A couple of years ago I tried to cancel Sky TV but after many phone calls was unable to do so . This was because I didn't know the post code or the address that my sky account was registered at ( don't ask why , it's another story ) . So I said to the Sky person that I would just cancel the direct debit , which I did and Sky stopped . They e-mailed me a bill for about £70 that they said I owed them which I ignored . Now I have received a letter from a company who have bought the debt and want me to pay . The letter says to be opened by the person named on the letter but they have spelt my name wrongly . Should I ignore it . Should I pay them the £70 , it won't ruin my life if I do and I will have the satisfaction that Sky will have sold the debt for less than £70 . Should I engage with the debt company and see if I can haggle ( unlikely ) ?
Is the £70 what was left on the contract plus the debt collectors admin? Pay it.
STW wouldn’t have sullied itself with Sky in the first place. ...or a TV for that matter.
Pay it.
If theyv'e spelled your name wrong then It's not addressed to you.
A similar thing happened to me when I was trying to evict a tenant except I hadn't noticed a typo in the address of the property (Foster Avenue when it should've been Forster Avenue) Even though there was no streets with either name in the whole county it had to be amended which took ages.
So they'll put your name right & start again.
Pay it.
And go on an administration course.
For £70 it's extremely low level priority. You could Ignore it, the worst they will do is write letters telling you that you've been a very naughty boy.
However, if you do owe the money, then it's your debt, you should repay it. I guess it depends on your morals or the likelyhood that you will use sky again?
If you watched Sky then you should pay if you had a legal contract.
Contact Sky, ask them if you owe them anything and for what.
If they say nothing, get it in writing or email. Show bailiff.
I didn’t know the post code or the address that my sky account was registered at ( don’t ask why , it’s another story )
Go on.....
Eviction is SLIGHTLY different to debt collection.
Anyways I know the exact answer which I will provide once we have the backstory.
No one is ever going to knock on your door for £70. I've ignored letters for these sort of amounts for the same reasons, companies making it impossible to cancel so I just stopped payment.
Their business plan is most people pay up based on scary letters so they carry on. They would never take it further because it's not worth going to court for and they'd lose as you've not used their service.
The back story , which is pretty unexciting is that I had Sky for many years but when I separated I moved out of the family home into a 1 bedroomed hole in the ground . The wife carried on living in the 5 bedroomed detached house with the children , but no I wasn't bitter . I took the sky box and as the new flat had a satellite dish I just fitted the box up and contacted Sky to tell them the sky TV was now being used at the new address . Unfortunately I got somebody for whom English was not her first language and she got the post code wrong and couldn't even spell Mooragh Promenade correctly ( Don't they teach them anything at school in Mumbai these days? ) Anyway miraculously the info actually got to my new address due to the resourcefulness of the local postie . Anyway I moved about 6 times after that but never bothered to tell Sky TV . Consequently when I tried to cancel my subscription they said they couldn't do it without knowing the post code that it was addressed to and I only knew the correct post code and they had the wrong post code that their operative had written down wrongly . Consequently they made it impossible for me to cancel so I just told them what I was going to do , did it against their advice , although they offered me no other way to leave Sky . The service stopped I though that was it , seems not .
"What would STW do?"
Own them with a pair of Bombers.
How many years ago is "a couple"? If it's six or more then the debt is statute barred and they cannot legally pursue it.
What you should've done is cancel it in writing, generally it's a Really Bad Idea to just stop paying a direct debit, but it's a bit late for that now.
Either: Write to the debt collection people telling them that you cancelled the contract on [date] and are unaware of any outstanding monies, and ask them to provide proof. If they cannot then again it's illegal for them to pursue it (and this is considered harassment). Do not give them any information that they do not already hold (such as your name).
Or: Return it in the post with "not known at this address" on it, if you're feeling ballsy.
If you start getting phone calls, do not under any circumstances speak to them. Tell them that you will only discuss this matter in writing and put the phone down. It's far too easy to incriminate yourself (and they know this and will try to get you to admit to the debt) and if you do that then it hits the big red reset switch on it potentially being statute barred.
What's the name of the collection company?
STW would collect it's new wood burning stove in it's vw t6 and then use the letter to light it to make artisan coffee.
But if you owe it pay them, if not don't.
Thanks for the reply Cougar . It was only about a year ago so definitely not 6 years . The collection company are Lowell portfolio Ltd . Re-reading the letter that had my name wrong , it was actually from Sky telling me that they had sold the debt to Lowell Portfolio Company so they haven't contacted me yet .
