Old Debt? Mackenzie Hall

A question about : Old Debt? Mackenzie Hall

Hello all,

First of all congrats on a great forum. I have just stumbled accross it myself but I think it was destined for my favourites list!

Right, back to business. I was wondering if someone can help me.

I have just received a letter from a company called Mackenzie Hall who have sent a Final Notice for a debt of Ј196.

They state they have bought this debt from Creation Fianancial Services

I called the number and was told that they can only tell me that it was for a store card whose last activity was in 1997 and the first three letters is SEL. (Selfridges Perhaps)

Now I did have a card around this time with Selfridges but thought that given its been over six years the debt had been written off. I requested more information that they said they will call me back with but I refused to give them my telephone number and told them that any further correspondence should be in writing.

I am not excusing myself for the foolish antics of a university student but am wondering to myself if Mackenzie Hall can chase up a debt from that long ago.

My nest step was goign to be to get a copy of my credit record but I am not sure if it would be worth it given that it holds info for 6 years only.

I guess I am looking for advice and to find out if anyone has had dealing with Mackenzie Hall before.. (I have done a search but found nothing in the forum).

Help greatly appreciated.

K.

Best answers:

• If I recieved a Demand for a Debt back in 'Way...1997'
  I would want FULL PROFF, nothing less, anyone can call you up and say 'PAY NOW'
  If they will not then seek some advice (CCCS is worth a call)
  For Ј198 I doubt they could be bothered gathering the paperwork!
  Just be firm with them tell them to send Proof Via post to check your records!
  K.
• Providing the last payment or acknowledgement of the debt is over 6 years ago the debt will be legally statute barred as per the regulations set out in the Limitations Act 1980.
  Try the following:
  Name of Creditor
  Address of Creditor
  WITHOUT PREJUDICE
  Dear Sir/Madam
  Re: Account No/Reference No:
  No debt is acknowledged to you. You have contacted me regarding the account with the above reference number, which you claim is owed by myself.
  I would point out that under the Limitation Act 1980 Section 5 “an action founded on simple contract shall not be brought after the expiration of six years from the date on which the cause of action accrued.”.
  The last correspondence/payment/acknowledgement of this debt was made over six years ago and no further acknowledgement or payment has been made since that time. Unless you can provide evidence of payment or written contact from me in the relevant period under Section 5 of the Limitation Act, I suggest that you are no longer able to take any court action against me to recover the alleged amount claimed.
  I await your written confirmation that no further contact will be made concerning the above account and confirmation that this matter is now closed.
  I look forward to your reply.
  Yours faithfully
  (Your signature)
  External references
  https://www.lawcom.gov.uk/docs/cp151apa.pdf
• That was quick!!! I love this site!!
  Keith Lard and File Wizard thank you very much for the replies. I am cutting and pasting that letter as I type...
  CAB was my next stop tomorrow.
  What made me angriest about this letter was the fact that someone could receive something similar and pay up straight away.
  I did a Google search on the company and another forum shows people who also have had mail from them for debts in excess of 6 years and, in some cases, phantom debts they never incurred in the first place.
  Many thanks to the both of you.
  If anyone else has had dealings directly with these people, what was the outcome?
  K
• Good Luck mate!!!!
  Post back what happened, I and many others would be interested what happpened next????
  K.
• Hi Loafer,
  My husband got a random letter too from debt back in 1996! Again there wasn't that much detail and when my husband phoned to find out what it was he got a threatening guy on the phone who said it had to be paid back by the end of November or someone will be round to take that amount of goods from the house etc.. He came off the phone not remembering what the guy had rambled on about. Another letter came through 1 week later reducing the amount by 1/2 but had to be paid within 1 1/2 weeks. I posted the above letter because to be honest we can't be sure this was something my husband incurred because it was so vague and have not heard anything since.
  Feel free to PM me and let me know how you get on. To be honest CAB were not very helpful when I went to see them.
• I clicked on to this one because I dealt with a letter from MacKenzie Hall not too long ago which also appeared to be a debt last acknowledged over six years ago. I'm wondering if they specialise in buying those debts cheap and trying to get you to acknowledge (and reactivate) the debt. We wrote a letter something like file wizzard's but gave them 21 days to provide 'substantive evidence to the contrary' or something like that. All we got was waffle and they would not provide a copy of the signed agreement without us paying a tenner! My client is ignoring them. If they want to go for a ccj we'll defend it.
• If anyone gets one of these letters then check your credit files. Some of these companies are happy to try it on with defaults once you reply and you can get these removed, but only if you know about them.
  Regards
  X
• Thanks everyone for the replies.
  I have posted the letter today so we will see what happens.
  As soon as they reply (if they reply) I will let you all know what they say.
  Do you think that, if they dont reply, it is something for me to not worry about or chase up with them. Its just my parents live at the house also so I am not really keen on heavy handed bailiffs coming round to worry them because I had not chased the letter up.
  K
• If it is the case that the debt no longer has to be paid because it is "out of time" under the six year rule then would this mean that anyone suggesting that you still owed the money would be trying to obtain money under false pretences.
  I am not suggesting that any company named in this thread is so doing.
  On the contrary I assume they are acting perfectly legally.
  See Disclaimer in blue below.
• Thanks Robert, I get what your saying.
  I just hope that the letter I have sent, kindly provided by File_wizzard, will remind them of this oversight.
  K
• I have just recieved a phone call from these people about a debt that I know I had as a student. I hadn't heard about it for years so, naively I suppose, thought it had been written off. It is from a student overdraft with Barclays that was around two grand, but with extra costs is now nearer three. The debt is from around 2000, I haven't heard anything about it for around four years, but am not sure if I have put anything in writing since the debt "went bad".
  I explained I had moved a few times since, had tried to contact Barclays, but not heard anything and had assumed they would be able to contact me. I was told it was not up to Barclays to stay in touch. I realise I should have made more effort not to lose contact but lost the address of the latest company Barclays had sold the debt to and, as with a couple of other debts I had, thought it would be very easy for them to locate me if they wanted to.
  I was resigned to arranging repayments with them, but then was faced with a very aggressive man, called "Jim", telling me the fact that I couldn't afford to pay the debt off in full was "not the answer we want to hear".
  He told me they must have a down payment nearing half of the full amount immediately.
  When I asked why an analysis of my financial situation and repayment ability was not an option like it is for other debt agencies he stated "We are not any debt collection agency, this is MacKenzie Hall."
  I asked why he was being aggressive and he said he was not being threatening, but he felt I was not taking the situation seriously. I said I was taking the way he was talking to me very seriously.
  Looking for a reason to tell me I could afford it he went on to ask what my job is and how much I earn. I told him I am a teaching assistant and earn about Ј9,900 per year. (Which is true). Somewhat disgusted he asked if that was part time. I explained that this is what LSAs earn, pro rata. He asked what I drive. I said "I don't". He asked "Well how do you get to work then?!" I said "I cycle." So he dropped that line of questioning.
  I have been told I have untill March 14th to come up with a suitable offer.
  Any ideas or insight will be welcome.
• Hi Twyll.
  I would have replied sooner but I only just picked up the email with this thread in.
  My experience with MacKenzie Hall ended as soon as I cut and paste the letter suggested by file_wizzard an sent it recorded delivery a day or so after it was posted here and havent heard from them.
  My debt at the time was a little over 6 years old.
  If your debt is from 2000 then you could try the same. If you acknowledged the debt four years ago (made a payment, had some kind of correspondence) then it may be tougher.
  A little digging (well a google search) found this link : https://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk...lp-needed.html
  What is said about three posts down about applying for the original agreement is a good idea. Theres also a templated letter there.
  Good luck and do let us know how you get on.. i hope it pans out for you
• I have recieved two letters from a man called Rob Sanderson asking for Ј383.07. The first letter he was writing on behalf of Creation Financial Services with an address in Yardley Birmingham. I did telephone the number given on the letter and spoke to Brian Gee who told me he had no information on his system with regard who this debt was owed to etc. But he would follow it up. This was on 21st Dec 2006. Now I have receviced another letter from Rob Sanderson but this time he is at Mackenzie Hall in Ayrshire. The telephon number is the same on both letters but this time I try and ring it I get a voice telling me that this is IP Office and asking for an extension number and password - both of which I do not have. I have also sent 3 SMS messages to a number given promising an immediate call back. Nothing to date.
  I have today written a letter and posted in recorded delivery. To my knowledge I do not owe anyone any money and the latest letter is a rather threatening final notice giving me 10 days to pay up or they will take me to court. Well I say bring it on - I am so angry now I almost hope they do take me to court because I know I do not owe this money.
  I can see from threads posted here that this seems to quite common from this company but the company I am meant to owe money to is 'Acquired Debt Ltd' - has anyone heard of them?
  Good luck to all the folk who seem to having the same problem as me - makes me want to spit!!!!
• Hi all, I was just wondering if anyone has received texts from Mackenzie Hall aswell as the usual letters & phonecalls?
  I have just received a text saying 'Please contact Sheila at Mackenzie hall immediately on 01563 *** *** quoting reference number M2******'. Before i received the text i had never even heard of Mackenzie Hall and know nobody called Sheila so i thought it could have been one of those phone scams where you ring the number back and it costs u a fortune. So instead i typed Mackenzie Hall in Google, clicked on the site and straight away it asked me for a username & password (strange).
  I then found a link through Google to this fantasic helpful site with Mackenzie Hall being a major discussion. I now know that Mackenzie Hall is a so-called 'debt collecting agency' and possibly in most cases a scam. It has really been bugging me wether or not to ring the number back but after reading these posts im not going to bother. I know that i do have debts out there most of them coming up to 6 years ago (i can see a pattern ammerging amongst us people regarding the 6 yrs). So, did anyone else receive any texts like mine? Its now worrying me that im going to receive letters and phone calls from them. Thanks for reading Claire x
• Hi Claire my advice to you would be ignore the text do not ring these people, they may send you a letter or call you. If they do call you tell them you will not conduct any dialogue via the telephone and will only accept letters. Do not give them your address. The hang up the phone. If they ring you constantly that amounts to harassment and this is not allowed. Keep copies of all letters (if any arrive) and do not acknowledge any thing to do with the alleged debt. The debt they say I have is from 1990 according to a rather nasty young man called Frazer who I spoke to when I rather foolishly rang them. Even though on the letter they sent me the phone number was wrong and I had to go online and find out about the outfit. All rather shady. I doubt very much wether they will follow through with their threat to take me to court but if they do I will relish it. I know for certain that I do not owe anybody any money and have informed them via a letter that if they do pursue me through the courts that I urge them to and by return I will be seeking damages for libel. Which ever way you decide to go Claire I would ask you to read through the numerous threads regarding this company on this website and take comfort in the knowledge that there is not an amazing amount these cheap little company can do to you. Ignore it - it will go away.
  Good luck
  DionneB
• What would the next course of action be?
  Not specifically McKenzie Hall, but time expired debt in general.
  I have sent two letters as described earlier. One company replied asking for more time, but has since sent nothing, the other has not replied.
  It has been over a month.
  Should I write again restating the original letter.
  These "debts" are still on my credit file, how do I progress further, small claims court?
  Thanks
  Neil
• Thanks Dionne. yeah ive decided just to ignore them and hopefully they will dissapear, if i hear anything else i'll let you all know, Claire
• Hi Neil
  with regard to old debts in general if they have expired ususally after 6 years you can apply to have them removed from your account. The 6 years rule seems to apply if there has been no movement on the account for 6 years. Movement seems to mean you acknowledging the debt and making attempts to pay etc. What ever you do not acknowledge the debt. This is what these companies seems to want you to do. As soon as you do acknowledge it then the 6 years starts again. Do not write to the companies involved with your case any more. Wait for them to make contact with you. As for the company who requested more time then that would suggest to me that they don't have any information on you at all and are just stalling for time. They know the consumer law and the debt recovery law and they hope that you don't. Use this web site and it will take you to all sorts of pages that will help you further. Keep copies of all letters you send and receive and as I have said before do not enter into any telephone conversations with these people conduct everything by letter.
  Good luck.
  DionneB
• Hi there,
  don't know if it was the same company but OH had a similar situation a while back and responded in the way suggested here (on advice from CAB ) and the company continued to send letters arguing the point. they did eventually drop it, they'd also sent what looked like court papers with the letter, but on closer inspection these turned out to be 'examples' - a scare tactic!!!. However i received a similar one a bit later and totally ignored it, i never heard anything more.
  I guess if they get some response they may believe they can 'work' on you to get you to acknowledge the debt.
  Jayne X