An unsavoury blast from the past

Tfieldhouse88

Hi everyone!

Im new to this so please forgive me if I dont do this right.

So heres my problem...I got into a little debt with Yorkshire Water back in 2014. At the time I was mainly living with my partner and so wasnt at home for weeks, sometimes months on end and never paid much attention to the pile of letters piling up on my doorstep. (Stupid I know...I was young and foolish). Eventually I ended up moving in with the mrs and thought I had tied up all the loose ends when I left my previous property. I was wrong.

One day in 2015 at our new address "Philips Collection Services" came knocking on our door saying they had been assigned by Yorkshire Water to collect the outstanding debt on my account. They issued me with a letter with a stamp giving the collection officers name and telephone number. The other half was a little shook up as she had never had bailiffs on her door before and I was at work at the time. So after they had left and she had given my ear a good battering my partner paid the debt using her card and so we thought the debt was cleared and thought nothing more of it.

Several months down the line and its now 2016 and I start getting letters and calls from Yorkshire Water saying I still have debt outstanding. I called them up to get to the bottom of it and to tell them that I paid Philips Collection Services the money back in 2015. Yorkshire Water had no confirmation of this payment nor have they ever used Philips Collection Services as an agent for debt recovery! They said they would allow me time to investigate the situation and put my account on hold whilst I do so.

2 problems have risen from this, these are:

1) The company "Philips Collection Services" no longer exists, it was sold to a company called Serco Collections in 2014 who was subsequently sold to Collectica whose customer service record leaves a lot to be desired and trying to get an answer out of them for something that happened years ago is nigh on impossible. I have been chasing this since the beginning of last year with zero answers.

2) Yorkshire Water has been registering a default on my credit report since 2014 even though they said they would hold it under investigation.

My question for you all here is - WHAT DO I DO NOW?!! I am unable to get a straight answer from a company that no longer exists (all I want is proof of payment and if they have that I want to know for what I was paying for) and how do I approach Yorkshire Water in order to repair my credit rating as it shouldn't have had a red mark on it for so long and is there any other label they could put on there to rectify the situation.

I really dont know what to do or where to go next?! HELP!!

Note: I am currently applying for a mortgage and this is not helping the matter and it is not helping my stress or blood pressure levels in any way shape or form.

Many Thanks

Tom

nextyeartina

Do you have the statement to prove it? If not, could you get it? X

sourcrates

Hi,

Sorry for the situation you find yourself in, but this is a classic example of why you should never pay anyone who knocks on your door asking for money.

They were not bailiffs at your door, only a court can send a bailiff, they were self employed collection agents working as contractors to the DCA you mentioned.

Any number of scenarios are possible about what happened to your money, but if you paid by card, is it possible there will be a record somewere ?

You should make a complaint in the first instance to Yorkshire water, if that proves fruitless, there are different bodies that deal with different matters relating to water supply and payments, info here :

http://www.ofwat.gov.uk/regulated-companies/investigations/making-a-complaint/complaints-disputes-can-help/

MrsLWW

I would be questioning Yorkshire Water as to how this so-called debt collection agency got hold of your details. Also I would do a few searches online with "Phillips Collection Service + Yorkshire Water"

Do you happen to stay under Rotherham council? If so, I found this:

http://moderngov.rotherham.gov.uk/documents/g4155/Public%20reports%20pack%2031st-Oct-2005%2010.00%20The%20Former%20Cabinet%20Member%20for%20Finance%20and%20Corporate%20Servic.pdf?T=10

It would appear they were employed by Rotherham Council - and I haven't read the document fully, but, certainly mentions Yorkshire Water in it also. It talks of replacing Phillips collection service: "Requirement to replace Philips Collection Services who are one of our current Bailiffs for collection of Council Tax and Non Domestic Rates. . ." so if you get nowhere with Yorkshire Water - who seem to be doing the old plausible deniability trick - you could do a bit more digging and probably link your council to this company and bring that back to Yorkshire Water.

Also, don't settle for the 1st person you speak to on the phone - if they deny any connection with this collection agency ask to speak to a supervisor and continue to state your case. It is not your fault if they have taken your money and not passed it on - they were clearly employed by some sort of authority, either water or council.

HTH

Tfieldhouse88

Hi everyone
The problem is still ongoing.
Yorkshire Water insist they have never worked in participation with Phillips Collection Services and say the debt is still outstanding.
As for chasing it up with the bank, all they can do is give us a name of company (which we have) and a date and time of transaction (which we have) but as it is over a couple of years old they cannot delve any further.
The area in question is Huddersfield and cant find anything on google linking the council and Philips Collections.
Still stuck between a rock and a hard place on this one.

GDB2222

Tfieldhouse88 wrote: »

Hi everyone
The problem is still ongoing.
Yorkshire Water insist they have never worked in participation with Phillips Collection Services and say the debt is still outstanding.
As for chasing it up with the bank, all they can do is give us a name of company (which we have) and a date and time of transaction (which we have) but as it is over a couple of years old they cannot delve any further.
The area in question is Huddersfield and cant find anything on google linking the council and Philips Collections.
Still stuck between a rock and a hard place on this one.

Can you not make a Visa chargeback on the credit card?

CBN

Not what you want to hear but you may need to pay the money (again) and chalk it down to experience, given your seeming need to get a mortgage over the line.

Tfieldhouse88

Yeah unfortunately its looking that way... absolutely ridiculous that no one can find a solution. Not Yorkshire Water, not Citizens Advice, not a Financial Ombudsman, no one! Its madness!!

sourcrates

Tfieldhouse88 wrote: »

Yeah unfortunately its looking that way... absolutely ridiculous that no one can find a solution. Not Yorkshire Water, not Citizens Advice, not a Financial Ombudsman, no one! Its madness!!

Some debt collectors are just crooks in suits, hence why they go bust overnight.

I fear you will have to put this down to experiance.

Please be more careful who you give money to in the future.

cms-help

Does the amount your partner paid by card to this mysterious company match the amount Yorkshire Water say you still owe them?

If so then I would be requesting a copy of the bank statement that shows the payment of the corresponding amount, a copy of the letter that you said they left when the knocked on the door and sending it in to Yorkshire Water with a complaint.