Intrum debt and mortgage drawdown

Follower123

Long story short our contract with virgin media ended in November 2020 and we wanted to cancel to go elsewhere as our bill was increasing from €55 to €129 pm.

The only way to cancel the service is to call 1908 which we did for days on end and we’re left on hold for 40-60 minutes each time without ever being able to speak to anyone. We paid €129 for November sand as we still couldn’t get through to cancel for December we cancelled the direct debit and thought to hell with them we have a new provider now.

Fast forward we now receive a letter from Intrum stating we owe them over 300€ and we need to pay it or we’ll be brought to court.

Our worry is if we ignore this will they continue to add interest and will this affect our credit rating?
We are mortgage approved due to drawdown in July and don’t want this to be affected but at the same time we’re not happy to pay €300 for a service we didn’t use and tried to cancel multiple time.

Basically my question - can an unpaid/ disputed debt from wifi provider / Intrum affect our credit rating and mortgage drawdown?

Thanks

Jim2007

Follower123 wrote: »

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Basically my question - can an unpaid/ disputed debt from wifi provider / Intrum affect our credit rating and mortgage drawdown?

It is not a dispute, you are an adult and society assumes you will honour the contracts you sign. You failed to comply with terms of the contract and now it's come back to bit you.

We can only speculate as to how far the debt collectors will take it. Based on your description of the situation, it seems like a very winnable situation from their side. So it's anyone's guess what they will do.

If your credit rating is important to you, then the obvious thing to do is sort this out while it is easy to do so.

Bubbaclaus

You will need to pay that debt if you don't want things to escalate on this. You can't just cancel a direct debit and assume that will get you out of a contract.

L1011

Utility debt does not report to the CCR - only loans (of all types), hire purchase and PCP currently.

However, good luck getting a mobile contract, car finance, payment plan from anywhere etc etc with that.

Follower123

Jim2007 wrote: »

It is not a dispute, you are an adult and society assumes you will honour the contracts you sign. You failed to comply with terms of the contract and now it's come back to bit you.

We can only speculate as to how far the debt collectors will take it. Based on your description of the situation, it seems like a very winnable situation from their side. So it's anyone's guess what they will do.

If your credit rating is important to you, then the obvious thing to do is sort this out while it is easy to do so.

My contract was up in November . It then wen to to a ‘rolling 30 day contract’ that was 2.5x the amount I was paying previously . I made numerous attempts to contact them to cancel the service and after 2 full weeks of calls and emails and getting nowhere I cancelled the direct debit.

Follower123

Bubbaclaus wrote: »

You will need to pay that debt if you don't want things to escalate on this. You can't just cancel a direct debit and assume that will get you out of a contract.

I wasn’t in a contract! My contract was up in November.

Jim2007

Follower123 wrote: »

My contract was up in November . It then wen to to a ‘rolling 30 day contract’ that was 2.5x the amount I was paying previously . I made numerous attempts to contact them to cancel the service and after 2 full weeks of calls and emails and getting nowhere I cancelled the direct debit.

Of course you were and still are in a contract! Do not be at all surprised if the debt continues to mount up. You need to terminate this contract properly in accordance with the terms of the agreement you signed to avoid further changes and you need to settle the debt for it to go away.

Henry Ford III

Write the provider a letter. Never mind calls and emails.

Tell them you want to close your account.

Until such time as you do that and give whatever notice is required you remain under contract.

p.s. For a debt collector to have gotten involved suggests this is going on a good while.

Bubbaclaus

Follower123 wrote: »

I wasn’t in a contract! My contract was up in November.

That is just not correct. The contract continues on a rolling basis until either party officially terminates under the terms of the contract.

Look at it this way, why were you trying to contact them at all if your contract was up in November sure?

Buddy Bubs

Get onto comreg. There's always hassle with these companies around canceling and end of contracts. Had it myself, ended up with one of these crowds like Intrum.
I ignored the calls and letters for a while and they went away. It was never on my credit report, its not a credit agreement anyway.

Follower123

Buddy Bubs wrote: »

Get onto comreg. There's always hassle with these companies around canceling and end of contracts. Had it myself, ended up with one of these crowds like Intrum.
I ignored the calls and letters for a while and they went away. It was never on my credit report, its not a credit agreement anyway.

Thank you, for one of the only helpful replies! I appreciate it

Darc19

Write to intrum, give them copies of the emails you sent and details of the calls you made.

Send copy to virgin.

Ask for a final reply as you wish to progress the issue to comreg.


All these companies make it phenomenally difficult to cancel contracts and a new code of practice needs to be brought in

Squiggle

Basically my question - can an unpaid/ disputed debt from wifi provider / Intrum affect our credit rating and mortgage drawdown?

No.

You've done all you reasonably can do to cancel your contract.
In the extremely unlikely event that Intrum litigate for €300 I personally would file an appearance and lodge a full defence on the basis of the attempts you have made to cancel the contract through calls and e mails.

I'd report Virgin to Comreg for not cancelling your contract despite your efforts to get them to do so.

Follower123

Darc19 wrote: »

Write to intrum, give them copies of the emails you sent and details of the calls you made.

Send copy to virgin.

Ask for a final reply as you wish to progress the issue to comreg.


All these companies make it phenomenally difficult to cancel contracts and a new code of practice needs to be brought in

Thank you, I’m in the process of a com reg complaint and I have relied to intrum to dispute the payment also.

Replies above seem to be fascinated with whether I was in a contract or not which isn’t the issue. The issue is I the only way this company lets you cancel the contract is by ringing a number which you are left on hold for an hour each time. I sent numerous emails and WhatsApp messages informing them I wanted to end contract and would be cancelling the direct debit if nobody did it for me. I’m a full time frontline worker with a young baby as is my partner so we simply didn’t have the time to pursue this to get a hold off them for weeks on end by phone and that’s why after numerous unsuccessful attempts we cancelled the direct debit.

The issue here is that virgin media made it absolutely impossible for us to end the contract, and are now charging us €300 for the months December / January and February despite them cutting us off on 24th December as we cancelled the direct debit.

Even if we do end up paying the 300€ I hope our complaints are listened to and the process of cancelling is made simpler, as a simple google search shows hundreds of people in the same predicament, I don’t know how they get away with it!

beertons

You may be cut off, but the account is still live. Write a letter to cease. Pay 300. Move on.