mobile phone debts

[sparkysmum]

Hello, I am asking this on behalf of my daughter who unfortunately has been buryng her head in the sand over two mobile phone debts both with o2. One has been passed to Moorcroft who today turned up at her home however she was out and they left a card asking her to call them to arrange payment (her other half answered the door). At this time she has not phoned them. the other debt was originally being dealt with by Buchanan Clark who just wrote to her saying they have been 'instructed' by o2 to recover her debt. Again she has not contacted them but today a letter has come from Scotcall saying the debt has now been placed with them and she has to pay immediately or they will do a doorstep call. My question is a) who actually owns the debt or is it still the OC ? (she may have ignored/chucked out letters from o2 saying they have assigned/sold debts to DCA) b) can BCW just 'pass' over the debt they 'allegedly' own to Scotcall?
I know that CCA does not apply to mobile phone contracts but she is on a very limited budget due to other debts and without taking these into account she only has a spare £3 a week to try and spread between 9 creditors with a total debt of £6k (she used online help with this via CCCS and this is what they came up with - she has a lot of priority debts such as C/Tax, Gas and water) however her hours at work have changed now by some 6 hrs a week so she has lost income so she will now be in negative equity if she recalculates her income and outgoings (I do hope her landlady does not increase her rent this year!)
Any suggestions to how she deals with the two DCA's or should she even be talking to them at all? Should she really be dealing with the OC?? Help/guidance and assistance gratefully received

:beagle:

[Caspar]

Re: mobile phone debts

If I were her I'd be inclined to send the simple Prove It letter (NOT CCA request) to both DCA's. Much of the time, this is sufficient in itself to get rid of them. Make sure she gets proof of postage (free).

This thread is brilliant - it will talk you through things step by step:

Dealing with DCA's - Legal Beagles Consumer Forum

[Delboy01]

Re: mobile phone debts

Doorstep calls without an appointment I think thats not legal.

[sparkysmum]

Re: mobile phone debts

Hi Caspar and Delboy, thanks for your replies and apologies but been stuck at work and this is the first chance I have had to look at emails. I will send a prove it letter but does this go to the DCA or OC?? Is it illegal then for them (DCA) to turn up without an appt? their letters only say 'could lead to doorstep visit' nothing about making an appt? How do we stop them turning up again? Daughter cannot ignore doorbell as neighbours pop round and kids are in and out all the time so if she answers and its them calling what does she do?

[Caspar]

Re: mobile phone debts

Hi Caspar and Delboy, thanks for your replies and apologies but been stuck at work and this is the first chance I have had to look at emails. I will send a prove it letter but does this go to the DCA or OC?? Is it illegal then for them (DCA) to turn up without an appt? their letters only say 'could lead to doorstep visit' nothing about making an appt? How do we stop them turning up again? Daughter cannot ignore doorbell as neighbours pop round and kids are in and out all the time so if she answers and its them calling what does she do?

Send prove it to the DCA as they are the ones trying to collect money from you. They shouldn't turn up without an appointment, but occasionally do. If they do just say sorry, I don't believe we made an appointment and shut the door.

You're absolutely right in the way you're reading the letters. They are full of words like may, could, might - this 99.9% of the time means it won't! Above all, don't worry - post as much as you need for reassurance, but there is nothing major to worry about here.