Dear dx100UK some of your comments are wrong here, I am not being difficult but like you I have been around for many many years and know this area in expert form. When a debt id being prepared for court numerous charges can be applied and this in itself is a business !! imagine £250 being added to every account bought its a significant amount and it is happening today legaly, I am happy to let you have the OFT material if you wish? AKTIV KAPITAL, Intrum Justicia, Compello, Lowell Group, Mckenxie Hall are just a few buyers who are now and have been for many years very active in this sector of buying debt. How can the debt be questionable when thier backed by asset that are in the home? this debt is a secured debt on the Asset? and as for DCA's BAYV / Brighthouse / perfect Home / Family Vision/ homebuy etc all employ thier own collectors and these are not DCA's knocking on the doors. most of them have appointments and as with BAYV in this case they have meters that require emtying? all agreed and signed for at the point of sale. I dont know anything about knockers proclaiming to be bailiffs so cant comment.

I would have to agree they will ask you to sign what is called a disclaimer but let face you are behind and in breach of the contract and the customer isnt always right, if they have done everythinhg in the correct way then they can take the goods back. On the other hand if you are encouraging this claim that they cant take anything back to get the situation resolved to a mutual satisfaction you run the risk of getting many hundreds of pounds in additional legal costs added to the debt when the debt is sold on by the debt purchaser and you can see that Lowell Group are having quite a bit of activity at present on this forum. Just asking them to leave is a very curt way of saying Im not prepared to try and resolve this matter? surely the best advice & the way forward is to talk about it? Any way we digress from the point. Its good to note that the matter is already partly resolved from the response above from BAYV but in my view they should still write to the Chairman as he needs to be aware of what happens in his business.

Everyone, Please take a few minute ro read my response to these threads. I would absolutley NOT damage the Meter Box as this is their property at all times and they can get you convicted of criminal damage if you do so. If their staff's behaviour is what you say it is this is not right and entering a premises without the permission of the owner could in itself be a legal issue they have breached dependant on how old the person was who was in the property at the time. Write another letter asking them politley to cancel the optional insurances and send it reorded delivery and with a copy to thier Chairman Mr Adrian Hill & Trading Standards. Mr Hill will not want this to tarnish his so called intact professional image or want to be dragged into this sort of operational situation the more people that write to him now the better for everyone as he currently doesnt know the full extent of what is going on in the business. He needs to be made aware of these situations and im sure he would see they require some immediate attention. When CAG say they are not Bailiffs this is very true but the minute you allow them into the home they do have power to remove goods if you are in breach of your contract with regard to payments and if they have issued a default notice that has had the sufficient time to cool off. You need to be more direct with these now and in particular with Mr Adrian Hill. Dont deal with anyone else as they will simply spin the situation to suit themselves and are intimidated by the BIG bosses who shout the odds. The staff are being bullied into working rediculous hours due to the continuing under performance of the business, one young chap was telling me their using trackers in the cars to check the hours they work and if they are not still out at 8pm they will possibly lose thier jobs, also he has to count from his home to his first call and his last call to home as Private miles when in fact he is going to work and then home again. The company are very very bad at handling customers and it also appears they treat staff the same way which will only mean one thing, the business will have a very short life. Everyone, Write to Mr ADRIAN HILL and if he doesnt respond favourably go to the next level, the owners who are VC in London. Good Luck but dont damage thier property and remain calm even with thier bullies.

Hi, Does anyone know if it is legal to defer arrears on a loan account without notifying the customer this has / is about to happen? I thought any business operating this type of method would have to let the customer know there was going to be a change to the account? by that I mean putting the amount of arrears to the end of the agreement which by definition changes the end date? Its a bit like implementing a payment holiday without the customer being aware of it? A good friend has just had this happen with a company she deals with and im almost certain its illegal?

Hi, Homebuy are in what they call run off where they are just collecting as much money as they can from the remaining customers. Julie Driver is in charge of this project on behalf of the banks who used to fund it. There will be very little come back from them if any at all as most of the staff have been let go. They wont be taking anybody to court for non payment that is a sure thing but that is the same for all of these types of businesses. Most of the agreements will be UN enforceable due to errors on completion etc but none of them actually take customers to court. Some of them sell some of the debts and the new buyer may be a bit more tenacious?

I would write a complaint to their Chairman Mr Adrian Hill and copy the OFT, He needs to be aware of these examples in order that he realises what goes on under his watch.

I have the same problem with them at present but sadly for a much larger amount. I have been in discussions with the employer and HMRC since March last year and they still are adamant I owe the money. Facts are both of them have made fundamental errors by not informing each other of my employment and not completing P46 etc. to answer you question I have now been advised by HMRC write a complaint letter and mention that you will escalate the mater to the matter to their ombudsman as an appeal. I am now awaiting a response. Perhaps this is what you should do. They have a huge drive on at present trying to reclaim as much Tax as they can and are being very dogmatic at present. If its not your fault then stand your ground. challenge them all the way.

Bright-house have made giant strides because they have someone at the helm who has taken compliance seriously, BAYV used to be the leader and it saddens me to read you think they are years behind when in 2004 the business was sold for over £100 million to 3i it was the biggest deal ever to come out of Wales. The companies debt was admirable and complaints from customers were almost non existent. Profits were healthy and they always contributed to local charities so much so the former Chairman was awarded an OBE for his charity work. When Mr Clarke moved from Bright house to BAYV this was the start of the demise of this great business. I am certain if you look back at the timings of when BAYV deteriorated with their customer service you will see a number of synergies between the New Management arriving and the old leaving. Remember Crazy George now Bright house were stopped from trading in France whilst Mr Clarke was there because the pricing was so ambiguous & the french government stepped in. He is no different nowadays and you will see numerous complaints on this forum in relation to ambiguity around Service Cover etc. The now Chairman Adrian Hill also must be held responsible as he is allowing this to happen and does nothing to change things. The business has just been sold for £34 million to another VC which has to be a reflection of the current management and not the economic climate. Remember these businesses are recession proof and this climate should be fantastic for ALL of these businesses. How can such a great business be dismantled in just 9 years to this extent. There is only 1 answer, the people at the top are just not good enough. Perfect Homes is run by another part of the ex Clarke Brigade and these people all operate the same way and try and mirror the model of the old Bright house and how it was pre 2005.