Has anyone had any dealings with these?

in August I closed a bank account and forgot to pay the final month on this.

Left a £30 amount owing, I thought no problem i'll pay it.

Forgot all about it and canceled the insurance before the renewal date for which I have confirmation.

Forgot all about it .

Today I've had a letter from Regal asking for £52. This is more than £30 and the extra charge must of come from somewhere.

Now we know you never ring debt collectors but its a small amount and I had some anger to vent.

Firstly he told me it was because I cancelled after the renewal date (which is rubbish as I've got an email confirmation)

and it was in the contract so I asked him how can a contract be in force after the end date?,

surely a contract ends the last day unless you renew it which I didn't.

Then he started on about some revolving charge relating to credit interest charged

because I broke the agreement and the creditor being allowed to charge a fee.

What an absolute load of rubbish.

I told him I won't be paying a penny till I've got a full written statement detailing all payments

and a detailed breakdown of where they came to the figure.

To which he replied "we are just collectors that get given a figure to collect".

I asked him how they can go around writing to people asking for money without knowing what they are demanding money for

and also asked how he knew that I had not renewed when he didn't know what he was collecting?.

Gave him a telling off for the way another unrelated company spoke to my mum over a phone bill

which was paid and he put me on to his manager, sounded like he was going to cry.

Manager told me they will hold the file till they can get they can get the info from the client.

Im not a nasty person or anything but this was sort of my experiment knowing that its a very small amount

that I'm not disputing that I owe the amount and will pay it as soon as they come back with a correct figure

but the lie spouting just shocked me and the fact he admitted he didn't actually know anything about what he was collecting is baffling

The idea that in the UK in 2015 a company can sit with a list of addresses and phone numbers

+ a figure then harass them into handing over money is outragious.

I can easily see how they intimidate people into paying what they can't afford or more than they owe,

his tone was condescending and a bit agressive + he would not take anything I said as truth.

Dont worry about it. Dont talk to them over the phone.

Just hang up the next time they ring and say to them "In Writing Only"

They will say and make up ANYTHING over the phone purely to make you pay them. Just stay off the phone and if they ring, tell them in whatever way you want to F.O.

Yeah don't worry I won't speak to them again.

I rang them, they don't have my number and I called them on Skype with the number blocked.

He just couldn't get the jist.

His view was that they would keep collecting and that if I want to know why the figure is wrong

I need to get onto Swifctover where I was saying to him that if they are asking me for money

then its his responsibility to provide the relevant info or stop collecting.

His manager said it is on hold till they get the info and I made it clear i'd not pay a penny till id got that.

if you do owe pay Swifctover directly.

dx

Yeah I will.

I just want to know the correct amount to pay and i'll send them a cheque. Someone has added a fee along the way.

Right, beer.

Just pay what was left owing and tell them to go play in traffic.

Right I've had a letter from Swiftcover today.

They say that the amount due is £26, great that seems about right.

Bottom of the letter after they have told me to contact Regal to pay

"Please note that should professional debt recovery services be required, we reserve the right to charge an additional fee of up to £25 to cover any costs incurred"

So it is actually Swiftcover adding fees and not the DCA.

My plan is post a cheque to Swiftcover for £26, is that the right way to go?

Yep. The dca cannot do anything or charge anything neither can the creditor. It has to be defined in the terms and can't be a penalty charge. Deal with the insurer and have a good laugh at the dca.

Yeah.

I'll just send a cheque for the £26, they can sue me for the £25.

I would write to them first and say that the £26 is in full and final settlement of any amount owing.

And if they accept, the cheque will be sent after.

That way you cover yourself, and if they accept, then they cant even consider chasing you for anything else.

Much easier and saves any future potential hassle.

Ok sounds like a plain.

They were the cheapest quote but my do they fleece you after if you need to make policy changes etc. Funny enough every change or fee was £25.