ACC - gobsmacked!!!!!! Outcome

It is not often that I go incandescent with rage nowadays, but if you look out the window in the general direction of Hamilton I bet you can see the glow from my computer desk, even in full daylight

About an hour ago I received a call from a chap at Baycorp - yep, the debt collection agency. He said did I intend to pay my outstanding debt to ACC? What outstanding debt, I ask. He quotes a figure. What is it for, I ask. Oh, I'd have to get the invoice details from ACC for that, he says. Well, that's not good enough, I say. When was it due? 17 October, he says. We sent you a letter 29th October.

What? I say. 12 days after a first due date and they are calling in you lot? (knowing as I do through my own dealings chasing down folk that Baycorp charges an arm and a leg to collect). To add insult to injury, once I worked out what the invoice was for, I knew that I had discussed it with ACC and thought it all sorted as they had used the wrong figures and I had arranged time to get new figures to them (close down of a business, long story ). I should add at this point that the main invoice accompanying this one had been paid in full a month before the due date.

Are you going to pay the debt? he asks. No, I'm going to talk to ACC, I say, and promptly get on the blower.

Yes, it was due 17 October, the lady says. But I called you guys to sort this out, I said. Yes, we have it on record, she says, but you still had to pay that amount. No, I said, I was told that I didn't have to as we were still waiting on finalised accounts from the accountant. And I might add, I say, that it took over 6 weeks of chasing you guys down to get you to send the accounts in the first place so we COULD close the accounts down!

So she phones Baycorp and puts a hold on the demand of six weeks to sort it out.

Not happy, I say, I want to speak to someone further up the feedchain. So supervisor comes on. Explain it all again.

Well, a hold's been put on it, she says.

Not good enough, I say, I want to know how much Baycorp is charging you to chase up someone who is less than two weeks over a due date that she thought had been sorted after her last phone call, and has had no reminder letter to alert her to the fact that something might be remiss.

And, you have had 15 years showing all invoices paid on time, including the times that we had to sort out ACC's stuff ups...

The main thing is that you have another 6 weeks grace, she says.

No, I say, the main thing is that I am not happy paying any amount now knowing that Baycorp will take a cut of it.

Since when have you had this policy of involving Baycorp straight away? I ask

We always have had, she answers (sounding all of 21). No you haven't, I reply, because one of your staff let slip a year ago that you didn't chase up bills until 3 months after non-payment - not that I had ever been late with bills, I might add!

Next time, I say, I'll do what I was trying to avoid in the first place, which was deregistering the company when it took you so long sending out the invoices, because then you wouldn't have had a company to charge!!!!! So much for trying to do the right thing.

And, furthermore, tell Baycorp that calling someone out of the blue and insisting they have sent a letter two days ago that hasn't been received yet is a pretty unprofessional way of doing things.



There goes my equilibrium for the day. I will not type here what I think of them, let's just say it starts with w, ends in r, and is plural.

PS I need more angry smilies, Kate!!!! [}]

been there done that with ACC. They sent us to a collection agency for a disputed amount, and we are still getting chased over two years later despite the company no longer operating, and I still dispute the amoint owed!

What frustrates me mainly is the amount of times we have had to expend energy in the past when they have got things wrong. At one stage they hadn't billed us for nearly two years, and I contacted them to sort it before the accumulated bill got too large to handle when it finally arrived.

The main reason we sorted out a delay for this one was that they were charging us on an extra 40% over and above the expected income for that year as we'd stopped trading part way through the 12 month period, and I didn't want to have to sort out getting our extra payment back as they would insist it was a credit whereas with the business closing down there would be noone to credit it to!!!

Take a deep breath........

I can see you're furious and I'm not surprised. I can't believe that ACC are being so quick off the mark. I have had a few pieces of mail go missing over the years - bad luck if it's an account that you're not going to get a reminder for Write a blistering letter to your MP, or local councillor or both - and the Minister for ACC Maryan Street...she's been in the job for over an hour now so should be ready for her first challenge [}]

Once you have a black mark against you with Baycorp they keep it there for years, even after the so called debt has been paid as I understand it. We had dealings with Baycorp a few years back and even though we weren't at fault it took a lawyer's letter to get them to clean up their records. So make sure that ACC tell Baycorp to withdraw the debt otherwise it will count against you if you want credit. We were refused a cheque book on a bank account after 15 years of trouble-free banking all because of Baycorp... Took ages to sort out and the people at Baycorp were very rude to deal with. 'We're heard all the excuses before, just pay up' attitude. Good job for them they never tried it to my face [XX(]

Good luck!
Kate

Thanks Kate. The adrenaline has worn off and I'm having a quiet snivel over my keyboard now...[V] I must be getting soft, time was that I would have to deal with this level of aggro on a daily basis and it didn't affect me []

When we get this final payment sorted out, I will send in the account and an accompanying letter, as you say. The credit rating bizzo is what pisses me off the most.

I think ACC has been way too quick off the mark on this, I can understand it if it was someone who was a serial non-payer, but to do this to someone who has a blemish-free track record with them is beyond the pale.

PS have just emailed Maryan Street []

Tigger every year I (not Hubby) get an invoice from ACC saying that I owe them money for the year and its posted to me directly in NSW, usually about $500 too I might add.
Each year I ring, and say I am not self employed, and they say but its the way your accountant is doing your tax return....

So I go back to the accountant, ACC is saying you are putting me in as self employed and I must pay them a levy. Accountant says *&*& and so then I write a letter to ACC explaining what my accountant does with my tax and what it includes (which is the same activity every year), and that actually I live over the ditch full time (but would like to change soon) so I cannot be self employed in NZ.

ACC have got so used to me now I just send my letter every year to the same person.... I even went to the extent of registering on line for ACC and filled in the stop trading details as of my date of birth. Still get the invoices though.

IRD sends us GST forms and late statement notes for our partnership that we converted into a company many years ago. No matter how many times we or our accountant tells them this is so, they still keep sending 'em...but at least they don't follow up with a penalty or debt collectors [}]

ACC tells me it isn't for the partnership, because then it would be in Hubby's name as well, its for other stuff.[:0] but they always remove it after they have received my letter of explanation and send a reverse invoice.

quote:Originally posted by tigger

IRD sends us GST forms and late statement notes for our partnership that we converted into a company many years ago. No matter how many times we or our accountant tells them this is so, they still keep sending 'em...but at least they don't follow up with a penalty or debt collectors [}]

IRD are worse than ACC - I havent been self employed for three years, so dont need to pay provisional tax but do you think I can get the fact that I now pay PAYE thru to the thick heads at IRD ? and I get accounts with penalties that keep getting cancelled - at least I'm keeping someone in a job somewhere;)

Funny, but apart from that small hiccup I mentioned with IRD, I have found them really good to deal with in the last few years. I know that they were given a right shakeup a while back about their predatory attitudes to those who were trying to get themselves out of messes, with the blame for a few breakdowns and suicides amongst hounded ratepayers being laid squarely at their door - maybe those staff have now all transferred to ACC? [}]

I've had trouble with them too. Applied for mortgage a few years ago and a debt to ACC showed up on my credit check. They'd sent an account to an old address despite having my new address AND phone number and I'd never received it. For reasons they were unable to explain they'd just gone straight to Baycorp. Picking up the phone was obviously much too difficult!!! Like you Tigger, I was ropable

Edit: In the interests of fairness, I will say that I've been a claimant twice in the past year and the people I've had contact with have been very good to deal with, though rather hamstrung by some completely nonsensical policies.

Well, checked the PO Box again last night, the letter that Baycorp reckoned they sent me before they phoned me still hadn't arrived - waiting, waiting...

Neither have I had a reply to my email to Baycorp requesting that they advise me what happens now that a hold has been put on by ACC for 6 weeks - if it is all sorted within that time, will this still show as a mark against my name?? [V]

You'll be waiting for ever with Baycorp. Colleague at work applied for loan and was declined as Baycorp had an outstanding debt.

She contact Baycorp and after numerous "discussions"[}] they finally advised her what the bill was for. A power bill for a house she had never lived in, from a power company she had never powered with. When she finally got the documentation the name was close but incorrect - not using her correct name but she was Jayne Smith and the power bill was for Jane Smith. Correct surname but incorrect first name. Power bill was also only in her name not her and husband. It took months of arguing with both Baycorp and the powercompany and included providing copies of rates bills (where they were living) power bills from the company providing power to their house before the power company advised Baycorp that they were no longer pursuing the matter. And she kept at Baycorp for another 3 months to get a letter stating that she was not a debtor and her credit rating was fixed. Also despite Baycorp being advised by the power company that the debtor no longer resided at the address that is where they had sent all the original letters advising of the debt.

The scary thing is these debts can be logged by Baycorp, and you kow nothing about them unless for some reason you get a credit check. That could mean that if you already have your mortgage and don't apply for anything that involves a credit check again you could never ever know that Baycorp has black listed you.

OKay, got an email back from Baycorp stating that the claim has been categorised as 'in dispute', but that didn't answer my original question which was: if this is paid within the 'hold' time (as long as ACC and I and accountant can agree on figure ) will this claim be removed from my record...will keep emailing until I get the answer.

As far as checking your credit rating goes...it took me a while to find out, but you can apply for your credit records through Veda Advantage (who? I hear you ask? Exactly - for some reason they are the company that has the god-given right to hold all credit info on New Zealanders/Australians) at www.mycreditfile.co.nz/home/home_default.aspx you have the right to ask for your credit info and receive it for free as long as you are happy waiting 10 days, for shorter timeframes you have to pay.