Improper letter from Sainsburys Bank

UKSkidMark

The other day I received a letter from Sainsbury's Bank saying I owed £94 because of a returned cheque (I haven't used cheques in years) from March 2020.
I spent 45 minutes on the phone with their 'Recovies' people at a call centre run by Blair, Oliver & Scott. The address for the call centre is in Fife, but the accents were heavily Indian. There were some language difficulties and I really don't think they understood the point I was trying to get across. Eventually they admitted that I don't actually owe any money, and that the letters are sent out automatically every six months.

I queried why, if I owed no money, any letter would be sent at all, and they couldn't explain.

The letter says I owe £94.00 for 'Unpaid Cheque 09/04/20'.

"Under the Consumer Credit Act 1974 we are required to provide you with this Notice of Arrears because you are behind with the sums payable under your agreement shown above.

If you currently have a payment arrangement, please continue to maintain the payment arrangement set up with us until it is reviewed, you are not required to contact us. If you do not have a payment arrangement in place you may wish to contact us to discuss, please call on the telephone number shown above"

Needless to say, I was concerned about this. Has it affected my credit score? Did I REALLY owe them money?

After I'd come off the phone to India, I rang the Sainsburys customer service in the UK and had a nice chat with an agent there. He has raised a complaint for me as I've asked exactly why these distressing letters are being sent out incorrectly. Surely there's some breach of data protection here? What if, for example, someone gets one of these incorrect notices and pays it, putting themselves further into debt?

I'll await the response from Sainsbury's on my complaint, though I'm warned it might take a few weeks. If I'm not happy with their response, then should I take it to the Financial Ombudsmen?

Thanks.

[Deleted User]

There's no breach of data protection.  The letter was addressed to you and you received it. And the call centres need to have access to your data so they can service your account.

It sounds like a simple error that is being investigated and rectified.

If someone pays the debt in error, it will be refunded.

You can go to FOS if you're not happy with their response, but I can't imagine any circumstances under which you would want to, unless they maintain you owe a debt when you don't.

MattMattMattUK

One has to question if you were even speaking to Sainsbury's Bank.

Emmia

So you dialled the number on the letter and presumably gave the people on the end of the telephone lots of personal info as part of your query / complaint... 

I'd be keeping a very close eye on my finances / credit file if I were you.

sourcrates

Blair, Oliver and Scott are based in Rosyth Fife, that`s Scotland, not India, they are not bailiffs or external debt collectors.

They are one of the in-house collection teams for Halifax and the Bank of Scotland, and as far as I am aware, have no connection to Sainsburys at all.

You have done the right thing by complaining, wait and see what the outcome is.

However I suspect this may be some kind of fraud or phishing exercise, and nothing to do with either company.

PaulW922

sourcrates said:

Blair, Oliver and Scott are based in Rosyth Fife, that`s Scotland, not India, they are not bailiffs or external debt collectors.

They are one of the in-house collection teams for Halifax and the Bank of Scotland, and as far as I am aware, have no connection to Sainsburys at all.

You have done the right thing by complaining, wait and see what the outcome is.

However I suspect this may be some kind of fraud or phishing exercise, and nothing to do with either company.

Do BOS not administer Sainsburys Bank accounts?

sourcrates

PaulW922 said:

sourcrates said:

Blair, Oliver and Scott are based in Rosyth Fife, that`s Scotland, not India, they are not bailiffs or external debt collectors.

They are one of the in-house collection teams for Halifax and the Bank of Scotland, and as far as I am aware, have no connection to Sainsburys at all.

You have done the right thing by complaining, wait and see what the outcome is.

However I suspect this may be some kind of fraud or phishing exercise, and nothing to do with either company.

Do BOS not administer Sainsburys Bank accounts?

Google tells me that -

The bank began trading on 19 February 1997 as a joint venture between J Sainsbury plc and Bank of Scotland.

Sainsbury's took full ownership of the bank in January 2014.