Prove It for debt

BadDebtor · 22 May 2018 at 10:24AM

I have seen advice suggesting people send a prove it letter as debt collectors are either unable to or it might have gone off statute.

My question is whether this has changed, are debts today sold with more information so that such debt can be proved or there are records of previous acknowledgement of the debt?

I gather that the debt collectors pay between 5% and 17% for the bad debt and wondered what accounted for the variance?

If such information was sold would it be a breach of Data Protection and/or GDPR?

What is the benchmark for proof of acknowledgement of a debt?

Making a payment would seem to be one, but what else?

National_Debtline · 22 May 2018 at 11:38AM

Hi BadDebtor

I think you're referring to two different issues. A prove it letter is used when you are contacted about a debt that you have no knowledge of. Once the letter is sent the debt collection agency (DCA) must prove the debt is yours before continuing to pursue you. Some DCAs may be able to do this, others may not. There are no hard and fast rules.

It is not a breach of the Data Protection Act or GDPR rules to sell a debt on as it will be within the original terms & conditions of your agreement that the debt can be collected by a different company.

The other issue is whether a debt has become statute barred. That means where the DCA has run out of time to collect the debt. There is a different sample letter that must be sent in that scenario. Most debts become statute barred if there has been 6 years where no payment has been made towards the debt, the debtor has not acknowledged the debt in writing, and no CCJ has been obtained. Once the sample letter has been sent the onus is on the DCA to prove the debt is not statute barred. I hope this helps.

Susie
@natdebtline

BadDebtor · 22 May 2018 at 2:36PM

Hi Susie

Sadly it would not be the first time I got things confused, I blame the meds !

Thanks for clarifying, the difference between the two things and especially for explaining that "once the sample letter has been sent the onus is on the DCA to prove the debt is not statute barred."

It is not so much they sell the debt itself to third parties or them attempting to collect it, it is the level of information they give to these 3rd parties that I feel may be a breach.

Saying that it is covered in their terms and conditions might not cut it as there is such a thing as unfair contract terms, ESPECIALLY, if they conflict with any common law legislation. Such as that provided by Data Protection Act and now GPRS.

People also have an expectation of privacy, there are things you might write to a credit card company about, such as losing a partner or child, having a cancer diagnosis or mental health problem and a plethora of other things that you would NOT expect to be shared with some random bunch of thugs operating as debt collection company or anyone else.

uk.practicallaw.thomsonreuters.com/3-525-6372?transitionType=Default&contextData=(sc.Default)&firstPage=true&bhcp=1

Suseka97 · 23 May 2018 at 3:21PM

The issue as to whether DCAs / Creditors are GDPR compliant is an interesting one. From my perspective I would hope that when debts are sold on, all that is 'shared' are your contact details, DOB and details of the amounts owed/paid. If it were more personal information I would imagine that would be in breach of the legislation.

Recently I was contacted on my mobile number by a DCA - now, they could only have had access to that from the original records transferred to them. I did engage with the DCA the first time, but the second time they called I asked them to remove my mobile from their records. Initially the person at the end of the phone tried the "no, we have every right to keep this on file". So I then responded with - well perhaps I know my rights better than you think I do because I can insist you remove my number and there are consequences if you do not. Now I'm not sure if that's true or not, but she very quickly changed her tune and told me it would be removed immediately. I've had no calls since

Prove It for debt

Comments

Categories

Get our FREE Weekly email full of deals & guides - and it’s spam-free