TJC1 Posted June 17, 2011 Share Posted June 17, 2011 As Davyboy said, you should (ideally) keep receipts, tax forms and other financial paperwork for at least 6 years. Should the case eventually go to court, the company pursuing you for the money will have to prove their case. I have been pursued by a number of debt collectors. (I do, however, pay my bills.) One company (a communications company) sicced a firm of debt collecting solicitors onto me. The solicitors threatened to take me to court and I advisedthem that I was quite willing to go - but it would cost a couple of thousand for my fare and accommodation to enable me to attend the hearing and I intended to claim those costs and other reasonable compensation after I had won the case. I told them I had the receipts and would bring them with me to the court. Unfortunately they backed off. - I was looking forward to an expenses-paid trip from the US to the UK. Another well-known (wealthy and powerful) company is after me for 'unpaid debts' dating back about 5 years. The contested amount is only about £150, but they have a record of pursuing unpaid debt aggressively. I don't really need (or want) an expenses-paid trip to the UK from here this summer, so I'll probably wait until Spring next year and give them my address. (I will be in Florida and I intend to come back to the UK next summer.) With luck, they will summons me and (if I'm really lucky) they won't back off. I've got to get the timing right. If I can get them to come after me within the 6-year period, I win. If I leave it too late, they probably won't bother. (I can prove they're wrong, too - but I would hardly object should they offer me an expenses-paid trip to the UK because they don't believe me.) If a company is pursuing you for an alleged debt, you might want to check your credit rating. AFAIK, they are not supposed to submit adverse reports until the debt has been proven (CCJ, perhaps) but it may be that some do. Keep an eye on it. - Your credit rating may seem irrelevant to you today - but you may need it at some time in the future and if you have to take action to get it repaired when you need it, it may cause you some inconvenience. If you don't owe any money then keeping bills etc. is irrelevant. I don't understand what the point above is. This is not how civil courts work! they (the creditors, have to prove you owe the money), but thats only if court proceedings were filed against you (by the creditors), and because you dont actually owe the money this will never happen. They don't just 'award' claims to whoever makes the initial claim. All you have to do (if an unfair claim is made against you) is ask to see a breakdown of costs- this is enough to deter unfair claims, just a sheet with numbers on is not enough, it has to be fair and proportionate and agreed upon. Even then if they cant provide signed AD's and a host of other stuff they can't touch you. This happened to me with ABBEY NATIONAL (AKA corporate fraudster bully boys plc) who tried to fraud me out of £180, dating back to a back account I had closed with them 10 years ago. I received legal advice, asked for a breakdown of costs, 4 weeks later they dropped the claim saying if I 'went into a branch and closed the account' the case will be dropped....I never owed the money and they knew this. It makes me angry because there will be some people, like the old and vulnerable who will just pay this 'tax' out of worry...something has to be done about these banks ripping people off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TJC1 Posted June 17, 2011 Share Posted June 17, 2011 My advice (to the OP) would be to ignore the debt, after 6 years its statute barred. And they won't take it to court anyway because they are trying it on. Some people will pay these 'debts'...grrrrrr. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WeX Posted June 17, 2011 Share Posted June 17, 2011 here is some basic but clear advise. write to these people stating you do not acknowledged the debt. request a copy of your signed credit agreement with the outstanding invoices. if they refuse, call the financial services ombudsman and make a complaint. they will write to the company in question and they will have the standard 8 weeks to resolve your complaint. if they cannot, that's it, its over and they cannot resell your debt to another company. best of luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrayFace Posted June 17, 2011 Share Posted June 17, 2011 Does anyone know how many years a debt collector can go back to recover a debt? today i recieved a letter from the 3 mobile phone network claiming i owe them £579 for a phone contract i cancelled in 2006, i never even made a call on it. They say if i dont pay up they will pass the debt on to a company called lowell portfolio ltd, anyone had any dealings with this company? lowell portfolio are bullies, they have contacted my other half for a debt he had PPI for, it was settled, he owes naught, they still keep phoning leaving messages sending letters, weve tried to get in touch with the PPI ppl who settled it , they seem to have vanished, lowell can whistle for it!, just be warned though lowell are right bar stewards http://homepage.ntlworld.com/sasquartch/kneecapfinance.htm GF X Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WeX Posted June 17, 2011 Share Posted June 17, 2011 lowell portfolio are bullies, they have contacted my other half for a debt he had PPI for, it was settled, he owes naught, they still keep phoning leaving messages sending letters, weve tried to get in touch with the PPI ppl who settled it , they seem to have vanished, lowell can whistle for it!, just be warned though lowell are right bar stewards GF X next time they call warn them that their actions are harassment and if they continue you will be contacting the police and the financial services ombudsman. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrayFace Posted June 17, 2011 Share Posted June 17, 2011 next time they call warn them that their actions are harassment and if they continue you will be contacting the police and the financial services ombudsman. niceone, will do, and a lot of advice posted on this thread has been duly noted ps-does anyone know, what you can do about debtors who harrass you by letters, even when your making the agreed payments? (theres one debt i do owe) ive set up a standing order with my bank to pay them every week, they keep sending letters of non payment, i have proof of payment and when you ring up, you get an advisor who talks over you and doesnt let you say what you rang for, just prolly reading from a script created by the harrassing nasto's Cheers GF X Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeffrey Shaw Posted June 17, 2011 Share Posted June 17, 2011 does anyone know, what you can do about debtors who harrass you Er, if they're debtors: do nothing (because they owe you). Maybe you meant creditors (because you owe them)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrayFace Posted June 17, 2011 Share Posted June 17, 2011 Er, if they're debtors: do nothing (because they owe you). Maybe you meant creditors (because you owe them)? oooh yeah thats what i meant, with the text i wrote after i thought it might have been obvious, never mind lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jolsh Posted June 17, 2011 Share Posted June 17, 2011 Tell them that any correspondence from them MUST be done in writing ass you will not be taking any telephone calls from them and will consider it harassment if they keep calling you. That way you have everything written down as proof of what they are saying to you. It took about 9 months but eventually thwy gave in. I knew I owed nothing and they were not getting £3000 out of me for something I didn't owe. The problem is these companies use bullying tactics to scare you into paying regardless of whether you think they are in the right or not. If you call their bluff and tell them to take you to court then they'll probably tell you they'll cancel it as a gesture of good will. I feel sorry for the elderly and easily scared who are genuinely concerned they will get taken to court and get CCJs. This type of behaviour should really be clamped down on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jolsh Posted June 17, 2011 Share Posted June 17, 2011 niceone, will do, and a lot of advice posted on this thread has been duly noted ps-does anyone know, what you can do about debtors who harrass you by letters, even when your making the agreed payments? (theres one debt i do owe) ive set up a standing order with my bank to pay them every week, they keep sending letters of non payment, i have proof of payment and when you ring up, you get an advisor who talks over you and doesnt let you say what you rang for, just prolly reading from a script created by the harrassing nasto's Cheers GF X If you're making your payments and have proof of it then write to them and tell them any correspondence from now on must be in writing and if they continue to call or write stating you have missed payments you will report them to the ombudsman for harassment as you have proof of payment Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.