How can Catalogues get away with it ?
 

Edit - Feck,in wrong area,bugger !!!!


Just had a debt collectors letter asking for full payment of £280 i "owe" and to contact them,well i did and it turns out its an amount owed on a catalogue i "signed" upto back in 2003

well, i didnt sign up,i didnt order anything i didnt even live at the adress ( i moved away about a year before the date i was given they were ordered)

how can a catalogue sign people up with false signatures/false agreements over the phone ????????

the debt is for back in may 2003 !!!!!

ive been on the electeral role all the time etc

basically the debt place wanted a crime no. from police as its fraud, the police wont issue me one as i am not out of pocket,the catalogue/debt agency are,they have to obtain it

back and forth loads of times with the same as above reply from the police/debt people

i left it as its out of my hands,not my debt,not my problem

see what happens

we had this problem . a lodger got stuff in the wifes name . contact them again and ask for a copy of the signed agreement . then if and when you get it ( they probably wont still have it) ring them back offering to send it back to them along with a copy of your driving licence therefore proving it isnt your signiture on the finance agreement . case closed job done

yeah,if they contact again i will,but they just kept asking for me to file a police report,they didnt want any proof i was/wasnt there, the one guy said he believes me and can SEE on file its blatantly a fraudulent case but still needed this crime no.

i dont think there is a signature,i read the catalogue boasts over the phone signing up !!!!!!!!!!

maybe a fob off he was giving me,they do have alot of blarney these debt recovery guys

i do have a letter from my bank dated 1 week after the date he mentioned,with an address on thats NOT the alleged address etc.

i dont think it will amount to much,but its the principal !!

i did read a 6 yr dormant debt is written off,well its been 6.5ish yrs since this fraud took place

if theres been no payment for 6 years mate the debt would be statute barred however if there was no payment on the account it is obtaining goods by deception however as it was someone using your identity then its fraud plain and simple. personally i would put it all in writing to the debt collecting agency send it recorded then if it ever gets to court you can blow them out the water as you will be able to proove you didnt live there at the time by way of utility bills or other proof and you will be able to show you informed the debt collecting agency this by way of copy of letter and recorded delivery receipt. another route would be to contact your local CAB and let them deal with the debt collector by mail for you.

could do, i did find an email address so might put it all in an email as the recorded delivery thing/receipt is just as flaky some mths down the line,tried once and it said as it had been x amount of weeks,no record of it

an email is just as good with a date stamp etc i guess

cheers

If its the catalogue company thats been defrauded then surely its down to them to get a crime number . Be polite with them and tell them to feck off :thumb:

they might state they dont except emails if they do this then you could always do the recorded and print of the signed for by of the net... good luck in whichever route you go down mate

I had something similar a few years back. Stuff fraudulently purchased in my name. I even had bailiffs around. They got told to f*ck off as did the legal department of said company. They threatened court and I actively encouraged it by replying to every letter they sent with a reply that said please take this to court. They never did.

If you're sure it wasnt you and you have proof of that then do NOTHING. If and when they take you to court then make them look silly. I somehow doubt they'll bother.

Tell them to get lost If it the debt was from 2003 and no acknowledgment of the debt has been made it is now statute barred (6 years in England, 5 in Scotland) and they can't collect on it or take you to court. A complaint to Trading Standards and OFT would be in place. You have nothing to worry about.

Write to them to tell them the debt is statute barred. Send it recorded and keep a copy. Ignore all other correspondence but file it for harassment complaint.