Letter from debt collection company !!

[madmax]

In this mornings post along with my usual amount of junk mail I received a letter from a Debt collection company working on behalf of Ideal World. Apparently I owe then £55.83.:headbang:
Now as far as I can remember it has been at least 5 years since I last bought anything from IW and that was for some replacement bags for a suction device I sillily bought from them. Now if I hadn't payed for them why would they have sant them out to me.
The Debt collection agency has no idea what the amount owed is for and I refuse to call IW on their premium rate number.
So what would you do if you were in my shoes?
Wait it out and hope they just go away?
OR Pay the £55.83 ?:headbang::headbang:
I am not at all worried about what NOT paying might do to my credit history as I am never going to be looking for a loan /credit card.

 

[Sazza]

Ask the CAB what the best thing to do is. Or maybe write a letter/email to IW CEO asking what the debt actually is!!

 

[Turandot]

I know that companies package up their low level debts and sell them on to these debt collection agencies .Usually small amounts several years old which are not cost effective for a company such as IW to persue through the courts.

I looked into this when out of the blue I started getting similar letters and after some detective work found that it related to a supposed debt to Thames Water which I had no knowledge of.I took it up with Thames and eventually the letters stopped

I think the debt collection firms work on the premise that you will be alarmed by the letters and pay up, there is no court involvement and not likely to be ,they work more by intimidation and usually the implied debt is quite old.
I wasnt prepared to pay as I didn't think I owed the money. I ignored the letters at first but they got quite intimidating in the end so I had to take action.

There is info on the Internet about all this as well as other people's experiences.

 

[cheesecake]

In these situations, most advice will be to NOT ignore the letters. Get in touch with both Ideal and the debt agency, by Recorded delivery (every letter) and explain/ask what is going on. Keep copies of the letters you send along with the recorded delivery information. Really advise you to get in touch with them both, many many people are very blaze about these sort of letters (not you I hasten to add) and do ignore them, only for the situation to come back and bite them on the bum at a later date in differing ways.
You have done nothing wrong, and you owe No cash, so no need to 'fear' anything, but ignoring letters such as these is always a bad idea.
Bosh off a couple of letters, one to each company, send them RD and keep copies and see what happens. It'll take 10 minutes and then you can rest easy, in my opinion. But from the standpoint of a legal student, do not ignore them

 

[NEXUS]

You could contact them for free on Facebook or Twitter (@IdealWorldTV) , Nothing like some bad customer service complaints to get the wheels turning, IMO

 

[Muttley]

Hope you get sorted out soon. My family were in a similar situation but our letters had the wrong name on. My mum used to return letters with "not known at this address" written on them but they continued. I opened one and was alarmed and contacted Nat West who sent letters. In this situation you challenge the debt and say check voters register etc and they can only send more letters if more evidence comes to light. They sell debt to other debt collectors and it starts up again! I used to ask what evidence they gave to show they lived at our address as we were only family to live in flat since it was built.

 

[nicnac]

Also if you do send any correspondence to the debt company NEVER EVER sign the letter with your signature ALWAYS print it.

When my dad was getting letters from one of these debt collecting companies, (nothing to do with him, but would the company listen? He never had a loan, credit card, or anything financial in his life, from a generation that believes if you can't afford it, you don't need it!) he was told that some debt companies could and would use the signature on made up forms to try and trick you into paying.

 

[Nutsville]

I had a hospital appointment today so missed the post. When I got home, too late to do anything about it, the very same letter was in my mail box. The only difference was the amount and I supposedly owed £70.48. I missed a couple of flexi-pays as some ejit in the bank had accidently put a bar on my card. That finally got sorted when they sent a new card. So I phoned IW and it took a few different payments on different dates to sort it all out, but whilst it was being sorted my account was suspended on both IW and C&C, as you have the same membership number for both, not a problem. Once I paid the final payment the bar was lifted on my account. Now I've only mentioned all that because it wasn't the first time I'd been in trouble, not putting the flexi-pays on my calendar, twit, but each time my account has been suspended. So this last time once all was paid up the lovely customer service person actually went back in my account for three years to check that every thing was good, I didn't ask him to, but he wanted to be thorough. and it was he couldn't find anything.

So where has this debt come from? I wondered if it was from the phone that I returned, but I it's the wrong amount. So I shall be on the phone to customer services tomorrow. The number I always use for customer service is 01733 860534 available M-F 9-5.

 

[deanos]

the amount will have the debt collectors fees added dont forget

 

[Swankypants]

You need to write to them [don't phone, they won't believe you]. I think they have to prove the debt is yours so don't pay, engage.

try this link: https://www.nationaldebtline.org/EW...that-you-do-not-owe-the-debt-(sole-name).aspx

 

[Brissles]

In these situations, most advice will be to NOT ignore the letters. Get in touch with both Ideal and the debt agency, by Recorded delivery (every letter) and explain/ask what is going on. Keep copies of the letters you send along with the recorded delivery information. Really advise you to get in touch with them both, many many people are very blaze about these sort of letters (not you I hasten to add) and do ignore them, only for the situation to come back and bite them on the bum at a later date in differing ways.
You have done nothing wrong, and you owe No cash, so no need to 'fear' anything, but ignoring letters such as these is always a bad idea.
Bosh off a couple of letters, one to each company, send them RD and keep copies and see what happens. It'll take 10 minutes and then you can rest easy, in my opinion. But from the standpoint of a legal student, do not ignore them

Agree with all of the above, and would add........... cc the letter to the Chief Exec of IW and also your solicitor, particularly wanting to know why there has been no communication for at least 5 years.