Paid final bill in 2022 now IMFS are chasing me but Virgin tell me to ignore them!

[anna2810]

Hi, 

I was with virgin media from July 2021 to September 2022

i closed my account which Virgin have confirmed over the phone, paid the bill and have now been hearing IMFS 2 years later saying that I owe £36.30 to Virgin Media. I have spoken to Virgin Media 4 times on the phone and each time they have said there is NOTHING on my account and no charges, I have returned the equipment in 2022 and I paid my bill and account closed!!

IMFS said they had a response from Virgin Media when I told them to contact them as they were ‘unable to give me any confirmation as it’s been too long’ (the lady I spoke to today said she’d be sending me an email confirming it and post but didn’t ask for my new address where post would be issued and I’ve yet to receive an email), and I’ve also been told to ignore the emails etc. I won’t do this as it affects my credit file potentially?

I’ve looked at my credit report and can only see Virgin Media and ‘account closed’ and there’s no missed payments on there either as I was on time.

I need help desperately, this is causing me so much distress that I’ve been in tears and crying, I have severe a severe mental health and cannot have this on my mind and an episode ensue as I will most likely be put in hospital again!!  - I’m being called a liar by IMFS and apparently gaslighted by Virgin Media??? 

I have never received anything at all from Virgin Media saying I owe money, not a thing because I DON’T!!! I will not be fibbed off with ‘use this link’ or ‘Just ignore it’ or ‘We can’t send you anything’ because this is harassment, some kind of abuse I’m sure and also attempted bloody theft!! 

I’ve requested a DSAR but been told they are useless. I want everything to do with IMFS to be withdrawn from them at Virgin Media’s end because they keep saying I am a liar. This is awful!!!! How do they think they can do this, not even to just vulnerable people but people in general! 

[japitts · Accepted solution]

Are IMFS able to give any justification for their monetary demands? If not, that could be reported to the Police as demanding money with menaces. You could perhaps write to them, telling them this is no uncertain terms - and do so by signed-for delivery.

[unisoft]

Forum Staff should be able to help by private messaging. Hopefully later today but officially can take a couple of days.

[anna2810]

They’ve sent me an email after I told them to contact Virgin directly as I was getting nowhere and they’ve sent me this; 

‘Balance Due: £36.30

You recently raised a query on your Virgin Media account and we now have some information for you.

Query response from Virgin Media:

The customer has been sent bills detailing the overdue balance, there is no evidence to suggest we would credit it. Balance stands. Please collect. Thank you

We have placed your account on hold for seven days.

Please contact IMFS on 0113 511 2820 quoting 5024316.’

Not sure if this counts as justification , was going to email and ask them to prove the debt but having trouble atm finding a template 😞

Virgin seemed really helpful today saying they’d send me proof until I wasn’t sent anything! 

thanks for your response though, really taking it in board and thinking how to go about it as quick as I can! Thank you

[anna2810]

That’s really good to know, have people had success with the forum staff before? After my phone calls and talking to IMFS with the info payments and billings have given me calling on deaf ears I’m a bit sceptical they’ll follow up on what they say lol! 

[japitts]

If IMFS are referring you to VM for details of the alleged debt, but you have documentary proof that your VM account is clear and nothing is owed... I would say you have a slam-dunk case for telling IMFS to take a long walk off a short cliff. The legal terminology, I believe, is "debt is denied"

Perhaps get a trusted friend to draft a letter, or go to Citizens Advice, but it's rarely a good idea to engage in a telephone conversation with outfits such as this. Do everything in writing, and keep things simple - they're the ones demanding money, the onus is on them to justify it.

[Matthew_ML]

Hey anna2810, thank you for reaching out and a warm welcome to the community I am so sorry to hear about this.

If you've been advised the account is closed and you own nothing this would the be the case.

Does the letter which says you own Money too, does this definitely say Virgin Media?

When was the letter dated?

For example if you did pay an old bill off it would normally get updated within 21 - 28 working days,

[anna2810]

Sadly the only confirmation I have was the man I spoke to on the phone, he did call from a legitimate VM number and I’m assuming the call was recorded, but no proof has been sent to my email or my phone which is setting off alarm bells once more! 

[anna2810]

Hi there,

I spoke to someone on the phone who called me from a Virgin number, won’t say his name here, but I have a voicemail saying to call him back and then answered when he tried again. He said that I had cancelled a previous account as the account number changed when I moved and I didn’t cancel the one I had at the time… which makes so little sense to me as I’d have been paying 2 bills. I even paid in August £58 which I believe may have actually been a fee for cancelling as it was way above what I normally paid; but my last payment came out in Sept 2022 and I had called before to close the account. The man on the phone said he could see no record if that, but on the other side I received nothing from Virgin even suggesting I had an outstanding balance on any medium of communications whatsoever. He offered to take off £16 but I was and am adamant that I do not owe this, and even if I somehow did - why wasn’t I notified by Virgin before virgin sold it to a debt collection agency? I know I’m not the first this has happened to now 

regardless the person I spoke to agreed to credit the account because of ‘all the hassle and trouble’ it’s caused me, and while I am very grateful, I’ve not received this in writing and am now growing concerned again. 

I have no letter, never had a letter either and the first I’ve heard of this is IMFS contacting a few weeks back, I haven’t been with Virgin Media since Sept 2022. I know I cancelled my account because I sent my router etc back. 

[Ayisha_B]

I'd like to take a closer look into this so will pop you a PM 📩 now and we can go from there.

Thanks