Letter of Claim advice please

Jonesy83

Hello everyone, 

I have an issue around a letter of claim that I'd like your help on please.

I've had a few letters from BW Legal on the behalf of JC International Acquisition claiming that I owe them just shy of £500 for a debt that I owe to Sky UK Limited. Before we get too far into this I just want to say I've never had a Sky account for TV, broadband or any of their services, so this debt is either completely made up or a case of identity theft. 

I phoned JC International after their first letter to let them know this but they wouldn't speak to me unless I gave them some personal info so they could log into my account for me. This all seemed suss, so I didn't give them anything and hung up.

After reading around online the general advice seemed to be to just ignore them, especially seeing as I haven't had any Sky account and no initial letters from Sky about the debt. 

I've now had a few more letters from BW Legal and the latest one saying it could be taken to a County Court claim without further notice.

So, I'm just wondering what's the best way forward?

Is it still OK to ignore, do I need to send them a letter?

Any help would be great! 

Steve

Jonesy83

I forgot to add - there is a reply form in the letter where I can state that I contest the debt and a section where I can ask for more information. Is it worth filling that out just saying I contest it as I've never had an account with Sky and then ask for a SAR, requesting them to share all information they have about me and details of the debt?

The start of that form asks for my phone/email, which they don't have and I'm guessing I shouldn't give them?

dankemp

I would start with the people who are the cause of your abuse, which is SKY.

A simple cease and desist letter explaining that their agents JC International Acquisition and BW Legal have misused databases to falsely allege that you owe them money.

Tell them you have never been a Customer of Sky TV and as a result of this data abuse you are now suffering from profound anxiety and harassment.

Explain that you have spoken to the Information Commissioners Office and been advised to send this letter and explaining that is not for you to prove that you are not and never have been a Sky customer but for Sky and their agents to prove that you are, BEFORE subjecting you to this harassment.

Tell them that you will be seeking damages if this does not cease immediately and that you will be charging an administration fee for all parties to this harassment at the following rates 

£25 for each letter or email received

£50 for each letter you send

£100 for any calls

£500 if there are any visits to your property

Plus unlimited damages for private therapy for the anxiety caused.

I send such companies a statement each time they create a new transaction and I add interest, several companies have settled with me and with one I had a County Court give me Judgement in my favour.

As long as you warn them upfront that by continuing their behaviour they accept your fees, charges and damages then they are culpable.

Also leave negative reviews for Sky on Trustpilot detailing their harassment.

At the same time use the Sky Complaints procedure to formalise your complaint, then if they do not stop raise a case with the Information Commissioner.

I think you did the right thing to not provide further information, the only information they need is the reference number on the communications they sent you.

You could also do a subject access request for all data they have obtained and the names of the organisations who provided them with the data, in relation to that reference number.  This will help with the ICO complaint because unless they can show that you had the same full name, date of birth and proof of residence then they are stuffed. To be honest I would be looking for even more than those data elements.

Oh and if they ask you to prove you were not resident at their alleged address of Sky Service, tell them that it is for them to do a search on you at your current address which will show you were resident at your current address at the time they allege and that is the check they should have done before contacting you and making false allegations.  This would take seconds to do and failure to do it is sloppy.  I have heard of similar companies demanding to see credit card statements and Tenancy Agreements to disprove, you are not obliged to provide them and why would you provide a company that is so unprofessional and sloppy in their data acquisition and processing with even more data.

Keep all letters from all parties, make their life hell, the nuisance factor of them getting fees and having to go defend a claim from me in the small claims Court is going to be far worse for them.  Also these big companies like Sky do not want to get on the wrong side of the ICO because when it is coupled with any other breaches it can lead to big fines.

sourcrates

Is it a "letter before action" you have received?

Is the form a 30 day reply form ?

If so, you must follow protocol, or you could end up with a CCJ by default for a small £500 quid debt.

fatbelly

https://debtcamel.co.uk/letter-before-claim-ccj/