MacKenzie Hall / Wonga

JGL

Repost - posted in wrong place earlier.

About this time last year, my son took out a number of payday type loans with several different companies, including Wonga. He finally reached the position where he had no money left, as all his wage was being taken in repayments.
He returned home, where I took control of his finances, and made arrangements to pay off all his creditors.
We fully believed that we had cleared all of his payday loans until today.

He has just received a letter from MacKenzie Hall, giving a loan number & amount due as Wonga have now - "legally assigned your debt to MacKenzie Hall Debt Purchase Limited as of 6th July 2012.
In order to avoid further action payment can be made by post, etc, etc".

My son cannot remember how many loans he took out, or what repayments he made. If he did borrow the money,& it seems likely that he did, then he must repay it. Should he just send them a cheque to settle this once & for all? Or does this open us up to even more demands?
Why haven't we been contacted by Wonga if this amount was outstanding for so long? Is this usual?
I suppose what I am asking is that I know MacK sound like a set of sharks, but if it is a genuine debt, will paying this be the end of a problem that has been ongoing for a year?

Please understand that this is in no way an attempt to avoid paying a genuine debt.

Gareth19

JGL wrote: »

Repost - posted in wrong place earlier.

About this time last year, my son took out a number of payday type loans with several different companies, including Wonga. He finally reached the position where he had no money left, as all his wage was being taken in repayments.
He returned home, where I took control of his finances, and made arrangements to pay off all his creditors.
We fully believed that we had cleared all of his payday loans until today.

He has just received a letter from MacKenzie Hall, giving a loan number & amount due as Wonga have now - "legally assigned your debt to MacKenzie Hall Debt Purchase Limited as of 6th July 2012.
In order to avoid further action payment can be made by post, etc, etc".

My son cannot remember how many loans he took out, or what repayments he made. If he did borrow the money,& it seems likely that he did, then he must repay it. Should he just send them a cheque to settle this once & for all? Or does this open us up to even more demands?
Why haven't we been contacted by Wonga if this amount was outstanding for so long? Is this usual?
I suppose what I am asking is that I know MacK sound like a set of sharks, but if it is a genuine debt, will paying this be the end of a problem that has been ongoing for a year?

Please understand that this is in no way an attempt to avoid paying a genuine debt.

Just my opinion but I would just settle up and draw a line under it. It seems very likely that the oney is owed to them and therefore unless you really want this to drag on and on and fight it then just pay them and say cheerio!

KingElvis

Top advice there from Vax, also, you might have more luck in the Debt Free Wannbe forum as they deal with SAR and the like all the time.

JGL

Thank you for replying so quickly.

MacKenzie Hall say that Wonga are no longer responsible for the management of the account, and that ALL queries must go through them.

This all came about when my son left home to live with two street smart mates, who taught him how to get "easy money" via loans, selling his personal stuff, etc. When he realised he was in over his head, he came home, but they continued to use his personal info to commit ID fraud.

In the circumstances, should he also be getting an Experian report?

DCFC79

JGL wrote: »

Thank you for replying so quickly.

MacKenzie Hall say that Wonga are no longer responsible for the management of the account, and that ALL queries must go through them.

This all came about when my son left home to live with two street smart mates, who taught him how to get "easy money" via loans, selling his personal stuff, etc. When he realised he was in over his head, he came home, but they continued to use his personal info to commit ID fraud.

In the circumstances, should he also be getting an Experian report?

Getting a report would be a good idea, make sure its a free 1 or the £2 jobbie but not sure what the difference is though and make sure you cancel before the 30 days to avoid being charged the monthly fee.

Buzby

Excellent news from MH, then. If they've taken on the responsibility of the debt, you clearly need to establish that their claim is accurate.

Respond by saying that you have been unable to reconcile the debt they say was formally due to Wonga. Therefore should they wish to obtain any payments, you requre them to supply a copy of the loan schedule to permit you check the agreement.

No documentation? = No payment.

No point paying out £10 to Wonga for a SAR, if MH have to provide the same information for free.

JGL

MH have sent documentation proving that the debt is genuine.
My son is paying it off in full on Monday.

Wonga will no longer deal with us, MH's first contact with us was a threatening letter.

The documentation shows my sons home address quite clearly, however at no point did Wonga contact him here to demand payment. As a result a £400 loan has increased to over £800.
If he had been contacted here, the debt would have been paid in full, as were his other debts. His Experian report shows his willingness to settle all his other debts in full.

Can I send a letter of concern/ request for refund of charges direct to the FOS? Or is it the OFT?

Experian_company_representative

If the loan was taken out by a third party without his knowledge - ie fraud - then I suggest you get your son to speak to our Victims of Fraud team. They will help him liaise with any lenders involved in the fraud, to help make sure any information about this is removed from his credit report.

James Jones

JGL

Thank you - I have already used your template to contact catalogue company who agreed fraud had been committed, but balance is still showing on his Experian account.

Payday loans taken out in my sons name with incorrect I.D have already been paid & settled, because the money went into and was withdrawn from his bank account. This happened when his bank card went missing for about 3 weeks.
We had no way of proving that his "friends" had taken & used his debit card without his consent. In this case, the debt is down to his own carelessness, and he is responsible for the debt.

dresdendave

Well done OP for taking responsibility for these debts and getting them settled rather than blaming the lenders and looking for loopholes to avoid repaying.

Hopefully your son will have learnt a valuable lesson in regard to managing finance responsibly and perhaps will choose his "friends" a bit more carefully in the future.