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Advise would be appreciated - at the end of my rope with AJJB Law, instructed to collect a balance by Fund Ourselves Ltd.
When they first messaged I was going through a home move. I also have a few debts which are managed by a DMP, so with everything going on I just assumed it might have been a legitimate debt which hadn’t been added.
I now question its legitimacy due to the tactics used, there being no record of the debt in paperwork, emails or credit report, and the fact that if it was a legitimate debt it should have already been on my DMP.
They first emailed on 1st Jan 2022 and I replied via email the next day explaining circumstances of home move and requesting a hold to add to DMP. There was no response and received threatening messages on 4th Jan and 14th Jan asking me to call. I struggle with my hearing so this is not practical.
On 14th Jan I called them with my partner to explain I wear cochlear implants, struggle to communicate verbally and over electronic devices and that I need them to respond to written correspondence. They agreed to this and a 35 day hold period.
They still sent out an automated message 2 weeks later and by 7th Feb I was having problems getting through to my DMP so I sent another email to AJJB Law to update my circumstances. Again there was no response and a letter before court claim was issued on 23rd Feb. I made a complaint over the phone the same day where another 35 day hold period was agreed. The letter before court claim arrived in post on 24th Feb.
Despite the hold period covering until 30th March, a message demanding payment was sent out on the 26th March which I ignored. On 30th March I received an acknowledgment to my complaint.
On 1st April an sms was sent out asking me to call CRS. I didn’t because I did not know who they were as nobody had specified. On this day I made enquires to FCA, CAB, etc. who were useless, and spoke to Fund Ourselves to explain what’s be going on. They said they’d investigate and get back but never did.
On 25th April I received a 2nd letter to acknowledge my complaint made in Feb, falling short of a response. It said this would take 8 weeks.
On 15th May I received a “discount offer without prejudice” email. I called with my partner on 17th to find out what this was about but they couldn’t advise.
20th may I received response to my complaint via email which noted they had failed to respond to my emails though no explanation given. It did specify they would direct all further contact to my dmp and put a 60 day hold period in place but did not address the discount offer email they sent. Tbh it felt like a half a*sed response. I had to call again to find out about discount offer which they now said was sent in error.
Despite the response, I received threatening/automated messages on Sat 21st then Sun 22nd. I send a written complaint through post on the Sunday giving them 28 days to respond. I specified concerns of discrimination by failure to make reasonable adjustments related to my hearing difficulties as well as harassment.
Since then AJJB law have reached out 12 times demanding payment, keeping in mind the 60 day hold period put in place on 20th May should last until 19th July. This included another bogus “discount offer” email, a robocall despite them being informed of my hearing difficulties, and threatening that my debt has been passed over to CRS, even though AJJB still messages me. The latest message was at date of writing this post.
During this period I called twice on 27th May and 4th June to make them aware they are not respecting breathing space periods and they should no longer be contacting me. I get vague responses like “I know what’s happening here” and assurances it will stop. During the 4th June phone call we spent a while going though an equalities questionnaire based on my disabilities - not sure what it had achieved. During one of these phone calls my letter dated I even complained to legal ombudsman on 30th May.
It’s really distressing that they are intimidating me into calling them despite my difficulties, but I feel this is the only way to get through as they ignore written correspondence. It also means I have to schedule calls around my partners work so she can help. I’m losing a lot of sleep over it not knowing what’s going to happen next.
I’m not a legal expert but I know in my bones that what they are doing is unlawful. But I feel like I’m chasing my tail here because solicitors have refused to help. Am I correct that this is a discrimination and harassment issue and what should I do? Thanks.
When they first messaged I was going through a home move. I also have a few debts which are managed by a DMP, so with everything going on I just assumed it might have been a legitimate debt which hadn’t been added.
I now question its legitimacy due to the tactics used, there being no record of the debt in paperwork, emails or credit report, and the fact that if it was a legitimate debt it should have already been on my DMP.
They first emailed on 1st Jan 2022 and I replied via email the next day explaining circumstances of home move and requesting a hold to add to DMP. There was no response and received threatening messages on 4th Jan and 14th Jan asking me to call. I struggle with my hearing so this is not practical.
On 14th Jan I called them with my partner to explain I wear cochlear implants, struggle to communicate verbally and over electronic devices and that I need them to respond to written correspondence. They agreed to this and a 35 day hold period.
They still sent out an automated message 2 weeks later and by 7th Feb I was having problems getting through to my DMP so I sent another email to AJJB Law to update my circumstances. Again there was no response and a letter before court claim was issued on 23rd Feb. I made a complaint over the phone the same day where another 35 day hold period was agreed. The letter before court claim arrived in post on 24th Feb.
Despite the hold period covering until 30th March, a message demanding payment was sent out on the 26th March which I ignored. On 30th March I received an acknowledgment to my complaint.
On 1st April an sms was sent out asking me to call CRS. I didn’t because I did not know who they were as nobody had specified. On this day I made enquires to FCA, CAB, etc. who were useless, and spoke to Fund Ourselves to explain what’s be going on. They said they’d investigate and get back but never did.
On 25th April I received a 2nd letter to acknowledge my complaint made in Feb, falling short of a response. It said this would take 8 weeks.
On 15th May I received a “discount offer without prejudice” email. I called with my partner on 17th to find out what this was about but they couldn’t advise.
20th may I received response to my complaint via email which noted they had failed to respond to my emails though no explanation given. It did specify they would direct all further contact to my dmp and put a 60 day hold period in place but did not address the discount offer email they sent. Tbh it felt like a half a*sed response. I had to call again to find out about discount offer which they now said was sent in error.
Despite the response, I received threatening/automated messages on Sat 21st then Sun 22nd. I send a written complaint through post on the Sunday giving them 28 days to respond. I specified concerns of discrimination by failure to make reasonable adjustments related to my hearing difficulties as well as harassment.
Since then AJJB law have reached out 12 times demanding payment, keeping in mind the 60 day hold period put in place on 20th May should last until 19th July. This included another bogus “discount offer” email, a robocall despite them being informed of my hearing difficulties, and threatening that my debt has been passed over to CRS, even though AJJB still messages me. The latest message was at date of writing this post.
During this period I called twice on 27th May and 4th June to make them aware they are not respecting breathing space periods and they should no longer be contacting me. I get vague responses like “I know what’s happening here” and assurances it will stop. During the 4th June phone call we spent a while going though an equalities questionnaire based on my disabilities - not sure what it had achieved. During one of these phone calls my letter dated I even complained to legal ombudsman on 30th May.
It’s really distressing that they are intimidating me into calling them despite my difficulties, but I feel this is the only way to get through as they ignore written correspondence. It also means I have to schedule calls around my partners work so she can help. I’m losing a lot of sleep over it not knowing what’s going to happen next.
I’m not a legal expert but I know in my bones that what they are doing is unlawful. But I feel like I’m chasing my tail here because solicitors have refused to help. Am I correct that this is a discrimination and harassment issue and what should I do? Thanks.
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