Royal bank of scotalnd. scotcall HELP!

[666flo]

hope I'm posting this in the right place, if not sorry!.

 

Please can someone advise what to do as im totally confused! :-

 

About two years ago I recieved a letter from the royal bank of scotland saying that my account was in arrears and that i had to pay it back. Which was news to me as as far as i was aware i didnt have a bank account them them in the first place. so I called up and discovered that it was an very old account from when i was a child! which should have been closed a loong time ago and it hadn't been used in many many years. Anyway some how they had "upgraded" the account and had started charging me for it, hence why i was due money.. think it was about 200 or something they said I was due! Anyway the women on the phone agreed that this was clearly a mistake and that the the debit would be cleared and the account closed. Fair enough i thought & haven't heard a thing since, until last month. I have recieved a letter from a company called scotcall saying I'm due a company called capquest RBOS money. I can only assume it is the royal bank of scotland (RBOS).

 

What on earth do I do about it? not having ever been in debt or owed any money I'm not sure who to contact regarding this matter? do I contact the bank or scotcall? do I call or write a letter? has anyone had this before? arghhh it soo annoying!! please help

[42man]

The best way to try and find out is to send a Subject Access Request to the Data Controller at RBS Head Office

 

Unfortunately it will cost £10 (send a postal order) and send it by recorded delivery....

 

But at least you know where you stand.....

 

The debt is probably statute barred anyway as you have not made a payment for at least 6 years BUT it could be that there may be some excessive charges due back to you.....

 

This is the SAR (Subject Access Request) they HAVE to respond within 40 days...

 

Data Protection Act 1998

 

Subject Access Request

 

Dear Sir/Madam

 

ACCOUNT NUMBER: xxxxxxxxx (or multiple numbers if more than one account)

 

Please supply me with all data that you hold on me. This includes in particular, but is not limited to, the following:-

 

1. The original signed, executed credit agreement and any terms and conditions that applied to the account at the time of default and at the time the account was opened.

2. Transcriptions of all telephone conversations recorded and any notes made in relation to telephone conversations by your company, or by any previous creditor

3. Where there has been any event in my account history over this period which has required manual intervention by any person, I require disclosure of any indication or notes which have either caused or resulted in that manual intervention, or other evidence of that manual intervention in relation to my account formerly held with ORIGINAL CREDITOR.

4. True copies of any notice of assignment and/or default notice or enforcement notice that you or the original creditor sent me, with a copy of any proof of postage that you hold.

5. Documents relating to any insurance added to the account, including the insurance contract and terms and conditions, date it was added and deleted (if applicable).

6. Details of any collection charges added to the account; specifically, the date it was levied, the amount of the charge, a detailed financial breakdown of how the charge was calculated, and what the charge covers.

7. Specific details of the fees/charges levied by any other agency in respect of this account and a detailed breakdown of said fees/charges and what each charge relates to and on what date said fees/charges were levied.

8. A genuine copy of any notice of fair use of my data as required by the Data Protection Act 1998

9. A list of third party agencies to whom you have disclosed my personal data and a summary of the nature of the information you have disclosed.

10. Copies of statements for the entire duration of the credit agreement.

 

I enclose the statutory maximum fee of £10. You have 40 days in which to comply.

If there is specific information which you require in order to satisfy yourself as to my identity, please let me know by return. However, please note that the above address is the one which you normally use to communicate my private business to me and which you have hitherto found to be acceptable.

 

Yours faithfully,

 

 

print but don't sign your name

[42man]

It might be worthwhile sending Scotcall this letter too...DO NOT TELEPHONE THEM - THEY WILL LIE TO FRIGHTEN YOU INTO PAYING...

 

 

 

I DO NOT ACKNOWLEDGE ANY DEBT TO YOUR COMPANY OR ANY YOU MAY REPRESENT

 

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

 

I/we would point out that I/we have no knowledge of any such debt being owed to (insert company name).

 

I am/we are 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/we 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.

 

Furthermore ignoring and/or disregarding claims that debts have been settled or are disputed and continuing to make unjustified demands for payment amounts to physical/psychological harassment.

 

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

[palomino]

Two things : firstly, write a formal complaint to RBS about them upgrading your account without having contacted you first. You did not know the account had been upgraded (only discovering this a couple of years ago when you rang to query the account) and therefore were unaware of any charges. Because RBS made no effort at all to advise you of the charges you obviously had no opportunity to put the matter right.

 

Secondly, write to Scotcall advising the matter is the subject to a formal complaint to RBS and you cannot deal with Scotcall. Don't speak to them on the phone.

 

A question : did you ever receive statements for the account, and if so when did they stop arriving?

 

You say the account started when you were a child. Presumably you have changed addresses since then so perhaps the bank lost touch with you. It would be interesting to find out how they found you a couple of years back.

[666flo]

That was quick in replying, thanks a lot!! You guys are great!

 

I'm not 100% sure on the details as it was such a long time ago. As far I can remember I've never had a statement for this account not until the said i owed them money for it. I have no idea how they got my current address either. its all a bit strange.

 

sorry for being a total thicko here but what do you mean by " The debt is probably statute barred?"

 

I was thinking I would just make an appointment or go into the bank and have it out with them about it. would that be a good idea?

[42man]

If you have neither made a payment towards OR admitted the debt in 6 years then it will be barred by statute and UNENFORCEABLE by law....of course if you do nothing about it, and don't make a stand against anybody trying to take it to legal, then they could win by default.....

 

Send the letters I wrote above.....

 

Keep us posted as and when you hear back...

[666flo]

In the end we decided just to go into the Royal bank of Scotland to speak to them first & try and get some form of records/history from the said account. haha. The lady on the front deak was rude, unfriendly and wasn’t interested at all. As far as she was concern she thought i must be speaking crap and that im trying to get out of paying the debt. All she said was you have to phone scotcall and pay the debt!

At first she couldn’t' find the account on her computer then she found it and said it was "closed". I asked her if she could print off some statements for the account, which she said she couldn’t as the account is closed and they don’t have any records. I asked her if she could tell me who closed the account then. to which she said she couldn’t. According to her I should have the paperwork for the account. We tried to explain that I don’t have any paper work as I didn’t even know the account existed until they sent a threatening letter saying we owed money. she couldn't understand that part though. anyway she wouldn’t let us see the manager. Twice she went away to speak to the "area manager" on the 2nd time she came back with a number that we could phone. well done to our local branch of the royal bank of Scotland for being useless!

 

after three attempts at calling the number finally got to speak to someone who was very helpful & friendly. once they had found the account eventually.. she said oh yes this shouldn’t be going on, the account was closed years ago and the debt cleared and apparently capquest (who originally had the made up "debt") should never have sold it on to scotcall. she said they will contact scotcall and sort it out and if we get anymore letters from scotcall we are too phone them ( the credit something or other) again and they will speak to scotcall.

so fingers crossed that is the end of the "pretend debt" from the royal bank of scotland..

 

thanks to all above for the advice!!

Edited October 29, 2008 by 666flo

[PGH7447]

Well done