MacKenzie Hall and a fictitious payment

[Folara]

Hi

 

I started to receive the usual 'phone calls at work from the incredibly polite people at MacKenzie Hall a few months ago. I told them that I did not wish to speak to them and please put everything in writing. At one point I was getting 4-5 calls a day at work and although I remained polite they seemed to get a little bit frustrated and hot under the collar. Resulting in them putting the phone down on me at every call.

 

I then started to receive letters AND phone calls at work.

 

Last but one phone call I told them the debt was statute barred ... they argued and then put the phone down when they realised that the phrase 'statute barred' begins to get boring after being said about 20 times repeatedly.

 

The last phone call I received they said they were calling about a debt to Barclaycard dating back to 1997. First time they have even bothered to tell me what it was all about! They then said I had made a payment on the account in 2006 and so it was no longer SB. Hmmmm well I have NEVER made ANY payment to these clowns or to anyone regarding this debt and can prove it. I told them this and they asked me 'who was it then?'. I told them I had no idea but categorically stated that it wasnt me. They proceeded to tell me I would be taken to court and when I replied 'oh good, be nice to meet you' they put the phone down!

 

Since then I have received numerous letters and a threat with a doorstep collector.

 

So, how do I get these clowns to stop bothering me at work?

 

Also I have never received any notification that any debt has been passed to them. Am I right in thinking that they should inform me in writing?

 

Can you let me know/point me in the right direction to the next step in getting rid of these clowns before I take a holiday and visit them. Dont think they would like a short fat old bird on their doorstep with a bag of horsepoo ready to chuck at them!

[The GodMother]

yes you should be informed but half the time i have never been informed either.

 

EWW chucking horse poo. I would advise that you chuck rotten eggs less sickly when u open the bag.

 

yes i will post up the telephone harassement letter and a letter that you can also send re the debt being SB.

[The GodMother]

heres the telephone harrassement letter.

 

Your Street

Town

City

Postcode

 

Re: Harassment by telephone

 

 

ACCOUNT NUMBER: XXXXXXX

 

Dear Sirs

 

I am writing in relation to the quantity and frequency of telephone calls that I have received from your company, which I deem to be personally harassing.

 

I have verbally requested that these stop, but I am still receiving calls. (Delete if necessary)

 

I now require all further correspondence from your company to be made in writing only.

 

I am of the view that your continued harassment of me by telephone puts you in breach of Section 40 of the Administration of Justice Act 1970, and the Protection from Harassment Act 1997.

 

If you continue to harass me by telephone, you will also be in breach of the Communications Act (2003) s.127 and I will report you to OFCOM, Trading Standards and The Office of Fair Trading, meaning that you will be liable to a substantial fine.

 

Be advised that any further telephone calls from your company will be recorded. (**Even if you don‘t yet have recording equipment!!**)

 

 

Yours faithfully,

 

 

 

[NAME HERE]

 

Print dont sign and send buy at least recorded delivery.

[foolishgirl]

You need to write to Mac. Hall using a combination of the fcontent from the following letters taken from the templates library (amend to suit) - 1. to stop them harassing you & 2. to let them know the debt is statute barred, so get lost!

 

Put in big letters at the top of your letter:

 

I DO NOT ACKNOWLEDGE ANY DEBT TO YOUR COMPANY

 

 

 

Your Street

Town

City

Postcode

DATE HERE

Company Name

Road

Town

City / County

Postcode

 

 

Dear Sirs

Harassment by telephone

 

FORMAL COMPLAINT UNDER THE CONSUMER CREDIT ACT 2006 COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE

 

Account Number: XXXXXXX

 

I am writing in relation to the quantity and frequency of telephone calls that I have received from your company, which I deem to be personally harassing.

 

I have verbally requested that these stop, but I am still receiving calls. (Delete if necessary)

 

I now require all further correspondence from your company to be made in writing only.

 

I am of the view that your continued harassment of me by telephone puts you in breach of Section 40 of the Administration of Justice Act 1970, and the Protection from Harassment Act 1997.

 

If you continue to harass me by telephone, you will also be in breach of the Communications Act (2003) s.127 and I will report you to OFCOM, Trading Standards and The Office of Fair Trading, meaning that you will be liable to a substantial fine.

 

Please treat this also as a formal complaint, and send me a copy of your company complaints procedure.

 

Be advised that any further telephone calls from your company will be recorded. (**Even if you don‘t yet have recording equipment!!**)

 

Yours faithfully,

 

 

[NAME HERE] (type don't sign)

 

 

 

Also this one for the statute barring:

 

 

 

Dear Sir/Madam

 

Acc/Ref No 4563210025897412

 

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

 

We would point out that under the Limitation Act 1980 Section 5 “an action founded on simple contract shall not be brought after the expiration of six years from the date on which the cause of action accrued.”

 

We would also point out that the OFT say under their Debt Collection Guidance on statute barred debt that “it is unfair to pursue the debt if the debtor has heard nothing from the creditor during the relevant limitation period”.

 

The last payment of this alleged debt was made over six years ago and no further acknowledgement or payment has been made since that time. Unless you can provide evidence of payment or written contact from us in the relevant period under Section 5 of the Limitation Act, we suggest that you are no longer able to take any court action against us to recover the alleged amount claimed.

 

The OFT Debt Collection Guidance states further that “continuing to press for payment after a debtor has stated that they will not be paying a debt because it is statute barred could amount to harassment contrary to section 40 (1) of the Administration of Justice Act 1970”.

 

We await your written confirmation that this matter is now closed and that no further contact will be made concerning the above account after that last letter.

 

We look forward to your reply.

 

Yours faithfully

Mr A N Other

 

 

 

Good luck!

[foolishgirl]

Whoops, you beat me to it GM.

[The GodMother]

Dear MH.

 

ref number XXXXXXXXXXX

 

I writing regarding the above referance number.

 

The above account is statue barred and as a result i will not be making any payments to you in regard of this letter which is within my rites.

 

I am fully aware of the office of fair trading guildelines on debt recovery and i am fully aware of my rites to not be harrassed.

 

Unless i recieve conformation from you within 7 days from the date of this letter that you have closed your file then any further contact will be classed as harrassement and reported to the oft and i will be taking legal action against you.

 

I look forward to your reply.

 

your sincerley.

 

print dont sign.

 

send buy at least rd.

[palomino]

Err...

reference

Statute

rights

confirmation

sincerely

 

Do you really mean "this letter which is within my rites"? I thought it was the refusal to make payments which was within your rights.

 

Don't give them the opportunity to mock you!

[Folara]

Thanks guys

 

Excellent ... will do letter tomorrow and send off by recorded delivery.

 

I thought horse-poo was best as I can get that for nothing and as I have to muck it out everyday I dont mind the smell so much now lol.

 

Will keep you posted on progress.

[NailPost]

Add a line asking for their complaints procedure. If they send it to you make a complaint and allow them the required eight weeks to respond. They'll take that amount of time to sharpen the crayons and practice joined-up writing. What you need is an apology and confirmation the matter is closed and neither they nor no one else will be chasing you for this non-collectable debt again.

 

If they don't take your complaint to the Financial Services Ombudsman who will charge these miscreants the not-inconsiderable sum of £400 (at least) to tell them to do as you ask.

 

If they continue to harrass you at work make a separate complaint to the Telephone Regulator. The offence being the misuse of a telpehone system. If you have also told them to remove the number from their database and they continue to use it they are breaching the Data Protection Act so you can complain to the Info Commissioner too.

 

It sounds a lot of work but these scumbags need to be slapped down and the more complaints about their behaviour the better.

[Folara]

Oh dont worry I am MORE than happy to slap them down if needs be.

[The GodMother]

the letter i post up which i wrote is to be used as a template or a breif guide to what to put.

[babybear39]

Subscribing...

[Folara]

the letter i post up which i wrote is to be used as a template or a breif guide to what to put.

 

Thats ok The GodMother ... I would ALWAYS put stuff in my own words etc.

 

Thanks for the help.

[The GodMother]

i am not saysing you would not just offering some advise thats all.

[Folara]

Thanks, all advice very gratefully received.

 

I have just checked my credit file with Experian and this debt no longer exists on it.

 

Does that mean that it is over 6 years old and has effectively 'dropped off' my file?

 

Also if I had made a payment then surely it would show?

 

I am a little concerned as in the past I HAVE made payments to some of my old debts to effectively pay them in full, therefore closing the account but I cant see this on my report either?

[foolishgirl]

Just 'cos it's not on Experian records doesn't mean its' not recorded with the other 2 - Equifax & Callcredit. Unfortunately you have to send your £2.00 off to all of them (or subscribe) to confirm.

[42man]

These companies WILL lie to frighten you into paying....what a shame you couldn't have recorded the call !!....

 

If they are threatening a doorstep call, then send them this by recorded...

 

Dear xxxx

 

Account Ref xxxx

 

Please be advised that I will only communicate with you in writing. I have noted your repeated attempts to contact me by telephone over the past few weeks/months and these have been duly logged by time and date.

 

Furthermore, should it be your intention to arrange a “doorstep call”, please be advised that under OFT rules, you can only visit me at my home if you make an appointment and I have no wish to make an appointment with you.

 

There is only an implied license under English Common Law for people to be able to visit me on my property without express permission; the postman and people asking for directions etc (Armstrong v. Sheppard and Short Ltd [1959] 2 Q.B. per Lord Evershed M.R.). Therefore take note that I revoke license under Common Law for you, or your representatives to visit me at my property and if you do so, then you will be liable to damages for a tort of trespass and action will be taken, including but not limited to, police attendance.

 

Yours faithfully/sincerely

[Captain Spaulding]

Folara, you have some really good info here. Personally I would send the telephone harassment / harassment documents - no question about that.

 

The DCA has now confirmed (in writing I hope) that there was a payment made in 2006. Your opponent has played their next move, now your have to counter and call the bluff - get them to prove evidence of this, let me explain....

 

Resending letters and asking them to bugger off will not cause much of an impact as they live and breath it. The whole value of a statute barred debt is that it is not enforceable however if the DCA states they received payment, this throws the whole balance out.

 

I would write a letter to them asking them to prove the following....

 

Dear DCA,

 

I refer to your previous letters that threaten legal action of which have been noted and kept for complete audit.

 

Firstly, please be aware that all correspondence must be conducted in writing. Further telephone calls will be noted and reported as harassment.

 

I will refer to a telephone conversation that was recorded on where I clearly informed you that the alleged debt was statute barred under the Limitation Act 1980 Section '5'. The representative went on to inform me that they 'thought' a payment had been made in 2006.

 

Please be aware that I dispute this payment as I do not and have not acknowledged this debt in writing or payment to yourself, a differing representative or your client.

 

I require you to provide me with the following evidence of the alleged payment:

 

A true and original receipt

Payment Date

Payment Method

Name of Payee

Payment amount

Reference on Payment

Full statement of account showing payment entry

As members of the CSA, I would like to refresh you of your obligations under The Office of Fair Trading: Debt Collection Guidance Section 2.14, Subsection 'b' which clearly states that:

"it is unfair to pursue the debt if the debtor has heard nothing from

the creditor during the relevant limitation period

 

it is unfair to mislead debtors as to their rights and obligations, for

example, falsely stating or implying that the debt is still legally

recoverable and relying on consumers not knowing the relevant legal

provisions, and

 

continuing to press for payment after a debtor has stated that they

will not be paying a debt because it is statute barred could amount to

harassment contrary to section 40 (1) of the Administration of

Justice Act 1970."

 

I once again confirm to you that the status of this alleged debt is statute barred. Any further pursuing / threats will be directly reported to Trading Standards, The Office of Fair Trading, the Credit Services Authority and the Financial Ombudsman Service

 

I look forward to your provision of described evidence and expect your due diligence in this matter

 

Yours Faithfully

 

CS

Edited July 9, 2008 by Captain Spaulding

[foolishgirl]

Great letter Capt. S - mind if I borrow it sometime?

[Captain Spaulding]

Of course, please feel free to use it... Its main purpose is to 'call out' the DCA and to either prove that payment was made or admit that the 'representative' made a little mistake...

 

If they can provide evidence, its better to get it pro-actively rather than it hitting a bulk processing court right?

[Folara]

Just 'cos it's not on Experian records doesn't mean its' not recorded with the other 2 - Equifax & Callcredit. Unfortunately you have to send your £2.00 off to all of them (or subscribe) to confirm.

 

 

Oh I didnt realise this. I thought everyone would hold the same information or whats the point of having a credit ref agency that only records some of the information?

 

Thanks, will send off my payment to the other two as well.

[Folara]

Unfortunately it was only in the telephone call that the clown said they had received a payment and he didnt even seem to know much about it. When I questioned him how this could be when I had not sent anything he said that it must have been someone on my behalf!!

 

I have done the telephone harrassement letter and sent that rec.del as it can be a bit annoying when I am trying to work, although l have to admit last time I was really cross that they put the phone down on me as I was really ready to tell them whatfor lol.

 

Thanks for the letter template. I will do this tomorrow and see what happens.

 

Again, thanks everyone for the help.

[Captain Spaulding]

Folara, its NOT unfortunate - its great. These **** usually lie on the phone, infact they are pretty much paid to lie and bully people - a n y w a y....

 

Send the letter, you then have audit and they will need to respond which will give you evidence should you need it...

 

All the best

[babybear39]

Sar them to see if they have a recording of the call if you have a tenner spare and then sue their asses off

[foolishgirl]

Thanks - I've added it to my growing file of templates!!