I told a High Court Judge once that this was supposed to be the Royal Courts of Justice, not the Royal Courts of Who Turns up! Very good advice by the BBB. To set aside a Judgement the court fee used to be £50, it is now £275. It is best to try and avoid all Court actions at all costs (unless absolutely necessary) as the system in reality is nothing to do with Justice.
I had this issue aboutv10 years ago from a previous address I lived at many years ago. I received a demand for 3 unpaid loans. The first thing I said to them that they needed to prove that I owed the debt. I also asked for the loan agreements signed by my me and in my handwriting. They could not provide them and never from them again. Always ask them to prove it. Just because someone says you owe money doesn't mean you do. It is upto them to prove it.
I had something similar some years ago. This was for a credit card. I phoned up the company concerned to state that I moved out before the date that the card was active from and that I can prove it via my tenancy agreement. I had a further letter stating that it has now been resolved.
I moved to a flat & a few weeks later a gas bill for £230 arrived in previous owners name. I didn't have last owner details so contacted gas company & advised I was new owner & that I was informing them I'm not responsible. After a few weeks another bill but this time in my name for £230. I spent days on phone, writing letters etc but nothing changed. Then a letter from debt collectors demanding £400,then £500 & threats of court action. It did not stop. In the end I got a gas engineer to remove gas meter & cap pipes. Then wrote to everyone telling them I'm all electric & have no gas appliances nor gas meter. Never had gas since I moved in. Several visit from gas engineer to confirm no meter & shortly after everything stopped. I hate this rediculous system but will now do what's necessary to make them stop.
Absolutely bastards aren’t they! I had a gas bill some years ago despite being all electric. Up until that point my twice yearly bill was always £0:00. Then later, because I had a meter, £6:00 (or thereabouts) was added, and I was expected to pay. I just ignored it as I thought it can’t possibly be right. However, another bill arrived saying I now owed over £35! I rang them up and told them in the simplest possible terms I wasn’t getting paid! Later, they came and took the meter out and waved the bill. Good for them; because it certainly wasn’t gonna get paid!
That is why, when you move to a new place, you should always ensure a meter reading is made straight away. Your mistake was leaving it for a few weeks.
I take photos of the meters when I need to do a meter reading because I can't always see the screen properly because the meters are not accessible and hard to see for an able bodied person. I have disabilities and still struggle just to get a camera in to get the pictures.
How can you be absolutely sure they are actually removing your personal details? This sounds absolutely disgraceful. It proves some companies have morals lower than a snake’s belly!
From a technical perspective, all organisations operating a database (or many databases) are required to take backups so that the data can be restored in the case of a drive failure. I'm pretty sure that organisations don't work through all of these backups to remove your personal data, so it will continue to persist for years, even if only on offline storage media.
and a cursory look at the fine print they want you to either pay monthly or yearly , which is fine, but what happens when you stop paying? if they do clear your details then why would you need it for more than a month?
I was receiving regular phone calls and letters from a debt collection agency regarding the debts of a deceased previous occupant of the house. I informed them on every occasion that the previous occupant was deceased but they were absolutely desperate to get my name and other details which I refused to give them, as in my mind, it was nothing to do with me. I think now I can see why and am thankful I stuck to my guns until I left. Thanks for the great channel, I learn something new every day!! 👍
I had a similar problem. They refused to talk to me. I targeted all their offices. They backed down. Quicker and easier than going through their channels.
Also remember that the the Limitation Act applies to debt. If it is more than 6 years old it is not payable. In the case of utilities it is one year, so you can just "show them the bird" if thats the case
I bought a house that previous owners had debt for buying a hoover. For ten years they sent people and letters and two bailiffs and they knew it wasn't me and they did have info to where they've moved to. They just take the piss with people and they probably get money from people worried they could lose their houses.
This is what people back in the days said when their birth lands stolen from them, forests destroyed, water spots that people depended on and it, on and on it goes
My cousin ran up huge credit card debts he couldn't pay. Without my knowledge or consent he gave the bank he owed the money to my address. I then started getting the demand letters. I contacted his bank. worried I would be held liable. They advised me the address is immaterial. Debt is against the named person, not an address.
Years ago while negotiating with Midland bank they stopped replying to my correspondence and sold my debt to a company that threatened my father, that they would take away his car and boat as payment for my debt, i hadn't lived there in over 20 years, i demanded an apology or they would never get payment, they never apologised and they never got paid and didn't pursue the mater any further.
Absolutely. Suppose legal proceedings are started for a debt against the wrong person and that person goes on a 90 day world cruise without knowing about the proceedings? That person then comes back to find their assets seized and their credit rating in the gutter. It is totally unreasonable to expect someone to be monitoring their mail 365 days of the year. There are also so many scams going around that we can't hope to deal with all of them just in case one of them is on track to court proceedings. Threats of bogus legal proceedings needs to be made illegal and punishable.
No the law, at least in this area, is not ridiculous; it's exactly as it needs to be. Many people think that they can get away with not paying genuine bills by simply ignoring them. Yes, you can get away with ignoring letters UNTIL you get a court summons. But then if you don't respond, a judgement will be issued against you by default. Sometimes the bill is not yours or there's some other reason why no money is due, but unless you tell the court, how are they expected to know that? I used to run a small company and on several occasions, people thought that if they didn't pay for goods received, then eventually I'd get fed up and write the amount off. Nope. A quick trip to the courthouse to get a Small Claims Summons usually did the trick. On a few occasions, people ignored the summons and a judgement was made in my favour by default, by which time, of course the amount has increased with various court costs. Once that happens, folk have 28 days to pay up or they get a County Court Judgement against them, which can adversely affect their credit rating. That usually results in payment. People whinge about it, but the fact is, they are given plenty of notice and months to contest the claim and if they fail to do so, they've only themselves to blame. If anything, the system is slanted in favour of the debtor, because while this extended process is playing out over several months, the creditor doesn't have the money he's owed.
@@matthewbellis0 I believe much of the legislation surrounding debt recovery is contained within the Consumer Credit Act 1974 and to a lesser extent the Fair Trading Act 1973. These acts are policed by the Financial Conduct Authority. There is additional (and more recent) legislation covering business to business transactions such as the Late Payment of Commercial Debts Regulation 2013.
I had two such companies go after me. Both chased the same bill for payment. I told them that the payment they sought was from the owner of the property who purchased from me. When I told them that I had a bill which stated that my last payment was endorsed by the provider that it was a final bill and that my account was closed. The credit companies would not accept that so when I told them to take me to court and my final bill would be shown there they backed down. Also I would counter sue. Scum one & all.
Reminds me of waking up to a letter years ago, debt collectors acting on behalf of one of those nasty high APR credit card companies demanding I make payment. In a panic that I'd been a victim of ID fraud I rang them immediately to get it sorted and the chap on the other end laughed (literally, actually laughed) and said yeah don't worry you probably just shared an address once and we send out to all sorts of places, I'll update the system and you won't hear from us again. In fairness this did resolve the issue, but I was more than unimpressed at the approach.
Now compared to today that is service! I don't have any issue with that. Last Autumn - Twice I sent recorded delivery forms and evidence to HMRC to certify I declare my all my income from my pension provider - HMRC said they couldn't find (signed for) recorded delivery forms sent at £6.00 a pop and my pension providers deadline wasn't going to be met -so my pension provider was going to tax me back years - Fortunately I had hard copies of my declaring it all, and I knew I had done nothing wrong - I now have anxiety and get into a state every time I need to deal with the uncontactable HMRC. After Christmas the pension provider wanted evidence that I 'exist' so I duly got my dentist to sign the form that he had seen my passport and driving licence as well as my teeth (cost me £20) and sent it off. They came back to me and wanted a copy of my passport and driving licence which I sent with covering email informing them, that as the authority I have to comply with their request, but that 'identity theft is a thing' and as I am in the UK they cannot verify me against my photos and that this was the point of my dentist doing it! That as I never give out this sort of information - That They will be held responsible if I have been cloned, I added, I do hope you have signed the official secrets act and your data base has strong security levels. Using the officious tone they used with me. I got no reply, but it made me feel better. So presumably now they are satisfied I 'exist'! (I had to sign the official secrets act when I worked there, in those days, AND, I had to answer my phone by 3 rings however complicated my calculations. So often I would have to go over it all again!). Liz Truss's Deregulated Brexit land is a thieves charter in my opinion to rob the public who are at their mercy.
I had a similar experience just 2 years ago. Though it was eventually sorted (kind of) the biggest problem was that - however long I spent on the phone (and I was chronically ill at the time) it became clear no-one was listening, no-one was making any effort to sort the problem, and no-one at the other end of the phone conversations gave a tinker's damn. The real problem here is lack of consequences for commercial abusers. If real penalties were statutorily applied, we might have fewer elderly and vulnerable people reaching early graves.
The people you spoke to were minimum-wage-slaves, the people making the decisions will always hide behind a horde of low paid minions, you will never get to speak to them.
I had this happen to me over a waterbill, they ran up a bill and the utility Company identified me as responsible, despite not having lived there for a few years. They registered a CCJ against me as we thought the letters were a scam, I was living with my parents at the address in question at the time and had never been responsible for any of the bills so we assumed it was just a bad scam based on old info. Until bailifs turned up. It took a year of back and forth of me having to prove I was not responsible, and that I was living at another address at the time the bulls were ran up. Once it was all settled we paid the landlord of that address a visit...
Surely this "error" is basically criminal in intent? If they don't use correct information in an application to the court (presumably a witness statement) they are perverting the course of justice, or possibly are in contempt? I agree that objecting at all points is very important.
It's kind of curious that while Incogni helps people scrub their personal info from the internet, their privacy policy shows they actually gather, handle, and even pass around users' personal details. It makes you wonder: what's in place to stop more of this info spreading around again?
My water company wants me to pay the previous tenants water bill. After living in my current address of 3 years they sent a bill addressed to 'the occupier' for over £1500. I thought that cant be right so i phoned them up and explained the bill must be partly from a previous tenant surely, theres no way water is that expensive. The woman said "That's no problem sir, can i take your details please?" so i told her my name etc and when she finished she said "So we will require the bill to be paid in full today, how would you like to pay" so i panicked and hung up. Now the bill is up to almost £3000 and they are threatening me with high court bailiffs to seize goods from my home, but the only thing of value i own is my chemotherapy medication fml.
Sounds like the problem is with the courts not showing due diligence in scrutinising the evidence presented to them. It should have to be proved that the individual was responsible for the property at the time of non payment ie they have to prove it was you with evidence and not just on someone's say so. Finding evidence of ownership at the time of non payment isn't difficult as all property transactions both owned and rented have a paper trail. It should be up to those claiming you are responsible to supply the evidence not the innocent party having to prove their innocence.
The UK court is adversarial. If one side says "you shot this guy" and the other side says "sure, why not?", then you likely go down for it, even if you didn't do it. In the court system, not submitting a defence at all is equivalent to admitting all statements made in the prosecution. You just have to send in a form saying "wasn't me, I don't live there" or whatever. Because one side has a piece of paper saying Joe Bloggs lived at this address ten years ago, and this address ran up a huge debt last year. If you say nothing, then I'm going to say on balance of probabilities that it was you and you've done a runner. If you turn up and say that you moved out five years ago, now it becomes contested. But you have to say something.
@davcrav explains why the courts need a serious overhaul where justice and fairness are placed at the heart of what they do. What you describe is a mockery of justice fone by people who can't be bothered to do their job properly.
I don't understand how this can happen as the Energy company will have the name of their customer who has run up the debt and the Energy Company sells the debt to the 'tracing' company. Surely they (the energy company) supply the tracing company with the address, debt, and NAME of the customer (debtor). The name of the customer (debtor) is going to be a different name to John's name surely ? So how can they proceed to court action when the debtor has a different name ? And surely the court documents will have a different name on them than the debtor ? I've listened to the beginning of the story three times and I cannot grasp how John receives letters that apparently must have his name on them otherwise he is unlikely to open them. If John was linked to the address how can they 'pin' his name to the debt. Surely that is in effect 'changing' the debtors name and should be thrown out by the court without John having to be involved at all. Why is he being held responsible to having to sort out a mistake by the 'Tracing' company.
Many years ago my first mortgage application was put on hold because someone who shared my name and DOB had outstanding debts, it was up to me to prove that the debt wasn’t mine.
Surely for a start, there should be a requirement that when selling a debt on, proof can be provided that the named individual is actually responsible for the debt. In "John"'s case, a debt is run up at an old address, but the energy company will not be able to attach John's name to it because he did not incur the debt, signed no contracts, contacted no-one therefore they cannot have any evidence he is responsible for it. All the energy company have that they can "sell" is a debt and an address to which it is attached. If they can't prove that a named individual has contracted for the service/product, the "debt" should be worthless and unenforceable. Pinning a debt on "anyone who we can find who lived at that address" should be impossible, one of the initial requirements for registering a court case should be the ability to provide proof linking an individual to a debt. Even if John lived at the address when the debt was incurred, if the company can provide no proof that he was the individual purchasing their service, the case should not even be considered?
I've had this a few times just ring them up and send them proof from when you moved it's so simple and make sure your account is payed up to that date and everything will be sorted.
Firstly, if a debt is over 6 years (in England) it doesn’t need to be paid whether you owe it or not, as it’s marked as “debt barred”and you can basically respond to the collector telling them so. Also, you can get a CCJ without knowing about it as I did, and at an address I never lived at! Removing it is impossible as I can’t afford a solicitor and the court fees, and in any case, those charges would be far higher than the CCJ amount! The whole credit score and CCJ system is stacked against us, and is designed to keep poor people poor.
Debt collectors have no legal rights like bailifs and cannot enter your property or seize any goods.They rely totally on intimidation and false threats. What you MUST do is -if they send a county court case against you-is attend and contest the issue. It will get thrown out. If it is for an old debt there is a LIMITATIONS Act where they cannot pursue any debt over six years old;if they send a letter about this simply send a letter quoting this act and state you deny any responsibility/liability for the debt they ask and request they show any letter from the last six years in which you have admitted any liability and request-them to send a letter in writing stating the debt is closed. They will have no option but to close, knowing all courts will throw their application out due to statutory limitations act.
I had one of these for a few hundred pounds after back and forth emails asking to see proof of the debt as I didn’t recognise the debt they kept asking for payment I kept asking for proof (always ask for proof and date of the debt they finally relented and closed the account
On that data removal list are 9 data centre i never heard of. But again as normal consumer I will not know them all by name. Sad how some have to make their money. Another tip: when unknown number calls , don't pick up and reject call as that shows your number is active. If you just let it ring out without answering or rejecting it , the computer/ person does not know if your number is in use .
my grandson lived about 200 miles away in the south of england. He sold his house and bought a large camper van to visit parts of europe. 3 months later i got bailiffs at my door claiming some unpaid debt. All because he had sent a parcel through amazon to my address. He has never lived at my address apart from when he was a school boy for 2 weeks while his dad had a serious operation and needed rest at home. How come Bailiffs can trace my address from an Amazon parcel delivery?? Who was allowed to give them that info?? What about my data privacy. Had to stump up £400 because they wouldnt leave and threatened further dire action. Why should i be responsible for his debt? I hadnt even seen him for 8 years and i had not received any letters in his name to contest the supposed debt they just turned up and one shoved his foot in the doorway. Im still fuming a year later
I'm pretty sure if someone shows up at your door and refuses to let you close it, unless there are actual police present, that's a home invasion scenario and you're allowed to defend yourself and your property (physically). Foot in door = no more foot.
My mother had dementia and other issues and was put in to a care home that she paid for privately. I had no access to her monies (I didn't want them either) but let her county council know of her circumstances. I found that the council were chasing her for council tax so I called them to explain the situation and advised they confer with their other departments such as social services who entirely knew mypmother's situation, plus the family dynamic. Soooo....guess what? I received a letter from a debt collection agency, all put in to motion by her cc saying they were going to come to MY home to collect her council tax arrears., The situation was really nasty and I was not co-operated with by the company even at that early stage (of course). I had to roast the cc...they backed off...but what is it like for those who don't know how things work?
This has happened to me 3 times now. Always with energy companies. 1 debt run up by my old landlord for £5k, the second by the same landlord for a further £4k and another £1k for a shop I rented 10 years ago but they started billing me from 2023. Gawd knows how they get away with it.
How is selling someone's debt to a debt collection company not illegal? It's like a mob practice. Either collect your debts or let them go? Who makes laws like this that allow the equivalent of loan sharks to function legally? Debt collection should not be a legal job.
My mother had dementia and other issues and was put in to a care home that she paid for privately. I had no access to her monies (I didn't want access either) but let her county council know of her circumstances. I found that the council were chasing her for council tax so I called them to explain the situation and advised they confer with their other departments such as social services who entirely knew my mother's situation, plus the family dynamic. Soooo....guess what? I received a letter from a debt collection agency, all put in to motion by her cc saying they were going to come to MY home to collect her council tax arrears., The situation was really nasty and I was not co-operated with by the company even at that early stage (of course). I had to roast the cc...they backed off...but what is it like for those who don't know how things work?
If you have dementia you do not pay Council Tax. This IS the law! Anyone with mental health problems is exempt from Council Tax. You should have notified the Council immediately you knew her diagnosis.
@@susan9188 The council knew she had dementia...social services were involved, Age UK, etc. I've just looked things up and you're right. That makes it even worse! They were pursuing me, the home was unoccupied because she was in care, plus she had dementia...wow... Time for an official complaint.
I had moved property and even left the country and I was getting bailiffs turn up at my registered UK address chasing for an energy bill. The utility company hadn't closed the account properly and were still billing for the electricity and gas. I resolved it a few days ago which was 17 months after having moved. The irony being I was actually in credit ! My credit score is now below 400 when it was originally over 900.
We have this on going from a company called BW Legal over 10 months now, British gas use them for debt collection , we have tried to contact them so many times and used there online portal sending them our completion date of our property, but its useless we can't do anything we have just given up, we completed our sale of our house give our final readings paid over £1k to British gas, and now we are getting chased for dates that we weren't even living there anymore, just crazy.
Sounds like you need to stop it before it gets silly. I would persist with British Gas and then get a deadlock letter if they can't resolve it. Citizens Advice should be able to help as well. Have you still got the photos of the meter readings on the completion date, they might be useful as well.
I was one that ignored the court letters, reason being I genuinely thought they were a scam. Problem is these County Court letters don't look real. No government seal , the heading just says The county court totally plain as if someone spent 1 minute creating it on office. And the address wasn't a court, some business centre in Northampton .
With ref to Incogni ! How do we know they actually do what they say, and how do we know the people they ask to remove our data, actually remove it ? I am uncomfortable trusting a service where the only information about their activities is from them ! How can it be corroborated?
I was able to move into my previous property which I had bought after the squatters had left. There were a number of letters delivered for these scum bags, which I posted back with not known at this address, thinking this would do the trick....fast forward a couple of months and on a Friday another letter arrived. This one piqued my interest and so it was opened, it was notification from a bailiff that they were to attend my property on the Monday to collect the debt or items to the value of £7K! Thankfully this company engaged by the bank were reputable and after sending my mortgage documents across, I was able to prove the debt was not mine. Lesson learned, not known at this address does not work and always worth opening mail delivered to your address even if it is not in your name.
I was getting a lot of letters to the previous owner of my house, the first year i just put (Return to sender) and put back in the post. Year 2 still getting these letters from the same company, so opened one and it was an account for the previous owner. I phoned them to inform the person does not live here anymore and they requested that i should find out where the previous owner went and let them know. I informed them i had no idea and they can do that. They informed they would not and would keep sending these account letter to my address since they had to. I now get a letter to the previous owner every 6 months - this has been going on for 17 years now, when they come i just throw them in the bin.
Either tell them you’ll report them to the police for harassment and obtain a protection from harassment order or inform them for every letter they send you will charge a £25 ‘processing fee’. When they don’t pay up launch a small claims case.
Instead of a law allowing you to tap your heels together three times, jump through a flaming hoop, throw a double six and ask for unregulated brokers to remove your data, wouldn't it make more sense to have a law prohibiting unregulated brokers from storing and distributing your data?
I'm a commercial agent in Australia and I'm regularly asked to make calls on people who are not the debtor, or they are the victim in a car accident and the insurance company of the other side simply want money. If you have insurance they back off but without the protection of the insurance company's solicitors, they will try it on. I regularly do Examinations of people found in default of the debt who never got served a Statement of Claim so they had no chance to defend the claim. Basically the debt collection company send it in the mail to thelast known address and if you dont get it or don;t respond, 28 days later you're automatically found in default. The collection agency can use the court to serve the document and too often the court just posts it to the last known address etc. I see too many nice people caught up in a flawed system; the professional debtors always seem to squirm away and never get pinged.
Would The Bill of exchange act 1882 prevent the company who bought the debt from recovering the funds from the original person owing the money, due to the debt being sold to a 3rd party? Also, wouldn't a Statute of Limitation apply?
This happened to me, with an energy company, I contacted them and told them that it wasn't my debt, as hadn't lived there for years. They said I had to prove it, so I told them I would prove it when they took me to court as I had all the required proof. After that I didn't hear another thing from them,.
They acted completely backwards. If they make a claim against an individual the burden of proof is on them, the response ought to be to ask THEM to prove their claim. Tricksters.
I have just had a debt collection agent who said I owed a shop direct debt from 2001. I immediately informed them the debt was statute barred as it was over 6 years old.
Absolute Proof and use the S.A.R and report them if they have incorrect information, if they don't comply sue them. I have done it, CABOT decided I owned money which I did not, they could not provide absolute proof - they tried to go to court, I moved it from the clearing court Northampton to a local court and countered. They turned up and did not provide any evidence then asked for a stay. Case was placed into stay for them to provide evidence I owed, they did not, i pushed for counter claim with GDPR - Cabot sold the account on before the case could. I took them on and won on GDPR, they do this all the time. ~Trooper
@@Kooseandco Processing incorrect information of someone that is not correct or does not exist. In my case they could not proove I owned the dept but pushed ahead as if I did.. ~Trooper
NO SANE JUDGE WOULD GO FOR THIS ... But then again who's ever found a judge to be sane.. If you're not at the address then it's nothing to do with you, and you're innocent until PROVEN GUILTY. I will take you to court.. and you will in the end pay for all damages..
You're choosing to feel anxious about this. You could easily choose to feel secure in the knowledge of how to go about an event like this if it ever occured. Such a simple change of view and "anxiety" is all washed away.
@@Martyn_Wolf I ain't choosing anything, I know the reality of the law and you only get as much justice as you can afford, coupled with the fact that in financial related matter your presumed guilty until you prove your innocence, as someone has to cough up the costs to our capitalist masters, usually the innocent Joe bloggs
?? Surely your details are given back to these companies as fast as they are removed, removed at 8am you go back on the internet and now they get a refresh copy replacing the details they have just removed and the cycle continues.
Excellent video, default judgments are a huge problem within England & Wales. More awareness and support are needed to enable citizens to respond and challenge such claims.
Many years ago I worked in an Official Receivers office. The level of cowboy (bandit, even) activity in the debt industry was horrifying. The Enterprise Act 2001 had been in force for several years at this point, and we had Insolvency Practitioners and debt collection agencies flaunting it on a daily basis. About half my workload was writing to these firms to remind them what the law said and to stop harassing people.
I lived in one of those retired homes for two years,moved out just before COVID everything paid up. Two years later the electric supply company send me a demand for payment of power usage. Luckily I had physical documents I was able to prove payment up to the day I left. Part of the problem was COVID struck and the apartment was left empty for a while so the power supply tried to change me for an empty apartment. The easiest thing that they could have done is check the main office and the council for council tax payment.
It happens to people who buy a house a lot from tenants who previously in it ( therr post still arrives once there gone and they seem to have different debt) I just rang their company first and told them when I move in
Here's a puzzle. I paid EDF £40 every 4 weeks. Last June, I retired, and was shocked to receive £160 pension for the month in arrears. It took me 6 months to sort out the paperwork and no one even mentioned pension credit to me as I had been an army wife for 17 years of my working life and I'd lived in 10 different places in that time, usually where there wasn't pavements yet alone work, which were taken by desperate locals. So, long story short, it was December before it was all worked out and I could afford to live. Phoned EDF. Somehow is 6 months I owed them over £2000 and they want £130 a month off me. How on earth, when I paid 40 quid every 4 weeks, does me not doing so for 6 months add up to over 2 grand?
Seems like a shockingly low bar to 'prove' responsibility in these cases. Sounds like an urgent change to the law is required. Good job this lax level of proof isn't acceptable for something more serious....murder for example.... disappointing fail for the UK 'justice' system.
Eon Next sent me several letters demanding money for a previous address for a time period after I had left. I had documentary evidence that they had acknowledged my departure date, which I sent them. They only stopped when I asked them to send me everything they knew about me and my account, starting with the closure date. They didn’t send anything but the demands stopped.
I have had exactly the same with Eon Next who took over a dept from NPower after a house I sold was not billed to the new owners. Took ages to sort out. No apology or offer of compensation for the stress caused to me for this.
Ridiculous process. They don't need to prove you live there within the dates of the supposed debt. Surely, they should get references from the landlords and proof of tenancy agreements. A petition should be raised to address this in Parliament. Then, these companies should be done for breaking data protection laws.
I’m currently having a similar issue, contract taken out with O2 never delivered, never activated, no calls ever made on handset. So now having to fight a CCJ in court and every month they issue a default on my account for a product I never received. No proof of ever having got the product O2 agreed but then just sold the ‘debt’. Jokers that my credit rating is being ruined without even a court order! Bell ends….
We had a threatening letter from allegedly a law firm for a woman who owed £4000 that was never at this address. they where very aggressive on the phone so we said that if they where legitimate they could use the electoral register and find the woman was never hear..... didn't hear from them again.....
My sister got divorced, told bank as such that she was no longer in a joint account with ex husband. Ex ran up 3K odd debt. Debt collector banged on her door demanding money. She asked why, they said we can't find your ex husband, but we have your name and address. She told them he ran up debt after divorce, not her problem or debt, told them his address and shut door on them..
I work in credit control chasing debts for an energy company. if we have an "occupier" account with no contact details then we may use 3rd party track and trace companies to find out who the occupier was at the time the energy was used, but it should be obvious that the debt belongs to the occupier at the time, not a previous occupier from years ago.
If they think they can intimidate and get away with it, even if it's illegal, they will. Scum trued to send 4 debt agencies after me for energy used after I'd already moved out!
It works , signed up for 60£, next year at 75 ( they could see it coming that I cancel and reduced from 100 to 75 for second year subscription 😅), got my first e mails confirming data remaival but also a Californian career recruitment agency asking me to sign up - probably last ditched attempt to keep my name before requested delete😅, and have 43 data removal request initiated . All that on a uk bank holiday Monday, not bad. Will carry on beeing very careful reading small print and not giving out my details except if really necessary . I keep eye on my bank and credit card daily.
I used to work for a credit reference agency and they operate under strict rules. Personal data has to be correct, up to date and relevant. This can be difficult since the quality of the source data is variable. However, other companies aren't so careful and could be breaking the law. Make sure you are on the electoral roll, it is a key statistic and helps your credit rating.
Shocking. Companies sharing your information without my knowledge? I thought I was protected by the data protection act. Data broker companies buying and selling my data should be illegal.
If the debts not in my name, and it’s posted to my address, I ignore it. They should do proper checks to 100% know they have the person at the address. If they break in I’ll sue them, because I won’t open someone’s post
Surely they have to prove you owe the money, where was the signed agreement in his name? If they cannot produce an agreement they do not have an agreement surely?
this is why we need legal reform. If a court sent out such a document without the true evidence that should be deemed a crime - demanding money with menaces - our legal system is shocking
Will it suffice to simply write on the envelope "No such person at this address" or "return to sender, wrong address" and give it to the mail man. Usually the postal system will stop more of those letters being delivered if the sender refuses to update their data.
Step 1. A debt exists at an address. Step 2. Look through databases to find someone, anyone, who used to live there. Step 3. Find another address for that person. Step 4. Bother them at that other address.
So the UTAP is the 'Not Admitted' bullet point in your video? I was really shocked by this accepted practice of passing a default judgement if you do not contest it. Feels like these legally accepted practices should be taught at school since surely I can not be the only person that feels that these scurrilous unregulated organisations should be required to prove their allegations? Another awesome video sir!
I've run an HMO (house of multiple occupancy) with my own private owners accommodation for many years and had many tenants run up debts of several £1000s of pounds with all sorts of organisations. I've never been chased for a debt that wasn't mine. What I do is: after a tenants moves out, I google the return address on any mail I receive for them. If it's about a debt I open the letter and call the company. I tell them that the person is no longer here and that they owe money all over the place. The debt collectors say. "Thanks for telling us. you won't hear from us again" and I never do. simples!
That's why I stick to same energy company for as long as possible , switching casues so much chaos. Better pay higher prices than spending gweek on tracing old bills and figuring out chronology of changing. I find it also easier to check my consumption by sticking to same energy provider as presentation of bill is same.
If you are receiving debt letters for a former resident of your address, lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office. The Data Protection Act stipulates that any data held on a person has to be accurate. If the debtor has moved on, the data held clearly isn't accurate.
I remember when someone tried to set up a mobile phone contract in my name with a company I had not heard of at the time, first thing I did was go to my bank who put me in touch with a credit agency and the polices fraud department.
I knownas a matter of fact that information is leaked. My husband hasn't been in the UK for 24 years and on return, as soon as he got a contract phone, debt collection agencies (who all had a strangely indian accent) started calling. My husband was 18 when he left the UK and didn't have any debt when he left. The only contracts he has are his work contract and phone contract. One of them must have a leak or are selling information.
Trying to sort out the damage after someone steels your data and uses it to take out credit/loans in your name is a horror story. I wish I had this service when it happened to me 15 years ago.
I wonder how many people receive a demand for money like this and just pay it without question? I certainly wouldn't, but my wife received a letter from a collection agency several years ago, relating to a bank account she'd held a few years before. I tried to persuade her to look into it first, but she went ahead and paid them. It was only a couple of hundred of pounds, but still.
I did that , I told brittish gas the final reading and asked to send bill to new address , I paid it , two years later they chased for money , I told them I have no gas , it took them 6 months to accept that the new house owner was nothing to do with me
Use code blackbeltbarrister at the link below to get an exclusive 60% off an annual Incogni plan: incogni.com/blackbeltbarrister
This needs investigating
th-cam.com/video/_dScGwfXxeE/w-d-xo.html
Thank you.
Can you do a video on temu?
@@stefstefstef123 Temu is a scam!
I love your channel but I'm not sure you speaking facts now.
I told a High Court Judge once that this was supposed to be the Royal Courts of Justice, not the Royal Courts of Who Turns up!
Very good advice by the BBB. To set aside a Judgement the court fee used to be £50, it is now £275. It is best to try and avoid all Court actions at all costs (unless absolutely necessary) as the system in reality is nothing to do with Justice.
I had this issue aboutv10 years ago from a previous address I lived at many years ago. I received a demand for 3 unpaid loans. The first thing I said to them that they needed to prove that I owed the debt. I also asked for the loan agreements signed by my me and in my handwriting. They could not provide them and never from them again. Always ask them to prove it. Just because someone says you owe money doesn't mean you do. It is upto them to prove it.
While I received a demand for council tax from an address I left way before the declared time
I had something similar some years ago. This was for a credit card.
I phoned up the company concerned to state that I moved out before the date that the card was active from and that I can prove it via my tenancy agreement. I had a further letter stating that it has now been resolved.
I moved to a flat & a few weeks later a gas bill for £230 arrived in previous owners name. I didn't have last owner details so contacted gas company & advised I was new owner & that I was informing them I'm not responsible.
After a few weeks another bill but this time in my name for £230. I spent days on phone, writing letters etc but nothing changed.
Then a letter from debt collectors demanding £400,then £500 & threats of court action. It did not stop.
In the end I got a gas engineer to remove gas meter & cap pipes.
Then wrote to everyone telling them I'm all electric & have no gas appliances nor gas meter. Never had gas since I moved in.
Several visit from gas engineer to confirm no meter & shortly after everything stopped.
I hate this rediculous system but will now do what's necessary to make them stop.
Absolutely bastards aren’t they! I had a gas bill some years ago despite being all electric. Up until that point my twice yearly bill was always £0:00. Then later, because I had a meter, £6:00 (or thereabouts) was added, and I was expected to pay. I just ignored it as I thought it can’t possibly be right. However, another bill arrived saying I now owed over £35! I rang them up and told them in the simplest possible terms I wasn’t getting paid! Later, they came and took the meter out and waved the bill. Good for them; because it certainly wasn’t gonna get paid!
Ovo by any chance?
That is why, when you move to a new place, you should always ensure a meter reading is made straight away. Your mistake was leaving it for a few weeks.
@@grahvis I always take a photo of meter readings as proof to back myself up if needed.
I take photos of the meters when I need to do a meter reading because I can't always see the screen properly because the meters are not accessible and hard to see for an able bodied person. I have disabilities and still struggle just to get a camera in to get the pictures.
How can you be absolutely sure they are actually removing your personal details? This sounds absolutely disgraceful. It proves some companies have morals lower than a snake’s belly!
From a technical perspective, all organisations operating a database (or many databases) are required to take backups so that the data can be restored in the case of a drive failure. I'm pretty sure that organisations don't work through all of these backups to remove your personal data, so it will continue to persist for years, even if only on offline storage media.
You cannot be sure they are actually removing your personal details.
and a cursory look at the fine print they want you to either pay monthly or yearly , which is fine, but what happens when you stop paying? if they do clear your details then why would you need it for more than a month?
People most often ignore them because we are constantly told not to interact with scams! This contradiction is what catch most out.
Once it's online and/or the cloud, there is no remove, they just tell you that.
I was receiving regular phone calls and letters from a debt collection agency regarding the debts of a deceased previous occupant of the house. I informed them on every occasion that the previous occupant was deceased but they were absolutely desperate to get my name and other details which I refused to give them, as in my mind, it was nothing to do with me. I think now I can see why and am thankful I stuck to my guns until I left. Thanks for the great channel, I learn something new every day!! 👍
I had a similar problem. They refused to talk to me. I targeted all their offices. They backed down. Quicker and easier than going through their channels.
Always ask for a Proof of Debt. Companies buy and sell debts, add fees/charges BUT the originall so called debt can't be found.
Posted BEFORE I saw Incogni !
@@tonybrett5209 Why are you saying this about when you posted what is great advice? What am I missing? Thanks 😊
@@Coolcmsc he's weird that's all
Also remember that the the Limitation Act applies to debt. If it is more than 6 years old it is not payable. In the case of utilities it is one year, so you can just "show them the bird" if thats the case
I bought a house that previous owners had debt for buying a hoover. For ten years they sent people and letters and two bailiffs and they knew it wasn't me and they did have info to where they've moved to. They just take the piss with people and they probably get money from people worried they could lose their houses.
Extortion
This is what people back in the days said when their birth lands stolen from them, forests destroyed, water spots that people depended on and it, on and on it goes
My cousin ran up huge credit card debts he couldn't pay. Without my knowledge or consent he gave the bank he owed the money to my address. I then started getting the demand letters. I contacted his bank. worried I would be held liable. They advised me the address is immaterial. Debt is against the named person, not an address.
I hope you have that in writing, it's not my experience at all
@@barrybarry6592That's the current legal standard for debt, but it used to be the address that got blacklisted.
I’m going to listen to the Black Belt Barrister
@@matthewbellis0 Yeah mate, keep taking your medication.
Years ago while negotiating with Midland bank they stopped replying to my correspondence and sold my debt to a company that threatened my father, that they would take away his car and boat as payment for my debt, i hadn't lived there in over 20 years, i demanded an apology or they would never get payment, they never apologised and they never got paid and didn't pursue the mater any further.
the law is obviously ridiculous and needs to be immediately changed
Absolutely. Suppose legal proceedings are started for a debt against the wrong person and that person goes on a 90 day world cruise without knowing about the proceedings? That person then comes back to find their assets seized and their credit rating in the gutter. It is totally unreasonable to expect someone to be monitoring their mail 365 days of the year. There are also so many scams going around that we can't hope to deal with all of them just in case one of them is on track to court proceedings. Threats of bogus legal proceedings needs to be made illegal and punishable.
No the law, at least in this area, is not ridiculous; it's exactly as it needs to be. Many people think that they can get away with not paying genuine bills by simply ignoring them. Yes, you can get away with ignoring letters UNTIL you get a court summons. But then if you don't respond, a judgement will be issued against you by default. Sometimes the bill is not yours or there's some other reason why no money is due, but unless you tell the court, how are they expected to know that?
I used to run a small company and on several occasions, people thought that if they didn't pay for goods received, then eventually I'd get fed up and write the amount off. Nope. A quick trip to the courthouse to get a Small Claims Summons usually did the trick. On a few occasions, people ignored the summons and a judgement was made in my favour by default, by which time, of course the amount has increased with various court costs. Once that happens, folk have 28 days to pay up or they get a County Court Judgement against them, which can adversely affect their credit rating. That usually results in payment. People whinge about it, but the fact is, they are given plenty of notice and months to contest the claim and if they fail to do so, they've only themselves to blame.
If anything, the system is slanted in favour of the debtor, because while this extended process is playing out over several months, the creditor doesn't have the money he's owed.
All this stuff should be run by the government, police, and CPS. Private companies being involved is out of order.
@@matthewbellis0 indeed!
@@matthewbellis0 I believe much of the legislation surrounding debt recovery is contained within the Consumer Credit Act 1974 and to a lesser extent the Fair Trading Act 1973. These acts are policed by the Financial Conduct Authority. There is additional (and more recent) legislation covering business to business transactions such as the Late Payment of Commercial Debts Regulation 2013.
Interesting that even courts are corrupt nowadays
I had two such companies go after me. Both chased the same bill for payment. I told them that the payment they sought was from the owner of the property who purchased from me.
When I told them that I had a bill which stated that my last payment was endorsed by the provider that it was a final bill and that my account was closed. The credit companies would not accept that so when I told them to take me to court and my final bill would be shown there they backed down. Also I would counter sue.
Scum one & all.
Reminds me of waking up to a letter years ago, debt collectors acting on behalf of one of those nasty high APR credit card companies demanding I make payment. In a panic that I'd been a victim of ID fraud I rang them immediately to get it sorted and the chap on the other end laughed (literally, actually laughed) and said yeah don't worry you probably just shared an address once and we send out to all sorts of places, I'll update the system and you won't hear from us again. In fairness this did resolve the issue, but I was more than unimpressed at the approach.
Now compared to today that is service! I don't have any issue with that.
Last Autumn - Twice I sent recorded delivery forms and evidence to HMRC to certify I declare my all my income from my pension provider - HMRC said they couldn't find (signed for) recorded delivery forms sent at £6.00 a pop and my pension providers deadline wasn't going to be met -so my pension provider was going to tax me back years -
Fortunately I had hard copies of my declaring it all, and I knew I had done nothing wrong - I now have anxiety and get into a state every time I need to deal with the uncontactable HMRC.
After Christmas the pension provider wanted evidence that I 'exist' so I duly got my dentist to sign the form that he had seen my passport and driving licence as well as my teeth (cost me £20) and sent it off.
They came back to me and wanted a copy of my passport and driving licence which I sent with covering email informing them, that as the authority I have to comply with their request, but that 'identity theft is a thing' and as I am in the UK they cannot verify me against my photos and that this was the point of my dentist doing it!
That as I never give out this sort of information - That They will be held responsible if I have been cloned, I added, I do hope you have signed the official secrets act and your data base has strong security levels. Using the officious tone they used with me. I got no reply, but it made me feel better. So presumably now they are satisfied I 'exist'! (I had to sign the official secrets act when I worked there, in those days, AND, I had to answer my phone by 3 rings however complicated my calculations. So often I would have to go over it all again!).
Liz Truss's Deregulated Brexit land is a thieves charter in my opinion to rob the public who are at their mercy.
I had a similar experience just 2 years ago. Though it was eventually sorted (kind of) the biggest problem was that - however long I spent on the phone (and I was chronically ill at the time) it became clear no-one was listening, no-one was making any effort to sort the problem, and no-one at the other end of the phone conversations gave a tinker's damn.
The real problem here is lack of consequences for commercial abusers. If real penalties were statutorily applied, we might have fewer elderly and vulnerable people reaching early graves.
The people you spoke to were minimum-wage-slaves, the people making the decisions will always hide behind a horde of low paid minions, you will never get to speak to them.
I had this happen to me over a waterbill, they ran up a bill and the utility Company identified me as responsible, despite not having lived there for a few years. They registered a CCJ against me as we thought the letters were a scam, I was living with my parents at the address in question at the time and had never been responsible for any of the bills so we assumed it was just a bad scam based on old info. Until bailifs turned up. It took a year of back and forth of me having to prove I was not responsible, and that I was living at another address at the time the bulls were ran up. Once it was all settled we paid the landlord of that address a visit...
Any company that makes this mistake should be put out of business.
Surely this "error" is basically criminal in intent? If they don't use correct information in an application to the court (presumably a witness statement) they are perverting the course of justice, or possibly are in contempt? I agree that objecting at all points is very important.
It's kind of curious that while Incogni helps people scrub their personal info from the internet, their privacy policy shows they actually gather, handle, and even pass around users' personal details. It makes you wonder: what's in place to stop more of this info spreading around again?
Presumably, I need your details to ask someone else to remove your details.
@@zeggyiv Understandable, but is it necessary to share my information?
@@SL1PSTAR How do I ask a company to remove your details, without giving them at least some of your details? They need to know what to remove.
@@zeggyiv I did reply to your question but it appears to have been removed. With that I will take a hint.
My water company wants me to pay the previous tenants water bill. After living in my current address of 3 years they sent a bill addressed to 'the occupier' for over £1500. I thought that cant be right so i phoned them up and explained the bill must be partly from a previous tenant surely, theres no way water is that expensive. The woman said "That's no problem sir, can i take your details please?" so i told her my name etc and when she finished she said "So we will require the bill to be paid in full today, how would you like to pay" so i panicked and hung up. Now the bill is up to almost £3000 and they are threatening me with high court bailiffs to seize goods from my home, but the only thing of value i own is my chemotherapy medication fml.
Sounds like the problem is with the courts not showing due diligence in scrutinising the evidence presented to them.
It should have to be proved that the individual was responsible for the property at the time of non payment ie they have to prove it was you with evidence and not just on someone's say so.
Finding evidence of ownership at the time of non payment isn't difficult as all property transactions both owned and rented have a paper trail.
It should be up to those claiming you are responsible to supply the evidence not the innocent party having to prove their innocence.
Absolutely, well said.
The UK court is adversarial. If one side says "you shot this guy" and the other side says "sure, why not?", then you likely go down for it, even if you didn't do it. In the court system, not submitting a defence at all is equivalent to admitting all statements made in the prosecution. You just have to send in a form saying "wasn't me, I don't live there" or whatever. Because one side has a piece of paper saying Joe Bloggs lived at this address ten years ago, and this address ran up a huge debt last year. If you say nothing, then I'm going to say on balance of probabilities that it was you and you've done a runner. If you turn up and say that you moved out five years ago, now it becomes contested. But you have to say something.
@davcrav explains why the courts need a serious overhaul where justice and fairness are placed at the heart of what they do. What you describe is a mockery of justice fone by people who can't be bothered to do their job properly.
I don't understand how this can happen as the Energy company will have the name of their customer who has run up the debt and the Energy Company sells the debt to the 'tracing' company. Surely they (the energy company) supply the tracing company with the address, debt, and NAME of the customer (debtor). The name of the customer (debtor) is going to be a different name to John's name surely ? So how can they proceed to court action when the debtor has a different name ? And surely the court documents will have a different name on them than the debtor ? I've listened to the beginning of the story three times and I cannot grasp how John receives letters that apparently must have his name on them otherwise he is unlikely to open them. If John was linked to the address how can they 'pin' his name to the debt. Surely that is in effect 'changing' the debtors name and should be thrown out by the court without John having to be involved at all. Why is he being held responsible to having to sort out a mistake by the 'Tracing' company.
Many years ago my first mortgage application was put on hold because someone who shared my name and DOB had outstanding debts, it was up to me to prove that the debt wasn’t mine.
Surely for a start, there should be a requirement that when selling a debt on, proof can be provided that the named individual is actually responsible for the debt. In "John"'s case, a debt is run up at an old address, but the energy company will not be able to attach John's name to it because he did not incur the debt, signed no contracts, contacted no-one therefore they cannot have any evidence he is responsible for it. All the energy company have that they can "sell" is a debt and an address to which it is attached. If they can't prove that a named individual has contracted for the service/product, the "debt" should be worthless and unenforceable. Pinning a debt on "anyone who we can find who lived at that address" should be impossible, one of the initial requirements for registering a court case should be the ability to provide proof linking an individual to a debt. Even if John lived at the address when the debt was incurred, if the company can provide no proof that he was the individual purchasing their service, the case should not even be considered?
I've had this a few times just ring them up and send them proof from when you moved it's so simple and make sure your account is payed up to that date and everything will be sorted.
Firstly, if a debt is over 6 years (in England) it doesn’t need to be paid whether you owe it or not, as it’s marked as “debt barred”and you can basically respond to the collector telling them so. Also, you can get a CCJ without knowing about it as I did, and at an address I never lived at! Removing it is impossible as I can’t afford a solicitor and the court fees, and in any case, those charges would be far higher than the CCJ amount! The whole credit score and CCJ system is stacked against us, and is designed to keep poor people poor.
Debt collectors have no legal rights like bailifs and cannot enter your property or seize any goods.They rely totally on intimidation and false threats. What you MUST do is -if they send a county court case against you-is attend and contest the issue. It will get thrown out. If it is for an old debt there is a LIMITATIONS Act where they cannot pursue any debt over six years old;if they send a letter about this simply send a letter quoting this act and state you deny any responsibility/liability for the debt they ask and request they show any letter from the last six years in which you have admitted any liability and request-them to send a letter in writing stating the debt is closed. They will have no option but to close, knowing all courts will throw their application out due to statutory limitations act.
I had one of these for a few hundred pounds after back and forth emails asking to see proof of the debt as I didn’t recognise the debt they kept asking for payment I kept asking for proof (always ask for proof and date of the debt they finally relented and closed the account
On that data removal list are 9 data centre i never heard of. But again as normal consumer I will not know them all by name. Sad how some have to make their money.
Another tip: when unknown number calls , don't pick up and reject call as that shows your number is active. If you just let it ring out without answering or rejecting it , the computer/ person does not know if your number is in use .
How does an energy company leave a consumer to rack thousands of debt like that in the first place? irresponsible.
Greedy people don't care about responsibility or anything else that stops them squeezing all that blood from the stone.
Because sometimes the consumers ignore the bills.
It's beyond belief that this ridiculous process has any legal standing whatsoever. The law needs changing as soon as possible. Obviously.
my grandson lived about 200 miles away in the south of england. He sold his house and bought a large camper van to visit parts of europe. 3 months later i got bailiffs at my door claiming some unpaid debt. All because he had sent a parcel through amazon to my address. He has never lived at my address apart from when he was a school boy for 2 weeks while his dad had a serious operation and needed rest at home. How come Bailiffs can trace my address from an Amazon parcel delivery?? Who was allowed to give them that info?? What about my data privacy. Had to stump up £400 because they wouldnt leave and threatened further dire action. Why should i be responsible for his debt? I hadnt even seen him for 8 years and i had not received any letters in his name to contest the supposed debt they just turned up and one shoved his foot in the doorway. Im still fuming a year later
I'm pretty sure if someone shows up at your door and refuses to let you close it, unless there are actual police present, that's a home invasion scenario and you're allowed to defend yourself and your property (physically). Foot in door = no more foot.
My mother had dementia and other issues and was put in to a care home that she paid for privately. I had no access to her monies (I didn't want them either) but let her county council know of her circumstances. I found that the council were chasing her for council tax so I called them to explain the situation and advised they confer with their other departments such as social services who entirely knew mypmother's situation, plus the family dynamic.
Soooo....guess what? I received a letter from a debt collection agency, all put in to motion by her cc saying they were going to come to MY home to collect her council tax arrears.,
The situation was really nasty and I was not co-operated with by the company even at that early stage (of course).
I had to roast the cc...they backed off...but what is it like for those who don't know how things work?
Why would you even pay it 😂
@@FBI_Agent_69420this isnt America
@@markbellew4194 That's true.
This has happened to me 3 times now. Always with energy companies. 1 debt run up by my old landlord for £5k, the second by the same landlord for a further £4k and another £1k for a shop I rented 10 years ago but they started billing me from 2023. Gawd knows how they get away with it.
How is selling someone's debt to a debt collection company not illegal? It's like a mob practice. Either collect your debts or let them go? Who makes laws like this that allow the equivalent of loan sharks to function legally? Debt collection should not be a legal job.
My mother had dementia and other issues and was put in to a care home that she paid for privately. I had no access to her monies (I didn't want access either) but let her county council know of her circumstances. I found that the council were chasing her for council tax so I called them to explain the situation and advised they confer with their other departments such as social services who entirely knew my mother's situation, plus the family dynamic.
Soooo....guess what? I received a letter from a debt collection agency, all put in to motion by her cc saying they were going to come to MY home to collect her council tax arrears.,
The situation was really nasty and I was not co-operated with by the company even at that early stage (of course).
I had to roast the cc...they backed off...but what is it like for those who don't know how things work?
If you have dementia you do not pay Council Tax. This IS the law! Anyone with mental health problems is exempt from Council Tax. You should have notified the Council immediately you knew her diagnosis.
@@susan9188 The council knew she had dementia...social services were involved, Age UK, etc. I've just looked things up and you're right. That makes it even worse! They were pursuing me, the home was unoccupied because she was in care, plus she had dementia...wow...
Time for an official complaint.
I had moved property and even left the country and I was getting bailiffs turn up at my registered UK address chasing for an energy bill.
The utility company hadn't closed the account properly and were still billing for the electricity and gas.
I resolved it a few days ago which was 17 months after having moved.
The irony being I was actually in credit !
My credit score is now below 400 when it was originally over 900.
We have this on going from a company called BW Legal over 10 months now, British gas use them for debt collection , we have tried to contact them so many times and used there online portal sending them our completion date of our property, but its useless we can't do anything we have just given up, we completed our sale of our house give our final readings paid over £1k to British gas, and now we are getting chased for dates that we weren't even living there anymore, just crazy.
Sounds like you need to stop it before it gets silly. I would persist with British Gas and then get a deadlock letter if they can't resolve it. Citizens Advice should be able to help as well. Have you still got the photos of the meter readings on the completion date, they might be useful as well.
I was one that ignored the court letters, reason being I genuinely thought they were a scam. Problem is these County Court letters don't look real. No government seal , the heading just says The county court totally plain as if someone spent 1 minute creating it on office. And the address wasn't a court, some business centre in Northampton .
With ref to Incogni ! How do we know they actually do what they say, and how do we know the people they ask to remove our data, actually remove it ? I am uncomfortable trusting a service where the only information about their activities is from them ! How can it be corroborated?
I was able to move into my previous property which I had bought after the squatters had left. There were a number of letters delivered for these scum bags, which I posted back with not known at this address, thinking this would do the trick....fast forward a couple of months and on a Friday another letter arrived. This one piqued my interest and so it was opened, it was notification from a bailiff that they were to attend my property on the Monday to collect the debt or items to the value of £7K! Thankfully this company engaged by the bank were reputable and after sending my mortgage documents across, I was able to prove the debt was not mine. Lesson learned, not known at this address does not work and always worth opening mail delivered to your address even if it is not in your name.
I was getting a lot of letters to the previous owner of my house, the first year i just put (Return to sender) and put back in the post. Year 2 still getting these letters from the same company, so opened one and it was an account for the previous owner. I phoned them to inform the person does not live here anymore and they requested that i should find out where the previous owner went and let them know. I informed them i had no idea and they can do that. They informed they would not and would keep sending these account letter to my address since they had to. I now get a letter to the previous owner every 6 months - this has been going on for 17 years now, when they come i just throw them in the bin.
Wow, they sure are persistent!
Either tell them you’ll report them to the police for harassment and obtain a protection from harassment order or inform them for every letter they send you will charge a £25 ‘processing fee’. When they don’t pay up launch a small claims case.
My son worked for a major High St shoe chain. He was actively encouraged to gain customer credentials as the details were sold to a third party.
WOW! What happened to innocent until proven guilty? How can they do that without providing any proof? Dirty scammers!
Instead of a law allowing you to tap your heels together three times, jump through a flaming hoop, throw a double six and ask for unregulated brokers to remove your data, wouldn't it make more sense to have a law prohibiting unregulated brokers from storing and distributing your data?
Crazy. Does the law also allow bill collectors to collect from relatives of people that died owing debts? Just as stupid.
No, debts are taken from the estate of the deceased.
I'm a commercial agent in Australia and I'm regularly asked to make calls on people who are not the debtor, or they are the victim in a car accident and the insurance company of the other side simply want money. If you have insurance they back off but without the protection of the insurance company's solicitors, they will try it on. I regularly do Examinations of people found in default of the debt who never got served a Statement of Claim so they had no chance to defend the claim. Basically the debt collection company send it in the mail to thelast known address and if you dont get it or don;t respond, 28 days later you're automatically found in default. The collection agency can use the court to serve the document and too often the court just posts it to the last known address etc. I see too many nice people caught up in a flawed system; the professional debtors always seem to squirm away and never get pinged.
Accepting having a "credit rating" and score is just one baby step away from having and accepting a personal "social credit rating"
Your critical thinking is not acceptable to us - your spending on anything fun has been restricted for 96 hours
Octopus have linked me to an address I have not lived in for 7 years. I don't even live in the UK
It's a relief that you always have a sponsorship company to save the day when you make these videos 😁
Would The Bill of exchange act 1882 prevent the company who bought the debt from recovering the funds from the original person owing the money, due to the debt being sold to a 3rd party?
Also, wouldn't a Statute of Limitation apply?
This happened to me, with an energy company, I contacted them and told them that it wasn't my debt, as hadn't lived there for years. They said I had to prove it, so I told them I would prove it when they took me to court as I had all the required proof. After that I didn't hear another thing from them,.
They acted completely backwards. If they make a claim against an individual the burden of proof is on them, the response ought to be to ask THEM to prove their claim. Tricksters.
This happened to me with EDF for a bill in 2012. I told them im not paying and i will go to court. They dropped the debt.
Most informative and indeed frightening.
I have just had a debt collection agent who said I owed a shop direct debt from 2001. I immediately informed them the debt was statute barred as it was over 6 years old.
Absolute Proof and use the S.A.R and report them if they have incorrect information, if they don't comply sue them. I have done it, CABOT decided I owned money which I did not, they could not provide absolute proof - they tried to go to court, I moved it from the clearing court Northampton to a local court and countered. They turned up and did not provide any evidence then asked for a stay. Case was placed into stay for them to provide evidence I owed, they did not, i pushed for counter claim with GDPR - Cabot sold the account on before the case could. I took them on and won on GDPR, they do this all the time. ~Trooper
Sorry but could you explain what you mean by claiming with GDPR?
@@Kooseandco Processing incorrect information of someone that is not correct or does not exist. In my case they could not proove I owned the dept but pushed ahead as if I did.. ~Trooper
NO SANE JUDGE WOULD GO FOR THIS ... But then again who's ever found a judge to be sane.. If you're not at the address then it's nothing to do with you, and you're innocent until PROVEN GUILTY. I will take you to court.. and you will in the end pay for all damages..
Your videos aren't good for my anxiety levels, your always unlocking new legal fears
You're choosing to feel anxious about this. You could easily choose to feel secure in the knowledge of how to go about an event like this if it ever occured. Such a simple change of view and "anxiety" is all washed away.
@@Martyn_Wolf I ain't choosing anything, I know the reality of the law and you only get as much justice as you can afford, coupled with the fact that in financial related matter your presumed guilty until you prove your innocence, as someone has to cough up the costs to our capitalist masters, usually the innocent Joe bloggs
?? Surely your details are given back to these companies as fast as they are removed, removed at 8am you go back on the internet and now they get a refresh copy replacing the details they have just removed and the cycle continues.
Excellent video, default judgments are a huge problem within England & Wales. More awareness and support are needed to enable citizens to respond and challenge such claims.
Many years ago I worked in an Official Receivers office. The level of cowboy (bandit, even) activity in the debt industry was horrifying. The Enterprise Act 2001 had been in force for several years at this point, and we had Insolvency Practitioners and debt collection agencies flaunting it on a daily basis. About half my workload was writing to these firms to remind them what the law said and to stop harassing people.
I lived in one of those retired homes for two years,moved out just before COVID everything paid up. Two years later the electric supply company send me a demand for payment of power usage. Luckily I had physical documents I was able to prove payment up to the day I left. Part of the problem was COVID struck and the apartment was left empty for a while so the power supply tried to change me for an empty apartment. The easiest thing that they could have done is check the main office and the council for council tax payment.
Do the continual bombardment letters from TV licensing amount to harassment?
You would certainly think so wouldn't you? I don't know how they get away with it.
It happens to people who buy a house a lot from tenants who previously in it ( therr post still arrives once there gone and they seem to have different debt) I just rang their company first and told them when I move in
Here's a puzzle. I paid EDF £40 every 4 weeks. Last June, I retired, and was shocked to receive £160 pension for the month in arrears. It took me 6 months to sort out the paperwork and no one even mentioned pension credit to me as I had been an army wife for 17 years of my working life and I'd lived in 10 different places in that time, usually where there wasn't pavements yet alone work, which were taken by desperate locals. So, long story short, it was December before it was all worked out and I could afford to live. Phoned EDF. Somehow is 6 months I owed them over £2000 and they want £130 a month off me. How on earth, when I paid 40 quid every 4 weeks, does me not doing so for 6 months add up to over 2 grand?
Seems like a shockingly low bar to 'prove' responsibility in these cases. Sounds like an urgent change to the law is required. Good job this lax level of proof isn't acceptable for something more serious....murder for example.... disappointing fail for the UK 'justice' system.
Western justify system is fucked always has been on various areas
" can destroy your credit rating ..." Pro tip, don't rely on your credit rating for your day to day purchases. Try saving instead of credit.
Eon Next sent me several letters demanding money for a previous address for a time period after I had left. I had documentary evidence that they had acknowledged my departure date, which I sent them. They only stopped when I asked them to send me everything they knew about me and my account, starting with the closure date. They didn’t send anything but the demands stopped.
I have had exactly the same with Eon Next who took over a dept from NPower after a house I sold was not billed to the new owners. Took ages to sort out. No apology or offer of compensation for the stress caused to me for this.
Ridiculous process. They don't need to prove you live there within the dates of the supposed debt. Surely, they should get references from the landlords and proof of tenancy agreements.
A petition should be raised to address this in Parliament.
Then, these companies should be done for breaking data protection laws.
I’m currently having a similar issue, contract taken out with O2 never delivered, never activated, no calls ever made on handset. So now having to fight a CCJ in court and every month they issue a default on my account for a product I never received. No proof of ever having got the product O2 agreed but then just sold the ‘debt’. Jokers that my credit rating is being ruined without even a court order! Bell ends….
We had a threatening letter from allegedly a law firm for a woman who owed £4000 that was never at this address. they where very aggressive on the phone so we said that if they where legitimate they could use the electoral register and find the woman was never hear..... didn't hear from them again.....
My sister got divorced, told bank as such that she was no longer in a joint account with ex husband. Ex ran up 3K odd debt. Debt collector banged on her door demanding money. She asked why, they said we can't find your ex husband, but we have your name and address.
She told them he ran up debt after divorce, not her problem or debt, told them his address and shut door on them..
I work in credit control chasing debts for an energy company. if we have an "occupier" account with no contact details then we may use 3rd party track and trace companies to find out who the occupier was at the time the energy was used, but it should be obvious that the debt belongs to the occupier at the time, not a previous occupier from years ago.
If they think they can intimidate and get away with it, even if it's illegal, they will. Scum trued to send 4 debt agencies after me for energy used after I'd already moved out!
Why are central banks allowed to print unlimited money but if I print money I go to prison for counterfeit?
Banks don’t print money. The Royal Mint does.
It works , signed up for 60£, next year at 75 ( they could see it coming that I cancel and reduced from 100 to 75 for second year subscription 😅), got my first e mails confirming data remaival but also a Californian career recruitment agency asking me to sign up - probably last ditched attempt to keep my name before requested delete😅, and have 43 data removal request initiated . All that on a uk bank holiday Monday, not bad. Will carry on beeing very careful reading small print and not giving out my details except if really necessary . I keep eye on my bank and credit card daily.
I used to work for a credit reference agency and they operate under strict rules. Personal data has to be correct, up to date and relevant. This can be difficult since the quality of the source data is variable. However, other companies aren't so careful and could be breaking the law. Make sure you are on the electoral roll, it is a key statistic and helps your credit rating.
Shocking. Companies sharing your information without my knowledge? I thought I was protected by the data protection act.
Data broker companies buying and selling my data should be illegal.
Good information and guidance .thank you
If the debts not in my name, and it’s posted to my address, I ignore it. They should do proper checks to 100% know they have the person at the address. If they break in I’ll sue them, because I won’t open someone’s post
Surely they have to prove you owe the money, where was the signed agreement in his name? If they cannot produce an agreement they do not have an agreement surely?
this is why we need legal reform. If a court sent out such a document without the true evidence that should be deemed a crime - demanding money with menaces - our legal system is shocking
very important message here....thanks for that.
Will it suffice to simply write on the envelope "No such person at this address" or "return to sender, wrong address" and give it to the mail man. Usually the postal system will stop more of those letters being delivered if the sender refuses to update their data.
Brilliant video. Thanks for this one 👍
If they were sending debt letters to an address that he left 15 years ago, how did he know about them?
Step 1. A debt exists at an address. Step 2. Look through databases to find someone, anyone, who used to live there. Step 3. Find another address for that person. Step 4. Bother them at that other address.
So the UTAP is the 'Not Admitted' bullet point in your video? I was really shocked by this accepted practice of passing a default judgement if you do not contest it. Feels like these legally accepted practices should be taught at school since surely I can not be the only person that feels that these scurrilous unregulated organisations should be required to prove their allegations? Another awesome video sir!
It’s a disgrace that they can’t do that. Not really justice is it?
I've run an HMO (house of multiple occupancy) with my own private owners accommodation for many years and had many tenants run up debts of several £1000s of pounds with all sorts of organisations. I've never been chased for a debt that wasn't mine. What I do is: after a tenants moves out, I google the return address on any mail I receive for them. If it's about a debt I open the letter and call the company. I tell them that the person is no longer here and that they owe money all over the place. The debt collectors say. "Thanks for telling us. you won't hear from us again" and I never do. simples!
That's why I stick to same energy company for as long as possible , switching casues so much chaos. Better pay higher prices than spending gweek on tracing old bills and figuring out chronology of changing.
I find it also easier to check my consumption by sticking to same energy provider as presentation of bill is same.
If you are receiving debt letters for a former resident of your address, lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office. The Data Protection Act stipulates that any data held on a person has to be accurate. If the debtor has moved on, the data held clearly isn't accurate.
I remember when someone tried to set up a mobile phone contract in my name with a company I had not heard of at the time, first thing I did was go to my bank who put me in touch with a credit agency and the polices fraud department.
I knownas a matter of fact that information is leaked. My husband hasn't been in the UK for 24 years and on return, as soon as he got a contract phone, debt collection agencies (who all had a strangely indian accent) started calling. My husband was 18 when he left the UK and didn't have any debt when he left. The only contracts he has are his work contract and phone contract. One of them must have a leak or are selling information.
This story amounts to demonstrating why we need Incogni. The whole video is an Incogni advert!
I've lived in over 40 addresses. Imagine that lot landing through the letterbox!!! 😀
Trying to sort out the damage after someone steels your data and uses it to take out credit/loans in your name is a horror story. I wish I had this service when it happened to me 15 years ago.
I wonder how many people receive a demand for money like this and just pay it without question? I certainly wouldn't, but my wife received a letter from a collection agency several years ago, relating to a bank account she'd held a few years before. I tried to persuade her to look into it first, but she went ahead and paid them. It was only a couple of hundred of pounds, but still.
I was expecting bbb to have explained about when making an offer to pay the debt of someone to a DCA which creates a liability as a joiner.
The law also needs to protect people, but another big fail! Grate Britain!
S40 Administration of Justice Act 1970
I once paid council tax on a property new to me and they took it off the previous owners arrears 😮
when you move home etc have the electricity disconnected asap.
Surely the best thing you can do is make sure you contact your energy/ water company's when you move and pay the balance to avoid this situation.
I did that , I told brittish gas the final reading and asked to send bill to new address , I paid it , two years later they chased for money , I told them I have no gas , it took them 6 months to accept that the new house owner was nothing to do with me