Advice needed for debt collection

Goldie25

Hi everyone,

My first time posting here so apologies if I am not in the right place.

I have been repaying debts for a couple of years now and I have been on the right track, I have less than £1k to go until I am debt free! In the past couple of months I have been receiving letters from B W Legal regarding an old debt - after establishing that I do owe this month, I have set up a repayment plan which is due to start on 1st June 2017 - I have checked my accounts this morning to make sure all is in check and I have noticed that the original creditor (Month End Money) have re-set up my previous standing order from years ago with them and took £15 from my account.

Does anybody know if this is legal? I have agreed to one repayment plan with B W Legal (I can see the direct debit has been set up and is ready to go on 1st June) so I am confused as to why Month End Money have taken a separate amount and how they have managed to set up a standing order without me knowing about it. I have lodged a complaint with B W Legal but they're not a particularly nice bunch so not sure what will happen there. I have also cancelled the standing order with Money End Money as I have another repayment plan in place already. I am worried that they will just set up another standing order and take money again.

I do not have any contact details with them as the debt was from many years ago so I don't even know how to contact them. Any help would be greatly appreciated

Thanks very much

macman

Only the account holder can set up or cancel an SO or DD. If you cancelled it then the bank are in error and must refund you. However if you failed to cancel it then it remains valid and the payee can draw on it at any time.
I suggest you check your online account, which should show whether any DD's or SO's are active or not.

National_Debtline

Hi Goldie25 and welcome to MSE,


I would certainly suggest that you check what macman has said above. As an additional point it looks as though Month End Money could be a short term loan company, which means they likely had a 'continuous payment authority' set up as part of the contract. This allows them to take money even if the direct debit is cancelled. We have a factsheet and sample letter on this if necessary - https://www.nationaldebtline.org/EW/factsheets/Pages/payday-loans/payday-loan-debt.aspx


As far as dealing with this debt is concerned, how old is it? You mentioned that it is quite old, could it be more than 6 years old? If so, then it may be subject to the limitations act and not need to be repaid. Any payments, or written acknowledgements made after a debt becomes statute barred are irrelevant and cannot revive the debt. However, if you have set up a payment plan before the debt has become statute barred it will reset the 6 year clock and there is a risk of court action. Good luck,


Laura
@natdebtline

sourcrates

B W legal will only be acting for there client, when you agreed a repayment plan, they have obviously passed that on to there client to deal with.