SRJ-Who Are They????

Penny-Pincher!!

Hi

My neighbour knocked earlier and said she had a phone call this afternoon from a lady and asked if ***** (me) still lived next door? Neighbour said yes but she is very ill....neighbour got suspect and asked who it was and the lady put the phone down. Neighbour did 1471 and wrote the number down, which I have just called and its a company called SRJ...googled and says debt recovery agency I asked what the hell was going on and he said ...Oh is that Miss *******, I said no (it was my maiden name he asked for but didnt say that) and asked why he was calling a neighbour and that surely that was against some rules and regulations.

I dont think I owe any money, especially not in my maiden name...Ive been married for 12 years. I am also disabled and now feel very vunerable (sp)....are companies allowed to do this?

Please advise. Im worrying now. He said to expect a letter shortly and that I have to call him when I receive it.

I feel seek.

PP
xx

cattie1

i'm not sure but i think they are breaking some privacy rules-especially as the rang your neighbour.
someone in here will know though.
it does seem very odd!

rog2

You do NOT have to call him. This could be for any number of reasons, but DO NOT acknowledge any debt until you are sure of the facts. Could well be that they are chasing a very old debt, which could be statute barred, and any verbal contact could be twisted to make you own up to a debt that might well not be yours, and could, possibly, be un-enforceable even if it were an old debt of yours.
Post all details when you get the letter.

Penny-Pincher!!

I had already called before posting as I was very worried! He asked some questions and I was very careful with how i replied and didnt acknowledge anything-he didnt say it was for debt etc. He said to expect a letter and to call him when I recieve it.

So I dont have to call him I am sick with worry.

Thanks for the reply

PP
xx

sophiesmum_2

Hi Penny Pincher,
try and not get too worried about this before you know what it is all about. If you don't remember having any previous debts you probably haven't it will probably turn out to be a mistake.
Take care
sophiesmum

AGB863

This company may have broken the Debt Collection Guidence as set out by the Office of Fair Trading

Physical/psychological harassment
2.5 Putting pressure on debtors or third parties is considered to be oppressive.
2.6 Examples of unfair practices are as follows:
j. acting in a way likely to be publicly embarrassing to the debtor either deliberately or through lack of care, e.g. by not putting correspondence in a sealed envelope and putting it through a letterbox, thereby running the risk that it could be read by third parties.

By this company contacting your neighbour she could now be aware that they a debt collection agency and as such puts you in the section highlighted above.

As they have broken the guidence it puts them at risk of being reported and have their licence to trade removed.

If they make contact again inform them of the situation

tipsychick

Sometimes DCAs will just send out letters to anybody with the same name as a debtor that they cannot trace.

Say if someone called Jane Smith has a debt but has moved and they can't trace her, they'll just send out letters to every Jane Smith in a fifty mile radius. They hope that they might hit on the right Jane Smith and she'll reply, or failing that one of the innocent Jane Smiths will panic and pay the debt instead!

Please, please don't worry. If you've never had a debt, then it must be a case of mistaken identity.

These people really, really make me mad!

Joe_Bloggs

http://www.srjdebt.com/ popped out after a quick google.

Don't give away personal details to anyone on the phone you don't know. It can be a prelude to identity theft called, pretexting. The receiver of the details will conceivably just pretend to be you at a later date or sell the details on. Get your £2 each credit reports from Experian and Equifax to make sure that there are no grounds for concern.
J_B.
.

julieann

I too have been having problems with SRJ. My Mum died on 28th March 2008, debt free as far as I was aware. Bearing in mind she had lived with us and I looked after her for 12 months before she died (she had a terminal illness), I never saw any letters, recieved any phonecalls about any debt. The week after she died, I got a letter out of the blue demanding £151.00, threatening action if no payment was made, because all other requests for payment had 'been ignored'! When we registered Mums' death, the registrar warned us about the pitfalls of scams and bogus claims to the estate of the deceased. On collecting Mums' will, her solicitor said much the same and told us not to send a death certificate out until we were sure the debt was Mum's.(Apparently identity theft is very common and all they need is a death certificate...) I have phoned them and explained this over and over. I will pay the debt if it is indeed Mum's but I want to see the original debt first. They won't tell me (data protection apparently, don't think Mum would care....) but just want a death certificate. So we reach a stale mate. They seem to think I am lying about Mum dying and have phoned up lots of times asking for Mum. Once I was cooking dinner and my 9yr old son presented himself in the kitchen in tears because there was a man on the phone demanding to speak to Nanny Carol. Since then I have been called 'aggressive', 'horrid', 'arkward', 'nasty' to name a few, my character has been stripped bare by these people and I have been threatened with prison! Yesterday, despite writing to them requesting the original debt details, I recieved a letter adressed to my Mum stating that further to a recent conversation with her, she promised to pay the debt!! The debt had increased by £10 too! All I can say is that the £10 they paid to the medium to speak to Mum was wasted, as she was obviously not very good!! Seriously, I cannot understand why it is so hard for them to understand that I may be suspicious of them, that this debt appears out of no where, that they expect me to hand over this money because they say so, when I have no knowledge what so ever of this debt. They seem to employ extremely unscrupulous people who will say anything to get a reaction and can be extremely distressing (as I have found out) and upsetting. But whatever the circumstances, unless you know what the debt is for, my advice is don't pay it. If it is your debt, data protection should not hinder you and they should be able to tell you what it is. In my case, I have faxed them the same letter I posted, if I get any more abusive phonecalls or threatening letters, I am going to the onmbudsman. (or however you spell it!) Regards, Julie.
P.S If anyone has any experience of this sort of situation, please post. Thanks. Jx

army1_2

hi all has any one received a trace confirmation letter off SRJ recently as i had one this morning. i phoned them up and i explained the first name was wrong i did not know this person.they asked me if i was the owner and i said yes.im afriad i gave my right first name.they informed me i would be taken off their system,having read some of the threads i dont really think that is gonna happen,can anyone get back to me plz

DarkConvict

army1, just wait and see. End of the day if you do not owe the money then they have to remove you under the law of data protection act, that information must be accurate. If you tell them it is wrong and show sufficient proof to confirm they must remove your details, if they don't lodge a complaint with them and if necessary get the ICO to investigate and force removal.