Can Makenziehall chase a settled debt?

[l337speak]

Hi guys,

 

I would appreciate it if I could get some input on my next course of action with Mackenziehall.

 

Sometime back in 2003 I built up a £650.95 debt with Great Universal catalogue. No payments were made to that debt until I paid Wescot £488.21 back in January 2009. I made this payment to them over the phone with my debit card and it was agreed between myself and the Wescot representative that making a large one time payment would settle the debt and the rest would not need to be paid.

 

I still have the letter from Wescot dated 08/01/2009 clearly stating "With reference to the above account and your recent communications. We can now confirm that this account has been settled."

 

Over Xmas 2009 I recieved demands for payment for the remaining £162.74 from Mackenziehall. At the time I wasn't sure what the debt was for so I sent a request for the orignal consumer credit agreement. Mackenzie wrote back to me on the 20/01/2010 to inform me that they had requested a copy from the original creditor. They even returned the £1 postal order for the statutory fee.

 

On the 26/01/2010 I finally recieved a letter with a credit agreement (not my credit agreement) headed by "Shop Direct Finance Company". This is when I realised that they were pursueing the debt I had already settled with Wescot. I am fully aware that this means that they can not legally enforce the debt. In this letter they have also stated that they will be filing that this debt remains unsatisified on their own records and will notify the Credit Reference Agencies to put a bad mark on my credit rating.

 

Are these guys really supposed to be chasing this debt if the previous debt recovery company marked it as settled?

 

I plan to write another letter stating that I have already settled the debt with Wescot and will enclose a photocopy of the Wescot letter stating that the debt is settled. In addition I will also be pointing out that they have failed to supply an original copy of my CCA.

 

All input and advice is appreciated.

Edited February 23, 2010 by l337speak

[stroke a badger]

Hi 1337,

 

MH are the lowest of the low and from personal experience (helping a friend out last year) they will try and squeeze everything out of you, however in this instance they have no grounds to extract a penny as you have a letter from Wescot stating the account had been settled. If it were me I would send them a letter stating this and show them the door.

[Pinky69]

And you can add that any entry on your credit records will be a breach of the Data Protection Act 1998 and will form a report to the OFT, a complaint to the Information Commissioner and a court claim for damages. Send your letter to MacHalls Complaints Department and write "WITHOUT PREJUDUCE" in bold black letters at the top to show you mean business.

 

Report Wescot to the OFT for assigning a settled debt to MacHall. Every report is a nail in their coffin.

 

Enquiries and Reporting Centre

Office of Fair Trading

Fleetbank House

2-6 Salisbury Square

London

EC4Y 8JX.

[The GodMother]

Also report Muck hall for trying to extort money out of you for a settled debt and for placing a marker on you CF when the account is settled.

 

Same addy as pinky has put up.

[l337speak]

Thankyou for the handy address Pinky, and cheers for the input people.

 

I should hopefully be able to straighten things out with Mackenziehall. I'll update this thread when/if Mackenziehall try anything new.

[l337speak]

I just got back from the Post Office after sending the letter to Mackenzie Hall stating that the debt had been settled when I thought I'd give them a call to try and find out how they got hold of it in the first place. I was also curious as to why I was getting leters from Mackenzie Hall, yet Shop Direct Finance Company LTD provided the "credit agreement".

 

The advisor on the phone informed me that since I requested the CCA they had sent the debt back to Phoenix Recoveries LTD at the beginning of this month. I asked for the address and contact details but he wouldn't provide them as he claimed they were confidential to his client. The cheek.

 

Anyway, I then tracked down the number for Phoenix Recoveries where another advisor told me that the debt had been passed back to the original creditor. He at least gave me the direct number for Littlewoods debt management team so I'm going to call them tomorrow to get their address in order send them a copy of the settled letter from Wescot.

 

I am shocked at how many hands my details have been through in just a few months. I dread to think how many companies have had my info since 2004.

[PGH7447]

list them all and complain complain complain to the info commisioner and the oft, time these scroats learned not to pass peoples details around like confetti

[247orbital]

MH are well known to Ayreshire trading standards give them a call.

 

Mr Stuart

01563-554386

 

Very nice guy to talk to and fully up to speed on MH tactics etc.

[l337speak]

Just spoke to someone at Littlewoods debt management/sales team. My original catalogue account went into default sometime in 2003 but she managed to find my details. It turns out that they sold the debt onto Wescot in who weren't able to find me. After that they then passed it onto Phoenix Recoveries in 2007, who in turn hired Mackenzie Hall. This would explain why they weren't aware that a previous company marked it as settled when I paid them in 2009.

 

I've been told that the Phoenix Recoveries will now be contacted to notify them of the closure, and I will be recieving a letter of confirmation direct from Littlewoods debt management team. Just to be safe, I'm going to send a letter to Littlewoods with a copy of the settled letter from Wescot and to request that they cease processing my data under DPA. I'll probably send a similar DPA request to Phoenix as well.

 

Thanks again for your input everyone, this looks like its gonna be closed.

Edited February 23, 2010 by l337speak

[The GodMother]

Good I dea contacting the OC.

 

In 2008 we had a strange problem with Moorcroft and Littlewoods there were also chasing a non existant debt, i think there is a thread about somewhere.

 

Basically my partner got offered acatalogue and he ordered they then refused in writing the goods. We sent all good back like they asked us to and thhey as far as we were concerned closed the acc. They only done this after they had recieved the goods back as they automatically sent the goods then they refused the credit within 10 days.

 

I contacted Littlewoods to get the info we required after giving them a breif run down of what was happening and they contacted Moorcroft who when sent a letter saying account closed.