roxburghe

shellybaby37

hi all
can anyone give me advice on this company i received a letter chasing a debt for vanquis bank for a credit card debt that i have no idea about at all.
i sent them a letter asking them to prove the debt and charges etc and what information they had in regard to me
they sent me a letter back saying i had to pay them £10 for one part of this information and then another £10 for the rest of it.
i am a single mum on benefit presently after being made redundant from my job and cannot afford to pay £20 for proof of a debt i know nothing about.
then i received a letter dated over 10 days ago saying i could lower the payment for a full and final settlement if i respond within 7 days (which had already expired before i got the letter) then the day after i got another letter saying i had 72 hours to respond which as far as i was aware i had done in asking for proof of the debt???
what do i do now i do not have lots of money so cannot pay this in full i have not taken responsibility for the debt as yet but do i make a payment arrangement or fight them?

fermi

Did you send a subject access request (SAR), or just a letter saying that you didn't know anything about this debt? The can ask for £10 for a full SAR

As you know nothing about it, it's probably best to send this letter.

Click --> http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=11570893&postcount=2

That puts an obligation on them to prove the debt, but without you having to pay a fee for it.

fermi

To Roxburghe

Dear Sir/Madam

Ref: xxxxxxxxxxx

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

We would point out that we have no knowledge of any such debt being owed to The Loan Company.

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 it is uncertain that they are the debtor in question.

We would also point out that the OFT say under the Guidance that it is unfair to pursue third parties for payment when they are not liable. 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.

We would ask that no further contact be made concerning the above accounts unless you can provide evidence as to our liability for the debt in question.

We await your written confirmation that this matter is now closed. Otherwise we will have no option but to make a complaint to the trading standards department and consider informing the OFT of your actions.

We look forward to your reply.

Yours faithfully

king100

shellybaby37 wrote: »

hi all
can anyone give me advice on this company i received a letter chasing a debt for vanquis bank for a credit card debt that i have no idea about at all.
i sent them a letter asking them to prove the debt and charges etc and what information they had in regard to me
they sent me a letter back saying i had to pay them £10 for one part of this information and then another £10 for the rest of it.
i am a single mum on benefit presently after being made redundant from my job and cannot afford to pay £20 for proof of a debt i know nothing about.
then i received a letter dated over 10 days ago saying i could lower the payment for a full and final settlement if i respond within 7 days (which had already expired before i got the letter) then the day after i got another letter saying i had 72 hours to respond which as far as i was aware i had done in asking for proof of the debt???
what do i do now i do not have lots of money so cannot pay this in full i have not taken responsibility for the debt as yet but do i make a payment arrangement or fight them?

I would say that the debt is probably SB - yes fermi - that word again.

What a load of bollo***, £10 for one part and other £10 for the other.

Sounds like £10 for the SAR and £10 to be applied to the account as payment to restart the account.

Personally send a I deny the debt letter.

ShAnE

Used to work next door to these guys, so unfortunately saw a lot of them. They are small time company, who hire anyone and everyone and pay them on incentives. As said above send the prove it letter, or I deny the debt letter. That'll at least move you to the bottom of the lazy call centre styled "agent".

Hannah_10

DCA's are b'stards they really are. Lesson number one is that they have no more powers than the Avon lady to take anything of yours or to demand money. They use a lot of carrot and stick tactics, like offering you the olive branch of a reduced settlement and then snatching it away. Makes you feel desperate doesn't it, a kind of still panic rises in your heart and you feel like- OMG, I just need this over. Then they've got you!

No more pwers than the Avon lady, remember that, they have no more powers than the Avon lady.

So what happens is you end up feeling pressured and hassled and you ring up the sadistic call centre muppets who take a card payment (or often 2 card payments, and then your car insurance payment bounces and you find this out only when get pulled over by the police or your phone is cut off or other dire consequences for very low income families). They are low life manipulative b'stards and many of us here will testify to it. Do not let them bully you into anything that isn't strictly fair!

What you need to do is remember they can't hurt you, follow the golden rule and send the letter Fermi advises. Any time they have your blood rising again feel free to come back, but do not let them bully you out of money to feed your family, or money to insure the car, or money to get a much needed haircut, or anything else you actually need. They can not have what you haven't got.

The law is very much on your side here, but they know most people wont know that so they apply scare, manipulation and outright lies (especially by telephone, but often by letter too). The onus is on THEM to prove you owe anything not YOU to prove you don't and the law says they can't have what you NEED to live on. If you're on income support or tax credits then it's pretty easy to show that you NEED all but £2 a week of your income, so even when it coes down to having to pay it (if it's even genuinely yours in the first place) there is no need to panic then. We will ask you get get a SOA up and we will help you wok out what you can FAIRLY pay.

For now though the more dirty tactics a DCA uses the greater the chance that the debt is dodgy so do not let them rattle you.