Urgent- Received debt collection letter

[Deleted User]

Hi,
Urgent Help is needed please!!!!
I've received a letter from a debt collection agency today （17.7.14）regarding an outstanding bill (please see details below) and was told that I have to pay the bill within the next few days in full otherwise there will be additional charges being added.

I really do not know what happened as I already went to the housing benefit centre (twice) in May and was told my case will be dealt with urgently. So I've expected everything is sorted by now.

I've rang the housing benefit department and the lady over the phone told me that she can see nothing from their system. Until I told her the name of the officer she kept saying that there is nothing showing in their system, She then said "oh yes ..." she can confirmed that I did visit the centre in May and the officer had requested the back office to conduct some investigation.

She told me that she did not know what happened because normally it should be dealt within 8 weeks the max. And with urgent request 14 days will be the max. She said she will send another request for me and hopefully it can be dealt within 14 days, BUT there is no guarantee. She told me to ring the the debt collection agency to ask for an extension but she said that there is nothing she can do if the agency disagrees.

I've rang the debt collection agency just now, because of the phone line is really bad the call just stopped unexpectedly. Before I make another call to the agency I think I would like to get some advice of what I should/can do from the members here first. I am really worried that the agency may not approve another 14 days as it has been 2 months since the company requested the payment.

I really do not know what I should/can do now. What happened if after 14 days the housing benefit department is still ...


Any advice will be greatly appreciated!!!!!

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Hi,
I've just received a debt collection letter out of the blue stating that I have an outstanding debt on my account and I have until Monday to pay the debt over the phone. But Monday is the Easter Monday, and I just noticed the letter when I got home which was already 6pm.

Basically, I was renting a property for nearly 2 years before I moved out. In the very last 3 or 4 months (really cannot remember the exact date) I became unemployed and starting to claim housing benefit. I did not renew the contract when it ended, but moved to somewhere else. At that time, I was still claiming housing benefit.

The problem now is that the debt was nearly 4 years old and before I received the letter, I never knew that there is still an outstanding debt..

It has been nearly 4 years and I really cannot remember what exactly happened back to that time as I never knew that there was any problems still existed. I really do not know what should I do by now. I was only given phone numbers in the letter but I found out an email address on their website. Should I send an email to them first to ask for an extension of time? So I can have prove to say that I did try to contact them? Any help will be greatly appreciated!!

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Please go to post 4 for more information

happy_bunny_2

That is their deadline, not yours. It's irrelevant. You only need to worry about deadlines from a court.

Don't phone them, they will say stuff they will never put in writing and once they have your number they will make your life hell.

I would send the prove it letter.

You need to know what the debt is and see a statement of what the balance is made up of.

happy_bunny_2

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2607247

[Deleted User]

happy_bunny wrote: »

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2607247

Thank you so much!!

So if I have not contacted them within the time limit, I will still be fine??
If I am going to send the letter, do I have to make sure it is sent (not delivered) before Tuesday as the deadline is This Monday?

I was really worried when I saw the letter this evening. Totally unexpectedly to receive such a letter from the company after nearly 4 years!!!

In the letter they have included a terminated day but I am really sure if it is correct or not as I really cannot remember.

They have also attached a statement for me to review.

1.The company charged one extra week for the rent although at that time I already moved out the property.

2.After I moved out the house there were two payments made from the council to the company to cover the previous bills.

3.In the end there were still nearly £400 DR in the statement. I think part of this is because somehow there was always more than £200 DR (nearly £235) left to carry on everytime the council made the payments and in the very last month the council did not pay for the extra week the company charged. (I cannot find out why the opening balance in the statement is so huge, and have no ideas of what the last payment made by the council consisted of, as it is quite a strange figure)

4.Then the transaction carried on although I was not living there anymore. Their entered a negative figure in the debit entry (Automatic debit adjustment). I think this is probably to use to cancel the extra one week rent they charged before.

5.So at the time there was roughly £100 DR showed in the statement.

6.Then do not know what happened, on another day they entered both positive and negative figures in the debit entry on the very same day to cancel each other.

7. £100 carried on untill 2011 and in Jan they credited £100 (Manual adjustment as stated in the statement) in my account to bring the balance to 0.

8. However in March they suddenly charged me £194 (a completely new figure and have no ideas of what the cost is for) in the debit entry as Manual adjustment.

9. In June another £3 (Manual adjustment again) was added to the debit entry and made a total of nearly £200 DR in the balance.

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I am still very shocked at the moment. I think I will leave the things till tomorrow as I can probably think better by then.

Really thank happy_bunny for your help!!

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I've sent a letter requesting clarification and was then told "oh, you actually owed us nearly £300 not £200..."

thewhiteavenger

[quote=[Deleted User];65294985]
7. £100 carried on untill 2011 and in Jan they credited £100 (Manual adjustment as stated in the statement) in my account to bring the balance to 0.

8. However in March they suddenly charged me £194 (a completely new figure and have no ideas of what the cost is for) in the debit entry as Manual adjustment.

9. In June another £3 (Manual adjustment again) was added to the debit entry and made a total of nearly £200 DR in the balance.
[/QUOTE]
You definitely need an explanation of this.


What happened to your deposit?

happy_bunny_2

Don't worry about the date, its like me writing to you and saying I want some money off you by Monday...its irrelevant and done to pressure and scare you into calling and paying.

Ok, so the prove it letter isn't really required as they have attached a statement.

It sounds like you may owe something. Before paying anything however, I would be insisting on knowing what everything on that statement is for.

I would be sending a letter to the DCA stating that the statement is ambiguous and you want to see what the charges are actually for. Its a reasonable request.

Is it a private renting company that were renting from? If so, the only way they can force you to pay is to take you to court. Apart from getting these DCA clowns to hassle you.

Can you afford to pay something towards the debt or all of it in one go?

sourcrates

[quote=[Deleted User];65294985]Thank you so much!!

So if I have not contacted them within the time limit, I will still be fine??
If I am going to send the letter, do I have to make sure it is sent (not delivered) before Tuesday as the deadline is This Monday?

[/QUOTE]



OP don't worry what it says in the stupid letter, its just a template letter, one of millions sent every year, as Happy-bunny says its designed to panic you into making a rash move, I have had hundreds over the years, they all get recycled, the world does not end with there deadlines !!! cease panicking please !!!!!!
Write back, at your leisure , asking for proof of there claim, as you have been advised, please do not panic over this, DCA`s work very slowly in reality, they have no more power than you or I do, you need to understand how these things work, good luck with it !!

[Deleted User]

thewhiteavenger wrote: »

You definitely need an explanation of this.


What happened to your deposit?

happy_bunny wrote: »

Don't worry about the date, its like me writing to you and saying I want some money off you by Monday...its irrelevant and done to pressure and scare you into calling and paying.

Ok, so the prove it letter isn't really required as they have attached a statement.

It sounds like you may owe something. Before paying anything however, I would be insisting on knowing what everything on that statement is for.

I would be sending a letter to the DCA stating that the statement is ambiguous and you want to see what the charges are actually for. Its a reasonable request.

Is it a private renting company that were renting from? If so, the only way they can force you to pay is to take you to court. Apart from getting these DCA clowns to hassle you.

Can you afford to pay something towards the debt or all of it in one go?

sourcrates wrote: »

OP don't worry what it says in the stupid letter, its just a template letter, one of millions sent every year, as Happy-bunny says its designed to panic you into making a rash move, I have had hundreds over the years, they all get recycled, the world does not end with there deadlines !!! cease panicking please !!!!!!
Write back, at your leisure , asking for proof of there claim, as you have been advised, please do not panic over this, DCA`s work very slowly in reality, they have no more power than you or I do, you need to understand how these things work, good luck with it !!

I am so sorry for the late reply!!

Thank thewhiteavenger, happy_bunny and sourcrates for all your help!!

I was really panicked before as it is my first time ever received a debt collection letter and the deadline given is approaching.
The letter was issued by the company directly (by its income officers), not from a separate DCA, as far as I can see.

Yes I can pay the debt all in one go with no problem. The thing is as I described above I really have no ideas of what the £200 cost is for, as they are stated as Manual adjustments in the statement, and the balance was once £0 in the January. Honestly if I really owed them money, I will happily pay them straight away. However sending me a letter out of the blue after nearly 4 years with something like "manual adjustment" in the statement is really not a good way to asking for money!!

I will be definitely writing a letter to the company stating that the statement is ambiguous and need to see what the charges are actually for. Will ask them to explain why there are debts left in my account as I was claiming housing benefit at that time, and they have to give me an explanation of why they sent me the letter now, nearly 4 years after I moved out, before making any payments to them!!

happy_bunny_2

[quote=[Deleted User];65299969]I am so sorry for the late reply!!

Thank thewhiteavenger, happy_bunny and sourcrates for all your help!!

I was really panicked before as it is my first time ever received a debt collection letter and the deadline given is approaching.
The letter was issued by the company directly (by its income officers), not from a separate DCA, as far as I can see.

Yes I can pay the debt all in one go with no problem. The thing is as I described above I really have no ideas of what the £200 cost is for, as they are stated as Manual adjustments in the statement, and the balance was once £0 in the January. Honestly if I really owed them money, I will happily pay them straight away. However sending me a letter out of the blue after nearly 4 years with something like "manual adjustment" in the statement is really not a good way to asking for money!!

I will be definitely writing a letter to the company stating that the statement is ambiguous and need to see what the charges are actually for. Will ask them to explain why there are debts left in my account as I was claiming housing benefit at that time, and they have to give me an explanation of why they sent me the letter now, nearly 4 years after I moved out, before making any payments to them!![/QUOTE]

Sounds like a good plan

[Deleted User]

More information added.

happy_bunny_2

Best just add a new post rather than edit the first one

I would write to the DCA, explaining that it's being investigated and give them the name of the person to contact.

If they refuse, submit a written complaint to the DCA about refusing to look into a reasonably disputed debt. That will buy you a few weeks and you never know, they may actually look into it.