Had demands for debts that aren't yours? Template letter to send

OXO_2

What's the odds on this???

Just had today's mail delivered and opened a letter from CAPQUEST - in someone else's name but my address. House has always been in my family so I can 100% guarantee that this person has never lived at my address!

They are chasing a debt for £388.96 from Clydesdale Financial Services. Nothing to do with me!

Phoned them to inform them of their mistake, but am thinking of sending them a letter to state the fact in writing.

I was wondering if something like this can be "Associated" to a Credit Report on me, by virtue of the address alone?

lady_fuschia

Interesting this thread should pop up now- I've not long moved house and just the other day we got a card left addressed to "The Occupier" by someone from British Gas saying that he'd called to cut off our gas because we hadn't paid our bill (a little harsh considering we only moved in two weeks ago!) and were in debt to the tune of £300 (I know utility bills are high these days but Jesus!). I called the mobile number he left and got no answer at all. Then called the main British Gas helpline, got put on hold for about five years befor ebeing told I needed to speak to my local representative.
Anyone know how to deal with this one?

gibby

A friend of mine had a similar problem

J B Debt collections from Scotland are a nasty bunch of FRISPS.

The really had a go at a friend of mine for an old debt that we belived was paid
they screamed down the phone that they would make my friend bankrupt, make sure all credit was stopped for ever & that they would call at work and make sure that employment was stopped too.

after doing some research the following works every time now.

Never discuss anything on the phone. Stop it dead - ask for it in writing for legal resaons & put the phone down.

Remember the debt collection agency can not take you to court - only the person who is owed money.

Insist in writing that you will only deal direct with the original company and that you want evidence from the company in writing.

Remember these firms have paid to collect your debt, & they sometimes make them up and add illegal charges.

Do not discuss the matter on the door if they send a collector. the collectors are on commission and do not work for the firms involved. they are self employed agents and usually terrified as they get some serious grief from time to time.
Be firm - state you want everything in writing and will only deal with the original firm - in writing.
If they wont move from your door you can call the police or even better ask which cars is theirs? - They will move quickly when you make a note of the registration etc.

recently we got one a week for the last owners of the house and often they would not take it that they had moved.
the worst one was very loud at the door trying to shame us into letting him in.
whne I asked if that was his car he got a little nervouse but wouldnt budge.
I shouted into the kitchen - where did I leave that hammer and he ran like crazy.

Just don't deal with debt collectors as you have the right not to.
They are horrible little bullies.

Gibby

codger

We had a two year battle with several debt collection agencies as a result of sacking British Gas as our energy supplier. (We sacked them because they were arrogant and incompetent liars. And because we'd got fed up of them repeatedly apologising for "uncharacteristic errors", even though not once, but twice, they made compensation payments to us "without prejudice".)

The final bill was agreed jointly between ourselves, British Gas, and Energywatch UK. Yet six months later, British Gas sent us a "revised" final, final bill, which of course was complete fiction from start to finish and rejected by us out of hand.

Several high-pressure letters from BG followed demanding full payment. Then a weasly letter from a solicitor in Cheshire, acting for BG. Then a series of letters and telephone calls over a two-year period from a succession of different debt collection agencies, all of them oppressive, all of them intended to disrupt, dismay, and intimidate.

By far the worst was the outfit Robinson Way, which is linked to a so-called UK "bank" and headquartered in Manchester. Robinson Way totally ignored letters from ourselves of a content similar to those cited in this thread, and repeatedly telephoned at lunchtime, tea time, and sometimes even late evening, all such calls designed to disrupt and unsettle.

So we lodged a formal complaint about Robinson Way with the OFT.

The OFT never comments on an investigation or an outcome. But we never heard from Robinson Way again. However. . .

Debt collection companies buy up debts. And no, they don't check because they couldn't care less: spend a fiver, pick up a £100 debt, pocket £95 as a profit if the debtor gives in.

It's licensed thuggery, and it should've been stamped out years and years ago.

So after Robinson Way vanished, it appeared to us that our "debt" was sold to another debt collection company in Surrey. Its website was a self celebration (still is) of this company's highest standard of professionalism. In truth, its performance was ludicrous -- its letters so unintentionally funny, that we began to mark 'em up, correct the spelling and grammar, and post 'em back.

We also sent them a bill for English language tutorials.

They never paid up, but then, we never heard from them again anyway: a target who turns round and ridicules a debt collector is not a target the debt collector is comfortable with.

And that was that, except that several years on, our "debt" to British Gas is still showing on our financial histories.

We have talked with all three major UK credit reference agencies and they have been exceptionally kind and supportive. They report that the debt is actually logged as "disputed". And that because it is "disputed" it is "unproven", and because it is "unproven" it has not impacted on us in any way.

So. . .

Don't ever give in to a sleaze-bag debt collection agency -- and they are sleaze-bags, it's in their nature.

And never give in to any bullying, thuggish company with the social conscience of half a brick, either (like British Gas: had we an effective Parliamentary watchdog system, there'd have been an investigation into BG years ago to determine just how much money it has earned from claiming unproven debts and then selling on these fictions to debt collection agencies.)

Do not worry about "disputed" appearing on your financial histories, either: it's perfectly obvious to Experian, Equifax et al that if a debt has never been the subject of a CCJ, then the claim for the existence of such a debt wasn't tenable in the first place.

If pro-forma letters fail, lodge a complaint of harassment with the Office of Fair Trading. They may never tell you what happened, but you can be assured that if your complaint is valid, they'll certainly take action.

anniecave

Hi

Just to add that the template posted by kele16v wouldnt apply in relating to any utility debts (gas/water/electricity) or debts such as council tax.

Contract law as such varies depending on the circumstances. But the company would be chasing for a specific time period for a specific adddress and would have bills to support this.

If electricity or gas if there is any doubt about who the supplier for the given property was, establish this first.
If you were not in the property for the period in question then just advise the company chasing appropriately.
If you were in the property but the bills are wrong then advise them of this.
If it was your debt and you paid it then give the company the details of the appropriate payments.

You can still complain to energywatch for gas or electricity if necessary, even if it is being chased for by a debt collection agency, as long as the debt hasn't been sold on.

The six years statute law is complicated to work out in relation to electricity or gas supply debt.

bargaingirl2007

rosysparkle wrote:

No, just keep returning the letters unopened marked NOT KNOWN AT THIS ADDRESS - RETURN TO SENDER. You don't have to put a stamp on, just put them back in the postbox.

We had the same problem - still do. We rang the company and asked them what to do with the letters. They said they would change their database and to throw the post in the bin. We later found out this is because companies get charged by Royal Mail when someone puts a 'Not at this address' letter in the mailbox. We have rung several times and were told that the person living there before may have had several debts all being chased up by the same company, but they would try to remove her name. We are still getting letters from this company and now just bin them as we were advised to do.

theboylightning

Hi,

Just a few months ago, I got a letter out of the blue from a company called Capquest declaring that they were collecting a debt of approx £850 that I owed to Egg. I phoned them immediately saying that I believed it to be a mistake and they said that they'd been trying to contact me for a number of years and had only just managed to do so. They then quoted a previous address from where the debt was last held.

I then informed them that when I had bought my house (5 years ago) I had an experian cheque to see what money I owed and which i subsequently paid off. they then said that egg doesn't show up on experian and only showed up on equifax, which i thought was a bit odd, particularly as i'd bought the house with no problems!

They then offered me the chance to clear the debt then for £650. As i couldn't do this I had to pay £850+ over the space of a few months.

I thought at the time that the debt was strange and now its really made me wonder. would i be able to see if i could get this money back and what would be the best procedure for doing so

AMILLIONDOLLARS

Theboylightining

If the debt wasnt yours, you shouldn't have paid up. You should have asked them to prove that the debt was yours. I am afraid that as you have now settled the debt there is no chance of you getting your money back.

AMD

Chrystaltips

I am from Scotland so its a wee bit different up here (what with all the kilts and haggis).
I have been pursued by a bank due to my name being used fraudulently by an ex partner to obtain a substantial amount of money (£12K). In all and every piece of communication I have remained consistent in saying I know nothing about this and have asked for a copy of the loan agreement which I intended to take to the police due to the fraud. The company contacted me last year (5 years on) to say they cannot find a copy of the agreement but was I in a position to pay this loan off today. (You can imagine my response) This correspondence has been ongoing for about 5 years now and throughout this period the debt has been added to my credit history as a default and I was recently turned down for a small loan despite BEING DEBT FREE due to this. I have a copy of my credit history and sure enough its there! The credit history folks wont accept my word and the company are trying to get me to pay up. I have used 2 templates ie asked for a copy of the loan application and the other was to say that their practices are against the law now and would constitute bullying. However this is still on my credit history. Has anyone any suggestions how to get this removed?

AMILLIONDOLLARS

Have thought about a written complaint about the company to The Office of Fair Trading. I would send them a copy of all the correspondence relating to your case, its worth a try.


AMD