Talk Talk / Tiscali / Roxburghe Debt Collection
Received this letter tonight.
It was forwarded onto me from an address I haven't lived in for over four years.
It's a little scary to receive stuff like this as nobody wants their credit rating messed with.
I'm still trying to work out a course of action (apart from phoning Talk Talk—previously Tiscali—in the morning) and hopefully doing this will be a good start.
It seems I'm not the only one receiving threats of this kind as you can read here, here and here.
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Hi,
This is possibly the worst debt collection letter I’ve seen.
Here’s some non-legal expert advice:
Essentially, your debt has been sold onto a debt collection agency who will now use threatening language to try and get you to cough up. Tiscali/TalkTalk reduces its losses and the debt collection agency makes whatever it can recoup. It’s unlikely that Talk Talk will look at your account once it has been passed to the Debt Collection Agency.
Depending on whether know you owe this debt depends on obviously whether you should pay. If you genuinely know you owe that money then obviously pay up.
If you are unsure about whether you owe this debt, you should contact the Debt Collection Agency, preferably in writing (email/fax a copy so they get it quickly) stating that this is the first communication you’ve had from them and therefore you would like 14 days to sort this out prior to them taking legal action. You also would like a breakdown of why they believe you owe this debt, and a copy of all communication that they have previously sent you and will present to the court. Also ask for all documentation that has been passed between the Debt Collection Agency and Talk Talk.
If you settled and closed your account prior to moving then they’ve got a very weak case in arguing that they took every step in order to track you down but didn’t check you still lived at the same address. If you moved before closing the account and didn’t tell them, you have broken terms of your contract with them, and therefore they could reasonably assume that you still live in the same address. However, *you* are the debtor, not the address and therefore they would have to show that they had established that you still live at that address.
If you are presented with evidence that satisfies you that you owe, then again pay up. If you don’t think that you owe the debt then write to them and explain why you don’t think you do. Explain that you will only accept a court judgment in determining whether you are liable for the debt and that they should not attempt to get the money any other way.
Obviously keep copies all all correspondence you send, write notes of any phone calls you make (or record them, but obviously make sure you tell them you are doing so). A court will look kindly at someone who has acted promptly, reasonably and without emotion when presented with the kind of letter you’ve received.
Finally, in all circumstances ask for the correspondence between the debt collection agency and Talk Talk. The OFT guidance on Debt Collection (http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/business_leaflets/consumer_credit/oft664.pdf) says it is bad practice to pass on details from a company to an agency without the informed consent of the individual – obviously if you failed to respond to their letters then this would be difficult, but if they didn’t make you aware then TalkTalk is breaking OFT guidance. And, most importantly, if TalkTalk/the agency accepts that you are not liable for the debt, then remind TalkTalk, in writing, that they have defamed you by passing details of your debt onto a third party and that you have every intention of pursuing that through the courts.
Hope all this helps…
Olly
Oh, and one final thing. If they have not pursued the debt for six years then, in most circumstances, they can no legally pursue it. Again, worth checking when the dates of the letters were.
Olly
Really appreciate you taking the time to respond Olly – humble thanks.
Obviously, my previous landlords have been sending me any stray post (hence why I got this) and it’s the first communication received relating to any ‘debt’ owed to Talk Talk/Tiscali.
I can remember closing my account and settling up when I moved – don’t think I have any letters though relating to this… will have a dig though.
Does seem crazy that in four years I have not received any other letters…
My first thoughts?…. scam!!
No problem; that’s what being a former BBC consumer journalist teaches you!
The reason you’ve suddenly heard from them is because TalkTalk sold the debt on. TalkTalk probably happy to write off the debt but they can make some money out of selling it to a company that will be far more aggressive in collecting the debt.
Other thing to definitely do is submit a “subject access” request to each of the three credit reference agencies:
http://www.thesite.org/homelawandmoney/money/creditanddebt/boostyourcreditrating
The are legally required to provide you with this information for £2 (ignore the marketing stuff they’ll try and upgrade you to). Make sure they’ve connected your current address to your previous address (they’ll usually do this automatically when you change your address at your bank etc). They’ll be able to provide details of any outstanding debts that are known about. It’s also worth doing this to ensure that this debt to TalkTalk doesn’t affect your credit worthiness.
Olly
Olly
Thanks again Olly – have sent them the letter as suggested in the link blogged about. Didn’t contact Talk Talk as it’s obvious they have said what you done (sold the debt on) and therefore would just fob me off…
Will give it a week or two and then check my credit rating as well – thanks again.