I know I do not owe this money - it is a store card account, which I paid off via a CCJ in 2006 (no longer have the letter explaining all is paid but do have reference numbers somewhere) - so have not responded to Aktiv Kapital, but noticed that despite my having paid off this debt it is still on my credit record. What can I do now? From what I've read I'm not keen on phoning them up, but the threatening letters from MH are starting to worry me.

mippy

OK. It seems, through enquiring via GE Capital, the original holders of the storecard, and then Howard Cohen and Co who dealt with my CCJs, that this account was never paid off. The other two storecards I had (I know - I was bad with money in my early 20s) were paid off through CCJs. But it appears that this MKH account was registered with an old address in Manchester, one payment was taken then my card was declined for the next (in Feb 2006 apparently - when I'd had my wallet stolen and had to replace my cards) and the letters sent never got to me as I'd long moved on by then.

So it looks like I still owe the money! It doesn't fit with my memory of events, but it looks like I just paid off two cards and not the third. Should I phone them now given the dodgy letters, or get them to prove the debt before doing anything first?

jammin_2

mippy wrote: »

in Feb 2006 apparently

If you do not acknowledge the debt by Feb 2012, it becomes Statute Barred (unenforceable).

andym78

I received the usual letters from MH and then when i got one with some actual information on I phoned to find out more as I wasnt entirely sure what the debt was. It turned out it was for a debt Id forgotten about for £1122 which had started late 2004/early 2005 so, having not read this thread at the time, I said I would be able to pay £50 then and then £50/month until it was repaid. We then went through my incomings and outgoings to work out how much I could afford, as Ive done a few times before while trying to clear debts. She then asked about my partners finances and I said I know she earns roughly the same as me but I didnt know any other details. After putting me on hold for a few seconds she came back to say that because of my partners earnings I should be able to clear the debt in a couple of months! So obviously I said I didnt see what my partners earnings had to do with it as the debt is in my name. We argued for a few minutes and in the end I said I wouldnt move from my initial offer so she said she would take the £50 over the phone and get back to me.

My girlfriend has since spoken to a "snotty woman" on the phone and said shed tell me I called at which point I thought Id do a little research. I also received a letter a couple of days later with DOORSTEP ASSESSMENT in big scary red letters which Ive ignored.

So am I right in thinking because I paid the £50 over the phone that means the debt cant be staute barred for another 6 years? The whole partners earnings thing is nonsense isnt it? Weve lived together for just over 18 months so I wouldnt even use the word partner (dont tell her I said that though!)

jammin_2

andym78 wrote: »

So am I right in thinking because I paid the £50 over the phone that means the debt cant be staute barred for another 6 years?

Unfortunately, I'm afraid that is correct.

andym78

And where do I stand on my offer to repay? Can they just turn it down flat or do they have to accept it? Im sure either way theyre not going to make it easy for me

mippy

OK, I'm very worried now.

I rang the original creditor yesterday - they said my account had been passed to Howard Cohen, who issued the CCJ. Fine, I thought, I'll call them and they'll confirm it's been paid. When I spoke to them, they said the debt had not been repaid as I thought - the CCJ had been sent to an address in Manchester I lived at for about six months, and when the landlord sold the property I moved into a friend's and then on to London. Given the upheaval it didn;t occur to me to change details with the CCJ, but the payments left my account as normal until my card got stolen, cancelled, and the next payment subsequently declined. As there was no forwarding address the court letters kept being sent to my old address in Manchester, and I never got them.

When Howard Cohen told me this on the phone I was shocked and said 'So the debt was never repaid?' then 'Well, I'll have to get in touch with the company then to discuss it if I haven't paid it.' The lady then asked whether I'd be paying it all in one go (no, not in a position to do so) or by installments, and I said that I'd have to discuss it with them. She asked me 'out of interest' which company this was, and I said Aktiv Kapital - it's now been sold to Mackenzie Hall.

I'm now terrified - literally, I had a panic attack this morning - that I've somehow then acknowledged the debt and I'll have to repay the full amount on a repayment plan that is unrealistic. I've sent my Prove It letter to MKH, but where would I stand now?

I'm very depressed abotu all this as I got into a huge mess in my early 20s - I only paid off my student overdraft last year - and I had started to feel like I'd begun to improve my financial standing and turn things around. Now I have to deal with a debt collection agency once more. From what I've read here phoning them is a bad idea, so what would you recommend? Have I essentially acknowledged the debt now and have no grounds to contest their ability to reclaim this money from me?

jwuk45

Hi,

I currently live in the US, but received an email from my Mum on Saturday telling me that she had received a letter addressed to "John Wood" (my Dad's name) saying that 5000 was owed on a loan. She rang them up and explained that he definitely doesn't owe anything (he is severely disabled so can't do this himself) at which point they said "What about your son?", she told them that my name is Jonathan, not John, at which point they said "yes, that's him". This is despite the fact that I have only had one bank account my whole life and certainly don't owe them any money on an old loan. Unfortunately, my Mum is a big worrier, and a bit naive, so she agreed to pay them an initial 1000 so they could set up a monthly plan for me. She emailed to tell me after she had done this, at which point I researched the company, found this site and let her know that she shouldn't have paid them anything.

She promptly contacted the bank to tell them, they said they could get the money back but as it was a debit payment they had to wait until the money came out of the account, and also she had to show them evidence that she had contacted Mackenzie Hall to try to get the money back.

So my question is, is there anything we can do? Since they are claiming it is my debt, are they allowed to take money from my Mother? Is there any chance they can be forced to pay it back? I have already emailed them explaining the situation and informing them that if they don't pay her back I will pursue the case myself, but I very much doubt they're going to be troubled by that.

Thanks in advance
Jon

magpiecottage

Jon

Go back to page 17, get a copy of the template letter I have put there up, put in the complaints on the issues from the OFT website and get your Mum to send it off in her name.

If they don't come back with an acceptable response get her to go to the Ombudsman (again you can download and complete the forms for her to sign and send off). Even if you don't win, it will then cost MH £500 (don't use that as a threat, though).