Hi,

Received a call from unknown number just before Christmas asking me to ring a number to discuss a matter - I didn't.

Today have received a letter from Redwood Collections whose number it turns out was the one I was requested to ring.

Letter is below, and is all they have sent to me,

but my request for assistance from CAG (legends!)is what should be my first step with dealing with them,

who I have never heard of or dealt with,

as yes I dispute the whole debt for myriad reasons,

but I want to be seen to be doing the right thing by replying to them

- without listing all the reasons for disputing it at this point.

I am not ringing them it will be a letter but what should I actually say in it - preferably to kill it stone dead asap!

thanks for assistance

According to the public record you are registered at this address.

As we are unaware of any dispute in this matter,

it is our intention to instruct a process server to attend your address

for the purpose of serving you with a Statutory Demand issued

under the Insolvency Act 1986 (Bankruptcy).

Should you consider you have valid grounds for non-payment,

we invite you to contact us immediately to discuss the same within seven days from the date of this letter.

Should you fail to contact us and subsequently raise a dispute following the service of a Statutory Demand,

acopy of this letter will be produced to demonstrate to the court that every effort has been made to resolve this matter amicably.

Please be aware that should you become bankrupt any assets that you may have will be at risk.

This may include the sale of your house by the Trustee in bankruptcy to settle this matter where appropriate.

Yours sincerely,

Enforcement Department

Our company has the sole control of your account.

Payment must be sent to this office.

DO NOT PAY A DOORSTEP COLLECTOR,

without first gaining our authority.

Normally Id ignore. But for purposes, Id ring them and get information. A phone call is much quicker than anything else.

Make sure you withhold your number so you still have some privacy at least...

Thanks, want in writing what they actually have, if anything, and phone calls do seem to at times to have things said

but 'conveniently' forgotten down line!

So want to respond as per their letter in timeframe but not accept/acknowledge the alleged debt

Thats fine.

.. The idea of the phone call is for you to get the information

, not for them to "conveniently forget".

Only reason i said ring them is because of their demand to issue a Stat Demand...

I know redwood from another couple of forums and they are a pain..

. They literally just send a notice they have the account

then a few days later just send a process server round...

Send a prove it letter from the library if you can access it...

Sorry didn't mean to say wasn't a good idea ringing,

but thought it would make sense to get in writing their version of events.

I do like the prove it letter idea and have just looked at the library - nice!

Send it Recorded Delivery and you can go much wrong there...

Will do and will post developments as bound to need more assistance! Many thanks

How much is this alleged debt for?

The figure on their letter is just short of £25k

Then my first thought would be that for a low life DCA to buy this debt and for the OC to sell it on without taking court action themselves,

then theres something seriously not right.

I would hesitate from ringing them though.

I would send them a prove it letter.

If they ignore it and try to get a stat dec filed,

they would be very stupid indeed.

Remember, theyve only phoned once in a phishing attempt, and are now trying to scare you.

Even though they havent even confirmed you are there.

Good point - does seem like a fishing expedition! Prove it letter via recorded delivery should start this off I think and we can go from there.

It wouldnt look good for a DCA trying to BR you though. They havent even attempted to tell you what the debt is for. And they are saying there arent aware of any reason for non payment? Silly muppets.

Is this normal modus operandi from these sorts of people? If so how long do they try to keep this going?

DCA's will try every trick in the book to get you to give them money. Remember, they buy debts in bulk, and maybe pay 10% of the face value for it. If that.

Wow! Sounds great way to start the New Year dealing with this lot!!

That is a nasty letter and clearly you are dealing with a lowlife DCA. They need a robust response.

I would send a prove it letter and strictly stay off the phone. The sharper and more "to the point" the better.

Prepare for a SD, beginning now. SAR the original creditor for the info you will need to defend it.

You didn't say what sort of debt this is. Please let us know that, so we can better advise you after they respond to your letter.

Had a sort through various letters received over Christmas period and have found one from C W Harwood (solicitors)

dated 22nd December (nice) which now I've read

it says that their agents for this debt,

which is apparently unpaid school fees, is Redwood.

It goes on to say that if Redwood don't hear from me they will issue County Court proceedings

and they will then seek court fees and solicitors costs and interest at 8% per annum.

Also says if the court awards a judgement against me then it may adversely affect my credit rating.

So if the solicitor is saying County Court

how come Redwood are screaming SD and Bankruptcy?

That really doesn't seem right does it?

redwoods and Harwoods are a bunch of fleecers that send scary letters - end of.

read the letter CAREFULLY

nowhere does it say WILL.?

if the school fees are 'owed'

then its for the school to issues an SD or CCJ

or 'through' someone. like harwoods

Will go through letters very carefully, thank you for pointing this out, and for the link, interesting.

ok good

what is the issue wit the school and the fees then?

might be better to deal directly with them?

dx

When financial crash we were on our a**es,

had to take kids out of the school,

unpaid fees were the result and that was some time ago.

We had various issues with the school but heard nothing else after they said they would pass the paperwork to Veale Wasbrough our debt recovery solicitors.

That was circa 4 years ago and nothing until letter from C W Harwood pre Christmas

When financial crash we were on our a**es,

 

 

had to take kids out of the school,

 

 

unpaid fees were the result and that was some time ago.

 

 

We had various issues with the school but heard nothing else after they said they would pass the paperwork to Veale Wasbrough our debt recovery solicitors.

 

 

That was circa 4 years ago and nothing until letter from C W Harwood pre Christmas

When did you actually default on payment to the school ? Is the debt coming up to being statute barred ?

Have the school actually sold the debt ? Any notice of assignment received ?

Any reasons to complain to the school ?

Are the school fees being asked for correct ? Have you ever received a detailed invoice for the school fees that are owed ?

What are the terms of the contract you signed with the school ? Did you have to pay them the whole of the term or year, if your child was taken out of the school ?

Suggest that you don't make any contact with anyone chasing this debt until you are absolutely sure what you are doing.

If this debt is not statute barred, the amount is correct and there are no reasons to dispute the debt, it might just be a case of coming to some payment arrangement with whoever owns the debt. This will be based on what you can reasonably afford. If you entered into such an arrangement, it should stop any CCJ or bankuptcy.

When - I am trying to go through records and find out, which will also determine if statute barred or not, fingers crossed yes!

School sold debt - don't know, or know how to find out if they have. No notice of assignment received.

Complaints to school - yes but these were shelved as all was quiet

Amount of fees 'owed' correct - no definitely not and never received a detailed invoice

Terms were a Term in advance, and generally if child taken out of school they kept payment received.

So if I don't reply to the Redwoods letter and they do go to SD what options would I then have for course of action?

I also need to find out dates re statute barred - and also precise definition of when the six years starts

When - I am trying to go through records and find out, which will also determine if statute barred or not, fingers crossed yes!

School sold debt - don't know, or know how to find out if they have. No notice of assignment received.

 

 

Complaints to school - yes but these were shelved as all was quiet

 

 

Amount of fees 'owed' correct - no definitely not and never received a detailed invoice

 

 

Terms were a Term in advance, and generally if child taken out of school they kept payment received.

 

 

So if I don't reply to the Redwoods letter and they do go to SD what options would I then have for course of action?

 

 

I also need to find out dates re statute barred - and also precise definition of when the six years starts

You need to know when you went into default on this debt, as that will dictate your approach to this.

If not statute barred, if you have no evidence that the school does not own the debt, it is in your interest to start an official complaint with the school. With an ongoing complaint which you can evidence, you can show this to a court that there is an ongoing dispute and they might not want to get involved, as there is no resolution yet to the dispute. *** Important*** Register the complaint with the school before any statutory demand is likely to be served on you. This will be in your favour.

Why has the school not sent you a detailed invoice. Again another reason you can use, as to why the court should not be involved, when the school failed to provide a full invoice.

Study the terms of your contract with the school about payment in regard to statute barring. Also what rules the school had at the time. What was the schools policy. i.e would they have removed a child from the school when payment had not be made say 1 month after the due date.

Even if you receive the SD, you can enter into a dispute and make some token payment based on affordability. You would still need to apply for a set aside of the SD, as if you don't then they can use the SD to petition for your bankruptcy later on.