Advice needed PLEASE!Harrasment over a mobile phone debt thats NOT mine.

[JonJon77]

Please can someone help and advise me..... I am trying to sort out this problem for my daughter....who is at her wits end.

Back in 2006 my daughter had a boyfriend who without her knowledge used her identity to take out a mobile phone contract (she was unaware and did not sign anything)...basically he ran up a large bill and the first my daughter was aware was a few weeks after they split up letters started to arrive at the house from the mobile phone company, she confronted him over this and he promised to pay it off, apparently he paid of about half of it and then failed to respond to any further ....then letters started from a debt collection agency....

I took her to see a solicitor for a free half hour session for advice and we were in correspondance with O2 over this matter via our solicitor, a copy of the credit agreement was requested and of course they failed to provide one. They searched the archives and did not have any credit agreement in my daughters name...they had no record of any account at all,yet they were persuing her for this debt of £440.

After a years correspondance (I have kept all the letters ) the solicitor sent them a final one to say if they could not provide evidence then they could not persue this debt and that was the final letter.

We asked O2 to remove the default against her name which they have continually failed to reply to, my daughter has no bad credit she has disposable income and yet no-one will give her credit, she cant even open a bank account she is refused anything she applies for....i suppose this is because of what this default has done to her credit rating.

It has been 3 yrs since the last letter our solicitor wrote and we have started to get nasty letters from a new debt collection agency now, three so far this week.....if o2 fail to do anything and the slicitor has done all she can, where do we go from here and how does she get her credit file back in order?

Any advice and info is extremely welcome:confused:

Thank you in advance.

[Mr lex]

Hi JonJon and welcome to the Consumer Action Group

 

We see a lot of old mobile phone debts on these forums.

 

First, Asking for a CCA agreement doesn't do a lot of good. As it's whats called revolving credit and isn't covered by that act.

 

Can you tell us what DCA is following the debt ??

 

As far as the DCA go's you could send a 'prove it' letter. We have a template here :-

 

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

 

You could also send 02 a SAR, again, there is a template here:-

 

http://www.consumerforums.com/resources/templates-library/86-debt-collectors/576-subject-access-request-debt-a-dca

 

Just change the parts that suit your case.

 

Have a good read of the Telecom forum and see what threads apply to your case.

 

I'll move your thread to the Debt forum, I'm sure others will be along with more advice.

 

Hope this helps,

 

Lex

[cerberusalert]

she cant even open a bank account she is refused anything she applies for....

Until this is resolved she can open a basic step a/c with either the Cooperative bank or Natwest, they are just basic a/cs with direct debit card/ hole in the wall card, direct debit facilities but no cheque book or overdraft facilities. Some branch staff are not aware of it so she may have to be persistent. Alternatively she could apply online, although they will still send paperwork to fill in.

[DonkeyB]

Unfortunately the easiest route out of this - and I'm surprised the solicitor did not suggest it - would have been to report the account to the police as a case of identity theft, which clearly it is. However, I can see this is not a route you may have wished to take, for obvious reasons, but it would have made things move much more quickly.

 

I'm guessing the account has not been sold, and is retained by O2. It would be useful to know the DCA involved.

 

I think you may need to threaten O2 with a claim for damages for injury to credit. They have failed to provide a copy of the original agreement (there must have been one, though not covered by CCA), and they continue to record adverse data with no good reason. They have had enough warnings.

 

Have a look for threads relating to kpohraror v woolwich.

 

Also look also at Durkin v DSG

RICHARD DURKIN v. DGS RETAIL LIMITED+HFC BANK PLC, 26 March 2008, Sheriff J K Tierney

 

Any reference to these cases by your solicitor should let them know you mean business. Refusal of credit when your daughter is not liable is no small matter - we're talking thousands of pounds in compensation here. Go for the buggers.

 

You might also want to contact the financial problem columns of the Sunday papers - Hetherington and co - as they love cases like this.

 

Good luck.

[JonJon77]

Hi everyone , thanks so much for your replies, much appreciated.

Apparently her ex went into a mobile phone shop where his mate worked and used my daughters identity to take out this contract via his mate i presume (who probably knew what he was doing), o2 have not been able to find any such contract they sent for files from archives and nothing came back they say there is no record of a debt and no contracts exsist in my daughters name.... and yet they are persuing this debt for £440 from her???? I really dont understand how this can happen?

How on earth can they persue a debt that they reckon does not exsist.

 

 

My daughter works hard and has no debts, she has ample disposable income each month and cannot get credit anywhere ..this is so unfair.

She did report identity theft to O2 who fail to respond to any letters sent.

And she paid to join the credit ref agency and kept a check on her records and advised them this ha happened and to make a correction on her file that this debt was not hers and that she had reported fraud to O2.

 

We thought this had all gone away after our solicitor sent the last letter a couple of years ago.....but then this week three letters...from Lowell/Fredrickson International demanding immediate payment and threatening court action.

[count orlok]

I thinnk you have got to get the police involved, this is clearly fraud.

[babybear39]

Do you still have correspondance from o2 that states they cannot find any paperwork?

[harrassed senior]

You need to contact O2 and ask for them to put in writing that they cannot trace your daughter on their records. Whilst waiting for that, send the 'prove it' letter to whoever is chasing the debt now.

[rory32]

She did report identity theft to O2 who fail to respond to any letters sent.

 

In that case I would simply get your local Trading Standards involved. You may also wish to contact the OFT and FOS as well to make complaints to them.

 

And she paid to join the credit ref agency and kept a check on her records and advised them this ha happened and to make a correction on her file that this debt was not hers and that she had reported fraud to O2.

 

If the CRA have not made a correction and removed the default I would send them a Letter Before Action advising them that should they not remove it you will be taking them to court along with O2 and seeking damages accordingly.

 

As far as Lowells et all are concerned I would simply send them a letter stating that the account is in dispute and that they should pass the account back to O2.

[JonJon77]

Thank you all for your replies.

Initially we took the complaint to the local branch where the mobile contract had been taken out , they sent for files from archive and nothing could be found, it was that branch manager who said they held absolutely no contract or info in my daughters name, then the solicitor dealt with it through head office who were unable to provide anything either and then the solicitors last letter to them just said as you are unable to prove it then we consider the matter closed, that was 3 years ago.

So, in answer to your question, no we have not had that in writing just verbally.

Another letter arrived today "on behalf of client Lowell"...from Bryan Carter Solicitors, now saying that if the total is not paid immediately they will be adding costs of £80.00.

 

To report this to the police, is it just a case of walking into the police station and telling them the whole story, or should I tell my daughter to go back to the solicitor she dealt with for them to sort it out (will they charge though? and how much?)

 

In the meantime should she just write a reply to these telling them the account is in dispute?

[DonkeyB]

Ah... Carter acting for Lowell... that almost certainly means that O2 have sold the account. That changes things significantly. Suggest you check this as a matter of urgency.

[JonJon77]

Initially from o2 it went to moorcroft....when they failed to prove to solicitors it went for 3 years without any correspondence and we presumed matter closed, then in 2009 had a letter from RED DCA followed by one from Hamptons Legal later in 2009 and then a year went by with nothing again until out of the blue this last fortnight she had 3 letters from Lowell with this one from Carters today.

Sorry to sound so stupid, but why does it change things significantly.....she still doesnt owe this debt???

What is your view on what she should do ?

[DonkeyB]

Lowell is, more often than not, a debt purchaser rather than a simple DCA. If this is the case, it means that the debt is not owned by O2.

 

This may explain why O2 has no record of the account (though that in itself is inexcusable).

 

Who is recording the default on your daughter's credit record - O2 or Lowell? Or someone else? We need to get to the bottom of who actually owns the debt, and who is collecting - if it is owned still by O2, they should not allow two DCAs to chase the same account.

[cerberusalert]

To report this to the police, is it just a case of walking into the police station and telling them the whole story

Report it here; Report a fraud | actionfraud

[JonJon77]

hi Db

At the very begining while it was still with O2 they could find any record of any account, they then passed to Moorcroft who could not prove anything either and could not prove to my solicitor and it has just been passed around ever since but with gaps of 18 months to 2 years in between passing.

[JonJon77]

Thanks for the link cerberusalert, much appreciated.

Will pass onto my daughter and will hopefully put her on to the right track in getting this sorted for her.

[The GodMother]

your daughter and you could ask the solicitor to take up the case again but yes this will cost unless she is entitled to legal aid.

[JonJon77]

Thanks all for your help and advice

Sent the "prove it" letter back to Bryan Carter today, via 1st class recorded delivery which will need to be signed for when they recieve tomorrow.

 

In the meantime my daughter has had copied all the correspondance between her solicitor and o2 and Moorcroft (the initial dca before it was passed about) should she send this to Carters as well ...to prove she has disputed this all along and has evidence that no agreement could be found and this has dragged on for some years.......or best to sit tight and wait for a reply first?

[babybear39]

Let's see what carter does

[JonJon77]

Its been a week since the "prove it" letter was sent to Carters, as yet no reply.

Is there a timescale I should allow?

[Bazooka Boo]

Not specifically, 7-10 days would be normal, but I would allow 14 days.

[JonJon77]

Letter arrived this morning (although dated 23rd).............although we had responded to Carter the reply came back from Fredrickson International Limited ???

It says "We have reffered the matter to our client (Lowell) and will revert to you as soon as we are in reciept of instructions, in the meantime we have placed the account on hold".

Obviously they are not going to come back with anything as its not my daughters debt.

Will keep you posted.

Edited May 8, 2010 by JonJon77

[cerberusalert]

Carter & Freds are two fleas in the same blanket.

[DonkeyB]

Carter & Freds are two fleas in the same blanket.

 

My furry cat and his blanket resent being associated with those charlatans!

[cerberusalert]

My furry cat and his blanket resent being associated with those charlatans!

 

Alright, two pigs at the same trough then.