DCA threat operative?? The language is the same as we have all been in the industry and know what it is like, it is hard o the consumer and yes all the tricks are used to get individuals to pay, and some of them are quite nasty hence i though by posting on this site i might actually fight the consumer cause, maybe i havent gotten my point across aswell and maybe the language i use it because i do come from a DCA background, however an insider i am not and ultimaely if anyone here would really like assistance in actually clearing up their debts and getting rid of DCAs out of their lives then please let me know and i would be happy to help. The reason that the current organisation i work for in a voluntary capacity chose to take me on is because of my knowledge of DCAs and that i know what makes them tick and how to get them off the backs of those who are most vulnerable in society.

Troll, DCA insider????????? Ok i can categorically state that i am no longer working within the DCA industry, my aim as per the post earlier has been to provide some advice as to how things really are within the DCAs that i had cut my cloth. Having been a reader of this forum for a while, i thought i would add my opinions as to how some of you may be able to settle your debts for a discount. I am in no way trying to get anyone to acknowledge their debts, come in for further hassle or stress from DCA's nor do i condone debt avoidance which may of the posters on this website seem to peddle. I currently provide debt guidance/counselling via a voluntary organisation in my spare time and the majority of people i speak to are genuinely concerned re their debts and how they can manage them and the advice i provide is similar to a DMP although i nor the organisation i work for charge for this service and we merely provide the tools for the individuals to contact their creditors and set up reduced payment plans, much like what many on this site advise. In regards to my advice in my 1st post and my experience, i shall try to address some of the comments and criticisms: 1. That f and f's should only be done by 3rd parties in order to stop if being passed on to another DCA, if managed and handled properly there is no need to do this, at no point have i mentioned to just call the DCA and offer to pay a reduced amount and pay it there and then on the phone. Having lodged a complaint which the DCA would have to deal with under FOS guidelines and therefore there is an official complaints trail and it is under the guidance of this process that you should look to get a reduction in the balance and written confirmation of this, together with a written understanding that the debt would be settled with no further action and for it to be reflected on your credit file as satisfied, you should obtain all this in writing 1st, then once payment has been made chase a letter from the complaints department confirming that payment has been made and that the complaint has now been resolved. Under the FOS complaints guidelines this has to be done as otherwise the complaint can be escalated to the FOS which would then ultimately investigate and beleive me no DCA wants this as it damages reputation. 2. That the complaints department will simply say that they have listened to the call and there was no breach and that the call has mysteriously disappeared?? I mean come on guys i know there is a mistrust of DCAs but are you also suggesting that we should all mistrust the information commissioners office and the Financial Ombudsman service and the Credit Services Association (all of whom you all recomend individuals should escalate things to??) as if the complaints department does say the above you are within your rights to request a copy of the call (S.A.R) and if the call is not produced you would need to advise that you would then complain to the Information Commissioners Office and the FOS for not dealing with your complaint in a satisfactory manner as dont forget you will only be doing any other this once you know 100% that your Data was not kept secure. Lastly that i am trying to get anyone to pay for any debts that are not theirs or that they dont acknowledge?? What i would say to this is absolutely not. Those who should take my advice is where there is a genuine debt that is being chased by a DCA that is legally entitled to do so, where the paperwork is all in order (CCA etc) and that you want to resolve and pay off the debt rather than go through the never ending merry go round of debt avoidance and constantly fighting DCAs and batting away their phone calls, letters, threats, home visits (which do happen, although people think these are bailiffs when in fact those who visit you at home just want to speak to you rearding the debt rather than take your belongings as they can only do this with a court order). Some of you on this website are mentally strong and able to keep doing this for a sustained period of time, ive worked for DCAs and i'm strong however by burying my head in the sand even i got sick and tired of not answering phone calls and the post man calling with the mail. Thus my advice is only for those where everything is above board and that they merely want to resolve everything and that you have a white knight prepared to lend you the money or you have some savings to clear your debts in order to move on with your life like i have. Ultimately to me it makes no difference whether any of you decide to take my advice or not, however if any of you do manage to get an advisor to breach Data Protection Act, try the discount route and if you are sucessful then i would like you to post on here!!!

p.s i forgot to mention, during my career within DCAs breaching the data protection act was one of the most serious things than an advisor could do, as ultimately large organisations will only sell their debts to DCAs who keep data secure and thus no matter how much a DCA offered to purchase if it had a bad rep for data security it would be unable to purchase debt simply because the financial institutions would not want their reputations tarnished by association. In relation to the above, if u manage to get a DPA breach for smaller debts under £500 then offer 10% of the balance to clear and negotiate upwards once your complaint has been resolved. Happy settling.!!!

Apologies if this has already been recommended but i've not come across this to date!!! Dear All, I have been reading this forum for a while now and never posted, however over the last 2 months i have been embrolied in an investigation with a few DCA with an amazing positive result for me, and i'm hoping that for those of you who feel morally obligated to pay your debts then you will try this aswell as it allows you to clear your debts for a reduced amount. Ok i shall start at the beginning, i have been employed by various different DCA's over the past 10 years, all major and all large, you have all been posting about them on here and those in the debt collection industry do read your posts you know!!! I dont care if they read this though, might make them sit up and realise!!! However due to ill health i was forced to stop working, then the bills mounted, i coundn't pay them, ignored them buried my head in the sand and well you know the rest. The dreaded letters from the DCA's started and then phone calls, they were agressive and rude and didn't care about my situation. As a telephone debt collector i always took into consideration circumstances and treated everyone nicely and gave some very good reduced payment arrangements and knocked off thousands off balances, but would they do it for me??? NO!!!! So after going through a bout of depression i picked myself up and decided that as i knew the DCA's inside out i would attack from the inside exactly where it hurts. As you are all aware, currently there is this climate of keeping customer data secure and not breaching the data protection act or losing customer data. Anyway having working for DCA's i know that the advisors on the end of the phone are all on a commission to collect/recover the most amount of money and whenever someone calls them saying they want to pay a large amount in full, pound signs flash up and everything else that they have been trained to do goes out of the window and this includes not breaching DPA. Therefore i decided that as i had £40000 of debt albeit just for 5 different accounts with 5 different DCA's i would get my wife to call them stating that i was abroad and that she had received one of their letters/phonecalls and to save me the distress she just wanted to pay off the full balance there and then by debit/credit card. (i could just imagine the advisor on the other end of the phone thinking ching ching, hello bonus!!!!!!). However, i got her to say to the advisor that she was unsure of the balance and that she would only pay the balance if heshe gave her following details: Original Creditor Original Account Or Credit Card Number so that she could cross reference our records Current Balance A Letter in the Post Confirming balance had been paid. And that the default on the credit file would show as satisfied. The advisors name and extension number and managers name in case of problems. At this point she pretended to be running out of credits on her phone and said she would call back once topped up, the agents were like "please ensure you ask for me!!!" (they were thinking bonus again!!) Now i can confirm to you all that almost all the major large DCAs record all of their calls mainly for training to improve collections techniques rather than anything else. Would you believe that 4 out of the 5 creditors the advisors in the hope that my wife was about to clear a large sum of money gave her all the detals above, i mean she had to put on the caring wife act and not ask for the details in a robotic way. (naturally!!!!). You can all see where this is going now. Yep you guessed it, i rang all for DCAs the following day, asked to speak to the managers and explained that a member of their team had breached DPA but disclosing my personal details to my wife and that he/she had now caused marital problems as my wife was not aware that i had accumulated this debt and that i wanted a full investigation and that i was going to complain to the Information Commissioner and to the FOS. All the managers assured me that they would investigate, i received a courtesy letter in the post from complaints departments to advise that they were investigation. 2 weeks later i received a letter confirming the breach and an apology to say that it wouldnt happen again and how they keep customer data secure and their responsibilities etc etc. Based on the current climate and fears i rang them all threatened them with watchdog, press and formal complaint comlaints with the Information Commissioner and that i would also be seeking compensation at which point they offered me discounts on my balances. To cut this story here, except for 1 DCA which didnt breach DPA, the other 4, their breaches reduced my total debt with them £32000 to £4800 effectively an 85% discount to balances. Couldnt beleive it, i did have to push hard with my threats but ultimately they bought the debts for peanuts, i know ive worked there and therefore better to take 15% of balances rather than have a complaint logged with official bodies. I would suggest you all give it a try, no harm, although i wouldnt expect such high discounts although 50% should be achievable and possibly even 100% on smaller balances under £500, (FOS charge £450 just to investigate complaint!!). I know the limits as i've seen them done with my own eyes whilst in employment. If any of you do try this, please post on here!!!! Morally my debts have been paid and i feel happy.!!!!!