Am I Within My Rights....

[islasmum]

to refuse to give my details to a company (debt collectors) if they will not tell me what company they are attempting to collect the debt for? I'm already dealing with several debt collection companies, all of whom I have made arrangements with, but have had a call from this new company, who asked for my details to be confirmed, but would not tell me who they were collecting for - I asked them to put their details in a letter, and they went on about the data protection act, but is this some kind of scam?

[Peter Pedant]

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yes defintiely scam -

If you dont have an IVA - then there will be a scramble for your available funds. Tell them to write, and invoke the Data Protection Act.

My main experience is not in Debt I admit but in handling the aftermath of indebted tenants who have moved on and it is the current tenants getting the gyp. [ so the people being chased are not indebted ] .

[SlackAlice]

I would not give my details to anyone over the 'phone. If you get requests[i then say you only answer letters and you will consider it.

If I get a [i]demand] then they suddenly find a brickwall and a disconnected 'phone line.

[islasmum]

Thanks Peter and SlackAlice, nice to know that I've done the correct thing. I do not have an IVA, but have set up payment plans with the debt recoveries who have written to me, and they have always told me that they are working for ****.

[Peter Pedant]

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Good luck Isla - and keep your end up !

I quite like _
Who are you working for ?
I am working for ++++ and if you dont pay then I dont get paid at the end of the week.

The difficulty for you is that debts are tradeable and can be sold on without your permission. So eveything starts again - altho I have to say from experience that they usually start at the old address and never move.....

[cassa333]

I had a call and all she said was 'I'm calling from ccs can you answer these security questions'

When I asked her what ccs did she refused to say. When I said I wouldn't answer any security questions untill she told me what it was about she said no and that she had sent a letter. She said she would resend the letter and ring again later.


I got the letter and it is a debt for a DD that stopped going out (because the cc expired and a new one arrived).

When she eventually rings back I will still refuse to answer security questions untill she says what it is for.

[themas]

These debt collecting firms can be a pain. What they are trying to do is to get you to confirm some details about yourself without revealing anything themselves. The reason is that they hope in that way to confirm that you are in fact the person they want to chase for a debt. In other words, it's a fishing expedition.

You are completely within your rights to refuse to answer their questions & to insist that if they want to contact you they write to you with information identifying themselves and the subject they want to raise.

It is then up to you to decide whether to ignore their correspondence, but that is not wise. If you know you do not owe whatever debt they are chasing, write back saying so (recorded delivery; keep a copy) & ask them to stop contacting you. If you do owe the money it is best to come to an arrangement to pay it - if necessary by instalments over a period of time.

If you need independent help go to a free debt advice service such as CAB.

[joko]

yep tell them that you also need to confirm details before you answer

just tell them to send you a letter