Hope someone can help - I had a contract with 3 about 5 years ago (left as soon as I could after my 12 month contract) - paid my bills by DD yet today I got a letter from a company claiming that I still owed 3 £11.60 and that my debt had been sold on.

I have never heard from 3 in the past 5 years, and as they were in control of my DD, all my bills were paid.

It's only £11 and I thought I'd just pay to clear it but now I don't know what to do - I spoke to the debt company & they said this is for me to prove I paid all my bills(this is 5 years ago & bank statements are long gong) & that I can't contact 3 as this is no longer down to them.



Any advice?

Send them a letter not admitting any liability to the debt and ask them to send proof that you owe the money.

You'd think it'd cost these firms more to mess around sending out threat-o-grams than the £11 they'd get from you.

I had a similar thing with that 1 & 1 web-hosting firm (along with hundreds of others) with endless vaguely threatening letters arriving from a Yorkshire debt collection agency wanting... six pounds. They're always really rude when you get in touch with them as well; who on earth would want to work in small-time debt collection?!

I would pay it before the debt they sold on gets interest added to it, you may or may not owe money but once interests is added it can become hundreds of pounds to pay in the end

If i was in the same position as you i would pay it not much to pay or argue over in my opinion

That is my thought - it's just that how can a company claim you owe them money when they haven't contacted you in 5 years?

3 is a company I would never touch again & would advise anyone the same - this just adds to the appalling service I received from them when I had a contract with them - cheap yes but you get what you pay for

You did right in paying it but I would now complain and ask them to send documentary evidence that you owe the money. It is not down to you to prove that you do not owe the money, it is the complete opposite.
If the debt has been sold I would check your credit report if I were you as I used to work for a Bank collections department and debts were sold as a last resort after default had been issued. They should also have been contacting you prior to this to let you know what was happening.

The problem is that there is no phone no on the letter from 3 or address.

Should I send this to trading standards or ofcom - I have never been in this position before for any bill

3 are rubbish this happens sooner or later with every one they try to get money off you even if you don't need to and when your with them they make your life hell. i would love to see them go bust i am now with orange whos 3g service is excellent.

By law, the debt company have to provide proof that the debt exists, not the other way round (ie you don't have to provide proof that the debt does not exist). If they do not, then they are acting illegally.

If you want to dispute the debt, write, don't phone, to the debt company asking them to send full proof of the debt within 14 days. Also state that if they do not, they should not get back in touch with you as you will treat any further contact as harassment. This should sort out the matter one way or the other. Any further contact from the company after this if no proof is provided should be reported to consumer direct for them to help you deal with.

some nice advice in this thread that i will be using if it is true

kevin.russell@three.co.uk (Got it from google)

3's Chief Exec

Ask the man himself if you owe his firm any money

I'm sure I once read after 5 yrs the debt no longer exist

Lets face it they aint gonna take ya to court for £11.00!

Im glad i read this,
i had a few domains with 1&1 and went though to cancel them all through the website as i no longer wanted them and they were not long due before renewal.
I got a letter saying i owe them renewal fee and administration fee,
I rang up and they said okay, we will remove the admin fee and stop your account if you wish as a good will gesture.

Last week i got another letter (a month or so after this) saying i now owe them £11 !

rang up and they said the account is still up and running and it was not stopped and i would have to email them this time stating this and not wanting to pay the fee.

If not they are passing it onto debt company.

hmm

It's a bit off-topic for this forum, but just stick "1&1 debt collectors" into Google; there are hundreds of people with the same issue. They keep (often old) card details on file and auto-renew packages. When the old card number is declined because it's outdated, it's sent straight to debt collectors. It's difficult to cancel; they keep a form on an obscure part of their website and make you sign and post it to them, which is very odd for an internet firm. There's no telling whether it works or not! I did it and still got the letter from the debt company. Rubbish!

Thanks all for your advice, I have now written to 3 & to the debt company & so await their responses.

Hurrah - 3 have responded & confirmed that this is their error & 'debt' cancelled - it appears that they did not close my account properly when I cancelled my contract with them.