debt collectors still chasing me

sandraroffey

need some advice here. long story but here goes.

in july 2004 my husband of 37 years decided to try and kill us all by throwing gunpowder around and trying to find matches to light it. had always been a violent and controlling man. he was arrested and sent to prison.got just 8 months with time off, lots, for good behaviour. however, at the time i had a pub, had lots of debts and the vatman was applying for a bankruptcy order against me. when my husband came out of prison, he wouldnt leave us alone and was getting quite nasty so i had to run away. this was in the august of 2005. the bankruptcy came through in the september of 2005.

however, because of my mental state at the time my pub was sold, which was before the bankruptcy, someone who had been advising me on debts etc, iva, trying to trade out of the debt bla bla, for over a year, took over all my dealings. i had a mental breakdown and was good to no one or nothing. she was supposed to deal with the official receiver, debtors etc and because of that, all money from the sale of the pub was paid directly to her from the solicitor who dealt with the sale.

now, suddenly after 5 years, i am getting letters from people who were debtors at the pub, saying i owe them lots of money.

i am getting worried. if she has dealt with it all for me, why am i getting these letters??

when i moved away, again because of my mental state at the time, all my post was redirected to her address and she dealt with it all as it came in. anything personal was forwarded to me.so i havent had any communication from anyone .

now, i just dont know what to do. any letters i get now i always write back and give them my bankruptcy date, the court and my bankruptcy number, which i got from going online to the london gazette. and needless to say there hasnt been any communication from the person who was dealing with all this.

over 70k was paid directly to her.

what do i do? really worried.xxxx

tigerfeet2006

Contact the OR's office that dealt with your BR and check that things were fine during your BR.

Send the creditors this letter, obviously edit it to suit.

Your Address

Date:

Creditor's Name
Address.

NOTICE: Pursuit of a debt included in a bankruptcy. Do not ignore this letter. You must cease collection activity IMMEDIATELY.

Dear Sir/Madam

Account No: *****************

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

I would point out that the account was included in my bankruptcy which commenced on <date>.

Consequently, the debt in question is no longer my legal responsibility.

ALL contacts and claims regarding the debt MUST be addressed to the Official Receiver's Office dealing with the case.

My case was XXX of 200X, at <somewhere> County Court, and the address of the Official Receiver is below.

<Address of the OR.>

A copy of the bankruptcy order is enclosed for your convenience.

Please note that the Official Receiver has requested that all future contact from your company regarding these accounts is reported and forwarded to themselves, and that continued contact with myself may result in Official Receiver taking enforcement actions against your organisation.

Please also note that we are 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 the debt is not due.

In not ceasing collection activity whilst investigating a reasonably queried or disputed debt you are using deceptive/and or unfair methods.

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.

In addition, your continued telephone calls are in breach of the Office of Fair Trading guidelines. If you continue with them after the receipt of this letter an official complaint, together with a log recording the times and frequency of the calls will be passed both to that office and to the Trading Standards office.

This type of debt collection method is contrary to the ‘Administration of Justice Act 1970’ in that it is intended to cause alarm and distress to the recipient. Your methods will not be tolerated. A formal complaint will be submitted to the relevant authorities. This will be relevant to questions of your fitness to hold a licence under the Consumer Credit Act, whether or not it results in a prosecution.

Take further note that continued telephone calls after the receipt of a request not to call may constitute a criminal offence under Section 127 of the Communications Act 2003.

We await your written confirmation that this matter is now closed.

We look forward to your reply.

Yours faithfully



A N Other


with thanks to fermi for the letter.

sandraroffey

thanks. will use this. BUUUUT. if nothing has been dealt with, and she has run off with the money, the situation is that nothing WOULD have been fine during the bankruptcy. where does that leave me.??? if there is a problem, am i going to be held responsible?? i trusted someone to deal with this at a time when i was most vulnerable. i think it must have been the canterbury office. that was where i lived then although the VATMANs petition was at the high court in london. i now live in west sussex.

the only paperwork i have regarding this, is what iprinted off the internet from the london gazette. a formal bankruptcy order i dont have. i have nothing except what was printed off the internet.

tigerfeet2006

If that is the case you will then have to inform the police about the theft. If she hasn't co-operated with the OR either then there is a possibility that you haven't been discharged yet, so you need to know.

Did you sign something to give her power of attorny?

debtinfo

Ok, the first thing is you need information to find out hat the current situation is, then we can think about what to do with it.

Have a look here, and put you information in to see if the bankruptcy order is still in place

http://www.insolvency.gov.uk/eiir/

Choose the court you got from the london gazette in and your urname and see what it comes up with.

sandraroffey

it says its been suspended indefinately. tht means its not been dealt with. bu88er!!!!!!!!!!

what now???

debtinfo

OK, first thing is you must get in touch with the OR straight away, naturally they are going to have questions, Do you have any paperwork, first about your illness and secondly about your friend taking control of your assets, thirdly if this person has ran off with the money you need to report it to the police

Finally dont panic, your now in a situation to start sorting things out that youwernt before, you are doing the responsible thing now that you are able to, and make sure that you make that call to the OR. Now is a good time to do it, near the end of the day as they will probably just take a few details down and ring you back tomorrow giving you some time to collect your thought and get some information together

sandraroffey

the solicitor can prove it was all paid directly to her. i have some bank account numbers that i paid money into, for fees etc., but thats all.oh and an old mobile phone number that is now a fax line. when i last saw her she had just bought a house in brighton for a million pounds, overlooking the marina.

she had other properties too. looks like she may have been making a habit of this.


god, so worried now. all that money!!!!!!!!!!!!!

debtinfo

Thats good, and gives the OR a start point to track the person down, especially the bank account as the OR may be able to ask the bank to help track her, I presume that you have address where she used to live, Do you know if she still lives there

debtinfo

If you need a telephone number for the OR's office, just tell me which one it is under and i can get one for you

sandraroffey

i believe it was the canterbury office. i have an address, actually i have 2 i think. one of which i have certainly been to to pick up some paperwork. dont know if she is still there though. but i have several bank account numbers, and name of the business she ran with her son. god, my blood pressure, already dangerously high, has just shot through the roof!!!