keitha
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Post by keitha on Jan 30, 2024 14:06:23 GMT
I've had a series of letters addressed to a foreign gentleman ( Mr O) at my address since early December, I've been marking them "not at this address and returning them"
today a letter from the same company arrived addressed to me
in it the company who claim to be solicitors but share a name with a well know firm of shylocks
refer to their customer (not client customer ) the same foreign gentleman.
Basically they want the best part of £1,000 from me to pay this debt.
So I rang them ( which may or may not be a mistake ) and explained I didn't know the gentleman and I certainly wasn't going to pay his bill.
I was asked did you live at NN XXXXX street in 2016, so I said yes that was a HMO that I lived in for a few months. the woman then said the debt relates to property insurance taken out by Mr O with a large claim made but after the claim was paid no payment were made on the policy. the woman the asked me if I knew Mr O as and reeled off a list of 5 or 6 foreign sounding names I said yes I recognised the 4th name as a tenant. she then explained all of them were the same person.
So I asked how does this impact me and she explain that Mr O and all the other tenants had signed the insurance agreement, so I asked for a list of the other tenants and she read me a list. I explained that as I remember it 2 of the names she listed were the tenants who occupied the same room before and after Mr O. She then accused me of lying to cover up for my friends.
So I asked how does this affect me, I didn't sign any documents and certainly didn't agree to pay an insurance policy covering the house when individual rooms were rented.
the answer is stunning, I'm the only one of 6 people they have been able to track down, as when I left I gave the landlord my current address as a forwarding address, as they can only track me down I'm responsible for the entire debt, and how did I want to pay.
I told her I will see them in court and signature on the document isn't mine and is a forgery and there is no way I will pay this bill
the response, we will go to court and you will be ordered to pay including all our costs
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iRobot
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Post by iRobot on Jan 30, 2024 14:31:43 GMT
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keitha
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Post by keitha on Jan 30, 2024 14:43:35 GMT
yes they are so I guess in house team for the debt collectors of the same name
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iRobot
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Post by iRobot on Jan 30, 2024 15:43:14 GMT
In which case I would write to them and provide a detailed statement of the conversation you had on the telephone and ask them to acknowledge the statement as a true and accurate record and also confirm their next steps in writing. Send it to them recorded delivery. It may seem OTT, but it shows them that you are organised and prepared. If, when phoning, you got the usual 'this will be / may be recorded for quality / training purposes' - ask for a transcript of the recording. Separately, I might also lob in a Subject Access Request for good measure. The ICO provides a guide - note the 'What should an organisation send back to me?' section and the advice around specifically requesting that info. Again, may seem OTT but it once more speaks to being organised and prepared. Pain in butt having to go to any trouble at all, but it might nip things in the bud and save time and hassle in the long run... |
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Post by bernythedolt on Jan 30, 2024 15:47:35 GMT
keitha, that's pretty rotten being caught up in what appears to be somebody's scam, especially as it's taken over 7 years to emerge and memories will have faded. I am puzzled by the terminology, though, or may have misunderstood. You say Mr O was a tenant. You also say the debt relates to 'property insurance' taken out by him and refer later to an insurance policy 'covering the house'. They sound more like Buildings insurance, which would be taken out by the landlord and presumably isn't something a tenant would be involved with? Then there's Contents insurance (which may be sensible, but isn't a legal requirement) and I understand that falls to the tenants to cover themselves. Is there any possibility you entered some arrangement to cover your Contents jointly & severally with the other tenants (assuming such a policy is possible)? Could there even be a clause buried in your tenancy agreement - which you will have signed - requiring same? All pure conjecture on my part, just idle thoughts arising, so please forgive if I'm miles off.
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travolta
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Post by travolta on Jan 30, 2024 15:49:46 GMT
Citizens Advice Bureau can provide a 30 min free consultation with a solicitor .....
Personally I feel that it is a try on ...
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keitha
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Post by keitha on Jan 30, 2024 16:35:32 GMT
keitha , that's pretty rotten being caught up in what appears to be somebody's scam, especially as it's taken over 7 years to emerge and memories will have faded. I am puzzled by the terminology, though, or may have misunderstood. You say Mr O was a tenant. You also say the debt relates to 'property insurance' taken out by him and refer later to an insurance policy 'covering the house'. They sound more like Buildings insurance, which would be taken out by the landlord and presumably isn't something a tenant would be involved with? Then there's Contents insurance (which may be sensible, but isn't a legal requirement) and I understand that falls to the tenants to cover themselves. Is there any possibility you entered some arrangement to cover your Contents jointly & severally with the other tenants (assuming such a policy is possible)? Could there even be a clause buried in your tenancy agreement - which you will have signed - requiring same? All pure conjecture on my part, just idle thoughts arising, so please forgive if I'm miles off. it sounds like despite being a tenant he took out a policy that covered the entire house contents, so that would have included the landlords stuff such as the TV, dining table etc all the furniture in the rooms etc. I have a vague memory of coming in one afternoon and the Lounge being a tip with stuff scattered all over and him starting to tidy up. But surely if he was scamming insurance he'd need a Crime reference or did he stage it take photos report to police and hope they'd just give him a crime reference and not send someone to investigate iRobot I'll do that it will show that at a minimum I will put up a fight travolta CAB come to local library every week so worth a stroll, and probably a wait
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michaelc
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Post by michaelc on Jan 30, 2024 17:15:34 GMT
It annoys me that anyone should have to do any work as a result of this - most of us are not Administrators. The Robot's post is probably well meaning and may well be the thing to do but if it was me I'd be inclined to let them claim. The amount involved would invoke the small claims track so they are highly unlikely to win any claim for costs other than the court fee and interest.
Then you could see the claim which should clearly set out why you owe money. If you don't they won't be able to do that.
Simples isn't it ?
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rocky1
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Post by rocky1 on Jan 30, 2024 17:37:36 GMT
i would have thought that this debt would be statute barred by now and they have picked this up with probably with hundreds of others for pennies in the pound and are chancing their hand to try and intimidate and worry you.contact them and say please cease and desist all calls and contact with me immediately.
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iRobot
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Post by iRobot on Jan 30, 2024 20:03:10 GMT
rocky1 raises a good point - as this presumably dates back to 2016, it could well be technically time barred. The CAB even have a section on it; see: Check if you have to pay a debtSo, I'll park the earlier comments and instead suggest a read of the link above. (I think you should also name-and-shame the toe-rags involved - they and their ilk are worthless pieces of sh1t in my opinion.)
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Post by captainconfident on Jan 31, 2024 10:59:11 GMT
I'm sorry to hear about your troubles. What an annoyance and waste of time. I agree with michaelc. Its so preposterous, let them take you to court. Its going to get thrown out anyway. Concocting a counter claim for your wasted time is the best thing to do. If you can conjure up a counter claim large enough to be worth collecting, turn up at the small claims court and represent yourself. In my experience SCC judges love to see a defendant in person and enjoy granting counter claims against companies that have wrongly dragged the little guy into court. |
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keitha
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Post by keitha on Jan 31, 2024 19:32:40 GMT
my understanding is they like Northampton county court, 160 miles each way, loss of a days earnings, Lunch ...
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Post by captainconfident on Feb 1, 2024 0:08:59 GMT
You are not party to the contract and so they cannot take action against you. Mentioning some court hundreds if miles away is just an attempt to bully you into paying. I don't think they can use small claims to chase this debt and they are not going to risk court and representation fees to chase £1000. If they were to get a court date set in Northampton, you would simply apply to have the court moved to that nearest your house. Something like this would give me sleepless nights from the sheer annoyance and injustice of it. From what you've said they are just trying it on. The person you spoke to probably does this many times a day, finding some name from a stack of ancient cases given up on by someone else years ago, calls them up and tries to get them to pay using threatening language. So sleep well and ignore them. In the unlikely event they do do something, all is fine as long as you respond promptly. As someone said above, they are out of time even if you did sign something. Limitation act 1980, six years. www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1980/58 |
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Post by overthehill on Feb 1, 2024 9:55:19 GMT
Just ignore it and do not engage. What they are doing may well be criminal so report them to the police and see how they respond.
I still get threatening letters from a parking fine dating back god knows how many years which incidentally I have a valid parking ticket for, says a lot about the people and the process.
Isn't the statute of limitations 6 years ?
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eeyore
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Post by eeyore on Feb 1, 2024 10:19:43 GMT
..... the woman then said the debt relates to property insurance taken out by Mr O with a large claim made but after the claim was paid no payment were made on the policy. ..... I'm not going to disagree with any of the suggested actions above, but I'm puzzled by the justification for collection of some sort of shortfall on insurance payments. What insurance company would pay out on a claim before the premium has been paid? Even for policies where the premium is paid in monthly installments, I'd expect outstanding installments to be deducted from any payment for a claim, otherwise the insurance company is leaving itself open to being cheated in the manner suggested and then having to go to the trouble of chasing defaulters. Is this insurance company still in business? If you go to a Citizens Advice bureau, ask them to raise a "Social Policy issue" with the national Social Policy Unit of central Citizens Advice to check if this bunch have a track record of trying to dupe people. Citizens Advice have the standing to raise this sort of problem with national & local goverment and the regulatory bodies.
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