Scotcall's Pre-visit notice for 70 pounds/ currently in HK

[leex]

Hi everyone,

 

I was an international student and had left the country with an unfinished phone contract. The bank account (debit card) (HSBC) used for the contract was closed before I leave UK for good.

 

Recently, I have received a email from Scotcall wanting 70 pounds from me for the debt with Hutchison 3G. I did reply them saying I do not have a visa or debit to pay through their system and asking for other means to pay it off. But seems they have ignored me and sent me another e-mail as the pre-visit notice.

 

I've checked the address they hold against me is a student accommodation that I stayed before (but with no flat no.). Can they get my guarantor's details through the student accommodation and track me down in Hong Kong for the payment? Is Scotcall sizable enough to do that? Or am I over-thinking it? Just wanna make sure my guarantor would not be harassed because of me.

 

Any advice what I could/should do at this moment ? (apparently they do not read their mailbox at all and I don't think calling them is a good idea lol)

Thank you all for reading and replying and your advise means a lot to me !!!

 

Viv

[BRIGADIER2JCS]

Hi welcome to CAG.

 

I would guess it would be prohibitively costly for them to pursue £70.00.

I don't think they will bother much when they find out what the accomodation is.

[cerberusalert]

Can they get my guarantor's details through the student accommodation and track me down in Hong Kong for the payment?

No, if the college gave that information they would breach the Data Protection Act.

 

As Brig said, they aren't going to pursue this very far for a matter of £70 it would cost them far too much in time, money & energy.

[renegadeimp]

The most that would happen is they mark your UK credit record. But if you have no intentions of coming back for a few years, then thats a non issue.

[citizenB]

You could always send them your Hong Kong address and invite them to visit at a prearranged time. Because they are not legally permitted to simply turn up on anyone's doorstep - they must make an appointment

[leex]

thank you very much for all of you to read and reply!!!

 

just another quick question (if you guys might know the answer),

if i do return to the UK in the future, will I be able to open a new account (like start from the beginning) or there will be a record in my credit report.

I personally cannot request a credit report as I do not have the debit card no. with me anymore. Does that mean I now have no credit at all in the UK (as I have closed down the bank account)?

 

Thank you very much once again! Viv

[leex]

that's actually a good idea, wish they'd enjoy the flight LOL

[BRIGADIER2JCS]

Any accounts on uk credit files including defaulted ones will be removed after 6 years anyway.

[citizenB]

thank you very much for all of you to read and reply!!!

 

just another quick question (if you guys might know the answer),

if i do return to the UK in the future, will I be able to open a new account (like start from the beginning) or there will be a record in my credit report.

I personally cannot request a credit report as I do not have the debit card no. with me anymore. Does that mean I now have no credit at all in the UK (as I have closed down the bank account)?

 

Thank you very much once again! Viv

 

Yes, if you return to the UK then you will probably have to start a new bank account if you closed yours before you left the UK. I shouldnt think that there would be any problems for you.

 

Reporting of this £70.00 will cease after 6 years - so if you have been out of the UK for a while then it is probably well on the way to dropping off anyway.

[renegadeimp]

You could always send them your Hong Kong address and invite them to visit at a prearranged time. Because they are not legally permitted to simply turn up on anyone's doorstep - they must make an appointment

 

And then invoice them for the time you had to take off work in order to wait for them

[renegadeimp]

thank you very much for all of you to read and reply!!!

 

just another quick question (if you guys might know the answer),

if i do return to the UK in the future, will I be able to open a new account (like start from the beginning) or there will be a record in my credit report.

I personally cannot request a credit report as I do not have the debit card no. with me anymore. Does that mean I now have no credit at all in the UK (as I have closed down the bank account)?

 

Thank you very much once again! Viv

 

It's uncertain if they will actually add any markers. SOmetimes they do, sometimes they dont. However, to be 100% sure, its much better to wait the 6 years and have a 100% completely clear file. You could always get one of the free checks anyway to make sure.

[leex]

oh i see, it's actually a pretty recent one lol but i guess as long as i stay out of the UK for 6 years I will be able to have a fresh start.

 

Thank you very much for you guy's help!!!

Viv

[cerberusalert]

If you return to the UK and apply for any form of credit including opening a bank a/c or a new mobile contract they will ask you for your previous addresses for the past five years. If you give your last UK address it will link your old credit file with your new address.

[renegadeimp]

oh i see, it's actually a pretty recent one lol but i guess as long as i stay out of the UK for 6 years I will be able to have a fresh start.

 

Thank you very much for you guy's help!!!

Viv

 

Yep. 6 years is the key. Just ignore all the emails they try to send you.

[johnjordan]

oh i see, it's actually a pretty recent one lol but i guess as long as i stay out of the UK for 6 years I will be able to have a fresh start.

 

Thank you very much for you guy's help!!!

Viv

 

Of course you could always pay the £70 you owe and left the country without paying!!!

[renegadeimp]

Of course you could always pay the £70 you owe and left the country without paying!!!

 

There are many factors why he might not have paid. Please dont blindly assume people are trying to run away from debts.

[cerberusalert]

Of course you could always pay the £70 you owe and left the country without paying!!!

 

And of course if you had read the original post properly you would have seen this;

 

Recently, I have received a email from Scotcall wanting 70 pounds from me for the debt with Hutchison 3G. I did reply them saying I do not have a visa or debit to pay through their system and asking for other means to pay it off. But seems they have ignored me and sent me another e-mail as the pre-visit notice.

[johnjordan]

And of course if you had read the original post properly you would have seen this;

 

Yes I agree but I would imagine that for the debt to have been passed to Scotcall it would have been outstanding for some time.

 

It's my old fashion ways.

[citizenB]

Yes I agree but I would imagine that for the debt to have been passed to Scotcall it would have been outstanding for some time.

 

It's my old fashion ways.

 

Oh dear, yet again you fail to read the posts correctly, you will see this is a "recent" account and sadly phone companies dont hang around and usually offload what they consider to be "debt" after 3 or 4 months. So hardly "outstanding for some time"

 

This appears to have been a genuine oversight and the OP was willing to pay.

[BRIGADIER2JCS]

I agree the OP is not in any way at fault.

[johnjordan]

Oh dear, yet again you fail to read the posts correctly, you will see this is a "recent" account and sadly phone companies dont hang around and usually offload what they consider to be "debt" after 3 or 4 months. So hardly "outstanding for some time"

 

This appears to have been a genuine oversight and the OP was willing to pay.

 

Oh dear, yet again I have failed to read the post correctly. Really? Where does it say it was a "recent" account? What it says is "Recently, I have received a email from Scotcall"

 

In my book that means that the debt is not "recent", just the contact from the debt collectors. I assume, maybe wrongly, that the OP still has the SIM card or even the phone itself and he/she never thought in your 3 or 4 months "I must pay the outstanding money for that"

 

I'm not going to labour the point. I am entitled to my opinion as you are yours. My old fashion ways mean I say as I see but If I'm proved wrong then I apologise otherwise I stick with what I feel.

 

I'm sure you would rather have differing points of view on these forums than everyone saying the same thing.

[BRIGADIER2JCS]

oh dear, yet again i have failed to read the post correctly. Really? Where does it say it was a "recent" account? What it says is "recently, i have received a email from scotcall"

 

in my book that means that the debt is not "recent", just the contact from the debt collectors. I assume, maybe wrongly, that the op still has the sim card or even the phone itself and he/she never thought in your 3 or 4 months "i must pay the outstanding money for that"

 

i'm not going to labour the point. I am entitled to my opinion as you are yours. My old fashion ways mean i say as i see but if i'm proved wrong then i apologise otherwise i stick with what i feel.

 

I'm sure you would rather have differing points of view on these forums than everyone saying the same thing.

 

i suggest you read post 12 of this thread!!!!!!!!!!!

 

A suitable apology perhaps???

[johnjordan]

i suggest you read post 12 of this thread!!!!!!!!!!!

 

A suitable apology perhaps???

 

You will see that my original reply was in fact to post 12 and it was what I perceived to be flippancy that drove me to make my comment.

 

If the OP would like to say when he/she left the UK, how many emails they had from Hutchison 3G before the debt was passed to Scotcall and what action he/she took before being contacted by Scotcall, then I will reconsider my thoughts. I'm assuming that Scotcall got the OP's email address from Hutchison 3G.

[citizenB]

Oh dear, yet again I have failed to read the post correctly. Really? Where does it say it was a "recent" account? What it says is "Recently, I have received a email from Scotcall"

 

In my book that means that the debt is not "recent", just the contact from the debt collectors. I assume, maybe wrongly, that the OP still has the SIM card or even the phone itself and he/she never thought in your 3 or 4 months "I must pay the outstanding money for that"

 

I'm not going to labour the point. I am entitled to my opinion as you are yours. My old fashion ways mean I say as I see but If I'm proved wrong then I apologise otherwise I stick with what I feel.

 

I'm sure you would rather have differing points of view on these forums than everyone saying the same thing.

 

Yes, absolutely we encourage differing points of view. What we dont encourage is judgmental and self righteous comments !!

[BRIGADIER2JCS]

It is perfectly plain and obvious that the OP is not avoiding payment of the alleged debt,

When the OP left the UK is of no consequence.

 

Also it is certain that the OP had closed quite properly the bank acccount that payments were to be taken from before the spurious extra charges were levied.