Are these letters legal?

[mintygit]

Hi All

 

I found this How fine debt collection firms under English law from The Mother of all Campaigns

 

Is the advice and letters on this page legal?

 

Thanks

[accesspwd]

Just read all that and its caught my attention.

 

Look forward to hearing what people have to say.

[WelshMam2009]

There's nothing illegal about the letters but if you went to court costs are normally awarded to litigants in person at £9.25 per hour.

 

Therefore charging £30 per letter is unlikely to be accepted as a reasonable cost (in my opinion).

[mintygit]

ok, so if you were to lower the charge it may be worth trying?

 

Could be something to add on to the letters already on this forum, so send the letter on here stating the debt is not owed by you and at the bottom of that letter add the contents of the letters on this site for good measure maybe?

[mr.ton]

Im all in favour of DCA's being fined more often.

[Dorabell]

And me mr.ton:)

[PGH7447]

interesting concept be interesting to hear from any caggers who have tried it

[mr.ton]

Is there anyway they can be fined for every letter they send & every phone call they make?

[mintygit]

I might just try it myself if I get any more letters from Debt collectors, don't think it can hurt.

[mintygit]

I think me.ton if you reply to one of their letters and state how much you charge for each letter, phone call they make then what's to lose?

[idon'towemoney]

I am in the process of taking Virgin Media to court I have written about 13 letters to this company and I have charged £15 per letter. I spoke to a solicitor the other day and told her that is what I am charging VM per letter and she was in agreement with me. I am not sure if there is a limit to what you can charge per letter, but my fee seems to be ok.

[WelshMam2009]

Is there anyway they can be fined for every letter they send & every phone call they make?

 

As far as I am aware, you can only "fine" someone if you have the necessary statutory powers to do so.

 

This is a civil action being brought by an individual against a DCA.

[mintygit]

I think maybe 'fine' is the wrong word used here.

 

'Charge' for your time, ie: replying to a letter is acceptable, and I think you are legally entitled to.

 

The DCA contacted you so if you are replying to them, after you have told them not to, then I can't see why you shouldn't be able to 'charge' them in replying, for your time, for the cost of your paper, ink, postage charges etc.

[ScarletPimpernel]

I suspect that with a more carefully worded letter this might be a reasonable strategy in circumstances where you either do not owe the debt at all, or where they continue to make demands whilst the debt is disputed or they are in default of a CCA request.

 

In fact, I have been considering whether to start doing this with Amex, since they are so persistent in the face of their hopeless pursuit.

[smouk]

In fact, I have been considering whether to start doing this with Amex, since they are so persistent in the face of their hopeless pursuit.

As Amex have forced me to consult Messrs Sue, Grabbitt & Runne I've decded that a 'referral fee' of 50% of the final claimed sum is both lawful and morally legitimate.

[kurvaface]

I Told the student loans company that if they allowed their debt collector to continue pressing me for payment of a statute barred account I would invoice them for my time dealing with it. Everything went very quiet very quickly:)

[JonCris]

I agree with SP the wording is important & I think that the original letter should contain the term 'implied consent' in that their consent is 'implied' if they contact you again doing away with the need for them to give written consent, consent is tacit!

 

Other than that then yes these letters are perfectly legal

 

This reminds me what happened to gingerhied?