mmile debt email from out the blue

user_21 · 28 September 2016 at 11:12AM

So back in July I got an email from 'MMile'/MMF basically telling me that I have 2 debts with them, one for £110 and one for £65. which it appears they have bought from 'Northway'. I ignored this email and 2 months later (this week) they have sent a repeat email.

Now, whilst I do have a chequered past with debts and debt collection agencies, I cleared these all up and got back on the straight and narrow a few years ago. With that in mind, I'm 90% sure this debt doesn't apply to me. I don't recognise either of the debt company names (MMile or Northway), nor do I recognise the amounts being quoted.

I have received nothing on paper through the post from them. And yet I've been in the same address for the past 5 years.
My question is, should I reply to this email asking for them to 'prove' the debt? Or by doing that, do I risk potentially 'accepting' it.
I'm keen to know who they think this debt originates with, because as I say, I thought I'd cleared my debts 3-4 years ago. I've begun the painful exercise of trying to build up my credit rating and am relying on the 6 year rule to pass before I get anywhere near a normal credit rating again, so don't want to accept this debt if it's going to put me right back at square one.
My initial thought is just to ignore it, because if it was genuine, they would send something through the post, no? And surely they should state where the debt originates (eg the account that defaulted) rather than just saying who they bought the debt from?

Any advice on what I should do?

Thanks

user_21 · 28 September 2016 at 11:17AM

Here is the email:

CUSTOMER REFERENCE: XXXXXXXX
CURRENT OUTSTANDING BALANCE: £175.00

Dear Joe Bloggs

As you now have more than one account with us, you have been allocated a new unique customer reference number (shown above), which you should use in all future correspondence or contact with us for all of your accounts. This will then remain as your reference for all dealings with MMF, giving us and you a single customer view of your MMF accounts. Please see the breakdown of your accounts below:

Original Lender Name Reference Amount Outstanding
Northway* 00000000 110.00
Northway 00000000 65.00
You do not have to pay the full amount immediately - we are keen to reach an affordable solution with you in line with your financial circumstances. Call us today on 0113 887 6876 our agents will be happy to tailor a repayment plan to suit you.

Alternatively, if you prefer you can:

· Email us with a payment proposal, register a dispute or request a call back on notallowedtopostlinks; or
· Visit our website at notallowedtopostlinks to make your payment, submit a financial statement and offer of payment.
Please treat this matter as urgent and take action today to prevent any continued communication.

Any future payments made to MMF will be divided equally between all of your accounts, unless you have instructed us otherwise. If you would like to change this, please contact us on the number below. We have enclosed a breakdown of the accounts for your reference.

Information pertaining to this account may be registered with credit referencing agencies, this information may then be used by future lenders, landlords and employers and may affect your ability to secure credit in the future.

Please note we have highlighted that one of your accounts has exceeded the Statute of Limitation period which means the period for Court action has lapsed. However this account remains collectable.

Our office opening hours are Monday to Thursday 8am to 7pm, Friday 8am to 6pm and Saturday 10am to 1pm.

Yours sincerely

Motormile Finance UK Limited (MMF)
Please note: If you choose to communicate with MMF by email, unless otherwise advised by you, we will accept this as your consent to use your personal details to contact you by electronic means (email) with information about your account(s) which may include collections activity, negotiations and other services and products.

Motormile Finance UK Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority for consumer credit regulated accounts under firm reference number 718024.
MMF is the trading name of Motormile Finance UK Limited, a company registered in England and Wales with company number 06637307.
Our registered office is Protection House, 83 Bradford Road, Leeds LS28 6AT. notallowedtopostlinks

StokieBecks · 28 September 2016 at 11:25AM

Did you have any payday loans with swift sterling or pounds to payday as thatis who Northway are I believe

user_21 · 28 September 2016 at 11:38AM

I had a debt of £328.96 with 'Pounds Till Payday' back in 2007/2008, which I'm sure I paid off over a few months in 2008. I still have a bit of email correspondence where I was arranging a payment plan with them back then so I'm pretty certain this was one I paid off.

Either way, as it was 2008 I can't imagine why they'd sell the debt on in 2016 and write to me for money. I'm not sure how I could prove payment.

National_Debtline · 28 September 2016 at 12:37PM

Hi User_21,

You have a couple of choices, you can ignore the emails and wait and see if they send you anything in the post. The risk with this is, that if they tried to take county court action, they are only required to send claim forms to the last known UK address and if it is possible this goes back to 2007/08 then you may have been at a different address then and you could miss paperwork.

Alternatively, you can email back with the prove it letter which is available here - http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=2607247 Ask them for more information or to leave you alone. If they keep bothering you then you can complain up to the FOS. Good luck,

Laura
@natdebtline

poppasmurf_bewdley · 28 September 2016 at 12:56PM

Sounds as though they are both statute barred anyhow.

sourcrates · 28 September 2016 at 1:02PM

Motormile finance are a particularly nasty, grubby outfit who regularly flout data protection laws, lie through there teeth, and are generally not nice to deal with.

However they rarely write to debtors, instead preferring email and texts, and the phone, they specialise in buying up old payday loans and other old debts.

For such small amounts you won't hear much more from them, the occasional text or email every six months is there usual motis operandi.

As said above, they would be statute barred now anyway, so a letter to that effect may be in order.

user_21 · 10 October 2016 at 10:29AM

OK so after ignoring their 2 emails, they have today followed up with a letter through the post. The letter says the same as the emails and doesn't provide any more information about where the debt has come from and when, other than stating the amounts (totalling £175) and that they're from "Northwood".

As a side note, I'm currently applying for a mortgage (something I'm a bit pessimistic about due to my poor credit history) and so have been looking in more detail at my credit reports. So far I have looked at Noddle (CallCredit), Experian, and ClearCase (Equifax) and none of them mention this £175 MMF/Northwood debt and all my accounts are showing as up to date.

Therefore, I think I'll take your advice and assume it's statute barred, and avoid making contact with MMF, hoping that they'll give up and go away. I'm due to move house in the next few weeks so maybe that'll solve it if they don't get my new address.

sourcrates · 10 October 2016 at 12:10PM

user_21 wrote: »

Therefore, I think I'll take your advice and assume it's statute barred, and avoid making contact with MMF, hoping that they'll give up and go away. I'm due to move house in the next few weeks so maybe that'll solve it if they don't get my new address.

Actually, now they have put something in writing, it would be a bad idea to ignore them.

It is only a small amount, and extremely unlikely to ever go to court, but the possibility of that exists, and you could end up with a CCJ for a statute barred debt by default.

I would put the whole thing to bed by just covering yourself, and sending a letter to them informing them you believe the debt is statute barred, otherwise they could still go ahead with a claim and all the hassle that would involve.

Template letter here :

https://www.nationaldebtline.org/EW/sampleletters/Pages/Time-has-run-out-to-recover-the-debt-%28sole-name%29.aspx

user_21 · 10 October 2016 at 12:32PM

Thanks for the advice sourcrates, I'll do that.

user_21 · 17 October 2016 at 1:17PM

Could I use this same template but send it as an email rather than a hard copy? Would make it a bit easier for me, especially as I'm due to move house in the next month.

Not sure if there is any down side to this? (It sounds as if they would rather do it by email)

mmile debt email from out the blue

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