Real Life MMD: Should I help debt agency find colleague?

babushkava

I definitely wouldn't help debt collectors. Some years ago, I bought a small item from a catalogue, paying £8.99 by cheque at the time of

sending the order in. When the item of clothing arrived, an invoice was with it. I phoned their freephone number, gave the various codes

and explained that I had paid by cheque. I gave the cheque and bank details. They denied all knowledge and very nastily demanded that

I pay for the item within seven days or they would take legal action! Well, I didn't pay again, obviously, and obtained a photocopy of the

cheque from my bank to show that the catalogue company had banked the cheque. Then, before I could send it off to them, I received a

nasty phone call and two letters from their debt collection department, mentioning court and credit rating impairment, etc.

Being a bit annoyed, I decided not to continue to fight with them and to just collect all their letters and log the phone calls.

Seven months later, I had had 17 letters and a court summons. I went to the court, with my log of calls (I had put the phone down

immediately after the first two conversations), the file of letters and the photocopy of the cleared cheque.

The company was fined for harassing me (at a different court) but in the meantime, I received £500 for the distress caused. So, I always

keep a record and I am quite happy that if they are harrassing me, that means someone else is being left alone.

Talent

Dob her in ;-))

r0ughsedgem

Dear Moneysaver,

It's not your problem, it's for the debt collection agency and your colleague to sort it out. You did the right thing in not saying she still works there. If you continue to be bothered by these calls, tell her -and/or get a name and address from the agency, write to them saying they have the wrong number, even say your employer objects to the calls.

Topher_Bear

Mrs TB here: We were harrassed by a debt collectrion agency called mackenzie hall soon after we moved into our previous address (I was temporarily disabled and 8 months pregnant and gave birth the day after we moved in having been forced to move when landlady sold up with 2 months notice which is why we were there - some people get a bit judgemental about rental so I think you should know up front we have an income, children and no significant debts, we are not law dodgers or whatever and we are on the elctoral register!!)

We were unfortunate (as at some point you or a relative of yours may be) in that the phone number we were assigned was the cause of much stress! Most phone numbers in the uk are recycled yet when you tell the debt collection agency who call up and ask for the name on their list for that number that you are not that person and the address they have is not the one they are phoning it does not end there.

They then pose as friends of that person or ask what you as that person are upto these days, they call and say who is this? to trick you into giving a first name (which isn't right as you are not that person) or ask if you have changed your name recently ! This particular agency harrassed us on landline and picked up my mobile number when I left it on the phone for my parents and the calls started coming to my mobile too.

We called the post office our phone provider and asked for a new phone number because of the harrassment and I called the police who advised I write to the agency and tell them they are breaking the law and suggested giving them our address info to substantiate that , but since the address info was still private I wasn't keen for them to have that.

Since so many people in the UK rent and so many credit referencing agencies are doing a pants job it would not be hard for unscrupulous people to leave you with the agencies chasing over their debt if you move into rental accommodation. This was not our only experience of other's debts impinging on our life.

We scored so abysmally on credit rating because of debts attached to one property we lived at that we could not get a debit card until we protested to the bank and they were forced to investigate further (at which point the correction was made).

If you get a phone call from a debt collection agency saying quote a reference number there is a message for you (another one that has happened to us, though I checked internet cos though was dodgy) do not return that call they are chasing you for debts whether or not that debt is yours will not trouble them nor will the legality of their approach or lack thereof!

Google the agency and you'll see more about this despicable behaviour. Meckenzie Hall who hounded us for a year 2009 -2010 and refused to accept the truth that we did not live at the address nor share the name of the person they were after have a particularly enlightening record online of unhappiness caused to people who seldom deserve any inconvenience let alone harrassment.

They also said they would send someone round to the address to which we responded that would not really affect us SINCE WE DO NOT AND NEVER HAVE LIVED THERE!! If it were not for the repeated harrassment and evil messages being left for us on voicemail it would have been funny but once they had my mobile number it really was not - the calls then came in at least 3 times a day making wild accusations and being down right obnoxious - they have no morals. Once I knew they were breaking the law and I had recorded evidence on my phone, I did as the police said and and advised that they would be investigated if they continued we found everything stopped, and I never did need to change my mobile number. The company has been prosecuted for this stuff in the past too so maybe they didn't want to be on record about it again - the laws broken were data protection retaining personal information on file not given to them, harrassment and crimes against common sense. But imagine if your elderly relative or a vulnerable adult you know had been on the receiving end of all this, what then? So no don't pass on details they may have no legal right to that person's contact details, there may in fact be no debt and the harrassment has to stop!

Hope some help in finding you a moral compass on this issue

YeOldOne

JoannaS wrote: »

Why would they be chasing her if she didn't spend the money?

Because that is what they do.

I've known them invent debts.

jessiedebbie

I hate debt collectors.
Threaten to report them to bt to stop them ringing again.
Never give any other details to them. I know they are just doing thier jobs I regard them as scum.

Sorry if people find that offending.

Little_Em

joannie wrote: »

Well. sorry folks, I think she should give them any info she has. Her friend has had and spent the money. It is us as honest citizens that end up paying higher costs because of those who do not pay back what they owe.

Bear in mind we don't know anything other than a company is trying to contact her. I was harrassed by 2 different debt collection agencies for the best part of 5 years, thanks to someone with the same (very common) full name and date of birth as mine. The first agency traced me through the electoral roll, linked me to the individual's address (in a town I had never been to) and the second agency found me that way. It caused enormous stress and upset.

To the OP, I am sorry you are being bothered but it is absolutely none of your business if your colleague has contacted them. The disruption to your work is the only thing that actually concerns you here and you should not share any information. If anyone at my workplace did this to me I would lodge a grievance.

Little_Em

JoannaS wrote: »

I haven't ever been in a situation where I've been chased by a debt collector and hopefully I won't be.....they only chase when given reason to.....pay your debts...no debt collectors!! Simple!!

Absolute nonsense, as proven by the harassment I had for years. I sent ID to an agency proving that it wasn't my debt (passport showing signature, to compare with original credit card application, and picture with all other data obscured) and 6 months later they hadn't dealt with the letter! They had continued to harass me in the meantime. They stopped writing for a while then tried their luck a while later (in the same month I moved house and lost my mum, leading to me absolutely losing the plot and screaming at a guy there down the phone and telling him to eff off - not proud). My lovely lovely solicitor wrote to them a few times and eventually they left me alone but it wasn't easy. Also have to say that Alan Johnson MP was extremely helpful.

Slimboy_Fat

My Brother took a call from a debt collection agency (sounding like an non-UK call centre), They where trying to get in touch with a relative that has the same surname as us. She was trying to get him to go and tell the relative and my Brother said no as it was not his business and they shouldn't have been telling him about it anyway.

Unlike me, the brother doesn't like to hang up on people so the call had been going for about 10 minutes when I got home. I got him to pass the phone to me and asked how much we would get paid for this. She said we wouldn't get paid so I asked for a better offer as She was getting paid it was only fair I got paid. She hung up

jenniewb

I wouldn't! For several reasons:

They get a huge cut of whatever debt is going to find people, its their job not mine. I would expect the same cut as they get and that just would not happen. Debt agencys are greedy enough and can do their own work.

I don't like debt agencies as many like to lie and chase people with nasty threats and build up people into making assumptions that they have to do exactly what has been said. I would worry about vugnrable people in this situation. None of the people I know would deserve that sort of treatment.

I would feel bad. Very bad.

I would however warn the person they were chasing, just to make them aware and maybe to read up on their rights, I'd also keep tabs on them to make sure they were getting the right help and support or at least knew where to go. I'd make it clear to them things would probably get nastier the longer they leave it, that although I had given them no info others in the office may not act accordingly which puts them at risk. Also that its not worth the amount of stress if they left it too long which would be otherwise avoidable. As long as I knew they were doing something about it I'd leave them to what they were doing and the debt agency to do their own job.