Calling all lawyers, legal whizzkids....
Discussion
Firstly apologies, this thread balances delicately on the edge of what this forum is for! It falls under the category the law....read on!
Please help! My girlfriend got a visit from some woman from "The Status Enquiry Bureau Ltd" - a company that finds people who have done a runner from a financial obligation. Anyone know them?
Anyway the woman claimed they have been searching for my girlfriend for over 3 years under instruction from a large high street clothing chain. The charge is that they overpaid her 1400 squid back in 2000 when she left and have been trying to get it back since. his is not true. My girlfriend actually remembers chasing them for underpayment when she left and then letting it drop as her circumstances improved and couldnt be bothered anymore with the hassle. There is now a whopping amount of interest on this claim!
They had her Doctors details and her bank details (neither of which have changed in the last 10 years) so could have sent a letter via them! Only issue is she was married when very young (16) -stuipid mistake but it meant she had a different name then which may partly explain the difficulty they had finding her.
She is completely in shock (this isnt a skeleton in the closet)and I am stuck in Germany so cant get to see anyone before the weekend?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated just so I can get started on this in the right direction for her! Where does the law stand after such a period has passed? HWat rights does she have to the information they have on her?
This is a stab in the dark whilst I continue to try and get in touch with my solicitor currently sunning himself somewhere in the Indian ocean!
Cheers in advance phers!
Please help! My girlfriend got a visit from some woman from "The Status Enquiry Bureau Ltd" - a company that finds people who have done a runner from a financial obligation. Anyone know them?
Anyway the woman claimed they have been searching for my girlfriend for over 3 years under instruction from a large high street clothing chain. The charge is that they overpaid her 1400 squid back in 2000 when she left and have been trying to get it back since. his is not true. My girlfriend actually remembers chasing them for underpayment when she left and then letting it drop as her circumstances improved and couldnt be bothered anymore with the hassle. There is now a whopping amount of interest on this claim!
They had her Doctors details and her bank details (neither of which have changed in the last 10 years) so could have sent a letter via them! Only issue is she was married when very young (16) -stuipid mistake but it meant she had a different name then which may partly explain the difficulty they had finding her.
She is completely in shock (this isnt a skeleton in the closet)and I am stuck in Germany so cant get to see anyone before the weekend?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated just so I can get started on this in the right direction for her! Where does the law stand after such a period has passed? HWat rights does she have to the information they have on her?
This is a stab in the dark whilst I continue to try and get in touch with my solicitor currently sunning himself somewhere in the Indian ocean!
Cheers in advance phers!
abz 7001 said:
Firstly apologies, this thread balances delicately on the edge of what this forum is for! It falls under the category the law....read on!
Please help! My girlfriend got a visit from some woman from "The Status Enquiry Bureau Ltd" - a company that finds people who have done a runner from a financial obligation. Anyone know them?
Anyway the woman claimed they have been searching for my girlfriend for over 3 years under instruction from a large high street clothing chain. The charge is that they overpaid her 1400 squid back in 2000 when she left and have been trying to get it back since. his is not true. My girlfriend actually remembers chasing them for underpayment when she left and then letting it drop as her circumstances improved and couldnt be bothered anymore with the hassle. There is now a whopping amount of interest on this claim!
They had her Doctors details and her bank details (neither of which have changed in the last 10 years) so could have sent a letter via them! Only issue is she was married when very young (16) -stuipid mistake but it meant she had a different name then which may partly explain the difficulty they had finding her.
She is completely in shock (this isnt a skeleton in the closet)and I am stuck in Germany so cant get to see anyone before the weekend?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated just so I can get started on this in the right direction for her! Where does the law stand after such a period has passed? HWat rights does she have to the information they have on her?
This is a stab in the dark whilst I continue to try and get in touch with my solicitor currently sunning himself somewhere in the Indian ocean!
Cheers in advance phers!
As a first step, she should contact her local Citizens Advice Bureau and ask for an appointment.
Also some solicitors do a "free" half hour consultation.
Cheers
Tricky one this as its not a Consumer Credit Agreement.
I would have thought that they would have to sue your girlfriend for the money as its a disagreement between parties rather than a failure to pay.
Perhaps one way to go about it would be to get your girlfriend to get her old employer to provide what information that they still have on her (via the DPA - there may be a small fee) if this shows any valid information then it could be potentially argued that they didnt need to use a recovery agent and as such interest and recovery fees would not be paid.
This would of course leave the principal to be argued.
Something smells very fishy about this entire situation...
I would have thought that they would have to sue your girlfriend for the money as its a disagreement between parties rather than a failure to pay.
Perhaps one way to go about it would be to get your girlfriend to get her old employer to provide what information that they still have on her (via the DPA - there may be a small fee) if this shows any valid information then it could be potentially argued that they didnt need to use a recovery agent and as such interest and recovery fees would not be paid.
This would of course leave the principal to be argued.
Something smells very fishy about this entire situation...
Cheers so far ladies and gents.
Unfortunately she doesnt have the paperwork from back then, binned during a particularly nasty split along with all her belongings!
She is gonna get on to the CAB today!
Plotloss, cheers for the insight! We are gonna sit on it for now incase it just goes away (although these things have a habit of popping back up).
As soon as the agency get back in touch we, depending on what their next course of action, will decide on how best to proceed, starting by getting hold of all the information available!
Its weird, I can see how it can sound fishy on her side but rest assured this isnt her past catching up with her. On the other side its definitely fishy, well fishy!
Unfortunately she doesnt have the paperwork from back then, binned during a particularly nasty split along with all her belongings!
She is gonna get on to the CAB today!
Plotloss, cheers for the insight! We are gonna sit on it for now incase it just goes away (although these things have a habit of popping back up).
As soon as the agency get back in touch we, depending on what their next course of action, will decide on how best to proceed, starting by getting hold of all the information available!
Its weird, I can see how it can sound fishy on her side but rest assured this isnt her past catching up with her. On the other side its definitely fishy, well fishy!
I would write immediately to them stating that your gf has no record of any amount outstanding and would they kindly supply her with all documentation relating to this along with copies of her payslips from the time.
She should also see if her bank have any records of payments made. This will probably be annoying to sort out but not impossible.
Best of luck.
She should also see if her bank have any records of payments made. This will probably be annoying to sort out but not impossible.
Best of luck.
Hmmm weird one - I'm not a lawyer or anything but the points that Plotloos made are true. I mean this with the greatest of respect abz, but do you think you are in possession of all of the facts - is it possible that she hasn't elaborated on any points?
Seems v. strange that a High street chain shop would go so far out of their way for £1400 too ...
I hope all goes well for you both though - good luck.
Seems v. strange that a High street chain shop would go so far out of their way for £1400 too ...
I hope all goes well for you both though - good luck.
Love her to bits and don't doubt her word but want to see all the information that they have to see if it is a crazy mistake or their is a dark past I am unaware of!
Either way things should become clearer to the good or bad once I see the information they are holding. Like you said it seems like a lot of effort to go to if there has been a mistake....cheers for the support anyway!
Either way things should become clearer to the good or bad once I see the information they are holding. Like you said it seems like a lot of effort to go to if there has been a mistake....cheers for the support anyway!
The first thing to work out is whether they are pursuing a judgment or haven't yet taken court action. By the sound of it they are just pursuing the debt and no proceedings have been started. For the sum involved then it may not be cost effective for them to sue your gf as in the small claims court you don't recover your legal costs even if you win. The costs of winning a defended small claims court action usually make a £2k claim not cost effective. If she believes that she doesn't owe the money then the answer is to make life as difficult as possible for them so that they go away. As mentioned serving a Data Subject Access request and the £10 fee against the person claiming the money should cause them a huge amount of work and show what if any case they have against her. Plus as most companies fail to get this right (see the Information Commissioner's website for how to do this) it provides plenty of scope for turning the tables on them. Don't send the request to the debt recovery co. - send it to the person claiming the money. Oh and tough it out against the debt collectors and try to avoid giving them any more information than they have already.
Hope this helps
trunnie
Hope this helps
trunnie
Don't you just love the internet age?
Cheers Steve
Thank you very much for your wise words. I am going to look through the documentation this weekend once back in blighty and then pretty much follow the steps you suggest (after a quick surf on the IC website).
Will at least bide some time whilst if I see if I can shed any light on my side after a heart to heart....so as not to end up with egg on my face!
P.S Glad to see the Elise grin hasn't worn off, cheers for the free consultation!
>> Edited by abz 7001 on Thursday 25th September 19:28
Cheers Steve
Thank you very much for your wise words. I am going to look through the documentation this weekend once back in blighty and then pretty much follow the steps you suggest (after a quick surf on the IC website).
Will at least bide some time whilst if I see if I can shed any light on my side after a heart to heart....so as not to end up with egg on my face!
P.S Glad to see the Elise grin hasn't worn off, cheers for the free consultation!
>> Edited by abz 7001 on Thursday 25th September 19:28
They're fishing. Suggest that gf doesn't give them any meaningful info at this stage but invite them to contact gf in writing.
The "visit" procedure sounds odd ....
www.insolvency.co.uk/credit/status.htm
The "visit" procedure sounds odd ....
www.insolvency.co.uk/credit/status.htm
Trunnie, good advice. This is bordering on the work I do but I no longer deal with debt recover. Status Enquiry are a Nottingham based company (assuming it's the same biz). The info can be collected from a number of sources, often by mis-representation so they may not have broken any laws that you can prove. For instance they could argue that they haven't breached DPA as the information was volunteered to them. Still it's worth making them work if you can.
As Trunnie says, you need to ask if proceedings have been issued or phone the local county court. If the proceedings haven't been issued then ask for all the info you can get on behalf of your g/f. If you talk to the claimant you won't have to pay the agency fees so try to miss them out. Give out zero information as to her whereabouts and ask your neighbours not to talk on the phone to bogus parcel companies trying to deliver packages etc. If they do pin your g/f down to an address they can issue proceedings which should be personally served before they can obtain judgement. You can stall forever if your up to it and united. It helps to be really poor at times like this and you could consider seeing if you can negotiate a lump settlement (on behalf of your g/f of course).
As Trunnie says, you need to ask if proceedings have been issued or phone the local county court. If the proceedings haven't been issued then ask for all the info you can get on behalf of your g/f. If you talk to the claimant you won't have to pay the agency fees so try to miss them out. Give out zero information as to her whereabouts and ask your neighbours not to talk on the phone to bogus parcel companies trying to deliver packages etc. If they do pin your g/f down to an address they can issue proceedings which should be personally served before they can obtain judgement. You can stall forever if your up to it and united. It helps to be really poor at times like this and you could consider seeing if you can negotiate a lump settlement (on behalf of your g/f of course).
Don't know whether this will help but my Sister evaded an outstanding debt for about 6 years. When it finally caught up with her the debt had been bought by a debt recovery firm. The outstanding amount including interest was about £6000. She knew the debt recovery firm would have bought the debt for a fraction of that, so only offered a quarter of what they were demanding. She stuck to her guns for a couple of months and they finally gave in and accepted her offer.
I know it's not directly related to your situation but it may provide some insight.
I know it's not directly related to your situation but it may provide some insight.
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