Hi, I heard you like Cabot?

[christinag]

Today I received a letter from a company claiming to represent Cabot Financial (Europe) Limited. The letter is printed on headed paper from 'CCSCOLLECT', or if you prefer, Commercial Collection Services Ltd.

 

Now, they state that I owe them just short of £3,000.00 and that I have 7 days to pay the full amount or they 'may' take me to court.

 

I have never heard of Cabot Financial prior to this letter, nor have I heard of CCS. In addition, I have never had any loan/CC/etc totaling anywhere near this amount.

 

You see, I come from a country outside of the EU and therefor I can't get on electoral roll, which makes obtaining finance of any sort a tiny bit difficult. Heck, for the first couple of years of living in the UK opening a bank account was a challenge, let alone obtaining any credit!

 

Now, having been here some time things are slightly different as there's now enough of a paper trail for some companies to ignore the lack of entry on electoral roll.

 

However, in the time I've been in the UK, I have had one loan, with Natwest, satisfied in full years ago. I have had two credit cards, both current -- one with Natwest, one with CapitalOne, neither is in arrears. And I have one storecard, again, not in arrears and current.

 

On the off-chance that I have simply forgotten having taken out a loan years and years ago I have today, gone through each and every bank statement of my account from the day my account was opened (Oct 2002) to date. I have not had any loans or similar deposited to my account, nor have I made any repayments on anything besides the long since satisfied loan with Natwest and my monthly CC repayments.

 

Do I ignore the letter? Do I ask for more information? Do I? What do I do? I've been reading through some of the other threads, and while there's a enormous amount of information and advice I find myself getting lost and confused by it all.

 

Any advice, thoughts or comments would be welcome! Thanks!

[craigers]

They're fishing

[christinag]

Yeah?

 

I'm unsure whether to be worried that someone may be impersonating me to obtain credit (though, how they would manage to when I get bit by not being on electoral roll would be a mystery there), whether these bailiffs they reference in their letter may turn up on my doorstep..

 

Or are they simply crude enough in their manner of operation to think that if they just make some **** up they will scare people into paying it without questioning?

[christinag]

The actual contents of the letter:

 

Our client has authorised us to recover the full amount you owe shown above. This is a formal notice of intended court action. We may take action if you fail to PAY THE FULL AMOUNT YOU OWE WITHIN 7 DAYS OF THE DATE OF THIS LETTER.

 

If court action is taken and a Court Order obtained, the following may occur:-

 

• Seizure and sale of moveable property by an Officer of the Court
  
• Deductions from your wages by your employer under a Court Order
  
• An unpaid Court Order may make credit impossible to obtain
  

 

THIS PROBLEM WILL NOT GO AWAY AND WE INTEND TO RECOVER THE FULL AMOUNT YOU OWE WITHOUT FURTHER DELAY.

 

Payment options are overleaf or alternatively call us now on 0870 112 0543.

Yours Sincerely,

Sam Selby

Collections Department

[DocH]

Hi christinag,

 

Welcome to the site.

 

You might want to send this letter to the muppets:

 

Dear Sir/Madam

 

Account no:

 

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.

 

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

 

I/we 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 the OFT of your actions.

 

I/we look forward to your reply.

 

 

Yours faithfully

 

**Edit to suit**

 

Remember, don’t sign the letter.

[christinag]

DocH:

Thank you! I will do that and see what they come back with.

 

Based on what I've read on here so far it could be interesting!