Repeated threats of legal action

[meagain]

In my ongoing battle with several companies, part of me wonders whether repeated threats of legal action without any sign that they will actually be followed up might amount to harrassment.

I am somewhat tempted to write to a DCA telling them that as I will not be paying them they should hurry up and take me to court or face a complaint to ... well, everyone.

Could repeated legal threats be construed to be harrassment in a legal sense? I believe it might fit the literal definition, but would like to be sure before my long-overdue complaints go through.

[reallymadwoman]

Yes, definitely.

If they're not following through on their threats because they can't - e.g. if they haven't got an enforceable agreement - then you can make a complaint under the new Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations, or whatever it's exact title is. Follow the link to the Unfair Trading guide at the top of the page.

[meagain]

Originally Posted by reallymadwoman

If they're not following through on their threats because they can't - e.g. if they haven't got an enforceable agreement - then you can make a complaint under the new Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations, or whatever it's exact title is. Follow the link to the Unfair Trading guide at the top of the page.

I'm not 100% sure that they can't, though TBH I can happily dodge the matter and make the harrassment and libel the primary issues of the complaint. Some of the harrassment would be trivial to prove with suitable evidence, and defamation carries a presumption of guilt (even if suitable documents were to be fabricated, truth alone is not an absolute defence). IME, when they threaten legal action, when you call them to instruct them that they should do so immediately, they then come up with all sorts of excuses for why they won't do it.

Any thoughts on the wisdom of calling their bluff by writing to them saying "Take me to court, b*tch!"?

One of the finer points I'm aware of is the "duty to mitigate losses", and I'm fairly certain that the cost of pursuing this (were an actual human involved in the process) would have easily surpassed the amount they are demanding a year ago. Were no actual humans involved in the process, then there's no shred of good faith and the case is open-and-shut.

[reallymadwoman]

Possibly the most hassle-free solution for you is to make formal complaints against each company (if you haven't already) detailing absolutely everything they've done wrong. When you haven't had an acceptable (or any!) response after 8 weeks, send them off to the Ombudsman. At the very least it might cost them £400 quid each for the investigation, and you may get some compensation out of it.