Debt Collectors for Housing Association

dalc87

Hoping that someone out there has some good advice for me!

Back in 2006 I was living in a council flat on housing benefits after a nasty accident at work involving a rickety shelf and an old school CRT monitor! Ouch! After being told that I would never be able to walk properly again and would most likely be unable to work AT ALL for the REST OF MY LIFE aged only 19 I was devastated. After a few weeks of feeling sorry for myself I decided to prove everyone wrong, get walking again, properly, and get back out there in work. Fast forward 4 months and I was almost back to complete fitness, still not able to play sports but I could work, despite popular medical opinion.

I left my council flat in London in January 2007, moved across country with my newly graduated fianc!e and started a new life in Bath. We saved up, bought a house and generally things started to look rosy.

Then in 2009 the letters started. Firstly, Virgin Media wanted £600 off me despite me cancelling my subscription after my accident, I couldn't afford it. They said that I was mid contract and couldn't have cancelled. After a lot of trouble I managed to get them off my back without paying any money.

Then came the utilities. All of them, Thames Water, British Gas, Southern Electric, all said that I owed them money, for Q1 2007. Now I know that I moved out in January 2007 and couldn't possibly owe them money as I had proof of final bills, someone else must have run up those bills. In the end it transpired that I was actually owed £7.03 from British Gas, £13.78 from Thames Water and nothing from SE. I never saw a penny of that money and didn't even get an apology!

Then came the council tax. I started to wonder what they hell happened during those 4 months! I know I was usually drugged up on painkillers but I wasn't completely out of it! The council tax I actually did owe. I thought it was all covered by CT Benefit but it seems that it wasn't and when I went back to work my CT benefit was reduced but I was unaware of it. I owed them £600. I paid it. Fair do's I owed you money, you've chased me down and I've put my hand in my pocket and apologised.

THEN........ came the housing association, claiming that I owed them £1880!!!! OMG. When I was leaving I called the housing officer and told them that I was moving out and they said to send a letter and that they would respond with a time and date to hand back the keys. They never did come back to me and when I called to say look I'm actually leaving next week I need to hand back the keys they said that they would come to my house on the day that I left to do an inventory and take the keys and sign things off etc.... I waited until 6pm but nothing, I called and called all day but no answer. I then went to their office the next day and it was closed. Great! So I dropped them a letter through their post box explaining that I had tried and tried to get hold of them to hand back the keys but nothing. I put the keys in the envelope and gave them a forwarding address and telephone number if they had queries. Nothing for 18 months.......

Then I start getting calls and letters from loads of debt collection agencies. I thought sod this and ignored it. Then they stopped. Then they started again a few months later. I called the Housing !!!. directly and they said that I didn't hand the keys back until JULY! and that I owed 6.7 months rent! We went through it and through it and through it and in the end they tried to say it was from the previous July up until I left... changing their story. I know that I was on full housing benefit the entire time. Despite going back to part time employment I was still getting full HB. They left it at that, said they would come back to me and nothing..... until......
yesterday evening I came home from work and found a letter from ANOTHER debt collection agency chasing me for this £1880.

Someone said that I should leave it and ignore it, they said that because I have only ever responded by phone to the HA (and they do not record their calls, well they didn't at the time I last spoke to them) that there is no paper trail of me acknowledging their claim so that by January 2013 even if there was a debt it would be wiped clean.
I don't want to mess around, I just want them off my back so I can live my life in peace.

I'm not going to pay them a penny, I know that I do not owe them anything but should I call them and try to get them off my back or just keep on ignoring them?

Any help or similar experiences that I can learn from would be much appreciated.

Tixy

Don't call them no. Calls will get you nowhere and even if anyone does agree verbally you don't owe them money you'll only be chased again in a few months.

You could try sending them the prove it letter and disputing that you owe the money and wait for them to provide proof that you do. The prove it letter is specific because it does not acknowlegde that you owe the debt.

Someone said that I should leave it and ignore it, they said that because I have only ever responded by phone to the HA (and they do not record their calls, well they didn't at the time I last spoke to them) that there is no paper trail of me acknowledging their claim so that by January 2013 even if there was a debt it would be wiped clean.
I don't want to mess around, I just want them off my back so I can live my life in peace.

This isn't quite accurate. After 6years if you haven't paid or acknowledged in writing that you owe the money, and assuming that the creditor hasn't got a CCJ against you before the 6years are up then the debt would become statute barred.

A statute barred debt means that they cannot take you to court but the debt does still legally exist.

Prove it letter template - http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=11570893&postcount=2

dalc87

If I send them this letter won't that encourage them to harass me more?
It's been four years... I can't understand why they are still chasing this fictitious debt!