Telogram - advice please?!

[splosher]

Hi

 

This is my first post and hope you'll go easy on me as a newbie.

 

I had a bank loan from RBS back in 2002 for £1500 - when i had a credit history that is! - and as i had a job at the time which paid well, i didn't foresee any difficulty in paying it off... until i was laid off only 3 weeks later.

 

Now, being a foolish young man, i decided to extend the loan a couple of times and i think it came in at about £2800 in total by early 2003, but then things went from bad to worse with a couple of bereavements, moving 100's of miles to resettle and long periods on the dole which just meant i was existing in survival mode for many years.

 

Now, i have managed to get myself on my feet to a degree in the last 18 months or so - i have a job, am off all benefits and have just enough money at the end of the week to feed myself, so things are okay. However, this morning i have a letter arrive which is from a company named Telogram asking for confirmation that Mr. +++++++ lives at my address and giving my previous address as the last known residence. Also, at the bottom of the page it states that if no answer is forthcoming " This unit will also be undertaking outbound phone calls to various sources including neighbours to verify that the information supplied is correct"!

 

Let's clear-up one thing: I owe the money. I admit this, but there is no way i'll be paying it back or offering any due to the following information i found out. My employment has suffered due to the blacklist RBS put on me years ago as i couldn't open a bank account for 3 years to get my wages paid in. This i found out due to a bank employee back in 2004 who explained after refusing me an account that i had a credit blacklist against my name so secure that even if i walked in that afternoon and paid it off in full, it'd still run until i was 40 years old - and that's still 3 years off!

 

So, my question is this - what kind of things can i expect from this Telogram and is there any options available to me to avoid having to pay any money? As stated, i understand i'll get a CCJ, but i'm blacklisted for years yet anyway.

 

Thanks

[spamheed]

The letter stinks a bit of - admit you are who we think you are, or we're going to slur you all around your neighbourhood. What if they've got the wrong person I'm not a banana but I would figure that this would constitute harrassment (and in writing too!! it would go some way to proving there was intent to harrass)

 

Avoiding paying shouldn't be the issue, If you owe the money and they can prove they are legally entitled to collect on it, then they have a right to do just that.

 

However, they must prove that they have a right to the debt

 

Once it is established that you are who they think you are, either by your admission, or their "research" then I would reckon the next step would be getting them to prove they have legal title to the debt, CCA them and see what they can/can't come up with

 

anyone else have an opinion??

[42man]

This is as far as I know in direct contravention of the OFT's guidelines on debt collection. Does it say who the debt collection agency is ??

 

This is from the OFT web site...

 

g. disclosing debt details to third parties, (especially neighbours relatives or

employers), unless legally entitled to do so

Deceptive and/or unfair methods

2.6 Dealings with debtors are not to be deceitful and/or unfair.

2.1 Examples of unfair practices are as follows:

a. contacting people speculatively by e.g. addressing correspondence 'to the

occupier' when there is doubt as to whether they are the debtor in question

b. obtaining details under false pretences e.g. leaving a note at a

suspected debtor’s home telling them to phone to arrange a suitable

time and date for delivery of a package. When they call, they are asked

to confirm their personal details and are then sent payment demands for

a debt

c. refusing to deal with appointed third parties, such as Citizens Advice

Bureaux

d. contacting debtors directly and bypassing their known appointed

representatives e.g. in an effort to deal with someone in a weaker position

e. failing to refer on reasonable offers to pay by instalments

f. not passing on money collected within a reasonable time and failing to keep

and provide details of payments made.

Comments are invited on whether OFT should specify what we consider

to be reasonable. If so please give us your views on what would

constitute a reasonable time

g. where a debt has been bought, failing to establish the details of the debt

history resulting

[shane5408]

Telogram are a debt tracing company that Capquest use, they are no doubt fishing seeing if they get a bite

[splosher]

Many thanks for the replies

 

I'll just wait and see if the heavies turn-up at my door then - should be funny though and i don't want to appear nonplused or arrogant - but they'll never get a penny from me as i don't have any money to give them. I work part-time and earn just £7000 a year, so i'll look forward to going to court regarding this as the payment they receive back would mean it'd take a lifetime for the debt to be recovered.

 

Can anyone tell me what to expect if i don't respond to the letter?

 

Cheers

[shane5408]

Many thanks for the replies

 

I'll just wait and see if the heavies turn-up at my door then - should be funny though and i don't want to appear nonplused or arrogant - but they'll never get a penny from me as i don't have any money to give them. I work part-time and earn just £7000 a year, so i'll look forward to going to court regarding this as the payment they receive back would mean it'd take a lifetime for the debt to be recovered.

 

Can anyone tell me what to expect if i don't respond to the letter?

 

Cheers

Hiya,

 

you're jumping the gun a bit, heavies won't be turning up at your door, if you're referring to bailliffs they can only be actioned on order of the court after a CCJ has been granted which you can rigorously defend.

 

some DCA's threaten to send door step collectors, there is a template letter in the library to banish them from doing so, if they are stupid enough to turn up report them to the police.

 

Given that it is Telogram contacting you I think they are in the tracing stage, if you get any further correspondence from them or any other company post it up here and we'll advise

 

kind regards,

shane

[spamheed]

Even if someone comes to your house "heavy" or otherwise, without first exhausting the legal options and obtaining a judgement they would have no more rights over you and your property than the little old lady who serves in the post office.

 

You have a legal right to know who you owe money to and that they are able to legally persue the monies, even if, given your stated hardship, it's only a token gesture. until both of these conditions are met, they can't do too much.

 

Sending people to your neighbours to check who and where you are is against the rules, telling you in writing that they are going to do it is stupidity, if the Trading Standards bods were chasing up a complaint on these chimps, you have documented evidence (supplied by them) of their practices, even if they didn't follow it up, they threatened that they would break the law!!! "damned if they do and damned if they don't"

 

by the way, you now owe me 55,000 Sheckles for the administration of this message, pay up or I'll sit in a corner and scream!!!!

[splosher]

Thanks

 

So, if i want to report them for the " phone neighbours" business, who would i approach?

[spamheed]

These companies are full of bull and bluster, they try to get their "rabbit" to break cover, by phishing to all people with similar names, then when they have actually established they have their man/woman, they act in whatever way they will.

 

Threatening to telephone the neighbours is one thing and they may get their hands smacked by the authorities for saying as much, as yet, they haven't actually done it, so until they do something, I would wait until they get in direct contact with you.

 

If you find that anyone from this company has actually gone as far as phoning your neighbours, they have no defence, they told you in writing that they were going to do it, so you have them on two counts and I'd follow it up with a complaint to Trading Standards

 

any other opinions?

[spamheed]

At the moment they havent established if you are the correct person

 

You can either confirm that you are the one they are looking for (if this is the case) or not and make them prove that they are entitled to persue the debt by sending them a CCA request

 

You can ask them to cease contacting you (if it is not the case) if they continue then they are guilty of harrassment. and provided you with proof of their practices

[splosher]

But if i admit the debt is mine, then surely i'm going to be chased for the money for the foreseeable future, aren't i? It's going on 5/ 6 years since the loan and i've had massive problems with even getting a bank account during this time - how long is it until the debt cannot be pursued, 6 years?

[shane5408]

Yes 6 years and the burden of proof is on them to establish there was payments/contact made to prove your ownership. I would just sit tight for now, don't send anything. Wait for them to correspond to you, when they do, if they do post up details here

 

regards,

shane

[dpick]

Hi totally agree with Shane WAIT these twits are just trying to trace people. If they do manage to contact you don'T discuse anything by phone only by letter and NEVER ring them.

 

all the best dpick:)

[splosher]

Well, thanks for the advice everyone and i'll be back when i have more stuff to share.

 

Cheers

[Fuzzgin]

Make sure that you keep that letter (and all correpondence) in a safe place. It might be evidence in future. Good luck!

[splosher]

Well, here's a surprise!

 

The first letter i received was dated 11th Nov and that's why i started this post and i've just got my mail and there's another letter from Telogram dated 13th, which is identical in content as the original.

 

Except, they have moved the date i must contact them by forward by another 4 days - the 1st letter states i must contact them by 22st November and the 2nd letter wants me to contact them by 26th November.

[ODC]

Who TF do these muppets think they are saying you MUST contact them. They have NO LEGAL POWER whatsoever and its time they realised it. Sad Gits

[sillygirl1]

Contacting them by phone is a big NO, you can't be the person they think you are without giving information which would be detremental (scuse spelling) to you anyway. Also by sending a Telogram they are breaking the OFT guidelines. Contact your local trading standards office and lodge a complaint about harrassment immediately.

[splosher]

Thanks for advice and we'll see when the next letter arrives on my door mat - probably tomorrow!