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    • Just to clear it up, sorry I don't make sense sometimes. I have paid £4000 £1200 of that was suppose to clear the £1200 debt.   Meaning I have sent a extra £2800 on top of my normal mainternance money.   Thank you
    • Try CPR 31.15 Possibly but a party is not compelled to disclose any documents pre allocation
    • Hi, I shown my key worker a letter that was sent to me saying that I owe £1200, she setup a standing order around 2021, this was to pay back money I owed, with my mental health status I have had complex issues to deal with and I just simply forgot about this standing order so it has been running for about 3.5 years acording to my key worker, anyway I'm not worried about the money that was sent that I call a overpayment, it went towards supporting my child's household so I am just happy with that, I am a little sad that I am being told I still owe this £1200, I have sent bank statements over 3 years worth but they have not taken away this £1200 bill and still say I owe it   Thank you
    • She did try contacting EON in the early days of the debt but they refused to speak to her because she could not pass the security checks. She didn't know the answers on an account she hadn't opened?   I also saw this article recently which could be what has happended here: Debt collection agencies in the UK are using fair means or foul to link people to an address where an unpaid debt has been run up, sometimes years after they have moved out The Guardian Anna Tims Mon 22 Apr 2024 The letter from the debt collection agency arrived out of the blue, and it was intimidating. It informed Joshua Simpson* that he owed £2,212 to Octopus Energy, and accused him of ignoring previous requests to settle the bill. If he did not stump up within 14 days, he was told, further action would be taken to recover the money. Simpson checked his Octopus account – it was in credit. Then he noticed the address where the debt had been accrued between 2022 and 2023. It was his childhood home – which his family had sold 18 years previously. "Since I was only 16 when we left the property, I was astonished that they'd linked my name [to it]," he says. "The debt collection agency insisted I provide a tenancy agreement to prove how long I've lived at my current address. I couldn't, since we bought our home. "They are now actively pursuing me for this debt, causing me a huge amount of stress. We are about to remortgage, and if this debt prevents us switching to a better deal, we will face real financial hardship." Simpson had been sucked into the shadowy world of "identity tracing", whereby investigators recruited by creditors seek to locate individuals who have moved home without paying their bills. It is an unregulated sector where anyone can set up as an agent in a back room without a licence, or scrutiny, and use fair means or foul to identify debtors. Reputable companies join a trade association that operates a code of practice, but membership is not mandatory, and mistakes are common. Last year, a teenage boy was chased for a debt of more than £900 by debt collectors acting for the energy company Ovo. A "trace agent" had somehow linked him to the debt because his parents had previously rented the property in question. An investigation by the Observer established that the debt had been run up by a subsequent tenant. The consequences of mistaken identity can be catastrophic. Individuals who are erroneously linked to a debt face, at worst, court action, bailiffs and a ruined credit rating. At best, they can endure weeks of stress and paperwork in order to prove they are not the debtor. It is estimated that 20m identity traces are made in the UK every year, many on behalf of companies that are owed money. Personal data is often obtained from credit reference agencies, which record applications for credit, and details are supposed to be verified with several different sources before being used for debt enforcement. In practice, however, this does not always happen. Simpson's details had been passed along a chain of intermediaries before the demand was issued. Octopus had given the unpaid account to a debt collection agent, which had contracted a tracing service, GBG, to find the debtor................ Full Article: https://www.theguardian.com/money/2023/oct/04/a-cry-for-help-energy-providers-play-the-villain-in-dramas-to-chill-the-blood ..............The Financial Ombudsman Service, which investigates complaints about financial firms, states that debt collection agents have to produce convincing evidence to link an individual to a debt, rather than rely on names, addresses and birth dates. According to the trade association, the Institute of Professional Investigators, an unknown number of investigators and trace agents are operating below the radar. Many more are merely inept, as data protection compliance training is not mandatory. "We have been campaigning for many, many years to try to get all private investigators regulated," says secretary general Glyn Evans.
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Virgin Media making it difficult for customer with Dementia.


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My mum was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer's and Vascular Dementia, she has been with Virgin Media since 2011 starting out on a 18 month contract.

 

Five months ago my mum came to live with me, I then went through the process of obtaining a Power of Attorney so I could deal with her housing arrangements ect.

 

A month ago I phoned Virgin Media to cancel her TV services, they said they would need to speak to her and she would have to give them her password.

 

After telling them I had Power of Attorney and my mum had Dementia and could not remember what she did a few hours ago let alone remember a password she was given 6 years ago they said they would have to send her the password.

 

Luckily enough I still have the keys to her old flat as Social Care will not let me surrender the tenancy until they assess her as if I did they would look on it as me making her intentionally homeless.(whilst she waste's £600 a month on rent ect)

 

Virgin Media said they would send a new password in a couple of days, after waiting a week I checked the flat and there was nothing from them.

 

I phoned again weeks ago, again was promised they would send out a password.

 

I was in the flat again last night and all there was from Virgin Media was a new bill for the coming month.

 

I have now cancelled the Direct Debit.

 

Who am I best to contact regarding this.

Any advice I give is honest and in good faith.:)

If in doubt, you should seek the opinion of a Qualified Professional.

If you can, please donate to this site.

Help keep it up and active, helping people like you.

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RIP: Rooster-UK - MARTIN3030 - cerberusalert

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Evening MD, sorry to hear of your Mums poor health,

 

Virgin Bledia are experts at failing to communicate coherently with their customers, some mean feat when you consider they're in the communication industry!

 

Phoning is futile, even emailing them is hit and miss, a letter is preferred, and to their head office, the removal of the DD will be good enough to get their archaic computers into overdrive, they'll communicate with you as soon as their profit stream is turned off!

 

Tom Mockridge is the current CEO...

[email protected]

 

https://www.ceoemail.com/s.php?id=ceo-9632

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Who ever heard of someone getting a job at the Jobcentre? The unemployed are sent there as penance for their sins, not to help them find work!

 

 

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Thanks for that BB, I had a feeling writing would be the way to go.

I did ask them to confirm they had sent the password after my first call to them but they quoted 'Data Protection' and could not tell me anything.

 

It's the same with Edinburgh Council and their social care telling me not to give up my mums flat when I know for a fact she could not cope even with help and support, they will do anything to keep from helping fund a Care Home place.

Any advice I give is honest and in good faith.:)

If in doubt, you should seek the opinion of a Qualified Professional.

If you can, please donate to this site.

Help keep it up and active, helping people like you.

If you no longer require help, please do what you can to help others

RIP: Rooster-UK - MARTIN3030 - cerberusalert

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they quoted 'Data Protection' and could not tell me anything.

Absolutely guarantee, they wouldn't know what section of the DPA they are attempting to use, simply because there is none! Worthy of a complaint in itself IMO.

 

As for the LA, you're right to think they only want what's best for them, however I'd be emailing the local MP regarding their lethargic attitude, you know what's best for mum not some pen pusher!

 

Makes my teeth itch, especially when it comes to close family and ruddy authorities.

Who ever heard of someone getting a job at the Jobcentre? The unemployed are sent there as penance for their sins, not to help them find work!

 

 

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  • 1 month later...

Can you register to administer her account online? I've done this for an elderly relative for whom I have Power of Attorney, although not for Virgin. Usually all it takes info that you already know such as date of birth address, customer number etc.

 

once registered online, initiate the cancellation or use an online chat to cancel. You should be able to pass security checks.

 

now this is a bit of a sneaky method but as I'm sure you know , with dementia, even putting a relative on the phone is challenging for them to understand what the CS operator is asking.

 

Good luck.

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