Roxburghe Debt Collectors

[minty2009]

Good afternoon everyone.

 

I'm brand new to the site and really needing as much advice as possible!

 

This morning I have received a letter from a Debt Collection agency called Roxburghe Debt Collectors based in Surrey. They are chasing up a sum of £455.43 from 2003 for a mobile provider called 3G and that I was now required to pay the debt in full immediately. Obviously this alarmed me!!! I used to be with them around that time, and absolutely positive that I paid off all the balance when i left them.

 

So out of the blue I have received this letter and have had no previous correspondance from them! I rang them and spoke to a Mr Singh (they have to be referred to as MR and not first names!), he was claiming that the account had been passed onto them as a company called HFO had no success in contacting me. He claimed that the original balance wasn't as high but with all additional interest and solicitor's fees have made it £455.33. The original balance was £262. He was claiming that it had been referred to the same solicitors who worked in the same building as them also. I got all my account details from him and said I would be calling 3G. I did this and spoke to a Manager in one of their overseas call centres. He was saying that the original debt was £360 for the account in 2003 and thats all he could tell me as all the details were now with HFO (surely he could also bring up my details?) and then hung up on me. At this stage i then started reading a few similar stories on the internet referring to HFO and Roxburgh (especially for car parking tickets).

 

It was only a month ago that i chucked all my old old bills out too!

 

I was made redundunt in Jan, had an operation in March on a longstanding foot problem and then had complications from surgery and unable to return to work. I'm in the middle of having a new roof on too as water has been recently leaking through and the boiler is on the verge of packing up too. Their is no way i could afford this right now.

 

Are they chancing their luck or should i pay off the debt? Any advice would be much appreciated!

 

Minty2009

[cerberusalert]

Moved to Debt Collection Forum.

[Revenant]

Hi Minty

First rule of thumb - - DO NOT call them for they will tell you anything in order to get you to admit to the debt/make payments

Do everything in writing starting with sending them a basic "I do not acknowledge this debt" letter and asking for all the paperwork they hold as proof that it even exists let alone it being yours

If it is yours and as you say it's from 2003 then it could well be that it's almost statute barred if there's been no payments or written acknowledge for a continuous period of 6 years

I'm still learning the ropes on here and am sure if I'm wrong someone will put us both right

Good luck

[minty2009]

Thanks for swift reply.

 

Where can I find one of these letters?

 

I'm going to order a credit report this afternoon too as he was claiming it was a default or CCJ can't remember which as i was a tad angry!

 

Thanks for advice, any more is welcome.

 

Cheers

Minty

[Revenant]

Here's the link Minty

http://www.consumerforums.com/resources/templates-library/86-debt-collectors/573-general-debt-letter-if-you-know-nothing-of-the-debt

 

At the top left of the CAG home page you'll see "The Consumer Forums" just above the Debt Collection Industry "Title", click on that link and on the next page scroll down and you'll find the Libraries inside which is the Debt Collctors one

[lickthewallfatboy]

well,if you're sure that the last acknowledgement of said alleged debt was definitely 2003,then it's either stature barred already,or will be in around 5 weeks.....in the worst scenario

 

I wouldn't even acknowledge them,but I would SAR Three,just to be on the safe side

 

that should show up when you last paid anything

 

you're on the pig's back if the above is the case

 

I wouldn't believe what a DCA told me-even if he said the pope was a catholic,I'd still check it out for myself

[Bazooka Boo]

Ah, the wonderful professional Roxburghe!

 

Almost certainly unenforceable.

 

When in 2003 did you finish your contract with 3G, or when did you last make a payment to them?

 

Never Ever Ring a DCA, EVER. Unless your baiting them and recording the call.

[bartsimpsy]

I had exactly a similar letter from Roxburghe for an old mobile bill (3g) from 2004 apparently. I could hardly remember as I believed at the time I didn't owe 3network any money.

 

So I phoned 3 this afternoon and was told my account balance was nil. I then phoned Roxburghe and was told that the reason why my account balance was nil with 3 is bcoz they have sold the debt to them.

 

I argued that in any case I don't think I owed 3 and if I did do I certainly don't remember as it was back in 2004. So I told the lady at Roxburghe that I wasn't paying this debt and it was in their interest to post me a copy of the agreement with my signature on it with 3, but she said she will post me a statement.

 

I wonder what's going to happen next.. hmm!

[Bazooka Boo]

Yes 3 are quite correct in this case, as when they sell up they then have to show their balance outstanding as Nil, as it is no longer them pursuing it.

 

Either way, Roxburghe are very apt at attempting to collect statute barred or unenforceable debts.

 

Sending them the No debt acknowledged letter is a start, and just wait for them to prove otherwise, it's nearly X-mas so I'm surprised I haven't had a letter from them trying to con me out of money!

[bartsimpsy]

Yes 3 are quite correct in this case, as when they sell up they then have to show their balance outstanding as Nil, as it is no longer them pursuing it.

 

Either way, Roxburghe are very apt at attempting to collect statute barred or unenforceable debts.

 

Sending them the No debt acknowledged letter is a start, and just wait for them to prove otherwise, it's nearly X-mas so I'm surprised I haven't had a letter from them trying to con me out of money!

 

Thanks for the tip!

[rincewindrunnin]

i have had the same letter.... must be a special offer on 3g accounts!

 

i can't quite remember but i think my last contact with 3mobile was 2003.

 

would sending any letters now to roxburgh be an ackowledgement of the debt, or can i get them to tell me when the last contact was to see if time barred without prejudicing myself if it's not quite time barred. or does it not work like that??

[lickthewallfatboy]

yes

 

You should use the "prove it" letter in the template section

[sytra]

Snap

 

Exactly the same letter, virtually same amount etc, told me the same in hands of in house solicitor blah blah even said would put default on credit file to assist in their claim

[sytra]

He claimed that the original balance wasn't as high but with all additional interest and solicitor's fees have made it £455.33. The original balance was £262.

 

Minty2009

 

Are they (DCA) allowed to add interest and costs?? I didnt think they could, might be wrong though

[mau_juaquez]

Mental,

 

I have just received the same letter except they are demanding 617.96 from me.

 

Prove it letter going off!

[rincewindrunnin]

sorry if im being thick, but which is the prove it letter? is that the CCA request or the time barred letter??

 

it's a while since ive been on here and the site has become massive and ive forgotten how to navigate through it

[cerberusalert]

Letter #18 The Consumer Forums - Debt collectors

[minty2009]

I really can't remember when i last paid anything, but like you say its 5 weeks, worst case scenario! I've also had a look at my credit report and their is no default or ccj on their, like they were claiming. On the basis of this which letter would be best to send? SAR or Prove it?

 

Thanks for everyone's response!

[cerberusalert]

On the basis of this which letter would be best to send? Subject Access Request or Prove it?

 

The letter in post #17

[Bazooka Boo]

As I remember, earlier on this year it was Lowlifes sending out threatogrammes to previous 3G Customers claiming that they owed money.

 

Clearly, they sold the portfolio onto these lot, as Lowlifes got some bad publicity on BBC Watchdog, it seems all along that these alleged debts have come from the imagination of 3G!

 

Pay Nothing to Roxburghe, make a formal complaint to 3G UK, and unless your contract specifically stated that you would be liable to late payment fees or solicitors costs etc, then they have been unfairly added, and you wouldn't ever need to pay them. So tell them to go play on the motorway..

[minty2009]

Hi everyone

 

Hope you remember our last thread! Thought I’d get back to you as the letters from Roxburghe have started again!

 

Previously I sent a prove it letter. They then sent me a letter which was typed on Microsoft Word with no letterhead (really professional). Enclosed was a balance summary with all the payments between me and 3 mobile, they state the last payment was made on 18/10/2005 for £5.00 which left the remaining balance as 265.21, in that time, they state that 10.00 charges have been added and £162.97 interest has also been added giving a final total of £438.18.

 

The first letter I received from them, stated I owed £455.43, the response to the prove it letter informed me I owe £438.18, then last week I received a letter stating I owe £455.80. This morning's letter is the reason for this post. To summarise I ignored their previous response to my prove it letter, as I found it really unprofessional (no letterhead and the wording).

 

But last week I received a letter (with letter head) stating 'I am surprised to note that you have failed to respond in a satisfactory manner to our previous letter, your failure to take action indicates to me that you do not intend to settle your liability and therefore I shall pass this matter to our analysts, who will review your case' etc etc. They will send the baliffs round soon apparently.

 

This morning they have sent me another letter with a 72 hour notice to make payment or they are progressing with legal proceedings.

 

I also checked the credit report and their is nothing on there from Roxburghe like they stated a while ago, presume this is a scare tactic? But surely cannot say that? Rang Experian to make sure nothing was hiding in the background, and they confirmed that their was nothing on their from Roxburghe.

 

What should I do with the letter received this morning, shall I send them another letter, as stated before I really feel I do not owe them any money but cannot check records from that long ago! Please help, I still can’t walk so the last thing I need is bailiffs coming round! Should I send a letter if so which one?

 

Sorry for the long post, please help me! Thank you

Minty2009

[bartsimpsy]

Hi Guys,

 

I had a similiar letter from Roxburghe.

 

The first letter advised me that I owed 3G some money from 2004 to which I phoned them and disputed the debt.

 

They then sent me a letter attached with a 3G statement of account (online print out) detailing the payments made and etc.

 

Subsequently, I sent them a prove it letter (Note: I edited the standard template letter). They then sent me a letter providing additional details relating to the account.

 

I responded to the above advising them that unless they can prove that I was responsible for this debt, i.e. I requested them to provide me a copy of the mobile phone contract between 3G and I. Unless they provided this and proved that I was responsible for the debt - I wasn't going to take ownership of it. Furthermore if they can't prove as above, I advised them not to write to me and if they did - I would report them to bla bla. This was a template which I edited again.

 

To which they responded by advising please call us and we shall resolve this amicably.

 

Since which time I haven't bothered responding.

 

Fact is, as I see it (I may be wrong) - unless they can send you a copy of the mobile phone contract - don't bother liaising with them. Make this clear to them!

 

Merely sending online print outs, MS Word documents listing the payment and etc is not sufficient proof (from the little that I know). If this was the case, I am assuming we could all set up a debt collection company and send out letters to members of the unassuming public and hope that one of them will get back to you and pay without asking questions.

 

I would regard the above letters what you've received as scare tactics. Whatever you do, make sure you don't take ownership of the debt and also make it explicitly clear that the onus is on them to prove it was u.

 

I hope this helps.

 

Pls note, I dont have much knowledge of the above but I just dealt with this by writing to them based on what I believed was right. Perhaps other members with more knowledge may know the legal intricacies n how to deal with this properly.

[minty2009]

Thanks.

 

Really unsure on what to do, don't need this hanging around at present. Does anyone else have any opinions? 72 hours is not the longest amount of time to respond

 

Thanks again

[citizenB]

Minty, the letter giving 72 hours to respond is a ploy to get you to phone them. Especially if you have been keeping everything in writing. Remember they can say things to you on the phone, or get you in a tizzy so that you say things on the phone that you may be later regret.. and no record !!.. They DO NOT like putting things in writing.. it may be used against them some time.

 

They cannot send bailiffs round to your home. In fact they can do precious little until they have taken you to court. Other than send you silly letters of course.

 

It is for them to prove you owe them money and not the other way round. Unless they can come up with statements, agreements, etc.. then either just ignore or send them a copy of your last letter and add a bit to the front end of the letter that says something along the lines of...

 

My position remains the same as it was when I sent the letter below dated... whenever.