Please any advice?

[kwoodward]

Hi All, came across this forum whilst googling a company which i have received a letter from......

I have a letter from a ME111 Limited stating i owe over £500 from a previous company from 2007, i do not owe anybody any money at all, i did back then and i finished paying these debts with final settlements at least 2 years ago, i have lost all paperwork stating that my debts are cleared and i am no longer with the same bank as then so no proof there, my credit score is above average with no debts unsettled on it, i phoned this company as at first i thought someone must have taken a loan or something out in my name but they have all my correct details, they are saying i need proof that i settled this debt which i do not have! What do i do, i am not prepared to pay money to a company that i have had no previous contact with and i am not in debt! Please help.

[R0b]

Hello

First of all do not panic.

From your post, I assume that ME III have supposed purchased the debt and are now chasing you for payment? If you know who the company is and you believe to have settled the debts around 2 years ago then the first thing I would suggest is to make a subject access request to that company and seek copies of all information they hold about you. You should make it clear in your request that you are specifically looking for any settlement, account statements and other correspondence in relation to you settling the debt.

Separate to making a SAR, you could also write to the company in accordance with Section 103 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 seeking confirmation from the company that you have settled all outstanding debt with them. They have 12 working days to comply with that request, otherwise if they fail to confirm whether or not the debt is settled then it is a breach of duty and you could make a complaint and go through the Financial Ombudsman. The benefit of seeking a confirmation statement is that it is legally binding and should ME III attempt to commence legal proceedings against you (which I suspect they may do at some point), the statement will be a boost to your defence.

I appreciate you might not have the paperwork anymore but it is good practice to retain the paperwork for at least 6 years after the payments have been made or when the debt was settled in case something like this crops up.

Also tagged Amethyst in case she thinks of anything else to add.