Somebody once told me that when a debt collecting agency buys a debt off of a creditor, it means the creditor has been paid so there is no debt outstanding. Which then means the debt collector has no legal rights to try and claim money from the debtor (it was their choice to buy it, subsequently paying it off!) Can anyone clarify or give anymore info? Thanks

Hi! I've recently had a letter from Capital Credit Management chasing up debts totalling just over £1000 that I know nothing about. The tone of the letters were quite nasty, threatening court action if I did not pay up ASAP. Straight away I sent them a letter using the national debt line website template stating that I had no prior knowledge of the debt and asking for written proof. It would appear that they have totally ignored this and have sent another letter even more threatening than the first. I know they received my letter as I sent it next day signed delivery. I'm pretty sure all of what they've done so far is illegal. Should I phone them stating that I need proof of debt? What do you guys recommend I do next? Thanks!

I was contacted by an agency, Service Care Solutions, after they had seen my CV on a job search website and as a result of a literacy/numeracy test, short and formal interview, I started work at the local council on 4 March and finished on the 14 March. I had been told the job would last until 10 May but due to lack of work I was told I was no longer needed on 14 March, yet other agency workers stayed in the job, including one person from the same agency as me. I checked my bank account and haven't been paid. I wasn't paid on 15 March and was told this was because my hours hadn't been authorised by the manager where I had been working in time for the payroll run. I checked my account again today and still not been paid. I have spoken to the agency and advised that my pay can go into my account any time up to 5.00pm tonight! I am waiting for a phone call from the person who originally contacted me. I have already told the agency I do not want to work for them any more and requested my P45. Has anyone else had to use the FPS Group to receive their pay as I was told the agency can only pay me into my own account and not my wife's account which is the one all the direct debits are paid through. I checked the site this morning and no payslip/advice are showing either.

Hi All, Last month I had a call from a well known recruitment agency asking me if I was interested in a 6 month contract, they then said the hourly rate was x amount which was slightly less than I would normally want but they said they would try for a bit more if possible. I had an interview a couple of days later and the next day had a call from the agency with the good news of an offer and the extra amount per hour. Great!. They said they would like me to speak to an umbrella company about how I would be paid, I'd never had experience of being paid this way before so was a bit dubious. I asked what the difference would be and was told I would be paid slightly less per hour PAYE and can claim my travel and food expenses if I used the umbrella company. I agreed to sign up with the umbrella company and took the job. After getting my payslip I now realise that the hourly rate I was expecting was before paying the umbrella company fee, the employers NIC and includes holiday pay (28 days pro rata). When I deduct all of these from my hourly rate i'm actually getting about 20% less than I was expecting. I do manage to pull back enough to cover the employers NIC with expenses but the fact that my net pay is less than I would have expected plus I won't get paid for any of the bank holidays that are approaching or any holiday I make like is worrying. I've sneaked a look at the invoices being sent to the company i'm contracted at and the agency are charging just over 50% markup on my hourly rate, I could understand this if they had to allow for employers NIC, holiday pay etc but they don't. I'm thinking about giving the agency a call and asking for the extra per hour to at least cover the holiday allowance but just curious if they would deduct this from the margin or approach the client? Bit peeved off to be honest, both with myself for being to eager to accept and and the recruitment agent for not being entirely upfront before I accepted the job. Any advice would be much appreciated

I heard from a guy at where i work today that these rules are being challenged. I work for an agency at a place that i wont yet name, and have been there for a few years. When the rules about paying the same came in, the place took on 'flexible' workers, at a lower rate than main employees. This means the agency people are getting paid less than main workers as well. I wondered if anyone had heard about this, and if anyone knows where i can follow the court actions on it.

I had a catalogue account and in 2007 one of my customers partner was sent to prison and she asked if she could pay a reduced payment, i asked the catalogue and they said yes but would charge her a late payment charge each month so she refused this and said the catalogue could take her to court and she would pay an agreed amount without any charges set by the court. Instead the catalogue passed it on to a debt collection company who came after me for the money I told them there was no way I was paying someone else's debt, this went on through different debt company's until 2008 when again another company asked me to get the customer to write a signed addressed letter saying that the debt was hers, i did this and sent it and her payment cards to them by recorded delivery then I phoned them a week later asking if they had what they needed and they said yes and heard no more from them. I then moved to my present home in March 2009 and now well over 4 years later I have had a letter drop through my door from another debt collection company about this. I should make it clear that all the items where delivered to the customers home address not my address and signed for by the customer and at no stage have i signed anything saying the debt is my debt and not one single payment has been made to any company by me. I have composed the following letter to send to this company is it correct ? my address Date Dear Sir/Madam Re:− Account/Reference Number 4563210025897412 This letter is a formal request pursuant to s.77/78 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974. I require you to provide me with a true copy of the credit agreement relating to the above account, together with any other documentation the Act requires you to provide I also require a full financial breakdown of the debt. I expect you to comply fully and properly with this request, within the statutory time limit. You are reminded that should you fail to comply with my request, the provisions of s.77(6) will apply. If it is your view that you are not the creditor, s.175 of the CCA 1974 applies in the case of a simple assignment, and places a duty upon you to pass this request to the creditor. In the case of an absolute assignment, you are a creditor as defined by s.189. If you contend that you purchased the rights but not the duties of any agreement, you are reminded that s.189 of the Act is clear that an assignment is of both rights and duties. Your attention is drawn to ss.5(2), 3(b),6 and 7 of the Consumer Protection From Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (CPUTR). I enclose a postal order in the sum of £1.00, which is the statutory fee for the documents requested. Note that these funds are not to be used for any other purpose. If you are unable to comply fully and properly with this request, you should confirm this in writing at the earliest opportunity, and certainly within the statutory time limit for compliance, and return the fee. If you fail to comply within the statutory time limit I will report you to the financial ombudsman's office, my local trading standards office, your local trading standards office, consumer direct, the information commissioner's office and the office of fair trading. We look forward to hearing from you. Yours faithfully my name

Hi everyone, im a newbie to this site so hope im posting in right section. Need some help. About 12 years ago had a repossession on my house with the woolwich this building society no longer excists. I got a ccj for this and cause its such a long time ago i remember filling in a form either to pay a lump sum of 2500 or pay installments of 30 pound per month and pay 7500 i agreed to pay the 30 per month. Cant remember whether this was to woolwich or credit collection agency ive been through hillsden securities then dlc im now paying 44 per month direct debit never missed a payment maybe paying this for 12 years could be longer. dlc are always threatning me which i no they cant do about taking me to court and that ive missed payments and that i owe roughly about 12,000pound were are they getting these figures from , my calculations i should be nearly paid up by now, i have asked and asked for them to explain this with no outcome, i have now emailed them asking for a notice of assignment and all details of transactions what ive paid and the signed document i agreed to paying of 7500 i have given them 30 days notice if they dont respond i will start legal proceedings against them, are they allowed to do this and what will happen if they dont respond or send me the information ive asked for, any help would be grateful many thanks lisa

Hello I hope that someone could help me with this. I just moved a couple of months ago to my new house and I am renting with a letting agency. I specifically asked before we rented it if they would be the ones that would take care of any problems in the house as we had some problems previously with a private landlord and they said that they would fix anything within the property. As always, they told me to fill a list of amendments to include them in the inventory so they could fix them. There were quite a few small things that were not included in there inventory list as toilet seat or hangers broken. I included them in the amendments list but I told them that there was no need to fix the small issues. But there was a leak of water coming to the ceiling of the living room, the door of the conservatory is broken, the stones of the driveway are broken so when you put a car in they hit the bottom of the car and the tv blocks are not working so I do not get any signal for tv. I gave them some time to fix them because I understood that was Christmas time but now they just came to fix the leak and they told me that the landlord is not paying to fix anything else and that they are not going to fix it neither.... What can I do? We got everything signed but I would like to know if there is any option to make them do it without go to court as I just want to enjoy my house and not having all this problems. Glad that I just signed for 6 months but I really do not want to start with the moving process all over again....

Hi All I parked in Bristol and paid the parking fee for the hired car I had, but I gave the car reg wrong F instead of S I have the receipts and the txt message. When I came out I had a parking ticket. I appealed but County Parking say I did not follow thier Terms and conditions and now want £50....Do they have any right to ask for this I can I tell them to do one ...lol I phoned them but they were very unhelpful and just said pay up or appeal again. Cheers

Hi, I'm not sure if this is the correct thread but, Can anyone tell me what are the requirements are for removing the Letting agency from the agreement and just doing the letting privately. Would it depend on the agreement which was initially signed, or is there a time schedule by law which is prevalent to these things? We've had a tenant for 3 years now and a 'management' company swiping 10% per month to look cheerful!!! Can we just terminate the agreement and keep the tenant with a new private agreement or are there complications in law? If anyone has experience of this please can you update me? Thanks in advance.

A few years ago I had an issue with an O2 contract, cancelling the contract over the phone I was told I would have no other payments to be made and clerified with them before ending the call. Behold a few months, after I am receiving a charge of £40, money I could have paid instantly but refused to for the only reason being I was immature and didn't want to pay after cancelling when they told me I wouldn't have to pay anything else. The debt was passed on to lowell and for roughly 8 months they continued to send me absurd mail, at times even offering me the option of halving the debt after claims of turning up at my house. I knew this was a load of nonsense but it adventually paid off as I got so bored of receiving mail from them I just paid the full 40 to end frustration. A resulting cost is my credit rating has suffered drastically resulting to a silly £40 as I have an account now listed as defaulted? I am awful at sorting stuff like this and just want to know what I can do to sort this issue. Ideally I could have paid the £40 straight away as it is such a small amount and not worth years of bad credit, but it was principal I refused to part with the money..

Hello All I have a suggestion to ask about a sitaution I am in just now. i worked through an agency on a end client contract, the daily rate fixed had a content of retainer where a part of daily rate was to be retained by agency and would be invoiced on a pre agreed date. Now the problem is the contract wording, On the contract it is written 'XYZ% of the day rate will be held as a retainer which can be invoiced for in six monthly intervals, XYZ October 2012 and then........'' (actual contract wording) I have left (rather forced to leave) the contract in September 2012 and now when i invoiced the agency for retainer they came back to me saying that I would have been on contract for six months to qualify for retainer, where as no where on teh contract it is written as a criteria for claiming the retainer. I m in a fix as to what should i do to get my money back !!! the lady i was dealing with kept changing her defence for non payment in every other email first she said its is clearly mentioned in contract, when i asked where in particular teh clause is she couldnt tell (as it is not in contarct anywyas) then i asked her to give me the details of director as i want to conact them she said 'contractually the agency is not laible to pay me my retainer' with no proof and reference to any contract terms what so ever Questions 1) Does any one knows where to complaint against the agencies? like who regulates them and who is there ombudsman body? 2) Does the contract wording suggests anything like a qualifying criteria at all? 3) what legal action could be taken against employment agency under contracts law or any simialr law Thanls

Hi, I was going to rent a room through an agency and paid a Holding Deposit of £500.00 to secure it. However, my circumstances changed and I am no longer able to move into this room. Although I realise that this Holding Deposit is non-refundable I believe that I was misled by the lady who was dealing with me and had to pay £500.00 instead of required £300.00; this is a sentence from my Holding Deposit Receipt: “Now that you saw and chose the property, the next step is sign a holding deposit receipt and leave £300.00 as prove of your interest”. The receipt also states that this is a non-refundable deposit that will not be refunded if I don’t take up the tenancy. Unfortunately I didn’t see this and paid £500.00 as requested by her. I saw the agency today but they told me that they will not refund me anything. They said that it was £500 instead of £300 because there was just a week left before I was due to start my tenancy. This is not mentioned anywhere on the receipt though. They also said that basically it doesn't matter what the Receipt says as long as I was fine to pay what was requested it is all non-refundable. Do you think I should be able to get £200.00 back as I was only supposed to be charged £300.00 initially? I am considering making a complaint to The Property Ombudsman. Thank you in advance for your assistance. Tony

Hi there I'm completely new to this website but am seeking some advice. In the early 2000's I received a series of threatening letters from a debt collection agency called 1st Credit alleging that I owed about £2.5k in relation to an Amex card. I have never had a credit card with Amex and made this clear to 1st Credit. The letters kept coming, threatening bankruptcy proceedings etc and it was becoming very stressful. I remember I had to report the "identity theft" to the police in order to get a crime reference number. When I attempted to do so the police informed me (quite rightly, I suppose) that I was not the victim of any crime, it was the credit card company which had been defrauded, so they were unable to give me a crime reference number. Eventually 1st Credit only agreed to "suspend" the matter after I reluctantly gave them my date of birth and it became clear to them that they were dealing with the wrong person. Since then I've subsrcibed to a credit expert account with Experian in case something like that ever happened again. This took place several years ago and I've moved house a couple of times in the meantime but unfortunately 1st Credit have reared their ugly heads again and written to me regarding a "personal matter" requesting that I call them quoting a reference number, at which point they will provide further information. Of course I have no intention of contacting them but would be grateful for any advice on what to do (if anything). Thanks

Hi, I have today been in touch with Equifax regarding the exact meanings of their search descriptions. I specifically was interested in the one listed as DEBT COLLECTION, I asked them what this is which I was duly informed. However I enquired further as to the parameters that mean a search of this type can be carried out, to which after a heated discussion she hung up on me. Anyone??? Do you know what the parameters are that mean a company can perform such a search??? To me, these searches can be misleading and potentially have a disproportionate effect on your credit rating. Thanks in advance

Hi. I'm new to this forum and need some advice. I've been working for an agency for 14 weeks, in the same role in the same company. Last week we were informed of how holiday pay is calculated - they use your weekly average hours over 17 weeks to calculate how many hours per day to pay you for. e.g. in 14 weeks I have had 2 days unpaid and 2 days holiday, so instead of my weekly hours being 35 (I do 7 hours 5 days per week) my weekly average hours over 14 weeks is 33. Therefore if I book a weeks holiday I get paid for 33 hours, not 35, so about £20 less than normal. This just doesn't seem right to me. I accrue holiday as I work, and if I'm off sick I don't get paid and accrue zero holiday, so I cannot see what relevance this has to my holiday pay. It's penalising you twice for taking time off as you don't get paid then your holiday pay suffers. I'm put off taking holiday as I cannot afford to get paid less than if I had just worked it. Quick google and this seems quite common practice for agency staff. How is this fair?? It also appears this is something they have started in September. Would they not have needed to re-issue contracts so this is in there??

Have just had my latest Credit Reference Agency report, and apparantly my credit rating has dropped from 3/5 to just 1/5 but with no explanation as to why. Nothing has changed from previous months. I am up to date with any payments/direct debits and haven't used my overdraft, and the only new thing on there is a check by my new insurance company for my car insurance which looks like a pretty standard thing. I am not even paying my car insurance in instalments this year, I've managed to pay it all upfront, so the only checks they have made are for money laundering and to confirm my address. Seems a bit rough that my credit rating should fall simply because of a standard check by an insurance company. Does anyone know if this is usual? Good job I'm not looking for any credit or loans!!

Hi, I'm trying to help a friend reclaim PPI on a Lloyds Credit Card, he opened the account in 1999 and at the time was a temporary worker for an agency. I know that would be a reason for mis-sold if it was a loan but would it still count for a credit card? He didnt get a full time job until 2 years after getting the card so would he just be able to claim for that period?

Hey there, I have a bit of a problem with my old letting agency (I knew I would have problems with them when I moved out but had no choice but to move in to the property anyway). The brief outline is that I hande dthe keys back and didn't hear anything for a week. I then received a text from the deposit scheme saying that the agents had arranged for my depoist to be released so I logged in - only to find they were trying to deduct a few hundred pounds. I had received no correspondence at all from the agency, not by phone or email. So I sent an eamil explainiang that I wanted to know what the deductions were for. I received a voicemial the next day explaining that they had the invoice and pictures but they had problems with the internet and the files were too big, so they weren't sending. I emailed back and said it is not acceptabel and I wanted the information. I then received a copy of the invoice, which looked dodgy, so I went on the website and it said "Temporary website" and looked fake...I called the number and it rang abroad. When the phones answered, no one sadi anything. I then didn't hear anything. After 10 working days, I emailed the agency explaining that they breached the dispute service's recommendation for length of time to get info to me and that I would refer it to them and the ombudsman. I received another voicemail explaining that they had problems sending them, so I replied asking them to resize the photos or post them to me. I received a rude email back saying "we will not print them" but they had resized them. All i received was pictures, no comments or narratives. I also requested (again) a copy of their inventry and also an itemised list of the cleaning that needed to be done as the invoice simply said "general cleaning" I also asked for confirmaiton of the date and time the chekcout was completed. No reply. I chased and received an email from the agent saiying they were on oliday and were back now. I said I wanted the requested documents and I was sent the inventry and their checkout report. I was told that the cleaning required was clearly on the invoice. I have no idea what I should do - some of the cleaning I forgot to do, but they are claiming for som work that had to be done when I moved in, light bulbs (even though the inventry stated one was missing and I actually supplied 1 myself!) they won't tell me which light bulbs, they are claiming for dusty drawers and dusty tops of wardrobes, dirty bins (even though I only stored the bins as I used my own) and carpet cleaning as they have pictures of marks on the carpet - even though the inventry says "some marks" on the carpet. I am happy to offer 50-quid for the extractor fan, washing machine and the dusting but that's it. Have you got any idea what I should do now? They didn't even call me to tell me what they had done on the checkout and they knew the emails hadn't sent (I have voicemail with them confirming that!) The checkout report says they sent me letters on a certia date which have NEVER been received.

So here we go. I received the notice saying the landlord requires my vacating the flat in two month's time, so I will have lived there for only 6 months. I imagine that's how both, the agency/landlord typically go about their business: charge the initial agency fees, sign a 12-month agreement with the break clause possible at any time after 4 months with a 2-month notice, then get a new tenant along with more fees and the increased rent price... All legal and according to the contract, it seems. However, I wonder... Must I leave the property by the stated date? What happens if I don't leave, and stay until I can move to a new place? After all, it will be hard to find a new flat with the move-in date to coincide with the moving out. I think it's only fair that I'm allowed to stay, say a few more days or weeks longer, until my new place is secured. What do you think? Just in case anybody asks, my tenancy has been impeccable, no issues, no rent arrears, etc. Thank you.

I don't know if this is the best forum for this (please advise some other forums if possible) but we are getting debt recovery demands for a former occupier and we know the person is deceased but don't know the name address of her POA. Is there a register somewhere of people named as Attorneys where one can find out? We were thinking that this may be a [problem] so if we phoned up this collection agency we may find ourselves a target. Advice appreciated on either of the above queries. Many thanks.

Hope someone can throw some light on this for me. Details are limited as it relates to a case I heard about through a relative. The summary is that the tenancy has ended for a furnished property and the letting agency is retaining the entire deposit of several hundred pounds and is likely to be demanding an additional amount because of what seems to be fair wear and tear, for which a significant amount is cleaning costs. Something I immediately suspected was that if the landlord was claiming as expenses, a 10% allowance for fair wear and tear, or, renewal allowances, then someone (either the tenant or HMRC) will have been defrauded. Would this be a more effective angle to tackle the apparent greed of the landlord/agent than the tribunal type approach? Appreciate any help....

Hello Ladies & Gents, My son studying in Bristol University 2nd year with other fellow students, they just received a letter from the letting agency demanding a further payment of more than £750 in 7 days or they will face court and even further consequences. The letting agency already taken the initial deposit of £2000. When they moved from the flat last month, they left it clean and tidy. Walls with small scratches painted, which indicate that they are careful and considerate. On several occasions the landlord or his son or his brother (they own the letting agency) come to inspect the flat and intimidate the students and shout at them, too. My son in particular now feels very upset and distressed by this guileful and perfidious method in getting money from vulnerable people like us, especially when we are on disability benefit. Even if I want to pay, I don't have a fiver let alone to pay £150! Can anyone please advise us on how to proceed with this problem? We are not really sure what to do or how to proceed forward. Thanking you and regards.

Hi guys, I was hoping for some advice on this. I was contacted by an agency after sending out an email on a website stating that I was looking for a new room. I was taken to view the room in which I said I would need some time to consider my options. The agent suggested that I put down a holding deposit which I have done in the past with other agencies and on these occasions they were refundable. I paid the deposit (in cash) and then was handed a receipt in which it says that the deposit is to cover the admin fees and is non- refundable. In addition, should my references not check out they are also allowed to keep my deposit. I know it's probably my fault for being so naive, but I was just desperate to get out of this house. Are there any guidelines on holding deposits? When is it acceptable for agencies to keep the money? Thanks for the help in advice

My agency is charging me for repainting my room on account of blu-tack stains. I had a Flatshare Agreement with a previous agency and I doubled checked if it was okay to use blu-tacks in my room and they said it was fine. The property was then transferred to a different agency to manage. I did not sign a new contract with the new agency but I have a record of payments being paid to them. After moving out, I kept contacting them to return my deposit but my emails and calls were ignored. When I finally dropped by their office, they gave me an invoice for repainting my room, without my consent or prior knowledge (The invoice was also strangely dated before myself moving out of the property). The deposit was not held by a government-assured scheme but the agency argued that the old 'Flatshare Agreement' with the previous agency applies and they need not secure the deposit with a scheme (ie. it is not an Assured Shorthold Tenancy). I did not sign a new contract with them but I have evidence that payments have been paid to them on a monthly basis for my room. Am I still bound by the 'Flatshare Agreement' even though it was with the previous agency? Can they keep my deposit without putting it in a deposit assurance scheme? Is it considered a 'flatshare' since separate rooms were let out to different individuals (We all keys to our own rooms as well)?