What's the deal with old debts?

[Tippychick]

I've just had an email from a company I used to work with saying that a bloke was asking for me, says he used to work with me and has some mail for me. They just took a number and mailed me.
The company is AIC in Glasgow, I googled them and they look like debt collection people. What should I do? I've read things before about not acknowledging debt if it's over 6 years old, what does that mean? I don't know why they're looking for me so it might be 6 years or 6 months for all I know. I think they got my name as the company I worked for had an open website with all staff listed and I have an unusual name.

I'm nervous of ringing them, any advice? And can they lie and say I used to work with them etc?

do you owe anyone any money??? If so then shouldn't you just pay it?

if you ring them, write or talk to them, it will become an acknowledged debt and so the six years will start again. if you don't then legally there's nothing they can do about it

it seems like you can't remember being in debt, so i would guess that it couldn't be anything major?

some people would probably think this is dishonest, but until the point they find you at your address, i would not do anything further.

I don't think so nervousal but thanks for the moral judgement. It's possible as my XP wasn't reliable about paying things like bills then lying about it but I don't know.

Thanks luminar, I guess I will just do nothing.

oh, and if you haven't, check your credit reports. if its a less-than-six years debt, it would be on there, assuming it had defaulted.

Thanks luminar, any tips on a good free site for checking a credit report? I've never done that before.

experian have free thirty day trial. you have to put your card number in but as long as you cancel it within 30 days, they don't charge. the other two, equifax and callcredit, charge a max of £2 each. its worth it in the long run.

True but I don't have a credit card so couldn't pay online. I'll have to get one of those temporary ones. Thanks for the info

I would ignore it.

I've had numerous letters from this company (AIC) in the form of threats.
The 1st letter was "Urgent - final notice of intent" - this states that if I don't pay up, they will use one of three options: 1. They would use an Attachment order on my wages

1. a bailliff could call at my home to seize assets and
2. a charging order on my property to prohibit sale.

I ignored this letter and was waiting for the court papers.

But then letter number 2 arrived a month later, threatening to pass my details to their collection and litigation dept. Again I ignored it.

a month later (infact a few days ago, dated 9th April) the third letter "Notification of intended visit" fell from my letter box. The letter says, "AIC are left with no alternative but to have our agents visit your premises".

Well, I'm waiting for their visit.

The thing is, I don't remember owing these people or the client they claim I owe (infact I don't think I do!), so I'm sitting tight.

BTW, pls visit the consummer website, there are loads of people on there who have had these problems with this company. They also have advice on how to deal with them...well, I'm not going to waste my stamp in sending letters.

Here Tippychick

Apparently there are a lot of debt collection agencies at the moment buying old debts for a few pounds, they bully and intimidate by letter and phonecalls. If the debt is down to your exp they should chase him.

Send this letter they are legally obliged to comply, it is very unlikely that they will be able to.

Dear Sir/Madam

I am in receipt of your letter dated ??/??/??, and I now respond as follows:-

Please Be advised: I do NOT acknowledge ANY debt to your Company Or To Any Other Company Within Your Group or to ANY Other Organization you may be working for, or who may be working on your behalf.

ENTIRELY WITHOUT PREJUDICE

In response to your letter dated ??/??/??, I require you to supply me the following documentation before I will correspond any further with you on this matter:-

1. You must supply me with a true-signed copy of the alleged Agreement you refer to. This is my right under your obligation to supply a copy of the Original Agreement under the legislation contained within Section.78 (1) Consumer Credit Act 1974 (s.77 (1) for fixed sum credit) - your obligation also extends to providing a fully itemized Statement of Account.

1. You must supply me with a signed true copy of the Deed of Assignment of the above referenced Agreement that you allege exists.

1. You are notified that you are obliged to supply these documents, whether you are the original Creditor or not under Section 189 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974.

Non-compliance with my request is a criminal offence under the above Act and will result in a report being submitted to the relevant Statutory Authorities.

As you are aware, a 'Credit Agreement' that is not properly documented and signed by the customer is totally unenforceable under the Consumer Credit Act and therefore is a complete defense to any court claim that is issued.

Take note at this stage, that any legal action you may contemplate will be both vigorously defended and contested. You have 12 days from the date of this letter in which to supply me with the above documentation, after which failure to do so but to continue to take recovery action against me whilst I am disputing this alleged debt will be a very serious Criminal offence and I will NOT hesitate to report you to the relevant Statutory Authorities.

Yours sincerely

BTW I am not condoning non payment of debts but think these companies use really underhanded tatics to extract money.

They haven't contacted me, just my work from 1 1/2 years ago, in another country so it might be a while before they hassle me. which is why I'm wary or just calling them to ask what this is about. I know someone who phoned and gave her info in a similar situation and was hassled to the ends for a debt that a previous tenant left.

I will do the credit check, thanks all and see what the story is. Glad to know it's not just me Creole...

Sorry Creole, but I could not disagree with you more strongly!

The absolute worst thing you can do, when there is an outstanding debt is to put your head in the sand and ignore it. This is the worst type of financial mismanagement possible.

If you are in a pickle, call up the creditor, explain your circumstances (preferably in writing too) and get things sorted.

Shit happens, I think most of us have been in a position where we either can't or won't pay a bill (for whatever reason). Ignoring the issue will not make it go away, it will only end up complicating things and potentially costing you significantly more in the long run.

The thing is dejags, I'm not putting my head in the sand, I just don't owe that debt, I know the creditors I owe and its not these people or their clients. I'm not that naive!

This company is well known for this sort of thing...I've done a lot of research on them.

I'm not in a pickle as I'm paying my creditors regularly...but this company is not getting my stamp.

My advice to the OP is visit the consumer group, so I'm not advising anyone to adopt my approach.

quite frankly, where it comes to these expletive deleted by me debt collection agencies who hound people, i'm quite happy if people ignore them because 9/10 times, they haven't got a leg to stand on.

Fair do's if that's the way you do things.

Personally, I don't like unfinished business and in my experience trying to explain myself 2 years down the line (I didn't owe money and I ignored the letters) was nigh on impossible. I ended up having to pay a debit which I didn't run up to avoid a bad credit listing (I was in the process of applying for a mortgage bond) - nasty mail order book company for you!!!

If only I had acknowledged the letters and sent an explanatory note back in the first instance, I could have avoided all the aggro and cost.

I learned the hard way and I'll never ignore a red letter again.

No, that's not the way I normally do things. But this company has got my goat and they can sing or threaten for all they like...I know they can't do a thing!

If it was a geniune debt, why not go through the proper channels to collect their debt? Its takes a few months for court action, how come I'm still getting letters from them? It has been going on for months now, the 3 letters I mentioned above are the more threatening ones...

I've had credit proplems in the past and know how it has affected me...so I'm not naive!