hfo phone calls

[genesis01]

started getting phone calls from these lowlife, average 6 a day, also they are ringing my place of employment,had a loan from welcome over15 years ago couldn't make some payments,moved house, lost contact with welcome,they then found me 8 years ago no contact from welcome for 7 years then the first call came just over 2 weeks ago. they stated that they had purchased the debt from welcome and that they wanted payment,i replied that i had no knowledge of a debt from welcome,and that i owed no money to hfo services the phone call was terminated by myself. the next call was 30 seconds later then another 30 secs later,then on average 5 calls a day which i refuse to answer they then rang my place of employment [i have a good secratary] they have rung me 6 times today answered phone twice as i didn't recognise no' as soon as i realised who i was talking to i terminated the call,what is my legal position at this moment in time?

[izzitme101]

report to oft, trading stadards ect, when was a payment last made?

[genesis01]

over 7 years ago

[izzitme101]

ahh you need the statute barred letter then, lemme see if i can find it for ya

[dadofholly]

REF: The phone calls

 

Edit and send the following letter template to get the calls stopped.

 

Your Street

Town

City

Postcode

 

DATE HERE

Company Name

Road

Town

City / County

Postcode

 

Re: Harassment by telephone

 

 

ACCOUNT NUMBER: XXXXXXX

 

Dear Sirs

 

I am writing in relation to the quantity and frequency of telephone calls that I have received from your company, which I deem to be personally harassing.

 

I have verbally requested that these stop, but I am still receiving calls. (Delete if necessary)

 

I now require all further correspondence from your company to be made in writing only.

 

I am of the view that your continued harassment of me by telephone puts you in breach of Section 40 of the Administration of Justice Act 1970, and the Protection from Harassment Act 1997.

 

If you continue to harass me by telephone, you will also be in breach of the Communications Act (2003) s.127 and I will report you to OFCOM, Trading Standards and The Office of Fair Trading, meaning that you will be liable to a substantial fine.

 

Be advised that any further telephone calls from your company will be recorded. (**Even if you don‘t yet have recording equipment!!**)

 

 

Yours faithfully,

 

 

 

[PRINT NAME HERE] - DO NOT SIGN IT

.

[dadofholly]

over 7 years ago

 

Have HFO sent you any thing through the post as yet?

[izzitme101]

Dear Sir/Madam

 

Acc/Ref No

 

You have contacted us regarding the account with the above reference number, which you claim is owed by ourselves.

 

We would point out that under the Limitation Act 1980 Section 5 “an action founded on simple contract shall not be brought after the expiration of six years from the date on which the cause of action accrued.”

 

We would also point out that the OFT say under their Debt Collection Guidance on statute barred debt that “it is unfair to pursue the debt if the debtor has heard nothing from the creditor during the relevant limitation period”.

 

The last payment of this alleged debt was made over six years ago and no further acknowledgement or payment has been made since that time. Unless you can provide evidence of payment or written contact from us in the relevant period under Section 5 of the Limitation Act, we suggest that you are no longer able to take any court action against us to recover the alleged amount claimed.

 

The OFT Debt Collection Guidance states further that “continuing to press for payment after a debtor has stated that they will not be paying a debt because it is statute barred could amount to harassment contrary to CPUTR2008

 

We await your written confirmation that this matter is now closed and that no further contact will be made concerning the above account after that last letter.

 

We look forward to your reply.

 

Yours faithfully

Mr A N Other

 

there ya go, hit the buggers with that, its like swatting flies!

[dadofholly]

Send the statute barred letter as izzitme advises.

 

I would also, as a back up, send Welcome an SAR - just in case HFO get persistant and deny that the debt is statute barred.

 

It will cost you a tenner but could be worth it.

[coledog]

Looks SB to me - so send the 2 letters above. There is a SAR letter below to send to Welcome who are unlikely to have valid paperwork after this time anyway but worth doing. Complain to OFT and ring Consumer Direct to complain (they should not be ringing your work for a start). If they speak to you say 'in writing only - go away').

 

Have you received any annoying correspondence from them? Useful to know if you have and could result in more complaints.

 

SAR letter (you may need to adapt if they don't have your current address)

 

SARletter to send to Welcome with £10 postal order by recorded delivery. Sign but put crosses through signature.

 

[your address]

[their address]

 

[DATE]

 

Dear Sir/Madam

 

ACCOUNT NUMBER: xxxxxxxxx (or multiple numbers if more than one account)

 

Please supply me with copies of all the data which you hold on me in relation to any matter and in any form and for any period of time.

Please note that I require disclosure of any personal datawhich you hold on me for the entire period of my dealings with you.

The Subject Access is not limited to my transaction history and it is not limited merely to 6 yearsof historical information.

Additionally, where there has been any event in my account history over this period which has required manual intervention by any member of your staff, or any other person, I require disclosure of any indication or notes which have either caused or resulted in that manual intervention, or other evidence of that manual intervention in relation to my banking business with you.

If you are unable to supply this data because there has been no such manual intervention, then please be so kind as to confirm this in your response.

I enclose the statutory maximum fee of £10. You have 40 days in which to comply.

If there is specific information which you require in order to satisfy yourself as to my identity, please let me know by return. However, please note that the above address is the one which you normally use to communicate my private business to me and which you have hitherto found to be acceptable.

 

Yours faithfully,

 

[signature]

 

[name]

[genesis01]

no letters from hfo as yet, i will send letters tomorrow as on site all day today thanks will post outcome

[coledog]

Sounds like they are trying it on if they have not put anything in writing - muppets!

[coledog]

Presume you don't live in Scotland as the SB letter is different and it is 5 years not 6.

[DonkeyB]

If they have NOT advised you in writing of an assignment, then they are harassing you. A prove it letter may be a useful first step – check and double check the last time you made payment.

 

If they continue to call at work without reason (no notice of assignment, so there is no reason), don’t be afraid to involve the police.

 

Record any calls if you can – you can then turn these threats against them.

Edited October 26, 2010 by DonkeyB

[coledog]

Link to Prove It letter, can send with telephone harassment letter as a first step instead of Stat Barred. Report calls to trading standards via Consumer Direct

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/content.php?428-General-debt-letter-if-you-know-nothing-of-the-debt

[sillygirl1]

Standard HFO tactics, they never seem to give up once they believe they have got somebody. They are very persistent and break a lot of laws. Calling you at work is against the OFT Guidelines on debt collecting but they do not follow them one iota.

 

Complain, complain, complain.

[broken arrow]

Subbing.

[DonkeyB]

Any response yet?

[Ellfish]

HFO have just found me via my work place and then continued to call me on my mobile over and over again. I eventually rung them back and made an arrangement, but they asked for some very bizarre information, they wished to know:-

 

My NI number - I refused

My home telephone number - I refused

My card number (even though I had given them the bank details to arrange a direct debit - I refused

 

Please can someone tell me whether I have done the right thing and why they wanted this information?

 

Also, I am wondering if I should have set up an arrangement with them as there was over £2,000 added to the amount I believed I owed and they wanted to charge me a rate of 12% interest - is this legal and do I have any rights as I am the one with a debt and didn't pay it?

 

Please help

[izzitme101]

did you not send the stat barred letter as advised earlier?

[coledog]

Ellfish

 

Hi and welcome

 

No you have not not done the right thing - are you able to start a new thread? Go to Debt collection Industry forum and find 'New Thread' button then cut and paste the post above - this way you will not get fixed up with someone elses thread and we can help you with your problem. You must not give HFO any bank details or info

[broken arrow]

Hi and welcome Ellfish, as coledog said, best to start you own thread. Well done for not giving the info they asked.

[dadofholly]

Also, I am wondering if I should have set up an arrangement with them as there was over £2,000 added to the amount I believed I owed and they wanted to charge me a rate of 12% interest - is this legal?

 

Probably not. Hope to find out for sure very soon.

[genesis01]

sorry for not replying as been out of country for 3 weeks got home to a letter from hfo as follows

we note with great regret that it has become clear to us that you are refusing to pay your debt. our investigation into your account is now complete and we can confirm your case that your case ihas been qualified for litigation. you will see that the balance of your debt continues to increase.

 

you are now on a 72- hour notice of litigation.we should warn you that if we do not hear from you within 72 hrs, your account will be passed to our solicitors for legal action, this will result in an immediate increase in your debt because hfo's legal fees will be added to your debt.you can avoid this by calling us immediately.

 

once our solicitors have reviewed your case they will issue a claim form against you in the county court the cost of litigation will be added to your debt this includes court fees, accrued interest and further solicitors costs, when they have obtained a ccj they are saying that they will get an attachment of earnings

 

they also included a load of stuff from hmcs ex326,ex50 a form stating solicitors costs, are they trying to scare me?

[DonkeyB]

Did you send the ‘prove it’ letter?

[genesis01]

no as was called out to norway on a urgent job which took 3bloody weeks do i need to send that