Random letter claiming I owe money from 3 years ago

Random letter claiming I owe money from 3 years ago

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Discussion

Zombie

Original Poster:

1,587 posts

194 months

Saturday 3rd December 2016
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The reg no quoted is for a car I sold about 3 years ago. I can't remember if I cancelled the insurance on it or not but I'm pretty diligent and would have paid any outstanding fees.

Has anyone come across this lot, could it be a scam?

TIA.

Ste1987

1,798 posts

105 months

Saturday 3rd December 2016
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I'd just ring the insurer directly just to check. If its legit ask them why its taken them 3 years to chase such a small sum up.

Monkeylegend

26,226 posts

230 months

Saturday 3rd December 2016
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I would ring the Insurance Co direct to confirm if it is owing. They should know of they have passed the debt collection on.

It seems a lot of effort to go to for £36.20 if it is a scam.

Beaten to it wink

Saleen836

11,061 posts

208 months

Saturday 3rd December 2016
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Monkeylegend said:
I would ring the Insurance Co direct to confirm if it is owing. They should know of they have passed the debt collection on.

It seems a lot of effort to go to for £36.20 if it is a scam.

Beaten to it wink
Not really, I would bet a fair few people would happily pay up the small amount and not question it, send them a bill for 3 times the amount the chance of them questioning it increases, multiply the small amount by say 500 letters sent out and even if only 100 people pay up you have a good return for the outlay.

Zombie

Original Poster:

1,587 posts

194 months

Saturday 3rd December 2016
quotequote all
Good points re ringing the insurance co rather than the debt collection. Hadn't considered that.

I'm a little concerned about fighting it due to any potential affect on my credit record but then there is the principal of it all.

InitialDave

11,854 posts

118 months

Saturday 3rd December 2016
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I like the bit where they wrote "Insurance Collections Bureau" instead of signing their name.

Zombie

Original Poster:

1,587 posts

194 months

Sunday 4th December 2016
quotequote all
InitialDave said:
I like the bit where they wrote "Insurance Collections Bureau" instead of signing their name.
Hmmmm.

KungFuPanda

4,324 posts

169 months

Sunday 4th December 2016
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If it were me, I'd either ignore or invite them to issue court proceedings.

anonymous-user

53 months

Sunday 4th December 2016
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They're an FCA regulated ltd company. Doesnt seem overtly scammy.

Rick101

6,959 posts

149 months

Sunday 4th December 2016
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I bet the insurance company won't know anything about it whether it was due or not.

Personally, I'd ignore it.

dacouch

1,172 posts

128 months

Sunday 4th December 2016
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InitialDave said:
I like the bit where they wrote "Insurance Collections Bureau" instead of signing their name.
A lot of companies who write letters which may annoy people do this, it's to avoid the customer trying to decipher the signature and then insisting they will only speak to the letter writer

WaferThinHam

1,680 posts

129 months

Sunday 4th December 2016
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Talk to the insurance company (or better still post them a letter recorded delivery or email them then you have a record of it).

mr rusty

193 posts

91 months

Sunday 4th December 2016
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You can only get a CCJ if you lose in court AND then don't pay. They are a debt collector. You could write back and deny the debt, and invite the originator to take legal action so you can see the facts they claim.

spookly

4,011 posts

94 months

Sunday 4th December 2016
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mr rusty said:
You can only get a CCJ if you lose in court AND then don't pay. They are a debt collector. You could write back and deny the debt, and invite the originator to take legal action so you can see the facts they claim.
Exactly that.
They pass these on to the debt collection companies as a % of people will just pay it if it is small enough.
In reality they are unlikely to try and pursue it through the courts when their costs would likely be higher than the amount recovered.

I had a pet insurer double my premiums at renewal without sending a renewal notice. When I noticed what they'd done I cancelled, and they tried to charge me £35 cancellation. Got a few snotty letters about it. I advised them that I would be happy to see them pursue it in court, and that I might choose to make an offer of payment immediately before heading into court to their legal representatives, after I had applied to have it heard in my local court. They never came back to on that one, 2 years and counting.


Helicopter123

8,831 posts

155 months

Sunday 4th December 2016
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£36.20.

Is this worth the hassle of it?

For the cost of a takeaway, some are suggesting Court???

Life too short IMO.

RumbleOfThunder

3,546 posts

202 months

Sunday 4th December 2016
quotequote all
Helicopter123 said:
£36.20.

Is this worth the hassle of it?

For the cost of a takeaway, some are suggesting Court???

Life too short IMO.
Fat bd. laugh

williaa68

1,527 posts

165 months

Sunday 4th December 2016
quotequote all
You are perfectly entitled to write back and ask for full details of the basis of the claim - they will need this if they issue proceedings. Write back and see what they say....

Centurion07

10,381 posts

246 months

Sunday 4th December 2016
quotequote all
Helicopter123 said:
£36.20.

Is this worth the hassle of it?

For the cost of a takeaway, some are suggesting Court???

Life too short IMO.
Some are suggesting HE invites THEM to take him to court. Which they won't do as it's such a small amount.

It's people that just pay these demands without questioning them that mean companies continue to do it.

If everyone kicked off, they'd soon stop.

Are you willing to stump up the £36 for the OP since it's such a small amount? Thought not.

surveyor

17,767 posts

183 months

Sunday 4th December 2016
quotequote all
williaa68 said:
You are perfectly entitled to write back and ask for full details of the basis of the claim - they will need this if they issue proceedings. Write back and see what they say....
If your bothered this.

Had similar over a Council Tax bill alleged debt that was over 5 years old.

They tracked me down via my brother who had rented my house for a while. I had no idea of dates etc. but suspect that I forgot to let them know the property was empty after he moved at. In reality it was so long ago I could not possible remember.

Seem to recall I sent them a robust letter asking them to let me know all the details that they had, and suggesting I would look into it, but did not feel that I owed anything and asking why they had left it so bloody long.

Never heard anything more.

Rubin215

3,985 posts

155 months

Sunday 4th December 2016
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We had a similar issue over a car that Mrs 215 had insured through a well know company who fit things Kwik.

She had sold the car and informed them of this during the last month of the policy, cancelling the direct debit online at the same time; no refund due, no cancellation charge because it was so late in the policy.
They chose to automatically renew it, even though they had been informed she no longer owned it!

Three months later, she started getting letters about unpaid premiums, policy cancellations etc.
Despite best attempts, they refused to end the saga without being paid for the three months they had supposedly had the car on cover!

We, obviously, refused to pay.

Things dragged on for almost a year with letters and phonecalls backwards and forwards between the Kwik people, DVLA, debt collecters etc, with each letter and phonecall becoming more and more threatening and the sum due becoming more and more extortionate.


Eventually, after some advice, we stopped playing the game and just ignored everything they sent and hung up on every phonecall.

Within six months, a different debt collection company started writing and were also ignored.

A year later, someone else had bought the debt and tried a couple of speculative letters too; they were also ignored.

We've heard nothing for over two years now.

Small debts like this are, apparently, sold by the original company to a collection agency for a percentage of what they are actually owed; the original company get some of their money back without too much effort.
The agency want their money back, but will only spend so much time and effort chasing it before it becomes pointless and they sell it on to another agency for as high a percentage as they can get.
And repeat and repeat and repeat.

This was (supposedly) one of the main factors in the economic crash; debts being sold on with little or no chance of collection.