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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to refuse to pay a debt collection agency?

42 replies

turnandfacethenamechange · 17/02/2020 14:35

They chasing something I never received bills for. Can give full details if wanted (they're really boring!) but am 85% sure I'm right. The debt agency's fee is an extra £200 which I really could do with not having to pay at the moment.

Has anyone challenged a debt agency before and won? How nasty do they get? Trying to gauge if it's worth the potential agro as am scared of going to court but also really annoyed that this has happened!!

OP posts:
Doodledoom · 17/02/2020 14:41

They do get it wrong and send the debt to a person with the same name, when it's not their debt.

Get in touch with them and ask for proof this debt is yours as you think they have the wrong person.

They should send all evidence out proving it is your debt. Don't pay any money to them until you have established if the debt is or isn't yours.

FilledSoda · 17/02/2020 14:51

You can certainly refuse.
What happens next depends on where you live . There are no bailiffs in NI for example and Scottish law differs from English.
You can challenge it or ignore it.
Ignoring it doesn't mean they will necessarily take it to court but it would be on your credit report.
Is it your debt ?
They have to prove that it is .

FanSpamTastic · 17/02/2020 15:01

Did you receive the goods/service but just never got a bill?

Or did you never receive the original goods/service?

I think you have a stronger case with the second scenario than the first. If you received the goods/service but never got billed at the time - then how long has it been? I believe utility companies cannot come after you if more than 12 months passed. back-billing.

CSIblonde · 17/02/2020 15:02

I'd be very careful OP. Unless you can prove you didn't receive what the bill is for or its not your debt, with documentation they can physically check, I think the fees hugely increase. That Bailiffs show, 'Can't Pay, We'll take it Away' had a guy whose orig debt was £3. 5k. By the time his refusals that it was his debt & delay tactics got nowhere but the High Court, (next step after County Court) the debt had increased to £8K with interest + the fees.

Iminaglasscaseofemotion · 17/02/2020 15:05

I'm in the middle of this atm. Someone renewed a phone contract in my name. A relative through marriage and also an employee of the company at the time, which gave her the ability to commit fraud. The company will take no responsibility for it, they are chasing me for the mkney and apparently the onky thing I can do is report to the police. Even then I will probably have to go to court (been told this by a police officer). No idea if I will still have to pay the money.

Iminaglasscaseofemotion · 17/02/2020 15:06

I wasn't getting the bills either. I onky found out the contract was still active when I tried to take out 2 sim only plans for my sons.

chellochello · 17/02/2020 15:07

This has happened to me also - it involved utility bills which I didn't receive (final bills on a closed account) I had even chased the energy company for bills but they never sent them.

I ignored the debt collection agency all together and took it up with the energy company who the initial debt was with - I was told I needed to pay the agency including all charges but when I kicked up a bit of a fuss on the phone and asked to speak to managers they agreed to let me pay the original outstanding debt to them over the phone and they cancelled everything with the debt collectors - so might be worth trying to contact the original supplier before arguing with the debt collectors

CastleCrasher · 17/02/2020 15:09

You say you didn't receive bills, but is the debt yours? If it's that you didn't get the post but you know you received something you should have paid for, then you should have paid

recordbox · 17/02/2020 15:13

I haven't challenged one but I have in the past completely ignored them. They gave up eventually. I'm in Scotland though.

KatherineJaneway · 17/02/2020 15:31

Is the debt yours?

If you recieve goods or services as a customer you know you have to pay for them and can't use the lack of a bill as a reason not to pay. I would have assumed they would have sent multiple bills before sending to the baliffs so the 'not gettng the bill' might not wash.

Original poster
turnandfacethenamechange · 17/02/2020 15:40

It is my debt and I've said multiple times that I'm more than happy to pay it but I think the debt recovery fee is ridiculous. I think I'll try writing to them directly saying this and see what they say. If they just want their money and the person is no win no fee maybe they'll just accept it. The debt people told me not to try and contact them directly but I don't see how they can stop me?

OP posts:
Jaxhog · 17/02/2020 15:48

If the debt is yours, you have to pay up. Yes, the extra fee is a lot, but they've done work to track you down and its quite legal. If you don't pay, the fee will only go up as they add court fees and bailiff charges.

milliefiori · 17/02/2020 15:52

Go to a very public money advice service, such as The Guardian and make sure they know you are getting public advice on how they have treated you. Also raise your concerns about not receiving the bill on their twitter or FB pages. This will galvanise the original company to look into your claim. But usually, once the debt has been sold on to an agency, they collect and the debt will just multiply if you don't pay up asap.

KatherineJaneway · 17/02/2020 15:57

Sorry OP, I missed that.

AngelsSins · 17/02/2020 15:58

I’ve challenged before and won. An agency tried to get me to pay for a debt that was about 10 years old and not mine. I asked them to send me proof in the form of the original agreement, which they did, it was someone who had the same name as me, but different address and date of birth (I have a very common name!). Rather than fight about it not being me, it was easier to write to tell them that they had no right to enforce the debt as it was more than 5 (I think) years old and they hadn’t received any payment from me during that time. They had at the point filed with the court but dropped it when they realised I couldn’t be forced to pay such an old debt.

I did a lot of research before hand, but I can’t remember it all now, so I can’t be sure it’s a 5 year rule, you’d need to check, but definitely look into your rights etc.

AngelsSins · 17/02/2020 15:59

Sorry, just saw your update, my post isn’t relevant in that case!

Hoppinggreen · 17/02/2020 16:02

The debt collection agency may have bought the debt from the original company, if so then you can’t pay or negotiate with anyone other than the debt collectors.
If they are just acting on behalf of the original company it might be different

CastleCrasher · 17/02/2020 16:03

Is there a reason you haven't paid until now, if you know the debt is yours? It sounds like you've tried to dodge paying because of s lack of paperwork, in which case it l not only have you cost them money by not paying when you should, but also more in tracking you down. Sorry if that's not the case here

Original poster
turnandfacethenamechange · 17/02/2020 16:07

It's sooo TLDR so feel free to ignore!

But basically a couple of years ago Property Management Company Ltd sent a Debt Agency 1 after us (both saying they acted 'on instruction of Leaseholder Ltd - separate company) for late payment of our service fee on our flat (200 miles away, tenanted since purchase). We hadn't owned the house long and, in spite of us chatting to them all the time about our tenants and them having multiple records of our real correspondence address, they sent the bill to our tenants, so we didn't realise we were late with it. We wrote to them and politely pointed out they had multiple records of our real postal address. They admitted it was their mistake, we paid, charge was removed, they said they would update records and email service charge in future, all fine.

Last week Leaseholder Ltd sent Debt Company 2 after me about 2 x unpaid ground rent plus collection fee, they had also been sending bills to the tenants address. I had received one bill from them for GR since purchase, sent to correct address, but that was ages ago. I paid it straight away at the time, but I guess it never really crossed my mind how long it'd been since I'd received one.

Explained to Debt Company 2 that had received one bill ages ago, that suggests they did in fact have my address? They claim they didn't, and tenant or lettings agent must have opened letter and forwarded.

Explained to Debt Company 2 about previous balls up with Property Management Company Ltd and Debt Agency 1, and explained both said they were acting on Leaseholder Ltd's behalf - surely one of them told them, once it was all resolved, that the issue had been down the the address mix up? No, says Debt Company 2, Leaseholder Ltd has never heard of your London address, nor did they instruct Debt Agency 1 to act on their behalf, and it's 'very illegal' that they claimed they were acting for them. So no idea what's going on there.

Basically Leaseholder Ltd say it's not their fault no one gave them the right address. I say it's not my fault that Debt Agency 1 and Property Management Company Ltd both gave strong (and apparently illegal) impression that they were speaking on Leaseholder Ltd's behalf - leading to my assuming there were across the details of the dispute.

I know I'm not totally blameless; I should have realised it was weird getting one bill and then none after but we get so many flipping bills I just pay them as they arrive and move on.

Am I wasting my time, would you all just pay it, charge and all?

OP posts:
Original poster
turnandfacethenamechange · 17/02/2020 16:10

sounds like you've tried to dodge paying because of s lack of paperwork

No. I don't do that. It wasn't simply a case of it not being in front of me and it slipping my mind.

OP posts:
sucha · 17/02/2020 16:10

My ex negotiated on congestion charge debts that had been sold on

HisValentine · 17/02/2020 16:11

It depends

If this debt collection agency has purchased your debt then do not pay it! Your contract etc was not with them. Three letter process.

If they are collecting on behalf of who you owe, then you could. They may still sell it on and then you don't have to pay it.

Original poster
turnandfacethenamechange · 17/02/2020 16:14

Also raise your concerns about not receiving the bill on their twitter or FB pages

They don't have any online presence, just their address with companies house. No phone, email or website. It's probably just a bloke in a house. Debt person also sole trader, no website. I wouldn't do that anyway though since it's partly my own vagueness!

OP posts:
Original poster
turnandfacethenamechange · 17/02/2020 16:31

Sorry for being thick but what does it mean when a debt is sold on?

OP posts:
Selmababies · 17/02/2020 16:40

I think people here are being over optimistic about yo ugetting away with the debt collection fees. You've already admitted it just slipped your mind to pay the bill earlier, and that's what many many people would say in the same situation ( whthere it was true or not)
I'm not judging, and I've done the same thing before. However the charges are likely to go up and up if you don't pay it promptly.
I do feel a bit sorry for the sole trader though, who is having all the hassle and cost of trying to get payment from you for a service or goods that he has provided you presumably in good faith. Sole trader's businesses can collapse due to slow or non payment!