Mackenzie Hall vs Captain Spaulding

[Captain Spaulding]

Received a little letter from Mackenzie hall today regarding an alleged > £6k debt for original creditor of Barclaycard Masterloan. I have no idea what this alleged debt is or where its come from.

 

Mackenzie hall have been kind enough to provide a standing order mandate requesting sums of cash per month.

 

I presume a prove it letter is the next step... Any hints/tips about dealing with this **** would be great, yea right

 

Thanks

 

You have contacted me regarding the account with the above reference number, which you claim is owed by myself.

 

I would point out that I have no knowledge of any such debt being owed to Barclaycard Masterloan

 

I am familiar with the Office of Fair Trading Debt Collection Guidance which states that it unfair to send demands for payment to an individual when it is uncertain that they are the debtor in question.

 

I would also point out that the OFT say under the Guidance that it is unfair to pursue third parties for payment when they are not liable. In not ceasing collection activity whilst investigating a reasonably queried or disputed debt you are using deceptive/and or unfair methods.

 

I would ask that no further contact be made concerning the above account unless you can provide evidence as to my liability for the debt in question.

 

I await your written confirmation that this matter is now closed. Otherwise I will have no option but to make a complaint to the trading standards department and consider informing the OFT of your actions.

 

I look forward to your reply.

 

Yours faithfully

[PGH7447]

Thats the letter, send that and wait, do not ever phone them and dont sign anything, it is up to them to prove the alledged debt is yours not the other way around

[Captain Spaulding]

Oh the joy, will get it in the post recorded 2nd class tomorrow then update as soon as I hear something.

 

Anyone have any experience with Mackenzie Hall?

[Captain Spaulding]

This may be a stupid question but I'm going to ask anyway. With DCA's phishing and making demands without providing evidence, how would I stand in summarising fair costs (postage, time spent investigating etc etc) and sending an invoice with payment terms to the DCA, once they exceed terms they go into a notice period before I take court action with a view to get the DCA a CCJ

 

An example is if the DCA does not conform to a CCA request and commits a criminal offence, is this an opportunity to invoice them for each additional letter you have to send in response to the threat-o-matic letters?

 

Sure I'm not the first to ask but what would stop me doing this?

 

Thanks

[42man]

Absolutely nothing to stop you....charge them £12 - £35 per letter and time...

[Captain Spaulding]

Awesome, today I'm sending a prove it letter and will await a response. Dependant on the outcome, If I then have proceed with statute barred or a CCA request I will modify the letter to inform them that for each response following the request and up until such time that evidence is provided there will be a charge and will present said charges and payment terms to them, that way they cannot argue they were unaware.

 

Of course, they will not pay however once an invoice has been issued it will remain open until such time that its disputed or paid. How would I proceed with court action to enforce payment of the invoice?

[NailPost]

While I totally agree that hitting ****** debt collectors in the pocket is probably the only language they know charging £35 for a letter may be excessive. It would be much better to insist that Mackenzie Hall comply with the directions in your letters and supply you with details of their complaints procedure.

 

Make that complaint and allow them the eight weeks to resolve the compliant. If you are not satisfied then complain to the Financial Services Ombudsman. He'll charge them around £400 just for a visit. He may fiond in your favour and award you compo. All legal. If they don't pay then go for the ccj!

[Captain Spaulding]

Thanks for your post. In respect to charges I agree these would need to be fair, representative and relevant and I agree that the best outcome is a letter stating the case is effectively closed.

 

My time however is not free and incurring cost to cover underhand activities should not go without recourse. I agree with you about following procedure, the only question is at the end of the process, if I were to provide a statement for the DCA, they could argue that they were not informed and *may* not have continued correspondence etc

 

The thumbs up from TS and FSO would be great to use in court when presented invoice is not paid

 

I know it may seem like its just anger talking but has the above been tested before, if so what was the result?

 

Many thanks

[42man]

I did hear of one cagger, who won costs against 1st Credit and sent the bailiffs in !!

[Captain Spaulding]

Bet that rocked them, I'm sure they would not like many caggers to start doing that!!!

[PGH7447]

I did hear of one cagger, who won costs against 1st Credit and sent the bailiffs in !!

 

Excellent, sign me up for that

[Captain Spaulding]

I've started to look into the intended process to ensure any charges and method of applying charges are lawful, fair and are processed in such a way they can be used in court. I'm also looking into timescales and methods

 

Will update as soon as I know more

[Captain Spaulding]

So far, I've looked into a few things.

 

Before charges can amount, I would need to make the DCA aware of the charging model and describe the service/product offering, I would need to present this to them outlining payment terms etc.

 

On presenting the invoice, I would need to state the payment terms, standard 30days

 

If invoice is not paid then the invoice would go into a resolution period of 14 days. If invoice is disputed, then same 14days applies

 

Following this period, a 'Letter Before Action' would be sent (I have the draft), again 14 days to resolve.

 

When invoice is not resolved, I would process the court application online and attend court to try and obtain invoice total and all costs. If I lose however, I would pay the DCA's cost

 

Currently Unknown:

 

When would I provide the initial invoice?

What are the legal terms that need to be supplied when presenting or warning of charges of service?

Is there any legislation that exempts charging of services whilst reasonably disputing liability of alleged debt?

Can anyone help on drafting the letters?

 

The driver is that these companies can pretty much do what they like, to hit them financially and lawfully may help them change their direction a little. If you can help, please post up...

 

Please someone shout if this all sounds a bit stupid?