HELP!! Advantis Credit & Bad Tenant

WelshGFunk

Hello, I hope someone may be able to offer me some advice!

I recently recieved a letter from Advantis Credit stating that I had to contact them concerning a 'Business Need' relating to a home i rented around 5 years ago! I contacted them and the confirmed that BT were chasing me for £400!

Never having been in any debt I was naturally sceptical! I looked back through my records and found my final bill from BT in 2006, so sent them a 'Prove It' letter recorded delivery.

It turns out the debt was valid but from Mar-Jun 2009 (3 years after I left!) I contacted my old landlord (who i am still friendly with). He informed me that during the same time period (Mar-June 09) he was involved in trying to evict a bad tenant from the property in question! Apparently he didnt pay rent, owed money to alot of people and it basically cost my old landlord to take it through the courts to get shot of this tenant.

My questions are:
1. What should i do next? Send Advantis a copy of my council tax bill showing me at a different home for the period in question?

2. How will this affect my credit rating? Having never been in any kind of debt, I am proud of my credit history and dont want this to affect it, especially as my wife and I are expecting out first child this summer and would like to move home.

Thank you for any help advice!

Tixy

Hi

You could either just reply with the fact that you didn't live there at that time or you could send the ctax bill for a different address. A lot of people will say you don't need to send that ctax bill as proof and that is correct, but its probably a lot less hassle and should get things sorted quicker ir you do decide to.

Should affect your credit rating at all - but it might be worth checking your credit file just to ensure they haven't put anything about this account/default on it.

king100

Utility bills do not register on CRA, so you are fine there.

You have sent the prove it letter but have they proved that you live there during that time period?

If they have just sent you a letter stating that its for this period and you know that you wernt there then ignore them.

The Easy way

If you want to get rid then send letter stating that you were not in residence during that period and that they should contact the landlord. Send copies of all relevant paperwork. Matter closed

The Hard Way

You can choose to ignore anything and are under no obligation to prove your debt, its up to the DCA to, so you could make them try and prove it knowing full well that they cant, thus they will be spending money on chasing the wrong person.

After all the knowledge I have with DCAs and if it was me personally I would continue to ignore it and let them spend their own money trying to chase me for a debt I know and I can prove I dont owe. But thats me and I like to play games when I get a chance with DCAs.

WelshGFunk

OK, UPDATE!!
Advantis are really starting to get on my nerves now. They called me this morning asking if I would be in a position to settle the debt.

I told them I was not for the following reasons:
a) I was not resident at the address during the time in question
b) The Bill reference submitted to me by BT as evidence does not match the reference number of my account I held at that address
c) The Telephone Number on the Bill submitted to my by BT as evidence does not match the Telephone Number I held at that address

Advantis advised me that had the bill been for a utlitity such as water or gas, this would be fine, but since the bill was for a BT bill, which they describe as a "Subscription Service", I am still liable for the bill!! HOW ON EARTH IS THAT EVEN LOGICAL!?

They want me to sent them a copy of my "FINAL BILL" for that address, but if the reference numbers nor even the telephone numbers match, what business is that of theirs? I just seriously think they've tagged my name to this bill because they have no-one else. They're really starting to bug me now!!

NEXT MOVE?

FireWyrm

WelshGFunk wrote: »

Advantis advised me that had the bill been for a utlitity such as water or gas, this would be fine, but since the bill was for a BT bill, which they describe as a "Subscription Service", I am still liable for the bill!! HOW ON EARTH IS THAT EVEN LOGICAL!?

It's not. Tell them to P***s off. It's up to them to prove your liability, not you prove you dont owe it. Since their so called 'proof' is clearly for a different person entirely, they can swivel.

WelshGFunk wrote: »

They want me to sent them a copy of my "FINAL BILL" for that address, but if the reference numbers nor even the telephone numbers match, what business is that of theirs? I just seriously think they've tagged my name to this bill because they have no-one else. They're really starting to bug me now!!

NEXT MOVE?

Send them a letter pointing out the rather obvious logical errors in their argument and then tell that you'll be reporting them to OFT if they dont stop harrassing you.

WelshGFunk

Thank you for your responses guys!

I have just emailed Advantis Credit basically stating that I have evidence that can prove I was not living at the address in question during this period and the evidence they have sent me contains a reference number and a telephone number I have never owned.

I have also stated that according to the OFT, unless they can prove that I, personally liable for this bill, then they can poke off. It just seems to me though, that because I have an unusual surname, they have found out that I lived at that address once upon a time and have decided to saddle me with the debt.

I guess the next step will be to wait for a response and if they don't back down, I will be reporting them to OFT and Watchdog.

What you all think? I certainly dont really want to send them my own personal statements proving I didn't live there - but I might be forced to!

As stated earlier though, I am however concerned that this may affect my credit history/rating................

tallyhoh

I'm a bit puzzled here, surely BT should have a name to go with the bill, how could they give provide someone with a phone service without one??

RAS

Report them to the Information Commissioner for retaining false information.

WelshGFunk

tallyhoh wrote: »

I'm a bit puzzled here, surely BT should have a name to go with the bill, how could they give provide someone with a phone service without one??

I contacted BT regarding this and they didnt confirm any name! In fact, they said they didnt retain any detail of this debt due to the time frame and they had sent it to their debt agency to recover (presumably Advantis!)

I get a strong whiff that the Advantis employees are coming up with all kinds of excuses as to why the debt is mine, but no-one can prove that it is infact my debt!

I sure hope they dont plonk this on my credit record as I have always been diligent with my money and have never been in any form of debt!

Seems like we're being harrassed for somebody elses decision to do/spend what the hell they like and then go missing 

FireWyrm

Stick to the script. Tell them to prove you owe the debt. They have to do this, it's not just advice, it's the bloody law which they are not above. Since their 'proof' is obviously for another person, tell them to stick it somewhere inventive.

With regard to BT being a 'subscription service' and you being liable even though you havnt lived there in years, that's the biggest load of male bovine excrement I've heard in a long time. You don't owe the debt and they can't just plonk any old thing on your file without proof and a little thing called a court. They have your name, but if they get out of hand, just report them. Refuse all incoming calls from them and conduct the whole business in writing.