Shock Letter, worried about credit rating

pricilla

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I got a letter 4 days ago in the post, it said "urgent message, contact me at this number" it was really child like, not on headed paper or anything, looked like one of those scam letters. Was just about to throw the letter out and decided that I'd find the company who sent the letter and ring up and give out about sending me rubbish.

I ring directory enquiries and get put through, it turns out it's a debt collector/solicitor! I said, obviously there's some mistake, and your man says "it certainly isn't a mistake, a company have been sending you bills for 3 years and are now threatening legal action if you don't pay this bill of €250l!!"

I swear I have never received 1 single bill because I'd have paid it straight away.

I said, "I live at home, I don’t have any bills, the only time I didn't live at home was 3 years ago for about a month and I paid every bill when I left" He wouldn't even listen.

I got such a fright that I paid the €250 there and then by credit card. I was just in tears about the whole thing and was so worried that it would affect my credit rating ( although I’m approved for a mortgage, I haven’t actually drawn down the first stage payment yet and will probably have to reapply) the solicitor assured me it wouldn’t affect my credit rating but I’m still worried.

On further investigation, it turns out that the auctioneer rented the apartment after I left, and never changed names and the person who moved in never paid their bill. So being completely innocent I spoke to the auctioneers and said I wanted my money back and they agreed it was their mistake, so no harm done in theory.



Or is there?

Is there even a slight chance that this will be held against me when I apply for my mortgage? My friend is insisting that you have to actually go to court for it to affect your credit, but I’m not sure.

To be honest, I almost threw the stupid letter in the bin and could have ended up in court and lost my house.

I’m so upset over this.
 
I doubt that this will appear on your as it is an outstanding bill and not a credit agreement. However you can get your records yourself and check just to be sure. No offence but you should be more careful about checking the bona fides of people who contact you and in giving out your credit card details. I wouldn't get upset over it. The matter seems to have been dealt with, you can check your ICB records to see if there is any record of it and you have learned some valuable lessons from this seemingly negative incident.
 
An Outstanding Bill will not appear on your ICB rating...nothing to worry about.
 
I did check the company before giving them details, they are a big Dublin firm and it was true. I was just so shocked that they could send me this letter while the actual company didn't send me even one bill.
Anyway, thanks for your reassurances, if I check this ICB record, is there a record of it being checked? I just don't want any hassles when getting this mortgage at all.
 
pricilla said:
if I check this ICB record, is there a record of it being checked? I just don't want any hassles when getting this mortgage at all.
I think that there may be but I can't see how any negative inference can be drawn from a consumer exercising their right to access their credit records. If you really want to be sure that neither this nor any other "black mark" is recorded on your record then you should go ahead and check it.
 
no harm in checking your own record, all ICB checks are recorded, so if you were to make 5 mortgage applications then 5 recent ICB checks will show but the lenders do not pay too much attention to this anymore, as theres nothing wrong with shopping around....:)
 
pricilla said:
I got a letter 4 days ago in the post, it said "urgent message, contact me at this number" it was really child like, not on headed paper or anything, looked like one of those scam letters. Was just about to throw the letter out and decided that I'd find the company who sent the letter and ring up and give out about sending me rubbish.

I ring directory enquiries and get put through, it turns out it's a debt collector/solicitor! I said, obviously there's some mistake, and your man says "it certainly isn't a mistake, a company have been sending you bills for 3 years and are now threatening legal action if you don't pay this bill of €250l!!"

I swear I have never received 1 single bill because I'd have paid it straight away.

I said, "I live at home, I don’t have any bills, the only time I didn't live at home was 3 years ago for about a month and I paid every bill when I left" He wouldn't even listen.

I got such a fright that I paid the €250 there and then by credit card. I was just in tears about the whole thing and was so worried that it would affect my credit rating ( although I’m approved for a mortgage, I haven’t actually drawn down the first stage payment yet and will probably have to reapply) the solicitor assured me it wouldn’t affect my credit rating but I’m still worried.

On further investigation, it turns out that the auctioneer rented the apartment after I left, and never changed names and the person who moved in never paid their bill. So being completely innocent I spoke to the auctioneers and said I wanted my money back and they agreed it was their mistake, so no harm done in theory.



Or is there?

Is there even a slight chance that this will be held against me when I apply for my mortgage? My friend is insisting that you have to actually go to court for it to affect your credit, but I’m not sure.

To be honest, I almost threw the stupid letter in the bin and could have ended up in court and lost my house.

I’m so upset over this.

are you sure its not a scam...

did you get the name of the company who the debt orignated from ?

did you owe them money or even have dealing with them ?
 
No it's not a scam. I had the name of the company written down and then I edited the post.
It was a mistake by the auctioneers. They are sending me a cheque today please god.
It's a complete shock to think that people could threaten to take a completely innocent person to court for not paying a bill, without even sending them one single bill. AND I NEVER EVEN OWED ANYTHING IN THE FIRST PLACE! It's scandalous really.
I had a look at the ICB website and it seems they only deal with financial institutions so I'm ok with the credit rating stuff. Such an eye opener.
 
Are you sure they didn't send any bills? You say the "the auctioneer rented the apartment after I left, and never changed names and the person who moved in never paid their bill." Do you think the original bills might have gone to the old apartment?

I assume you got the letter to your current address but it might be that the collection agency tracked you down to the new address once they got involved.
 
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