ASA Ruling on Guardian Recovery Ltd Guardian Recovery Ltd 4 Tustin Court Port Way Preston PR2 2YQ Date: 30 December 2015 Media: Facsimile, Internet (on own site) Sector: Financial Number of complaints: 1 Agency: None Complaint Ref: A15-309515 Background Summary of Council decision: Two issues were investigated, both of which were Upheld. Ad Two ads for Guardian Recovery Ltd, a debt collection agency: a. A fax received on 28 August 2014 stated "We will collect: overdue accounts, bounced cheques, bad debts. We will: enforce County Court Judgments, trace absconded debtors, credit check potential clients. We offer a guaranteed, fully-inclusive debt recovery service. 110% Money Back Guarantee... Nobody can do more to collect your debt and that's GUARANTEED". b. A claim on the "Services" tab of http://www.guardrec.co.uk, Guardian Recovery's website, seen in July 2015, stated "...The services of our Legal Team can be utilised without incurring the often unnecessary expenses of a separate firm of solicitors or a barrister". For further reading....... https://www.asa.org.uk/Rulings/Adjudications/2015/12/Guardian-Recovery-Ltd/SHP_ADJ_309515.aspx#.VoO4xbaLQgs

Hi guys, just a quick question... I advised O2 that I was unable to pay my O2 contract with them due to have recently been taken to the cleaners in a divorce. I also advised that I have moved to Germany and would attempt to pay back what is owed once I get a job here... well... its been 9 months, not been able to get employment yet, just been signed on the JobCenter here and getting the very basic in support. I am hoping to get employment soon, and have informed Westcott that I had advised O2 about this... Now I have read up on Westcott and find that they paid 02 the debt owed and no doubt will chase me for more than what the original debt was... on the grand sale of things, would they go to the hassle of getting a european court order for the sake of 500? End of the day they can... I dont have anything they can take from me as I dont own more than my clothes... Any constructive advice welcome

Came here to look for info for a friend and just read the other recent posts on DRP. The parking charge date was 29th Jan 2014. Contested straight away at the time. DRP demanding pymnt and IMO to ignore, as if it got to court so many reasons they would lose.

Hi, My mum received a letter today from Debt Recovery Plus threatening to recommend court action on behalf of Parking Eye LTD. This is apparently for a PCN issued in 2012. I have read lots of recommendations on ignoring these threats as DRP can't actually do anything except recommend to Parking Eye but I wondered if there had been some change in the law recently that has prompted this letter, more than 3 years later? Any info is appreciated! Thanks

Hi there Caggers... Debt Recovery Plus are the latest people trying to swindle by sending me letters such as the one attached. I park in this Excel car park at least 3 times a week. Last week in May 2015, they dotted these small notices around the car park saying that the cost to park was going up by 50p. Of course the signs were so small, hardly anyone saw them and then they did a massive swoop looking for all of those poor people in the carpark who had not seen the sign and paid £2.50 like myself. No intentions of paying them because they are con-men and stealth tactic was devious. I wrote to them saying that I know my rights and that the PCN is an invoice to pay, they do not have the right to prosecute me, it is down to the land owner, etc .. and then wrote me this letter. I'm growing weary.. can they do anything? and is there anything else I can do to help them get the message that 'I AIN'T PAYING IT' because at the moment they ain't listening.

Hi all hope you are well. Today I received a letter from Northern Rail's Debt Recovery and Prosecutions Unit. It's regarding the end of July when I traveled from Hadfield to Glossop by train. The ticket office was closed, and the ticket machine only accepts card. I was carrying cash and fully intended to buy a ticket. When I cannot get a ticket in this situation I simply get one in Glossop. When I got off the train I saw two northern rail uniformed staff, I approached them to get a ticket. At this point they told me I had committed an offence and they took my details. I was literally asking them to pay as I figured they must have the ticket machine! Just wondering if I have a leg to stand on? Any advice will be appreciated.

please help. i paid and displayed a valid ticket at an NCP car park in April 2015. when i returned to the vehicle i had a parking ticket as the ticket i had displayed on leaving the car had fallen on the floor. there was no sticky label so it was left on the dash board. NCP were not interested in my appeal nor were POPLA both stating it was my responsibility to display. i now have a letter from debt recovery plus threatening court action if i do not pay. what should i do any advise will help

Hi Everyone Thought I'd post this for everyone who's had experience of Harlands pretending to be a DRC so you all could have as a laugh! Summary: I cancelled my gym membership at my local gym for health reasons in February. Harlands, who were handling the finances for the gym, asked for proof from my doctor which I provided. It then took them TWO MONTHS to agree to cancel my membership early. Now they are chasing me for two monthly payments of £24 which equals £48 covering March and April because it took them that long to decide to accept the medical evidence I provided. PLUS they are now also chasing me for the usual unlawful 'administrative charges' which they add every time someone in their so called 'collections department' decides to fart. ere's the text of their rambling email to me which is their so called expert 'version' of events. Sorry it's soooooooooooooo long, but have a laugh on me!: "Further to your email of 13th July 2015; we apologise that there has been an error in calculating your balance. To explain how this has happened we should like to initially point out that the email you refer to receiving was not sent by Credit Resolution Services. We have been employed to deal with this matter only from 8th July 2015 onwards. Prior to that date the matter was being dealt with by the customer service department of Harlands. As a debt recovery company, negotiation is a significant portion of the work we carry out and as such we need the ability to easily amend the balance stated. This is not the case with Harlands who were employed merely to collect the payments due under your agreemen t and administer any requests for cancellation. Harlands can only close a file in one of three ways; by collecting the full amount remaining, by cancelling the full amount remaining or by passing the full amount that remained to CRS for further action. At the time your payments stopped you had eight instalments remaining to be paid on the minimum term you agreed to. Cancellation can be granted prior to completing the minimum term in certain circumstances provided sufficient proof is received. Cancellation of your membership was not granted, however, until after your March instalment became due, meaning that you were still in arrears of two months. Harlands could not close the file by collecting the full amount remaining because six of the eight months were NOT due. Harlands could not close the file by cancelling the full amount remaining as two of the eight months WERE due. Harlands therefore pursued you for the two months outstanding plus charges applied in line with the terms of your agreement in the hopes that once paid the full amount remaining would relate to payments which were not due and the file could be closed by cancelling this amount. Because you have not paid this, however, Harlands have passed the full balance (including the six months which are not due) to ourselves to collect. Because you have drawn our attention to this fact we have reduced your balance accordingly. As such you are no longer liable for 6 x £24.00 membership fees (£144.00) and we have also reduced the additional fees applied to this balance by £24.22. You remain liable, however, for £174.50, consisting of arrears already due on the date your evidence was received and additional fees applied in line with the terms of your agreement. Clearly this amount is greater than £88.00 but we should like to point out that Harlands email of 18th June does not in fact state that your balance is £88.00 as you allege. It instead merely quotes an earlier letter which stated that you should pay your arrears of £88.00 by 5th May 2015 to avoid further charges being applied. You failed to make this payment and so a further £20.00 administration charge was applied on 8th Jun e in line with clause six of your agreement (it was this that prompted the email correspondence you refer to) and on 8th July 2015 you have become responsible for our collection fees of £66.50 in line with clause eight of your agreement to cover our client's costs in employing our services. For the above reasons we must advise that the balance of £174.50 is correct and due. We are prepared to offer a further discount on this balance and accept the reduced sum of £114.50 as final settlement if you are able to pay this in one lump sum, within 7 days of this correspondence. Payment can be made by Credit/Debit card by calling us on 01444 449165. Alternatively, cheque/postal orders should be made payable to Credit Resolution Services and sent to CRS, 2nd Floor, Rockwood House, 9-17 Perrymount Road, Haywards Heath, West Sussex, RH16 3TW. A payment plan can also be set up if you are unable to settle in full, although we do charge a little extra for this. If you are experiencing financial difficulty, there are organisations who offer free debt advice and assistance such as Step Change (0800 1381111), National Debtline (0808 8084000) and your local Citizen Advice Bureau. Please ensure a payment or response is received within the next 7 days, so we can avoid further action being taken. Yours sincerely, Collections Department" Good wasn't it! They obviously haven't got anything better to do with their time! Am I the only one who has no idea what they're on about? Presumably I should just ignore this as they have already agreed to cancel my membership in April and obviously there's no way I'll be paying their so called 'administrative charges'? However, am I still liable for the £48 covering the two months between my notification and their cancellation in April? I could just pay this in full and final settlement and tell them to go away but then again why should I, when they add those extortionate charges which so many people just pay because they get frightened? Any advice gratefully received. Cheers Everyone Baching Mad

Is the mentioned DCA known as someone else now does anyone know ? If so can someone kindly advise contact details. Thank-you

Good afternoon, Having just joined the site I wanted to introduce myself. I've just turned 35. Am married with 3 kids. This is important because I nearly lost them. I am a recovering compulsive gambler. This isn't seen as an illness to anybody except another compulsive gambler. My last bet was march 2014. I actively attend GA meetings to prevent relapse. Its taken me this long to rebuild trust in my family. My life is miles away from the despair it was in when I gambled, but I still have evidence of my problem in the form of a mountain of debt. Although I signed up to a dmp with stepchange in july 2014 my head is still firmly in the sand when it comes to finances. I have joined this site to gain control of my finances having gained some kind of control over my gambling. I haven't looked into reclaiming bank charges or PPI or anything so I guess that's where I'll start. thanks for listening, i'll keep you 'posted'

Hi all, Glad I found this site! In November 2014 I had been given a Parking Charge Notice for parking in a what wasn't a parking area - reason for issue FGW04 - Not a parking area. The moment I came home I sent an email to APCOA to appeal as per instructions on the back of the PCN. I had then received an automatic message confirming they have got my email and that they will be in touch with the decision. This was the second time I disputed the charge - previously I was given one for parking over two bays when in fact I had just slotted my car in the available spot between two cars. So I was used to the process.... that ticket was cancelled. I fully expected the same this time. To confirm, I had paid the parking for the whole day. I had parked in the designated car park area, but not in one of the drawn parking bays. The car was not unsafely parked, it was not blocking the passage or other cars nor was the piece of tarmac marked as a none parking spot. About a third of the normal parking bays were sectioned off for heavy machinery, so already small car park had even less spaces to park and was badly overflowing. Other drivers have been parking in the same spot where my car was for the two weeks before hand without issues. That day they issued about 20 tickets for anyone that was not in the marked bays. I sent all this info in the email to them and waited. Nothing happened for months so I chucked the PCN. 2 weeks ago (while we were on hols) they sent a setter from Debt Recovery Plus Ltd saying my wife (who is the registered keeper) owes APCOA £150 and that they will take her to court - all the normal blab. Yesterday we had another letter saying they will send her to court if she doesn't pay by the 1st July. Obviously, I don't want to pay anything as they had lost no business that day nor could I had known I can't park where I parked (the car park is a ruin in most places). But if I have no grounds on which to appeal then please let me know ... Also how do I change this from my wife to my name as she is rather disturbed by it all. Many thanks in advance!

Hi guys. Firstly i apologise for creating a thread similar to those posted but my situation seems slightly different to those i have came across as i did in fact admit i was guilty and police were called. The threads i came across didn't seem to involve police. I did in fact shoplift from boots around 2 years ago, police were called and i admitted i was guilty. Attended police station and paid a fixed penalty notice of £80 so i didnt have to attend court. received a letter from boots not long after asking for payment of £147.50 which i threw in the bin. Although i admitted guilt i was not prepared to pay for 1 mistake twice. 2 years later i have received a letter from County Collections Ltd on behalf of boots saying they were instructed to recover the outstanding liability against me... if i fail to pay or contact them within 7 days boots may issue legal proceeding against me whih may incur further costs etc. Also informing me that unsatisfied CCJ may result in my credit rating being affected. So, my question is.. what should i do now? I obviously admitted to the police i was guilty, but the way i see it is i paid the fixed penalty notice so why should i pay further costs? I understand the amount they are asking for is to cover losses etc.. the items i stole were re-sellable as i didn't actually damage anything and they were recovered by the store. The security guard also added to the total items which i had paid for which i asked to tske home with me upon showing them my receipt which i was allowed to do so i guess the amount of items they want to recover is wrong. also the security guards time whilst dealing with me.. he infact sat looking at his camera and caught another shoplifter whilst we were waiting for the police to arrive, so did not infact keep him away from his job at all. Do boots actually ever take court action for these amounts? The surname on the letter is also spelled incorrectly, if that makes any difference Thanks in advance.

Hello Please can someone advise me, a few years ago I had a parking ticket from Excel Parking, I initially ignored it, but then a company called debt recovery plus threatened to take me to court so I paid them in September last year, I have a copy of the cheque I sent and my bank statement showing it was cashed , but I don't have any other letters I didn't keep them as I had paid. Today I received a letter from a company called Rossendales Collect, chasing a parking charge from Excel. There is no date or place of the offence, but it has to be the same ticket I have not had another one, the letter today says they have 6 years to recover the debt and they are going to commence recovery action. What should I do, I don't want to call them, I have no paperwork and I just know they wont accept that I have already paid even if I send a copy of the cheque. I only paid last time to make them go away and now another company is back. so unfair, can any one advise me, I don't know where to turn, do I need a solicitor? Many thanks for your help

This thread is an informational post to see if people are aware of the new rules regarding Housing benefit Council Tax fraud. This only applies to those that have been CONVICTED of these benefit frauds at the moment. (This may change) "Higher rate deductions via Direct Earnings Attachment for Housing Benefit overpayments where there is convicted fraud – new legislation from 6 April 2015 New legislation will come into effect on 6 April 2015 which will increase the rate of deduction that can be made by a Direct Earnings Attachment (DEA) for debtors who have a debt for which they have been successfully prosecuted. This must only be used in cases where the claimant has been convicted of fraud for that particular overpayment. This cannot be used where the claimant has accepted an Administrative Penalty." For further information read the attachment or see here https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hb-direct-april-2015-issue-158

Hi I was hoping that someone could help me with a company called Are You Owed Money (used to be called Sentinel debt recovery) I had an outstanding debt with a garage for a repair which needed to be carried out on my car which in itself is a long story, i owed £900 and was contacted by sentinel to pay off this debt we agreed to pay off £50 every 4 weeks as this was inline with my pay and the only way to set this up was by giving them my card details they took payment every 4 weeks (first mistake). Around about September i didn't have enough cash to pay this i contacted them to tell them around a week before and asked could they take it out 1 week after the original plan and then go back to the original payment plan which they agreed and said it was fine. Then to my surprise they took 2 payments out one on my original date which left me with the money i required to pay my council tax and then a second payment a week later i contacted them and they did apologise and say it wont happen again. But this then happened 3 more times and i phoned them each time to tell them to stop it and reset the payments to the original plan but each of these times i was told that either the system was down or that someone would call me back (which they never did) During this time the company had change their name to Are you owed money i the phoned again to say that i wasn't happy and this is when i got a lady called Christine who was a very unhelpful she told me that "well i don't know who let you set this payment plan up as now the debt had risen to £1400 and we don't accept payments that low we will have to look into this and ring you back because you need to be paying this off quicker" this really did get me worried as i suffer from anxiety and depression (which i explained to them) really didn't help the matter, i did dispute the extra on top of the original debt but they just said "oh we will see what can be done with that when the majority has been paid off" I'm a bit lost now because they kept taking payments outside of the agreed payment plan i told them that i was going to contact the bank and block them which i did so then they change the name of who took the money to vantige legal and took another payment so i got the bank to block them as well. Now i have them sending letters to my old address even though i have told them i had moved at least 3 times demanding full payment and potential bailiff action. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

Just a quick one, this is regarding my partner's debts which are a thread elsewhere, but she's mid applying for a DRO. All her debtors bar one have put everything on hold - Jacobs are just being greedy, inconsiderate and bullying. Got a letter today saying unless a payment offer is made (have been advised by the National Debtline NOT to make an offer as Jacobs are one of many creditors) they will send out a "Debt Collecting Agent". Now the previous letter threatened court action but she has received NO court letters so presumibly it hasn't been to court yet. But if I'm right in thinking, these "Debt Collecting Agent" have no rights whatsoever (unlike Court appointed Bailiffs) .. ? Will send a letter by return if this is indeed the case telling them there is a 7 month old child and my partner is alone with her during the day and this would cause her anxiety and distress. Am I right in thinking the above is right? These pre-court "Agents" have no legal rights to collect the debt? Many thanks.

Hello. I am being sued for an unpaid invoice. The claimant is also claiming almost £4000 in debt recovery costs. Can they actually do this? They are also claiming solicitor's fees etc

I was caught shoplifting £27 worth of goods from a superdrug store. It was a moment of madness. EXTREMELY out of character and I'm deeply ashamed. I gave the goods back to the store and it was my first offence. The police were called and they did an identity check but that's it. I was handed a civil recovery form and told I am going to get a fine from RLP in the next few weeks. After reading various threads they all say to ignore the letters. As I am moving out of the address I gave in a few months is this still a wise thing to do? I'm tempted to just pay it and get it out the way even though I'm a full time uni student and will struggle to afford the amount. I'm extremely scared, if I ignore the letters will I get taken to court or will it affect my credit rating? Also am I on a database that employers can check? I'm graduating in a few months and this has scared me a lot. I want to be 100% sure I can ignore the letters as I am moving out in a few months. Please will someone give me some advice? Thank you

I have checked my credit file and it seems that MBNA sold a few of my credit card debts to MAX recovery who has also made an entry on my credit file. It seems after bacnrupcy the debt was sold to MAX. I thought only the Oringinal Creditor can mark credit files?

Hi all,i am going through a divorce and whilst i was married we had a joint account with Nationwide,which all our bills where paid from.Whilst going through the divorce and ending up at the High Court to thrash out a financial agreement,it was agreed that we both pay off our half of arrears on the joint account, (which to my knowledge ive no idea how this happened, as there was sufficient money to cover the bills).that was in December 2013.I then set up a payment plan with Nationwide to pay for MY HALF of the arrears,which i fully paid.it wasn't until May 2014 that i received a phone call from Nationwide saying there is still £470 odd still owing,i was amazed at this as i paid my half off.Since May 2014 i have received phone calls from Nationwide asking me to pay off the remaining amount,i have tried on each phone call to explain that an agreement was made in the High Court of December 2013 that this money would be paid and also stated that ive paid my half,to which they said they do NOT take this into account, they just want their money.I was also told by one of them that if my ex wife didn't pay her half then her half would be written off,which i was disgusted by.The latest is that i am now getting phone calls from 01614257485 and texts from a company called FREDRICKSON INTERNATIONAL.Now not just dealing with the stress of a bad divorce, i am also very stressed with this too.Can anyone help ?

Hello all, Need some information for a friend... She was a director for a limited company but the company had money problems and ceased trading and has been closed down. Lloyds are chasing her for an outstanding debt for an overdraft she had with her limited company. The Debt has now been sold to a debt collector who is now harrassing her with letters and stipulating money must be paid. Can someone tell me if the director is liable for the debt, or the limited company itself is liable? Many thanks

Hi, My stepson has received a demand from the above company for £1200, in respect of private dental fees incurred for treatment recieved in September last year ,and has asked me for help. He is 44 years old,long term unemployed due to both mental and medical issues. He states that he actually owes £805 and thought that his benefits would cover it, which of course they would'nt. Apparently he agreed with the dental practice to pay in monthly instalments, but has defaulted on these so now the practice is taking action, but I'm not sure that they have gone about it the right way for the following reasons:- 1.He has recieved no written bill or final demand. 2.They have not informed him in writing of any pending action. 3.GUARDIAN RECOVERY LTD have not shown how the original £805 has become £1200,merely stating"collection charges and interest". The £805 is not disputed,and I can pay that at the end of the month,but any advice on dealing with GUARDIAN would be appreciated

Hi all, I have been pointed to this forum by a friend who was certain someone on here can help. Back in November, I parked in my usual train station car park, run by NCP. I arrived later than usual, so there was no spaces in my usual spot downstairs. I had to drive to the top floor, where i found plenty of spaces. I parked up and walked away, paying for my ticket on the 'Ringo' mobile app as I do every morning. When I returned to my car I was surprised to find that I had received a ticket, as had about 12 other cars around me. It turned out that the space I parked in was a 'Premier Bay' (not usually what I'd expect to find on the top floor of a multi-story). When I looked closer, the bays were indeed marked (unclearly) 'Premier Parking', however the words were spaced about 15 foot apart, meaning in front of my car there was just the word 'Parking'. There was also no visible signage. The only sign displayed was next to the pay and display machine, which I never use due to preferring the mobile app. This was on a lamp post around 20 meters from where I parked, positioned side on so I wouldn't have noticed it even if I looked that way. There were two lamp posts either side of my car, neither of which had a Premier Parking sign displayed. I appealed to the NCP but it was declined (in hindsight after reading a few posts, this was the wrong thing to do). I then appealed to POPLA, but they said my appeal was received more than 28 days after the ticket was issued, so was declined. I have now received a letter from 'Debt Recovery Plus' demanding payment or court proceedings may commence. I have genuinely forgotten to purchase a ticket on occasions, and reluctantly paid the fine as I was in breach of the car park conditions, but on this occasion I believe NCP should have done more to make it clear that the spaces were allocated Premier Parking bays. Can anyone please advise me what would be best in this situation? The amount owed is now £120, which is outrageous considering I paid for a ticket that day. Any help or advice will be greatly appreciated. Many thanks Neil

In October last year I apparently over stayed my welcome in what I thought was a freecarpark, that's what it says on the way in. In the post came the parking charge notice which I have ignored, then I received what I thought was the red reminder about a month late, but on closer inspection it was from another company about another pcn. Well with that one I had no initial notification. Now I have had the next letters demanding payment or further action. Please can someone help me with what to do. I find some of the threads confusing so I thought I should start my own.

hi all. my daughter has received a letter headed :- Debt and Revenue Services, about a vodaphone account that hasn't been paid because of the very bad service and reception she got for about the 3 mths she used it. the letter has written on it that it is a Home Visit Notice. what powers if any do these people have to recover the debt. regards gripper.