Thread: Have I got this right?

OK, so if an account with a creditor is in dispute they cannot pass your details to a third party, i.e. debt collector? Right?

Does having a formal complaint in progress count as the account being in dispute or do you need to use specific wording in writing with the creditor for the account to be in dispute?

At what point in the complaints procedure is the creditor freed up to pass details to a third party?

TIA.

Well, the saga continues with Barclaycard, who refunded my charges recently. I got a letter from DCA Mercer, dated 22nd Dec and my statement from Barclaycard was prepared the same day. The statement and letter both say that my account is still in arrears.

They reflect the credit to my account from the refunded charges, but NOT the above minimum payment I made on the 19th. So obviously I was cutting it a bit fine with the payment (due 22nd), but what this shows is that Barclaycard did not actually wait until after the payment due date to set a debt collector on me!

While I had the complaint in progress I did tell them that I would get up to date on my payments once my complaint had been resolved. I got the final letter and refund from them on the 17th Dec and made the payment two days later.

It looks to me like they passed my details on to Mercer while my complaint was in progress, or immediately once it was resolved but before the next minimum payment was actually due.

I spoke to Barclaycard, who assured me that as I had now made a payment Mercer would not pursue the matter. I asked for confirmation in writing but was refused. I'll be writing to Mercer to make damn sure they know that the account is no longer in arrears.

I'm just wondering if it's worth sending Mercer a SAR to see when Barclaycard passed my information on to them. I know I should probably let it go, but these sorts of tricks really **** me off and I think all companies should be held accountable for their actions, especially when those actions are dubious.