That you do owe the money if you get a letter saying you owe money on a debt you don’t recognise, or which you thought you had paid off, you need to challenge the creditor to prove.
Often loan companies have just got the wrong individual. This is certainly often called a mis-trace.
It’s this that the Financial Ombudsman states about mis-traces:
We might ask a financial obligation collector to present evidence to exhibit they are looking for payment through the proper individual. It could never be adequate to say, as an example, that the individual has got the exact same title as the borrower or hirer, and even equivalent title and date of birth. We’d search for some convincing explanation to connect anyone towards the financial obligation.
First think of whether you might owe this cash? Should your title is James Lewis they could ‚ve got the incorrect individual; in the event the name is Edith Chicken that’s not as likely. If this indicates to be always a debt to Orange along with been with Vodafone the past fifteen years, it most likely is not yours etc.
You should definitely to deliver A show It! letter
Before you send out a Prove It letter, verify that some of the following circumstances pertains:
- This page explains what to do if the letter is addressed to someone else but has your address. (NB it is designed for as soon as the page clearly is not if it has your maiden name or the name is slightly mis-spelled) for you– not;
- guess what happens your debt is which is old, significantly more than six years it, then you need to talk to a specialist debt advisor, not reply to the creditor since you last made a payment to. The full time limitation for recovering your debt could have come to an end, and that means you need certainly to discover more about Statute-Barred talk and debt to National Debtline;
- the page does not have any information about your debt at all often financial obligation tracing companies distribute extremely letter that is vague simply welcoming you to receive in touch. See Reunite or Prime Location Services – contacting you about a financial obligation for a good example. In this situation you can opt to just ignore it. However, if letter continue to come, act!
- when you yourself have gotten court documents, you don’t have actually time and energy to deliver a Prove It letter as you can find tight timescales to enter a defence. Don’t ignore court papers, or perhaps you will get yourself a CCJ. Browse things to do in the event that you are unsure if you get a Claim Form and contact National Debtline as soon as possible;
- in the event that page states there clearly was currently a CCJ (possibly the court documents decided to go to a previous address?) then your Prove It letter below isn’t appropriate. You can observe if there’s been a CCJ given within the last six years by checking the Trust on line database. If you have a CCJ for a financial obligation you may not recognise, communicate with National Debtline about trying to get the CCJ to be “set aside”.
Send A confirm It letter
But in the event that you don’t think your debt had been ever yours, or perhaps you are not sure which isn’t apt to be near to six yrs . old, you then should compose a “Prove it!” page towards the debt collector. Neither deny nor acknowledge your debt, ask them to just provide evidence that your debt is yours as follows:
I will be composing as a result to a page away from you dated dd/mm/yy, a duplicate is connected.
For those who have explanation to think that a legitimate financial obligation exists and therefore the Debtor resides as of this target, then please show your debt written down.
The FCA guidelines state you simply can’t carry on any collection task and soon you did therefore.
I would suggest which you don’t consist of your phone number in this letter – dealing with this particular type of thing by mail is less stressful. Keep a duplicate for this page and deliver it recorded distribution.
The evidence, whenever and if it comes down, must certanly be enough of the ensuing list to show which you do (or did) owe the cash, or certainly suggest that it’s some other person that is the Debtor:
- Credit Application; Loan Agreement;
- Statement of Account showing details and times of debits and credits including payments, interest and fees to your account additionally the amount that is current;
- Copy of Default notice, content of formal need; and
- where in actuality the financial obligation happens to be offered, copies of letters from initial creditor stating that, plus letters through the current creditor stating that.
When they can produce these, they could jog your memory. Not absolutely all the things in the list may be around, but an adequate amount of them have to be to explain the problem when they would you like to pursue you.
It letter after you have sent a Prove
You don’t get an answer
Then the debt collector may have been on a вЂfishing expedition’ and decided not to bother you any more – so if you don’t hear anything, just file the letters away somewhere and don’t worry if it all goes quiet.
However if this wrong financial obligation is showing in your credit documents, you would like that sorted. Write to your financial obligation collector once again after 2-3 weeks, perform that this debt just isn’t yours and inform them to eliminate the entry from Experian, Equifax to your credit records and Call Credit. In cases like this you really need to additionally notify the Credit Reference Agencies that your debt is in dispute.
More needs arrive
When they don’t answer with any evidence after a couple weeks but letters demanding repayment continue steadily to show up, then compose an additional page with COMPLAINT in money letters at the very top.
On dd/mm/yy we request you to provide evidence that I owed the debt that is alleged xxxxxxx. We connect a duplicate of my page.
The FCA guidelines are clear that ” Where there was a dispute regarding the identification of this debtor or hirer or regarding the quantity of your debt, it really is for the firm (and never the consumer) to determine, due to the fact situation can be, that the consumer may be the person that is correct regards to your debt or that the quantity could be the proper balance due beneath the contract.”
I really do perhaps perhaps not owe this cash. You’ve got did not create any proof that i actually do. If you fail to stop to get hold of me personally about it financial obligation i will be complaining towards the Ombudsman.
Please additionally delete the entries that are incorrect my credit records.
I have checked at one reader’s instance where in fact the financial obligation collector had been delivering really deceptive letters right here: “Debt collector can’t show it is my financial obligation but wishes payment”.
Visiting the Ombudsman – which Ombudsman?
Then i suggest you complain to the relevant Ombudsman after 8 weeks if the debt collector ignores this second letter. With this right time, make certain you keep a record of every more needs through the financial obligation collector – by phone, text, e-mail or letter.
This is the Financial Ombudsman (FOS) if the financial obligation seems to be that loan, bank card, catalogue or an overdraft. Just how to deliver FOS your grievance is described right right here.
For any other kinds of debt (power bills? cell phones? etc) you will find different Ombudsman. Often one will undoubtedly 
be mentioned regarding the page you’ve got gotten. Or even, phone National Debtline and have whom they think you should grumble to.