OFT debt collection guidance

[rory32]

I have now looked at little more into this but could you tell me when the overdraft was taken out and how much the overdraft is for.

[rory32]

Also are you a sole trader or partnership?

[Pat-Uk]

I was a sole trader, and the overdraft was agreed (and had to sign a seperate agreement to get it) but cant find a copy of the agreement form, it was £1000 overdraft.

 

All I have got back from Barclays after SAR is statements, but they have have not detailed the "commission charges" just every month there is a debit for commission, which includes any bank charges.

[rory32]

This may be covered, but I'll have to check.

 

If you start a thread on this (probably either in general debt or the debt collection subforum) you'll get more input on this.

 

As a seperate issue, are you planning on claim the charges back?

[zhanzhibar]

Sorry to butt in like this but I was reading this thread when I came across Pete16 thread no 13. I too have a debt with Amex who has passed my debt to Allied International Credit Ltd who has increased my outstanding balance by £1,072.33. According to them this is a referral fee. So reading this thread, this charge does not sound legal, right?

I have other creditors to whom I sent my Income & expenditure,list of all creditors & amt I owed and after taking out all priority payment how much i can afford to pay each & every one of them. I sent these letters back in Feb 07. Since then I become one of these people who are actually too scared to pick up the phone. On top of that I had a c-section at the end of March & have been recuperating for the past couple of mths. To avoid the phone calls & increased level of stress ( I have enough stress with a new born baby!!) , I just never pick up any landline calls anymore.

I have a thread here “Threat by HFC Bank Solicitors & HSBC Bank”. These 2 creditors are at the moment chasing me left right & centre. The HFC Bank told me to go for voluntary charge. What the hell is that? I haven’t agreed to that yet. I think it does not sound as if I should & their solicitor has also increased my outstanding balance by £600. Surely that is not right too?

[MARTIN3030]

I was a sole trader, and the overdraft was agreed (and had to sign a seperate agreement to get it) but cant find a copy of the agreement form, it was £1000 overdraft.

 

All I have got back from Barclays after S.A.R - (Subject Access Request) is statements, but they have have not detailed the "commission charges" just every month there is a debit for commission, which includes any bank charges.

 

Pat I claimed these so called commission charges with my first Barclays business claim.

Yes they will tell you they are not claimable but will cave in and pay them when they settle just before court.

What I did not claim was the auto entries since this was for a service that was provided and is well documented within the statements.

Have a look at my thread Martin3030 v Barclays Business

[Pat-Uk]

Hi

 

Thanks for your reply Martin, I don't spose you have a link to that thread ??

 

Also, I know that the commision charges included the automated charges, but the statment does not show a breakdown of this information, I used to get a seperate commission breakdown but this information was not supplied by barclays when I SAR d them.

[diskmandave]

Debt collection guidance for consumer credit licence holders and applicants. November 2002 OFT611.

 

http://www.debthelpuk.co.uk/pdf/oft611.pdf

 

 

[curlyjewel]

Seems to be a very useful publication

 

http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/business_leaflets/consumer_credit/oft664.pdf

 

feel free to comment

 

Isn't it unthinkable all the things that DCA's actually do that is illegal and yet so many people feel intimidated and threatened by them, myself having included!

[remus]

Isn't it unthinkable all the things that DCA's actually do that is illegal and yet so many people feel intimidated and threatened by them, myself having included!

it beggers belief, I think this everytime I read someones story, myself included, BUT I know with this site and the help of all these wonderful people, we will overcome:D

Happy claiming n read read and read some:p more

[rory32]

Can only agree with remus, the more reading you do the more you will understand your rights. Once you have a good understanding of your rights you are far less likely to be intimidated by these people - who often don't have a clue about the law.

 

Remember if in doubt just ask.

[bracken42]

Just a quick point with regards to notice of assignments from DCA's.

If the notice includes an amount demanded that is incorrect it renders the notice legally invalid (e.g. unlawful charges or DCA admin/collection charges).

Even if the amount doesn't include charges but is misstated it is still invalid.

If the date is incorrect it is legally invalid (i.e. does not tie in with the deed of assignment - the execution of assignment should be the same as the date shown on the notice).

The case that supports this is W.F.Harrison & Co Ltd v Burke [1956] 1 WLR 419

 

P.S Thanks go to Laiste for pointing this out.

 

 

 

thanks

[happyandbroke]

Hi,

Robinson Way just dont give up! They're chasing me for a debt which was settled approx 2 months ago. Paypal issued a chargeback against me but I fought it & won so they reversed it...I now have a 0.02p credit balance with them..Hehe!

So I've just read the very interesting thread...OFT Debt Collection Guidance by BankFodder, Robinsons are actually breaking section 2.6,h...which states

ignoring and/or disregarding claims that debts have been settled or are disputed and continuing to make unjustified demands for payment.

I'm currently waiting for them to call back for the 3rd time this evening as my eldest son has told them I'm unavailable.

They obviously don't keep notes because I have to go through the whole story time & time again.

What are my legal rights to get them to stop. I have emailed & telephoned Paypal numerous times to instruct them to advise Robinsons that the matter has been resolved and to get Robinsons off my back. Even though I have told Robinsons this, they wont take my word for it, they tell me to get in touch with Paypal again...I'm so sick of it. Any advice?

[rory32]

Time to start reporting them to TS. It is them who should be getting in touch with Paypal not you.

[dizzy bat]

I have just read the attatchment posted by the OP and it makes great reading. I am currently having hassle from NCO and they sent me a card the other day no envelope or anything just a postcard type thing, which I have just read is unfair as anyone would be able to read it , including the postman.

[rory32]

I'm afraid this is often standard practice. They tend not to put a lot of info on the postcard to try and get around The Data Protection Act and dupe you into phoning them. Have you started a thread on this?

[maybelline]

Just a quick point with regards to notice of assignments from DCA's.

If the notice includes an amount demanded that is incorrect it renders the notice legally invalid (e.g. unlawful charges or DCA admin/collection charges).

Even if the amount doesn't include charges but is misstated it is still invalid.

If the date is incorrect it is legally invalid (i.e. does not tie in with the deed of assignment - the execution of assignment should be the same as the date shown on the notice).

The case that supports this is W.F.Harrison & Co Ltd v Burke [1956] 1 WLR 419

 

P.S Thanks go to Laiste for pointing this out.

 

so what does this notice look like? I had a letter stating, we sole this blah blah to you on blah blah and so it was assigned ( a copy, for a debt that was all paid up and a default was incorrectly placed on file, the creditor removed it but the dca they passed this info on to still refuses) so wondered if the deed of assignment could be challenged?

[SampleX]

Hello there.

 

I'm not sure that I didn't post this before but I can't find my former thread...

 

I had a debt with a bank over a credit card. Long story short, the bank offered to settle for a 40% payment. I have this in writing. I responded in writing immediately accepting the offer and asking how and when they wanted me to pay them. I was ignored. I sent that letter three more times, including after having received a 'since you're ignoring us, we're threatening you with legal action' letter. Some of the letters back to them were even recorded delivery.

 

Anyway, they then assign the debt to a DCA, a bunch of wigglers called Link Financial. Link are now demanding the full original amount of the debt, and ignoring my dispute over the fact that the bank had made a proposal which I had accepted, and I expect them to honour it.

 

How do I deal with this?

 

I understand that there are limitations on the hows, whys and wherefores of debts being enforced by collectors, not least disputes over the appropriate documentation being transferred and contracts and such like. I also understand that I'm entitled to certain informations about the handling of my accounts etc.

 

However, I'm not the sharpest tool in the box, having ended up suffering stress related illness as a result of the failure of my business and the mass of debt I'm facing, and particularly this manifests itself in my inability to sit and read endless pages and documents without getting confused. I've been trying to tackle credit card and bank charge reclaiming at the same time as dealing with debt recovery and such like, and my head is swimming in acronyms and terminology and procedures to the point that I don't really know where to begin.

 

I do dispute a good proportion of the sum of this credit card bill, because I know a huge amount of it relates to late and default payment charges, rather than actual spend, expecially considering that £1000 paid to the bank over the last 2 years has seen the balance increase over a grand nonetheless... So with all the procedures involved in this whole thing, I'm confused, and in spite of letters to the contrary and phone calls where I refused to deal with them on the phone, only in writing, these swine are still ringing me, and the place I'm living, anything up to three times a day, while we avoid the phone.

 

How do I go about demanding the right documents, and setting out the right procedures to tackle this, see if I can reduce what I need to pay, and deal with this in an affordable manner, understanding that I'm currently part time self employed with irregular income after the loss of my business.

 

Can someone give me some help or mentoring with this, please?

 

Also, as a general question, how legal is it for a company to buy a debt of £4000 for £500, effectively causing the original owner to do a massive write off, when the original creditor wouldn't even agree a massive write off with me directly, and then, even though they only paid £500, they then demand the full £4000 as if I ran up the debt with them directly...? Are there any grounds by which individuals can offer to pay the £500 back, plus a bit of profit, and have nothing to lose, because their credit rating is already damaged by a partial write off from the bank anyway? Can you be blacklisted for the default of a debt, the same debt, to multiple companies? Have you really got anything to lose by not paying, especially considering I have no assets and am lodging with family since the loss of my business?

[ScarletPimpernel]

SampleX - your previous threads are:

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/debt-collectors-debt-collection/117142-dca-samplex-confused-getting.html?highlight=samplex

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/debt-collectors-debt-collection/75897-aic-hounding-samplex-bad.html?highlight=samplex

[Josh908]

This company pretty much breaks ALL rules in relation to unfair practice.

 

How come no one is doing anything about them!!

[Doc2527]

Hi Everyone

 

Please bump me if I am in the wrong thread.

 

Can someone help ... I have 2 Credit Cards that have been sent to DCA's of which one of them is cabot (who keep phoning me everyday and night...it's for £200).

 

If I send a CCA to both of these DCA's can I still reclaim unfair credit card charges from the original creditors?

 

Or am I being greedy and leaving myself open?

 

In anticipation

 

Doc

[InnocentMan_2008]

Hello.

 

I have a debt with Amex, that I am willing to pay in monthly payments, that has been passed to AIS who have informed me that unless I pay the full amount immediately their charges will be high amd that I wll have to pay them a lot more that the original debt, so the sooner I pay the better.

 

I have a thread on this elsewhere in this forum, so I hope its OK me asking this here. Does that mean that they cannot add charges that are disproportionate to their costs, or that they cannot add charges at all?

 

If the former what is 'disproportionate'. Also what legal costs can they charge me, and how do I get to find out what I have signed in any of the original paperwork? Would this be on the CCA, and if so what can I do when they refuse to accept that they have to send a copy to me on request, if indeed they are so obliged?

 

What if they refuse, then produce it themselves in court?

 

Regards,

 

Peter

 

I have a bit of financial situation where I could not coup up with the monthly payment, this eventually bundled up. I have been using my family’s address, now they have passed my debt to an agency who has phoning them and harassing them, giving them mental pressure. Last week they told my family that they will bring police in their house. Can they do it?

[rory32]

Last week they told my family that they will bring police in their house. Can they do it?

No, it's a civil matter. What is the account in relation too?

[InnocentMan_2008]

MBNA credit card

[rory32]

It's best if you start a thread on your situation in the Debt Forums. For credit card debt the police won't come to your home and you can't go to jail over it. The DCA dealing with your account have no legal powers. It's best if you don't speak to them on the phone (it's your legal right to insist that all communication is in writing) as you have already found out they will tell you any old rubbish on the phone. Phone calls can also be denied unless you record them. If you don't know how to start your own thread have a read here http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/welcome-consumer-forums/107001-how-do-i-dummies.html