advice re mackenzie hall

Huntress76

Hi desperateley need some advice.

About 6 weeks ago I received a call from mackenzie hall advising me I had an outstanding debt of £710.00 which needed to be paid immediatley from a barclay card I had in 1999, they relayed my old address and i was truthful and admitted that the amount was outstanding, I informed the lady I spoke with that I could not pay the amount in full as currently on maternity leave and not receiving full pay, and advised her to send a letter with details so I can set up a direct debit.

I never received any confirmation in the post but 2 weeks later I received another call from another person, I advised him that I still did not receive anything and he informed me that the person had left and I would receive the letter in due course.

I received the letter today advising that I should pay amount in full or further action will be taken.
I called Mackenzie hall and advised them of the above and they said I will have to pay £500 immediatley or will face court actio, I advised that I cannot pay in full but could manage installments, I was then told I have to pay full amount today by debit or credit card over the phone or by cheque. I said that I had spoken to another lady who said I could pay monthly, he advised me this woman had been sacked for giving out incorrect info, I advised that the debt was so long ago I thought it would be written off, the man said no and would not compromise he scared me by saying he wants payment today or I will go to court, I advised I will call him back.

My question is do I have to pay this back now as was in 1999 and I do owe this money but surely it must be written off and it feels dodgy to me, I dont feel happy that they want amount in full no compromise, please help as I have been given incorrect info by them and I am scared they will turn up here.

I have only now repaired my credit history from my recklessness as a teenager, what can you suggest.

Thanks

donnasmooch

hi i myself have had dealings with mackenzie hall and they are not nice people! basically they said the same to me "pay in full or court action blah blah blah!" so i said ok im not working i have 2 kids so you can have £10 a month if you dont want to accept that then go ahead and take me to court as my debt was an amount similar to yours i told them a county court judge will only make an order for me to make minimum payments each month! they backed down straight away as they dont really want the hassle of going to court for such a small debt and i now pay them £10 a month no probs! you should also check with CAB about wether or not you have to pay this at all the way i understand it if you have a debt over 6 years old and you have given your current address to the company the debt is owed to when you have moved and they have failed to contact you after 6 years the debt is written off and they cant do anything however if you have failed to give barcleycard your current address('s) they can chase you for any length of time. i hope this all makes sense its a bit long winded but best advice is check with CAB they will be able to tell you for definate wether you have to pay this debt or not.

CLAPTON

The situation is that if you have not acknowledged the debt during 6 years the debt is not enforceable.

That is, if you haven't paid anything or made any written admission of debt they can't enforce the debt.

And in any event nobody would pay a debt merely because someone you have never heard of asks for money would they.?..
at a minimum you would want a copy of the signed agreement and statement of the account showing you owed money and a letter from the original creditor showing they have sold / re assigned the debt.

As far as the 6 year rule is concerned (statute barred debt) read this

http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_wales/factsheet.php?page=25_liability_for_debts_and_the_limitation_act

Lyndsay_21

must be that time of year for mackenzie hall my OH had a letter this morning from them from a debt from 2000 they admitted last contact was feb '01 which is impossible as my was not in the country at that time so it couldn't have been him they contacted and anyway its been over 6 yrs now.

National debtline where really helpful with the information they gave and have sent out a pack with a letter in it to copy and send to mackenzie hall.

my Oh got really worried cos when he rang he said yes the debt was his but i re-rung them and as he only said it over the phone and not in writing it doesn't count.

plus they're really sneaky with the letters they send ie not an obvious debt letter just a "please call us" type thing