Mackenzie Hall. Do any of you know of them?

[sea-sidelady]

I feel really sorry for all the people who dont know about this site, and end up paying these people..!

[hyde2612]

I recieved first contact from them this morning, by letter rather than card, although my case is slightly different from most mentioned here in two ways.

 

It may be a valid debt that I owe.

and

It's for £38 not hundreds or thousands.

 

They claim that "despite repeated requests for payment" etc - this is in fact the first i've heard from them.

 

Here's the rub - the charge is for a water company that I used to have an account with, and so it's possible, - not likely but possbile - that the charge is valid, and if so was only 2003, so wouldn't be statuted

 

I'm tempted to simply pay it as the balance is less than £40, but having read about them on here I don't want to encourage them, if they are fishing.

 

In fact I'd rather feel guilty for not paying something I owe, if it means they leave me alone in future.

I have visions of them rubbing their hands and saying,

"We asked him for £40, he gave us £40. and we know where he lives.

Let's ask him for a £100, and see what happens"

 

 

If I simply lay low, do you think they'll pursue it.

Ultimately I reckon not, as the balance is so low that surely it would not be cost effective for them.

However, I can't afford to clear it until next month, and certainly can't afford court charges over and above the balance.

 

What should I do.

 

PS. I HAVEN'T RESPONDED TO THEM IN ANY WAY AS YET

[hyde2612]

Forgot to say that they say payment must be lodged at their office by Thursday 22nd Feb

 

(despite the letter being dated the 15th and sent over a weekend)

[NailPost]

Ignore MHall and their stupid deadlines. You are not bound by whatever they say.

 

I would be unhappy at the thought of paying any money to them too so if you think this money may well be owed contact the water company direct. Mhall are probably collecting on behalf of them anyway - they had a contract with Northumbrian water some time agao which attracted criticism from watchdogs.

 

Contact the company, tell them their collectors have been in touch, tell them you are unhappy at the way they have written to you (and remind them they are still responsible for the actions of their debt collectors) and ask if there's any truth in what MHall say. If there is ask them for the status of the debt tio check no illegal charges and fees have been added and offer to pay.

[gerarddobbin]

hyde2612

 

I would not even give it the time of day no matter how small it is. Personally i think there is more behind this. Feel a little guilty and ignore. You probably were over charged in the first place by the water company so may not of owed them anything in the first place. Just say that to yourself.

MH Chasing £38.00 are they that desperate, don't trust anything they do.

[hyde2612]

hyde2612

 

I would not even give it the time of day no matter how small it is. Personally i think there is more behind this. Feel a little guilty and ignore. You probably were over charged in the first place by the water company so may not of owed them anything in the first place. Just say that to yourself.

MH Chasing £38.00 are they that desperate, don't trust anything they do.

 

Ignore MHall and their stupid deadlines. You are not bound by whatever they say.

 

I would be unhappy at the thought of paying any money to them too so if you think this money may well be owed contact the water company direct. Mhall are probably collecting on behalf of them anyway - they had a contract with Northumbrian water some time agao which attracted criticism from watchdogs.

 

Contact the company, tell them their collectors have been in touch, tell them you are unhappy at the way they have written to you (and remind them they are still responsible for the actions of their debt collectors) and ask if there's any truth in what MHall say. If there is ask them for the status of the debt tio check no illegal charges and fees have been added and offer to pay.

 

Thanks both of you.

 

I'll ignore and see if they stop chasing.

Assuming if they bother to keep chasing £38 it's a genuine debt and will contact Northumbrian Water directly.

[dollypops]

That £38 will help pay for the big shiny sign that Mac Hall have just put up on their crumblin 70s office building which is due to be demolished at some point in the next year.

[NailPost]

If your account was with Northumbrian Water and MHall are chasing you for this small amount lodge a complaint with Ofwat, the water regulator. A shot across the bows of Northumbrian Water by Ofwat may cause them to look again at their debt collecting procedures and then perhaps that shiny sign will have to be taken down sooner than the directors would like.

[indebt2everyone]

Hi, well I am glad I looked on here. I first heard of them cos they sent me one of those "this is not junk mail" thing thru the door that someone else mentioned, and it was regarding a Barclaycard account that I ran up TEN years ago !! Despite not hearing anything from Barclaycard direct for years, I decided they must have written the debt off (as happened to my friend).

 

Anyway I now pay my debts through National Debtline, and pay 1 set monthly standing order, however MH STILL keep calling me at work (how did they get my number? I certainly didn't give it to them!), and posting me letters.

 

I am going to contact National Debtline again to see if they can somehow do something.

[sequenci]

I am going to contact National Debtline again to see if they can somehow do something.

 

send a letter to Mhall stating that you wish for them to communicate in writing only and not via the telephone, failure to adhere to this request is a criminal offence. Also state that it is an unfair practice under the OFT guidance for them not to work with any organisations you are using to help you with your debts be it NDL or one of their DMP partners (payplan or cccs)

[mcuth]

it was regarding a Barclaycard account that I ran up TEN years ago !! Despite not hearing anything from Barclaycard direct for years,

 

How long ago is it since you last acknowledged (in writing) or paid money on the debt? If it's over 6 years, then you'll be able to invoke the Limitations Act - have a look at this page.

 

Once you've advised MH that it's statute-barred, unless they can prove that you've ackowledged the debt in writing or made a payment on it, they should not pursue it.

 

Cheers

 

Michael

[indebt2everyone]

Thanks for that. But I did already write to them and politely asked them to stop calling me at work, yet they have rung me again today. I also said in the letter "as you know, my debts are paid directly from Payplan so you have no reason to keep calling/writing to me". Obviously this has fallen on deaf ears! Ironically though, they have a "complaints" email address on their letterhead ! In fact, their letter was headed "BROKEN ARRANGEMENT" in Red letters - talk about wanting to frighten you ! I owed Barclaycard originally £500 but as they didn't contact me for nearly 10 years I figured it had been wrote off. So for the last few months I've been paying this MHall via Payplan ( who didn't advise me otherwise, to be honest). So am I legally supposed to pay them now? I wish I had seen this website sooner ! I also read on here that I can ask to see my original credit agreement, and if they are unable to supply me with it I am not entitled to pay. Is that correct?

[mcuth]

as they didn't contact me for nearly 10 years I figured it had been wrote off. So for the last few months I've been paying this MHall via Payplan ( who didn't advise me otherwise, to be honest). So am I legally supposed to pay them now?

 

I would read the link I posted in my reply above and take the actions it states there first. If there was at least a six-year gap without payment or you acknowledging the debt in writing (that rule for communication is strictly about you writing to them, it doesn't matter how many times barclaycard wrote to you ), then making payments by mistake now won't necessarily mean that you have to pay it. You might have to call National Debtline to make sure...

 

Cheers

 

Michael

[indebt2everyone]

oh dear. Well it's just the last few months I've been paying them/writing to them etc. My debts currently total £7000 with several firms, and they receive £12 per month from me and have done for about a year now. I guess there's no comeback on my part then? Although I could still ask for the original credit agreement. If they cannot produce a copy of that, is there still anything I can do? Barclaycard have never made contact with me, and apparently the Creditor name is Cabot Financial Europe - I'd never heard of them !

[indebt2everyone]

Can you believe it - they've actually just rang me again - at work ! I have ignored it. Thank goodness for caller I.D..

[sequenci]

I would read the link I posted in my reply above and take the actions it states there first. If there was at least a six-year gap without payment or you acknowledging the debt in writing (that rule for communication is strictly about you writing to them, it doesn't matter how many times barclaycard wrote to you ), then making payments by mistake now won't necessarily mean that you have to pay it. You might have to call National Debtline to make sure...

 

Cheers

 

Michael

 

Once a debt is statute barred it will ALWAYS be statute barred regardless of any acknowledgement or payment.

Hope this helps J

[gerarddobbin]

indebt2everyone

 

If i were you i would request evidence from MH to who they are collecting the debt for. If they do not give you any info i personally would stop paying them. Its like giving money to someone you do not know for nothing and achieve nothing at the end of it.

Imagine you pay off all this money then another company like MH come collecting for the same debt. Worth thinking about. Make them prove you owe the money otherwise you know my opinion. Good luck and for the future you will be able to call yourself cashflow.

 

gerarddobbin

[indebt2everyone]

Thank you for that gerrarddobbin ! I have just checked the National Debtline website and this is what they quote. Looks like I'm screwed then....

 

What to do if a creditor contacts you after six years

 

Don't admit to owing the money

Once you agree to owing the outstanding amount then you are required to pay the debt back. If a payment is made, even after a 6-year gap, the Limitations Act 1980 won't be enforceable and the debt will have to be paid back.

If a creditor, who you haven't had any communication with for 6 years contacts you about the debt you should write to them quoting the Limitations Act 1980. For more information and advice contact Payplan.

 

Unsecured debt

 

You may have assumed that your creditor has "written-off" a debt if you have not heard from them for a long period. In many cases, it could be down to your failure to inform them of a change of address, but the debt will still exist and creditors are entitled to chase the debt indefinitely (even after the debt has become Statute Barred), however they can only use the legal system to recover the monies for up to 6 years after the last payment was made to the account.

Remember, creditors are still able to pursue an unsecured debt if:

• They have previously obtained a judgement against you (a CCJ);
  
• You have made a payment to the account within the last 6 years (this includes anyone else named on the credit agreement)
  
• You have established any contact with the creditor (this can be a phone call or letter to request a balance or change your details), except to deny that the debt exists.

If a creditor continues to contact you after accepting that a debt is Statute Barred and you have stated that you no longer intend to pay the debt, you may be able to claim harassment contrary to section 40 (1) of the Administration of Justice Act 1970.

[mcuth]

oh dear. Well it's just the last few months I've been paying them/writing to them etc. My debts currently total £7000 with several firms, and they receive £12 per month from me and have done for about a year now. I guess there's no comeback on my part then? Although I could still ask for the original credit agreement. If they cannot produce a copy of that, is there still anything I can do? Barclaycard have never made contact with me, and apparently the Creditor name is Cabot Financial Europe - I'd never heard of them !

 

If there's a six-year gap involved, the best bet is to firstly approach it from the Limitations Act angle as posted above - you then put the onus of proof on them to show that you either wrote to acknowledge or paid during a 6 year period (ignore the last 12months payments unless the first one cuts into a 6 year period). Whilst it's unlikely that they will have the original agreement, they might just have, which would blow that argument out of the water.

 

Ok, you've paid them for 12 months, and that might just have to be put down to experience, but if the Limitations Act applies, there's no need to be paying any more. In my experience, you'll have to really firmly tell Payplan that you don't want to pay MH again (and explain why), otherwise they'll just carry on making the payments!

 

Cheers

 

Michael

[mcuth]

Thank you for that gerrarddobbin ! I have just checked the National Debtline website and this is what they quote. Looks like I'm screwed then....

 

That's from the Payplan site - but it's not right, sequenci's confirmed (above) what I suspected (thanks sequenci). Plus, the National Debtline site states different to Payplan - given my previous experiences with Payplan, I'd trust the NDL one as PP really don't have a clue about the Consumer Credit Act or Limitations Act.

 

Cheers

 

Michael

[indebt2everyone]

Thanks you guys. Well you're absolutely right. I rang National Debtline last night and they told me that these people cannot demand money if neither me nor them had made in contact in 6 years (it's actually 12 when I worked it out!!). So they said I can either a: continue paying them thru Payplan as per my current arrangement of b: write a letter to them explaining that is statute barred and unless they can prove otherwise, the debt will no longer be paid. I also need to tell Payplan the situation and get them to cancel the payment to them. Needless to say I WILL be taking the latter of these two options !! The guy at National Debtline really put my mind at rest and said it was run of the mill for them to send threatening letters. He also said that if they keep calling me at work that is harrassment, and he's sending me a leaflet on how to deal with that !

 

Cheers! I'll keep you posted of anymore correspondence from them.

[sea-sidelady]

This is a letter template which you can send to them. Just copy and paste and enter your own details.

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/bank-templates-library/37006-harassment-telephone-response-letter.html

[indebt2everyone]

Thank you so much that's really useful ! I can feel a sense of relief now...

[Punchy99999]

Forgot to say that they say payment must be lodged at their office by Thursday 22nd Feb

 

(despite the letter being dated the 15th and sent over a weekend)

 

 

they do that to make you think it is more urgent than it really is.

[Punchy99999]

That £38 will help pay for the big shiny sign that Mac Hall have just put up on their crumblin 70s office building which is due to be demolished at some point in the next year.

 

 

s*ithole of a buliding suits the image.

 

The BEST way to deal with them is to ignore them , contact the client/creditor directly and complain about the way mckenzie hall have (mis)treated you. Enough complaints will see them lose the contract for that client.

 

If the debt is genuine and you pay the client/creditor directly then mckenzie hall will just claim the commission anyway without having to do any work. DO NOT pay while the debt is with them. Normally they will have a debt for 6 months or so before it is passed elsewhere. Pay once it gets to that stage so when the client/creditor looks at the stats (which agency collected what - ) mckenzie hall will look poor and eventually will lose the contract.

 

Look how many views this thread has had...enough bad publicity should see them start to lose money and disappear. Anyone searching for them in a search engine comes up with this and their absolutely groundbreaking , breathtakingly amazing website.