Advantis Credit question

ChukkleOdeon

Morning,

Brief summary - received a letter from these guys that asked me to contact them regarding an "outstanding business matter" from a former address, which I ignored.

The next letter from them said that I owed an amount related to water service charges. My response to that was to send an unsigned "prove it" letter via Recorded Delivery - I did not confirm or deny that I lived at the address in question.

Their last response was a letter that said:

We understand that you dispute having any liability for this outstanding business matter; therefore in order so that may establish whether or not we are corresponding with the correct individual, we politely request that you confirm as to whether or not you have ever resided at the following address:

[address]

Once you have confirmed this information, our offices will be able to issue you with a full response as to your letter of [date].

This was sent along with an additional page that detailed the Advantis complaints procedure.

Some background - whilst I did stay at the address they mention, it was for approximately 3 months in 2007. I left because I did not get on with the flatmate who was already lived there. Beyond having a note of the month I moved in and moved out, I do not have any documentation re: bills myself and honestly can't remember how they were sorted.

My questions are:

1. Am I under any obligation to confirm that I once lived at that address?
2. The "prove it" letter asked them to prove my liability for the debt in question but do I need to confirm that I lived at that address in order that they then prove my liability?
3. Does this letter that they've sent to me in response to my "prove it" without proving my liability constitute harassment? If so, can I escalate this as a complaint to the OFT?
4. Can I just ignore it and see if they follow it up, if at all?

Thanks in advance for any replies.

ChukkleOdeon

Bump it baby...

ChukkleOdeon

Sad bump

Lensman_2

1. No.
2. No.
3. No. They are neither asking for payment nor threatening consequences.
4. Yes.

The obligation is squarely on them to prove you owe a debt. Any correspondence now would have them assume you are the debtor and chase you for money you may well not owe.

Wait for the next letter.

ChukkleOdeon

Thanks for taking the time to reply - I haven't felt any great urge to reply, so let's see what the next letter brings.