Virgin Media 11 year old debt

[simmo1369]

hi everyone

 

i applied to VM for their broadband service a couple of weeks ago and didnt hear back from them. I gave them a call today and spoke to a customer advisor who informed me the reason i have not recieved a contract from them is due to the fact that i have an excisting debt owing on the account from 1997 of approx £100.00 and this is from a previous address where i lived 11 years ago. I told her i was flabbergasted at this and assured her i didnt owe any money to her company but she said they would not be able to re-instate me as a customer until the debt was cleared.

I queried why i had not been asked for payment over the last 12 years and she informed me that Wescott Credit Services had bought the debt but had not acted on it.

She refused to act any further on my account until i have paid the sum owing ( i have not admitted that i owe them money as i really dont think i do ) to them.

where do i stand?

 

kindest regards

David

[lickthewallfatboy]

well,you certainly aren't obliged to pay the debt as it's statute barred after 6 years

 

I would ask them to prove the debt for your own reference,and try someone else for broadband!

[kurvaface]

I personally would not touch Virgin Media after discovering the connection with Credit Solutions ltd.

Edited June 23, 2009 by kurvaface
oops.... missed the "not"

[ScarletPimpernel]

Surely if Wescot bought the debt then Virgin have written it off and no further claim on it anyway.

[dx100uk]

don't think VM or even NTL/T+W existed then?

they were still al little co's that had not been brought up together to form ntl/tw?

 

seems a bit strange to me

though what they have on their internal records is up to them.

i'd fire off an SAR and findout what this is all about

 

dx

[PeteT]

don't think VM or even NTL/T+W existed then?

they were still al little co's that had not been brought up together to form ntl/tw?

 

Telewest started back in the mid 80's, NTL early to mid 90's.

[dx100uk]

i remember getting cable tv from anglia cable in mid 94

i thought it went ntl 96/7, this seems to comfirm it.

 

ntl:Telewest Business - ntl inc history

 

dx

[PeteT]

They changed their name to NTL then but were running from '93 according to that page.

 

Either way I'd like to hear why VM are in breach of the Data Protection Act as they are clearly holding on to information for longer than is reasonably required. "Personal data processed for any purpose or purposes shall not be kept for longer than is necessary for that purpose or those purposes"

 

 

Or will they claim it was necessary? How long do they think they can hold on to the data for?

Edited June 24, 2009 by PeteT
Everything went a little "bold" oops

[scouemonk]

hi my wife has had the same problem with virgin. what happened was we signed up for virgin and they did a credit check, all ok, were given an installation date. in the mean time virgin cancelled my bt line and aol broadband, (i cancelled sky.). my wife phoned virgin to see if they could install it any earlier, the girl told my wife that it wasnt being installed as she owed £126.64 from 1999, my wife panicked and paid the money. then we where given a new installation date. is this against the law, she is mortified that she allowed virgin to cancel everythink, and we could have been left without,phone, tv and broadband. i am disabled and we need the phone and that was the only reason she paid. i am now wishing my life away till next june so i can get rid of these cowboys. scouemonk

[PeteT]

Thats a difficult one - the debt is most likely statue barred, so they can not force you to pay the outstanding debt before providing service..... however they may be able to refuse you service based on your previous account handling. I'd read through the T&Cs that you had access to before you signed up and see if there is anything about outstanding debts - if not, then I'd be kicking up a stink with them.

[scouemonk]

thanks pete. we signed up over the phone and then was sent an agreement to send back to them. i will read through my copy and let you know whether it says anything about former debts. regards scousemonk.

[scouemonk]

hi pete. just read the junk that came with the agreement. it is just your run of the mill cca. no mention of debt. it does say that a credit check will be made and services are supplied subject to status. i have there legal department address so will try and get a properly worded letter together, have they breached any rules.? regards scousemonk