Turning the tables on DCA Bullies

[fuzzybobble]

Nice to see Uncle Bob is still bleating about how hard it is for DCA's to make a profit these days. Never forget these parasites profit from people who have fallen on hard times usually through no fault of their own, and they profit from causing them even more hardship and stress. So the more we do to make debt collection non profitable, the better off we'll all be for it.

 

Time to knock up some price lists to send to DCA's for having to deal with their pointless empty threats.

[citizenB]

I love this quote from the Credit Today article

 

The raft of compliance guidelines are a struggle to deal with and it’s making the industry as a whole less profitable than it used to be."

 

Seriously though I have had similar thoughts for ages, especially sending an invoice when they want a full financial breakdown.

 

Last DCA drone I spoke to on the phone (they called me) I said I needed his date of birth and full name so I could credit check him before giving him my debit card details as he would now be financially linked with me!

He didn't like that and cut me off. Haven't heard anything since.

 

If anyone wants a letterhead for secretarial services its easy to do one in Word or Publisher.... makes it look a little bit more like you mean business...

 

 

 

Nice one:D

[emandcole]

These price lists are interesting. After all, who's to say that £10 is any more reasonable or appropriate than charging £1000? All subjective of course.

 

I guess if you've made your costs perfectly clear and they insist on patronizing you with ignorance and further letters they are effectively accepting your cost schedule? You can't make it any clearer after all.

 

So, I might try this and really push the boat out. Banks have not had to explain how their charges are proportionate (until the Sharp v BOS case coming up) so why would I have to explain how £1000 is proportionate?

 

Think this might be a lot of fun

[PGH7447]

Over the last 20 years the debt collection industry has undergone major changes in a desperate bid to shake off its bully and baseball bat image.

 

They need to try harder me thinks - cause their public image aint changed they are still ****

[DonkeyB]

Misuse of the law when it hurts people who cannot defend themselves is every bit as bad as using a baseball bat.

 

Just thugs in suits now.

[DJ67]

"Always ensure that the DCA has received your letters/admin charges, via Recorded or Special delivery so they cannot plead ignorance at a later date. "

 

Is this necessary or can you just get a certificate of posting from the post office and then quote the Interpretation Act when they deny receipt? When you point out that you have proof of your letters being correctly addressed, with the correct postage, and that it's therefore the responsibility of the DCA to prove that they didn't receive the letters they start to think twice. I found that this approach can "intimidate" them as they then believe that they are dealing with someone who appears to know what they're talking about.

Great article by the way.

DJ67

[Pinky69]

I guess the costs need to be the actual cost of doing what you have to do after you have told them the alleged account is in dispute (OFT guidelines on charging ) I think £5 a letter - ink, paper, PC use and a stamp - and whatever the court allows for an hour of a lawyers time. Anyone know what that it is? I'm dying to get going on this because I am leading up to suing a DCA big time, the dispute has escalated and I want to claim my own costs before I actually hand it over to a solicitor - now is just the time to do it.

[pompeyfaith]

interesting too many dca are sending out t(h)reats without checking if they have a legal right to collect or indeed if the debt has a legit dispute against it surely this is not hard for them to do

Edited April 29, 2010 by pompeyfaith

[babybear39]

Last I heard was that sols get £110 per hour, though I may be mistaken

[zazen.warrior]

Post removed.

Edited July 29, 2010 by zazen.warrior

[PGH7447]

 

... so open up a market stall selling knickers, at least it would be a legitimate job.

 

Unless they were knock offs, or counterfeit:D a bit like their alledged agreements then

[cerberusalert]

... so open up a market stall selling knickers, at least it would be a legitimate job.

There'll still be the ups and downs.

[letsgetitsorted]

wouldnt a stall selling peanuts be a better option. afterall monkeys and all that.

 

but still a great thread, told DCA this morning account in dispute and if they continue to phone i will be charging for every call i receive

[questioner]

Hi Guys – I am glad this has helped a little.

 

Believe me, I have been through hell and high water with the many accounts I have placed into dispute via PPI misselling, absence of appropriate documentation etc.

 

Believe me though it can get a full time job dealing with issuing out your admin charges to the sharks.

 

When you bill them they almost always write back in great detail to ‘advise’ you that they do not recognise your terms and will certainly ‘not’ be paying your admin fee.

This is to be expected, ergo do not let it deter you one iota from pushing on into the battle.

They are soliciting a response from you and you have fairly warned them not to do so therefore you are making a reasonable administration charge to cover your time and effort in responding to their intimidating nonsense. The onus is on them, after you have informed them of your dispute, to address the issue with the original creditor, not you.

 

Is this necessary or can you just get a certificate of posting from the post office and then quote the Interpretation Act when they deny receipt? When you point out that you have proof of your letters being correctly addressed, with the correct postage, and that it's therefore the responsibility of the DCA to prove that they didn't receive the letters they start to think twice. I found that this approach can "intimidate" them as they then believe that they are dealing with someone who appears to know what they're talking about. Great article by the way.

 

I personally feel that recorded or special delivery is the best option. Proof of posting is cheaper I know and ok for lesser deeds but you will feel better knowing you have right on your side and can show a judge that the letters have arrived.

Things can move fast and the last thing you want on your mind with a pushy shark is whether or not your letter has in fact arrived at their door.

I do however advise you to regularly chase up letters via the PO Track and Trace facility as I have had quite a few go AWOL .

 

Once your NI has gone in it gets interesting as by now the shark finally realises at last that you are NOT fooling around and WILL take them to the cleaners if they fail to wake up.

 

Charge rates are something that is open to further debate too. I feel at this stage that keeping your charges reasonable is prudent and will give you a greater chance of the shark paying up early to avoid further aggro.

 

As to Phone calls...

 

Well I am a confirmed fan of Truecall . If you are being hassled then get one fast. You will love the peace it grants you. It also gives you the ability to keep a record on your PC of who calls you and when. Do not waste your valuable admin time on the fools behind these odious companies. Do not speak to them.

 

Red letters used to turn my stomach – now I smile and soon convert them into admin charges. The lady assistant at the small claims court is used to seeing me there and beginning to be quite helpful.

 

 

 

Edited April 29, 2010 by questioner

[questioner]

interesting too many dca are sending out t(h)reats without checking if they have a legal right to collect or indeed if the debt has a legit dispute against it surely this is not hard for them to do

 

 

Very true – I usually remind them of this when sending in my initial admin charge letter.

Their customary response is to say they accepted the OC’s file in “Good Faith”... and/or that they will place the account “on hold”.

 

Sadly for ‘them’ this unwanted response is neither the confirmation of account closure nor a court summons that one requested, so guess what? It incurs an admin fee (with suitable dated and priced up invoice) with the next response!

 

 

One thing is certain 100%

The filthy, misery – laden UK DCA industry does ‘not’ want the land to get hold of any of this news....

 

Imagine the ramifications if banks cannot enforce their twisted iron will on millions of victims, via their aggressive pet sharks!

 

I, like others, have made it a life-quest to give back some of the misery these institutions create in 21 century UK.

Edited April 29, 2010 by questioner

[letsgetitsorted]

so would a fare admin charge of £9.25 LiP rate equate to a reasonable rate?

[pompeyfaith]

Well I have had today my first letter from fredricksons this is for £702 it is for bank charges my bank closed my account and sold the debt to them when it is in dispute.

 

This same bank is also holding on to a very large sum relating to 9 missold ppi policies this is with the FOS.

 

The account numbers of my loans which are all paid up bar one is the same as my bank account number.

 

So I am this evening going to go by your instructions and give it a go.

 

PF

[pompeyfaith]

Well I think and I will be going on the banking industries model which is £35 for every letter they send.

 

PF

[Fred Bassett]

Thanks ZazenWarrior that was an interesting read.

 

"in order to remain compliant Cabot Financial has hired an internal compliance management team of 12 employees whose sole job is to monitor live and recorded calls and then score them according to compliance – the wages alone of this team cost the company around £192,000 a year"

 

Now 192k divided by 12 = 16k pa per employee which probably goes some way to explaining why they struggle to get anyone other than those right at the bottom of the monkey tree applying for their crappy jobs.

 

You get what you pay for on the whole and Crapbot seem to go for cheap staff who struggle to read write and comprehend and cheap debts with little or no paperwork.

 

That they admit to having to get outside help to write their letters is hilarious but something we'd all guessed a while back I mean mine aren't drawn in crayons any more so I knew something had changed.

 

At least one of them will be a Manager and there are probably 2 supervisors, meaning that the rest will be on about £14k.

 

It explains a lot.

[NailPost]

And Cabot's director of compliance will on considerably more than anyone else because he'll be (or at least should be) legally qualified and able to explain te difference between what's legal and not legal. This'll push the drone's wages to around minimum wage levels.

[Fred Bassett]

And Cabot's director of compliance will on considerably more than anyone else because he'll be (or at least should be) legally qualified and able to explain te difference between what's legal and not legal. This'll push the drone's wages to around minimum wage levels.

 

Which of course Cabot will happily pay because they obey the law to every last dot and comma.

[questioner]

I may revise my charges later but at present I usually threaten then charge the sharks one lump sum for simplicity.

[citizenB]

Well I think and I will be going on the banking industries model which is £35 for every letter they send.

 

PF

 

That's not an unreasonable sum:D

[RoyalIrish]

Ok, you have got me going with this one!

 

There is a certain cretin named A E Locke who has really done a good job of detroying my credit file over a debt that was statute barred about a year ago, taken on by him and defaulted.

 

No matter how many letters I send this tosser stating that the debt is SB he just ignores me.

 

I need some examples of your letters and invoices so I can get started.

 

I would be really grateful if you could post the letters (minus personal details of course) and the process that you follow.

 

I think you are brilliant for taking a stand against them and hope that everyone, like me, is feeling a lot less miserable today after reading this!

 

RI

[DonkeyB]

Hillesden then, RoyalIrish?