Debt Collection Agency adding on £78 charges onto £100 initial debt from a hospital charge. Is this legal?

[samwhiteman27]

Hi there,

 

Last year in July 2013 I had a procedure done at the Winfield private hospital. I have medical insurance with Bupa, but it has a £100 excess on it for treatment each year. This means that the first £100 of any treatment must be paid to the company carrying out the procedure, in this case the Winfield hospital.

 

I thought that I had paid this £100, so was surprised to receive a letter from Icon Collections saying that I hadn't and that I now owed Icon collections £118, this was sent in January 2014. It stated in the letter that the money was to be paid directly to them and not to the hospital. Does this mean that they have assumed the debt now?

 

Anyhow I ignored this letter and a couple more that I received from them. They also called me on several occasions and left voicemails for me which I also ignored. Eventually an advisor from Icon collections did get through to me and I explained that I thought that I had paid the amount and could she email me a copy of the invoice to look at. I gave her an email address that I rarely check. They did send a copy on 14th May 2014. The invoice was for £100, but in the email they said that a charge of £18 had been applied for late payment. They did send a follow up email on 2nd June 2014, but this said please contact them to arrange payment. Both of these emails I didn't actually see until today, as I rarely check the account and didn't want to give them my regular email address.

 

I have now received another letter from icon collections dated 13th June stating a notice of Legal action. On it they say the amount due is £118. Part of the letter says the following.

LEGAL PROCEEDINGS ARE NOW BEING DRAWN UP AGAINST YOU

we are preparing legal proceedings against you and therefore you have rendered yourself liable for the following costs along with statutory Interest, which will accrue daily.

 

COURT FEE £15

SOLICITORS COSTS £50

 

It then goes on to say a court summons will be served upon me shortly which will result in bailiffs attending my property.

 

I then called them today 16th July, to see if they had actually sent me a copy of the invoices (which they had done) and to check if I actually had paid the original £100. It turns out I hadn't paid it, so offered to pay half of the amount now (£60 if you include the late charge fee) and the other half by 1st August to take the total up to £118.

 

She then said the amount was now £189 because it had moved to legal proceedings. I asked what the costs were for and she said it was because it had moved to legal proceedings and that they have records of the multiple times they have called me and the number of letters that they have sent to me.

 

My question is (apart from is the debt now with Icon?). Are these fees legally enforceable? I know that I haven't answered their letters or calls and the debt is now 1 year old with Winfield hospital (7 months that Icon collections have been chasing). But £78 on an original £100 bill seems excessive to me. Can I just pay the original £100? Do do I need to pay the late fee of £18, and do I need to pay these Court fee and solicitors costs of £65?

 

To be fair I don't have a problem paying the additional £18 late fee, as I was in the wrong and I didn't settle the debt and did ignore their calls and emails, but I don't want to pay the additional £65 if I don't have to. Would they take me to court if I just paid £118, or even the £100?

 

I have paid £60 to them today. But the lady wants me to email her to set out what we agreed on the phone, (which was to pay the full amount of £189 by the end of August), however at the end of the call I said I would email her, but I wanted to check the legality of the costs before emailing her to confirm the payment schedule.

 

Any help and advice would be greatly appreciated on what I am legally obliged to pay. Also I'm sorry that this email is so long, the advice on the forum is that you should be as clear and detailed as possible, so that's what I've tried to do.

[Ell-enn]

It then goes on to say a court summons will be served upon me shortly which will result in bailiffs attending my property.

 

Are you sure the letter says "WILL result in bailiffs attending"

[SabreSheep]

Utter ToSH

 

Baliffs will not be visiting you. There is a whole court process that must be followed first.

 

How did you pay the £100

Did you get a receipt

Can you get evidence of payment eg bank statement showing a debit card payment or credit card payment or cheque if you used these methods.

 

I would send a letter recorded delivery (To make sure you get and print a copy of the signature and attack to a copy of the letter with proof of postage for your file) to BUPA

 

Mark it formal Complaint use somethign similar to the below but edit to suit case. Others may be able to give a better template

 

Dear XXXx

 

REF: Invoice ref XXXXXX

 

On such a such I had XXX Procedure. The agreement was that I had to pay a £100 fee up front.

I Paid (WHO) the sum of (WHAT) on the (DATE) via (METHOD of payment)

 

I attach copies of evidence of payment including (Bank statements, Payment reference, Receipts of payment)

 

I have since been contacted by ICON Collections claiming they are acting on your behalf who have sent threatening letters and harassed me by phone.

 

Since this debt does not exist and you are liable under OFT regulations for the behavior of your agents I demand you inform them that this account is resolved and at the very least in serious dispute. I demand that you inform me in writing within 14 days that this has been resolved.

 

If this goes to court I shall draw this correspondence to the court and apply for any and all costs related to this vexatious court action.

 

Yours Sincerely

 

Mr and Mrs P*ssed Off

 

 

------------

As for court do not panic, action relating to legal things only becomes nessasary to deal with hen you recceive a N1 claim form from CCMCC and plenty here will eb able to advise you.

 

DO NOT TALK TO ANYONE ON THE PHONE If they phone you tell them to contact you in writing only

[samwhiteman27]

Hi Ell-enn,

 

sorry I should have put the rest of the letter, it says "A court Summons will be served upon you shortly which will result in Bailiffs attending your property to remove goods if a judgment is secured against you". I'm guessing the big thing here is the "IF" part?

 

SabreSheep thank you for your detailed reply. I may not have been clear in my original post. I actually haven't paid the £100 to the hospital, so I do owe the £100 and Icon collections have a copy of that original invoice stating that I owe £100. What I would like to know is if the additional £89 in charges that Icon collections have added on for collecting the debt are legally enforceable? IE if I email Icon Collections back with something along the lines of

 

Dear icon Collections,

 

following our telephone conversation today, I have made a payment of £60 relating to the outstanding amount of £100 that you were instructed to collect from me on behalf of Winfield hospital. I will Pay the remaining £40 on the 26th July 2014, making a total payment of £100, thus settling the outstanding invoice that you have on record for me as being unpaid.

 

Kind regards,

 

Me

 

Could Icon collections then legally pursue me for the additional £89 in charges that they have added on in costs to the original invoice?

 

Thank you so much for your time everyone with responses. It's great to have somewhere to turn with situations like this.

[SabreSheep]

Off the top of my head id say no to the other charges. You do not have a contract with them so they have no right to charge you untill they issue court proceedings and then it must be the actual cost of issuing the N1

 

IF the debt is still OWNED by the original creditor PAY THEM THE MONEY and pay via cheque or credit/debit card and print out the receipt.

 

Someone else should be able to advise in more detail but DO NOT USE THE PHONE and DO NOT TALK to ICON if ICON do not own the debt.

 

Check your paperwork and see if there are any letters of assignment from BUPA/Original Creditor

[samwhiteman27]

Thanks SabreSheep,

 

I thought that was the case. I spoke to Winfield hospital and they said that I couldn't pay them directly now that Icon Collections are involved. I have already paid the £60 to Icon collections, but I'm guessing they wouldn't take me to court over charges that they have added anyhow? Especially as the charges are being applied by Icon collections and not by Winfield Hospital, which, as I understand it they cannot do as I have no agreement with them in place? The initial charge was certainly added by Icon collections and was added in an email separate to the original invoice.

[SabreSheep]

We need to know who owns the debt.

 

I think you just got cash cowed.

 

IF the original creditor still owns the debt you got fobbed off which happens when you talk over the phone.

 

How did you pay the £60

 

They will try and pursue you for all of it.

[dx100uk]

oppss...done over me thinks

 

dx

[renegadeimp]

If youve paid 60 quid, pay the 40 and keep receipts. Then tell both parties to do one. The dca cant add on any charges like that. Especially since its almost doubling the debt. I mean come on. its 60 quid for basically sending a letter that states " pay us or we'll send more letters".