Letter from "Red Debt Collection Services" - I'm convinced it's not mine!

DVardysShadow

Esoog wrote: »

Are these pirates literally just on fishing trips?! How can they be allowed to do this?

Do they buy old records of "debts" paid off and then start trying to scare people into paying? How on earth is this kind of thing actually legal? Yes I know you can reply with the prove it etc, but why the hell should you need to!?

That is exactly what happens. They pay perhaps 10p for every £1 of debt. They might reclaim 35p of every £1 and it might cost them 20p to do it. The rest is profit. So they use bullying as the cheapest method.

Esoog

Is there no laws against that kind of thing?!

What about data protection? If I've paid off a debt why the hell can someone be then allowed to sell that information on?

GeorgeUK

I believe it is more to do with the companies accounts or record keeping.
If a company believes you haven't made a payment and a debt is outstanding, they have a right to seek payment or sell the debt on. It's only once they look at all the paperwork from the banks and find they've actually put the funds into a holding account or something that they realise a mistake has been made. Unfortunately it's up to the individuals to do hunt through the papertrail to see where things have gone wrong.

Most of the time a company will say it's a problem with the bank and they need to deal with it and the bank will say that the money was processed and put into their account. You end up stuck in the middle, possibly with a default on your credit file because their systems aren't infallable.

rs82uk

Hi I got a letter from these guys saying I Owe £190 to 3g Mobile
I sent the prove it letter on the 15th and today I get another letter saying pay total amount now or debt collectors are coming should I ignore it until they respond to the prove it letter on should I send another letter?

Thanks

le00na1

i rec a letter yesterday from red saying i owe 3g mobile 457.00. i admit i did have a mobile contract with them 7yrs ago and i agreed with lowell nearly 2yrs ago that they would reduce the payment to something like 70 precent off or something cause i ended up paying 400 odd pound off my mums credit card and they said it would then show up on my credit file that it was partially paid and now i get this letter out.i dont think i should have to pay this money as i agreed with lowell to the payment plan and this was agreed and accepted.what to do? can anyone help me out please

cheers

GeorgeUK

le00na1, you should request that they prove the debt is owed - send the prove it letter.

Do you have a copy of the settlement letter they sent?
Did it mention whether the debt would be settled in full and final or partial/short settlement?

You need any settlement letter to state either that payment is in full and final settlement of the debt or that you will not be accountable for any remainder.

rs82uk, you have requested they prove the debt is yours. I would just leave it until you hear back from them. If they send a Debt collector, these people have no legal powers. Just tell them to leave and that the debt is in dispute.

le00na1

hey georgeuk

no dont have that letter as was so long ago and paid off in two payments i dudnt think i would needed to have kept any thing about it. if i send the letter would that be ok?? i do remember getting a letter from them and it said would show as partial payment once payments agreed were made and were done so on agreed date

GeorgeUK

It really depends on what the letter said. If it was a full and final settlement with the debt appearing as a partial settlement on your credit file then that would be fine and you would not owe anything. If it did not agree to the debt being a F&F or saying you would not be liable for the remainder, then it may still be owed.

I would initially send the prove it letter and see what they come back with. If the reply with any evidence that the debt is yours, then i would inform them that this debt had been settled in full and final settlement whenever you made those payments. Hopefully they will not be able to prove that it wasn't.

Stalling for another 4 years until the debt becomes statute barred would be very difficult to do. I would think however that they would not have the airtime agreement to prove that the debt is yours so i think the prove it letter should be the first step.

Wheels1986

Hi, I was hoping for some help regarding a similar issue involving 3G/Lowell/Red...

I received 2 letters last August from 3G (to an address I had only lived in for 6 months at the time) stating that I owed £106 on one account and a further £60 (ish) on another. I phoned 3G asking for proof of this and was told that the information was no longer on file. I then asked them how they knew that I still owed the debt if they had no proof, and they said that they couldn't discuss anything with me as the debt had been passed on to Lowell. I then asked why it had taken so long to contact me regarding this (I took out the contract in October of 2005 and another one in 2006), and they said that the last letter I received after I cancelled both contracts (in 2007) informed me of the owed debt, and that further letters had been sent to me (turns out, they were the letters I had in my hand at the time that were requesting the combined £190!). I argued that I wouldn't have been able to close the account whilst I still owed them money, they said not. Eventually after much to-ing and fro-ing (and shouting on my part - whoops), I hung up and spoke with somebody at Lowell. I agreed to pay the debt in 5 monthly installments of £30 and one final payment of £16 in February. This was paid every month and I received a letter from them in February saying that this debt was cleared and my account with them closed. However... I have now received a letter today from Red Debt Collection Company stating that I owe a further £64 for an unpaid 3G account! I have also had a phone call from a mobile number to my personal mobile and when I answered a woman said she was calling from Lowell and asked to speak with me. I hung up immediately without giving her any information, but wonder how they got my mobile number in the first place seeing as I am now on O2 using an entirely different number to the one I had with 3G. The letter has an original account reference number on it, but I honestly couldn't tell you if this was made up or not; I took out the contract when I was 18 with the first installment of my student loan! I'll admit that, being a care-free student with little knowledge of money, debt, credit reports etc..., I did get in to trouble with it, but checking my credit report, there is no mention of any monies owed to 3G in the last 5 years and at least 4 checks on my profile by Lowell (I'm assuming to find my correct address?). I have had nothing from 3G regarding this, but am tempted to email/write them and question it. Would it even be worth requesting an SAR from 3G as suggested elsewhere on here? Any information anyone could give me would be very much appreciated.

PS, this is my first ever post on anything like this, so please be gentle with me if I've done it wrong!

GeorgeUK

Nothing wrong with what you've done Wheels, other than paying a debt without proof that it was yours and not breaking that post up into paragraphs

You've got a letter saying that the debt is paid off from Lowell for those other phone contracts. That's good. Keep them!!!

For this new debt that they have 'found', you should request proof that it is your debt. Request a copy of the airtime agreement. There is a link to the prove-it letter in post 61. Also if you have not written to them regarding the debt or made a payment towards it for 6 years, then it will be statute barred. Do you know how old this debt would be?