Letter before action from Fredrickson International

DevDoo

Hi all. I am hoping I can get some advice here on how to handle my current situation. I'm trying to sort this for my mother who received a 'Letter Before Action' from Fredrickson International. They have previously been writing letters requesting payment for an debt they have bought from Orange, which I am certain does not exist.

The outstanding balance is apparently £70 and after finally managing to talk to Orange, they have told me the account was opened in 2006, terminated two years ago and they have no record of such a debt ever existing. The account was a 'pay monthly' which my mother does not remember ever joining, but I do remember an occurrence a few years back of her being pushed over the phone into accepting a 'free' mobile phone, which I promptly sent back. My mothers English is poor and she is not savvy or understanding of issues like these.

Further to this, Fredrickson International have also got the spelling of my mothers name incorrect (both first and last name). Now I've called the company, yet did not want to give away any personal information and as such could only give the reference number of the letter sent and explain I am in the process of speaking to Orange.

So the current situation:

- I've received a 'Letter Before Action' giving me 7 days to pay (this is dated from before I spoke to them on the phone, and received yesterday).

- Orange have told me to write to their Collections and Legal team who will look into the matter further for me.

Now I understand that the phone calls are no form of record, so I plan to write to them this weekend. I've read a lot of similar stories and it seems I need to send a 'prove it' letter which I am happy to do, but is it too late at this stage? I would also like to inform them that I am in the process of writing to Orange. This is very much a debt in dispute and from my understanding, further action from them should not be allowed?

I'd greatly appreciate any advice, particular to this case where I am yet to send any letters myself, yet am at the 'letter before action' stage.

Thanks you for any help

bottleofred

Hi,

Absolutely send the prove it letter and see what response you get. The letter before action is merely a threat that for £70 they will do nothing about. They are hoping to scare you into paying.

DevDoo

Thank you for the response bottleofred. I have a question or two:

Can I ask what makes you confident that this is simply a threat and something they will not act on?

Also, considering that they do not even have the correct spelling of my mothers name, I'm hesitant to place her name on the prove it letter as I don't want to give them any more information than they have. I feel like giving them her name, simply assists them in fighting for a debt that is not owed. Hence why I refused to confirm my mothers details over the phone, I don't believe they have this information themselves and do not want to give them further ammo to help their case. Am I simply being paranoid here or should I continue to without this information?

Thanks again

fermi

For £70, it's highly unlikely that they would issue court proceedings. It would be unlikely if 10x that was owed.

barbiedoll

Even if they did take your mother to court, they would need her correct name.
My friend got off a drink-driving charge because the police spelt his name wrongly! :eek:

mrmadcat69

Try this approach copy this letter and send it to them recorded delivery if they don't respond within 14 days they can no longer persue your mother for the debt. Dont forget to put a postal order for £1 in with your letter.


Dear Sir/Madam

Re:− Account/Reference Number 4563210025897412

This letter is a formal request pursuant to s.77/78 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974. I require you to provide me with a true copy of the credit agreement relating to the above account, together with any other documentation the Act requires you to provide.

I expect you to comply fully and properly with this request, within the statutory time limit. You are reminded that should you fail to comply with my request, the provisions of s.77 will apply.

If it is your view that you are not the creditor, s.175 of the CCA 1974 applies in the case of a simple assignment, and places a duty upon you to pass this request to the creditor. In the case of an absolute assignment, you are a creditor as defined by s.189. If you contend that you purchased the rights but not the duties of any agreement, you are reminded that s.189 of the Act is clear that an assignment is of both rights and duties.

Your attention is drawn to ss.5(2), 3(b),6 and 7 of the consumer protection unfair trading practises Regulations 2008 (CPUTR).

I enclose a postal order in the sum of £1.00, which is the statutory fee. Note that these funds are not to be used for any other purpose.

If you are unable to comply fully and properly with this request, you should confirm this in writing at the earliest opportunity, and certainly within the statutory time limit for compliance, and return the fee.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Yours faithfully
Mr A N Other

sp1987

The debt is £70.

It will cost them £30 to issue the small claim, £25 for a hearing (with my memory of the fee anyway, I haven't checked for updates) and whatever amount to send a solicitor/somebody with half a brain (or even no brain at all, still costs the same to drive there) to attend. In a small claim they won't be able to claim solicitors fees and just travel if the solicitor is in house anyway (or whatever bleary eyed dingbat they hypothetically may send). They would be able to claim the hearing fee and issue fee but that is if they won. Your mother would be able to have the hearing at her local court so they could be travelling hundreds of miles to attend.

The amount of time, money and hassle makes it highly unlikely they could be bothered for £70 that they don't have the correct details for.

But, they can avoid all these costs by sending a standard form, snotty letter hoping that people will return £70.

I dare say it is also arguable if they have really sent a proper letter before action as I would argue to be a proper letter before action it would need to clearly explain the debt so you could properly pay it or defend it. If you had to ring up to get all this information it wasn't in the letter? Not very good pre action protocol there.

DevDoo

Thank you kindly for the responses.
I'm going to be posting a prove it letter tomorrow, for which I used this template:
/showthread.php?t=1394709

Regarding the low amount, the 'Letter Before Action' states that the payment will in fact be higher once proceedings begin, with the court fees and solicitor costs bringing the new balance owed to over £130

So I currently have two questions:

1. Am I right not to sign the letter with my mothers real name? At the moment I'm going with the incorrect spelling which they used, placing the name in quotes. Should I mention the fact that the name is incorrect within the letter I'm sending?

2. I am also adding to the letter that I am in the process of obtaining written confirmation from Orange that they have no record of the debt existing. Should details like this be included in the prove it letter?

thanks again, love the community here!

jintynetty

I really think you should try and sort this. I had a debt for £93 and I ignored the numerous calls every day and the odd letter they sent me, anyway, today I received a letter from a solicitor advising that they are pursing the matter and have added on another £50 to the original debt.

fatbelly

DevDoo wrote: »

Thank you kindly for the responses.
I'm going to be posting a prove it letter tomorrow, for which I used this template:
/showthread.php?t=1394709

Regarding the low amount, the 'Letter Before Action' states that the payment will in fact be higher once proceedings begin, with the court fees and solicitor costs bringing the new balance owed to over £130

So I currently have two questions:

1. Am I right not to sign the letter with my mothers real name? At the moment I'm going with the incorrect spelling which they used, placing the name in quotes. Should I mention the fact that the name is incorrect within the letter I'm sending?

2. I am also adding to the letter that I am in the process of obtaining written confirmation from Orange that they have no record of the debt existing. Should details like this be included in the prove it letter?

thanks again, love the community here!

I'd just send the prove-it letter and print the name they used. If Orange have no record of this account ever existing it will be interesting to see what Fred Int come up with by way of proof.

Well done for ignoring the cca advice and the 'pay it' advice - this never was a cca debt, even if it did exist. Standing up to these crooks and reporting them when they get found out is the only way they will ever be brought under control.

GeorgeUK

In the prove it letter, you could request a copy of the airtime agreement (as there is no credit agreement).

I agree with Fatbelly to use just the information they sent in the laetter rather than give them your mother's name. If this debt is for someone else, they are actually in breach of the Data Protection Act for giving you that data.