Credit Agencies Random Letter (advise appreciated)

[catcherintherye]

Apologies if it's the wrong forum but wondered if anyone has had any experience with this or advice.

Today my partner got a letter through from company X saying that it had bought a debt from company y and that they would take Z figure if it was paid. No details were provided of where the debt was from, where it originally came from or it didn't have any reply option for how to repay.

My partner has no idea where the debt is from. She has only had 2 debts in her life (she's very frugal) never owned a credit car. One was for a car which she paid off about 15 years ago, and the other was for a student loan that she agreed settlement onwith the company in question last year.

We have been together for over 7 years and she has not taken on any debts in that time.

We have had credit checks done before for renting and nothing has ever shown up. We did another today and again no such debt was shown up, but it was seen that this company did a credit check on her a few weeks back.

She doesn't want to contact them because of the 7 year ruling, but does anyone have any idea what this may be in relation to? She has no idea what the debt is, and it is not explained at all in the letter. Also are they allowed to do a credit check without her permission.

Anyway ideas?

 

[tommye]

Tell them to four cough


I'll DM you my invoice.

 

[catcherintherye]

Tell them to four cough


I'll DM you my invoice.

Thank you.

 

[PhilM]

It could be legit as companies do sell debt off to management companies, but they shouldn’t be vague. It could easily be a scam.

Do an Experian check to see who has done a recent credit check as this may provide an insight to their legitimacy. Any concerns, speak to the relevant authorities.

 

[random]

have dropped you a pm mate

 

[ste d' indica]

Apologies if it's the wrong forum but wondered if anyone has had any experience with this or advice.

Today my partner got a letter through from company X saying that it had bought a debt from company y and that they would take Z figure if it was paid. No details were provided of where the debt was from, where it originally came from or it didn't have any reply option for how to repay.

My partner has no idea where the debt is from. She has only had 2 debts in her life (she's very frugal) never owned a credit car. One was for a car which she paid off about 15 years ago, and the other was for a student loan that she agreed settlement onwith the company in question last year.

We have been together for over 7 years and she has not taken on any debts in that time.

We have had credit checks done before for renting and nothing has ever shown up. We did another today and again no such debt was shown up, but it was seen that this company did a credit check on her a few weeks back.

She doesn't want to contact them because of the 7 year ruling, but does anyone have any idea what this may be in relation to? She has no idea what the debt is, and it is not explained at all in the letter. Also are they allowed to do a credit check without her permission.

Anyway ideas?

They don't need your consent but will need a lawful basis to run the search, so a legitimate debt, legally passed to them, and really they should have told you before running the search, but in reality they rarely do.

Have you looked into the company?

 

[catcherintherye]

It could be legit as companies do sell debt off to management companies, but they shouldn’t be vague. It could easily be a scam.

Do an Experian check to see who has done a recent credit check as this may provide an insight to their legitimacy. Any concerns, speak to the relevant authorities.

Thanks mate.

The people who have sent the letter did a check. What might be the motivation for this? And is it legal to do a check of someone's credit history without their permission?

 

[catcherintherye]

They don't need your consent but will need a lawful basis to run the search, so a legitimate debt, legally passed to them, and really they should have told you before running the search, but in reality they rarely do.

Have you looked into the company?

I have mate. It seems like they are sending other people random debts as well (from reviews on google finance) that they don't recognise.

If it is established no such debt existed, is there any legal action that can be pursued given they ahve ran a credit check without consent on the basis of a debt that doesn't exist?

 

[catcherintherye]

have dropped you a pm mate

Just got it mate, thanks a lot!

 

[bluerobert]

Thanks mate.

The people who have sent the letter did a check. What might be the motivation for this? And is it legal to do a check of someone's credit history without their permission?

I’m not sure it’s illegal but at the very least they should tell you as it can affect your credit score just running the check. I’m sure if I’m wrong somebody far more in the know than me will correct me though mate

 

[ste d' indica]

I have mate. It seems like they are sending other people random debts as well (from reviews on google finance) that they don't recognise.

If it is established no such debt existed, is there any legal action that can be pursued given they ahve ran a credit check without consent on the basis of a debt that doesn't exist?

You could raise a complaint under data protection law, and potentially take action, but to be brutally honest it probably wouldn't result in anything for an individual case.

You could put a SAR in for everything they have on her.

 

[Efcjake]

Apologies if it's the wrong forum but wondered if anyone has had any experience with this or advice.

Today my partner got a letter through from company X saying that it had bought a debt from company y and that they would take Z figure if it was paid. No details were provided of where the debt was from, where it originally came from or it didn't have any reply option for how to repay.

My partner has no idea where the debt is from. She has only had 2 debts in her life (she's very frugal) never owned a credit car. One was for a car which she paid off about 15 years ago, and the other was for a student loan that she agreed settlement onwith the company in question last year.

We have been together for over 7 years and she has not taken on any debts in that time.

We have had credit checks done before for renting and nothing has ever shown up. We did another today and again no such debt was shown up, but it was seen that this company did a credit check on her a few weeks back.

She doesn't want to contact them because of the 7 year ruling, but does anyone have any idea what this may be in relation to? She has no idea what the debt is, and it is not explained at all in the letter. Also are they allowed to do a credit check without her permission.

Anyway ideas?

@gwladysnight is generally the go to guy for all things finance related pal

 

[Efcjake]

Apologies if it's the wrong forum but wondered if anyone has had any experience with this or advice.

Today my partner got a letter through from company X saying that it had bought a debt from company y and that they would take Z figure if it was paid. No details were provided of where the debt was from, where it originally came from or it didn't have any reply option for how to repay.

My partner has no idea where the debt is from. She has only had 2 debts in her life (she's very frugal) never owned a credit car. One was for a car which she paid off about 15 years ago, and the other was for a student loan that she agreed settlement onwith the company in question last year.

We have been together for over 7 years and she has not taken on any debts in that time.

We have had credit checks done before for renting and nothing has ever shown up. We did another today and again no such debt was shown up, but it was seen that this company did a credit check on her a few weeks back.

She doesn't want to contact them because of the 7 year ruling, but does anyone have any idea what this may be in relation to? She has no idea what the debt is, and it is not explained at all in the letter. Also are they allowed to do a credit check without her permission.

Anyway ideas?

Smells fishy mate. You owe debt but they won't tell you what incurred it? Definitely a scam.

 

[catcherintherye]

@gwladysnight is generally the go to guy for all things finance related pal

I ended last night on good terms with @gwladysnight and I intend on keeping it that way!

But yes, any advise he or others have would be greatly appreciated.

 

[ClausThomsen]

Apologies if it's the wrong forum but wondered if anyone has had any experience with this or advice.

Today my partner got a letter through from company X saying that it had bought a debt from company y and that they would take Z figure if it was paid. No details were provided of where the debt was from, where it originally came from or it didn't have any reply option for how to repay.

My partner has no idea where the debt is from. She has only had 2 debts in her life (she's very frugal) never owned a credit car. One was for a car which she paid off about 15 years ago, and the other was for a student loan that she agreed settlement onwith the company in question last year.

We have been together for over 7 years and she has not taken on any debts in that time.

We have had credit checks done before for renting and nothing has ever shown up. We did another today and again no such debt was shown up, but it was seen that this company did a credit check on her a few weeks back.

She doesn't want to contact them because of the 7 year ruling, but does anyone have any idea what this may be in relation to? She has no idea what the debt is, and it is not explained at all in the letter. Also are they allowed to do a credit check without her permission.

Anyway ideas?

Has she still got proof of the settled debt from her student loan?

She could send a "prove-it" letter where no debt is acknowledged and there are a good few templates online for this kind of letter. The terminology is specifically vague for this kind of letter and when I've sent one I've not even included a signature so as to give nothing away as it's not beyond some less reputable (all of them) debt buying companies to forge agreements.

Likely they're fishing for easy money. If they are being very vague with the details of the debt and straight away offering a reduced agreement then I'd be tempted to just ignore it for now until they present something a little more specific and then head down the "prove it" route. Especially if there is no debt from the last few years and she still has confirmation of that loan being paid/written off.

It could even be your partner has the same name as someone else and they've messed up with some very lazy detective work.

National Debtline are a non-profit charity reputed to be very good with some much more credible advice than I could offer. I've never used them personally but I'd have a good look at their site.