Turning the tables on DCA Bullies

[questioner]

Turning the tables on DCA Bullies

 

Have you got a genuine complaint with a creditor, are you fed up with the endless templated letters that do nothing to resolve that complaint.

 

Are you confused that having failed to deal with your complaint properly, the Original Creditor/Bank then passes your account on to a Debt Collection Agency, the Robinson Ways, Moorcrofts, Wescots, Apex’s and Blair Oliver Scotts of this world.

 

Now you have the endless stream of templated letters coming from a different source. Only they are now are a little more aggressive and intimidating.

 

The “contact us within 48 hours” letters that are just a device in order to have you telephone them where they then have undocumented access to you.

 

The post cards that advise someone “will be calling you on such and such a date”

 

Letters from the “Pre Court Division” proclaiming that, Intended Litigation is imminent.

That they have no choice but to advise their client to proceed to litigation.

 

That they have researched the Land Registry and know you are a home owner. That a charging order will be obtained (despite the fact that they need to take you to court and win, etc).

 

That they have confirmed with a major utility company in order to confirm your address, despite the fact that they have written to you umpteen times previously and you have responded from that very same address??

 

The letters that at first glance look like a court forms

 

The endless phone calls?

 

You write back time and time again, advising that the account is in dispute with the original lender, and will they please stop harassing you and return the account to the OC for resolution of your genuine complaint, but the letters and calls, they continue to pile up.

 

This Cagger became so fed up with this that after responding to the umpteenth letter decided to advise the DCA that should they continue to write knowing that they were in breach of OFT guidelines. That whilst there was a genuine complaint and it still remained unresolved, then I would be charging them an administration fee for each letter that required my time consuming response.

 

The first DCA was sent 2 invoices these were ignored and the letters continued. An N1 was issued for unpaid invoices. On receipt of the claim form, the DCA paid up.

 

The 2nd DCA was a tougher nut to crack, this took 4 invoices. The DCA responded by saying that they knew of no law that allowed a debtor to charge them for responding to their threatening letters (they actually wrote “requests for payment of outstanding debt”) So another trip to the court to submit a further N1.

 

The DCA decided they would defend and their incoherent defence was received and a response witness statement (WS) was submitted.

 

This WS detailed the harassment endured before frustration took over. There was a genuine and unresolved complaint with the original creditor. That the OC had written advising that they knew they would be unable to enforce in a court. That despite being advised on more than one occasion of this, the letters from the DCA became increasingly aggressive. Included with the WS was a copy of the OFT guidelines that pointed out where the DCA was breaching them.

 

False representation of authority and/or legal position

2.4 Examples of unfair practices are as follows:

b. falsely implying or stating that action can or will be taken when it legally cannot.

Physical/psychological harassment

2.5 Putting pressure on debtors or third parties is considered to be oppressive.

2.6 Examples of unfair practices are as follows:

h. ignoring and/or disregarding claims that debts have been settled or are disputed and continuing to make unjustified demands for payment.

 

A copy of the letter from the OC with the statement that they knew the agreement was unenforceable, highlighted. Therefore the threats of court and charging orders, threats of bailiffs calling were just empty threats, amounting to harassment. That having given fair warning to the DCA that the invoices would be sent should they continue, it was believed the amounts were due and payable. Would the court please see it that way too?

 

This was submitted with the Allocation Questionnaire at court last week and a copy sent to the DCA.

 

This week, a cheque was received with the DCA requesting me to please file discontinuance at court.

 

Another one bites the dust.

 

Notes:

State fairly that you are permitting the DCA at least 2 weeks to pay you your admin fee.

Do make sure that you have a genuine and unresolved complaint in with the Original Creditor.

Do make sure that you have advised the DCA on more than one occasion of this and ask them politely to return the account to the original creditor.

Always ensure that the DCA has received your letters/admin charges, via Recorded or Special delivery so they cannot plead ignorance at a later date.

Do not be put off by their cries that you have no legal right to charge them for soliciting a response.

It is also worth remembering that a DCA has plenty to lose if you take them to court and win. They do not want word getting out that they have been sued by a party that they are supposed to be pursuing for their client.

 

This news leak would open the floodgate against them so the logical and most economically viable option is to give you your admin fee and move on.

 

You can win – I have, several times!

[harrassed senior]

WoW thanks for that, will file away for further use.

[alfwithhair]

interesting thread Q

[Guest]

interesting thread Q

 

ditto

[NailPost]

I've used a similar tactic with a major credit card company. I won't tell you which one but its one of the big ones. They were pestering me for a debt that belonged to someone else. They tried to collect on their own to start with and then passed it onto collectors. I asked for their complaints procedure which was unresolved but still the calls came. I told them on several occasions the calls were being logged and a bill would be sent. They laughed until they received the bill. They paid up and I've not heard a peep from them since.

[citizenB]

Well done, Q.

[marie6666red]

congratulations q. this made me laugh out loud

[jamanji]

That is magic, totaly turned the tables, when the time comes i will use this,

very intresting

[cerberusalert]

The cost of compliance 01-Apr-10

The compliance clampdown on debt collectors is costing the industry a small fortune, and risks bringing some smaller firms to their knees, writes Ashley Armstrong. Credit Today

I can't access the full article, but the headline above says it all really. :lol::lol:

[DonkeyB]

Like it!

[angry cat]

PAYBACK TIME: Two of Britain's biggest banks face massive fines as punishment for shoddy customer service | Mail Online

[letsgetitsorted]

Many thanks for starting this most informative thread Q.

i am on 4+ calls a day from DCA regarding unenforceable agreement, so this info will definitely help.

 

thanks again

[angry cat]

:

"i am on 4+ calls a day from DCA regarding unenforceable agreement..."

 

Well, they will try to mislead the general consumer.

 

Report them to the OFT and get Trading Standards involved!

[cashins]

Eric Leenders, executive director of retail banking at the British Bankers' association, says: 'The industry was concerned that, on the rare occasions things go wrong, complaints were being handled inconsistently across the industry.

 

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/article-1269292/PAYBACK-TIME-Two-Britains-biggest-banks-face-massive-fines-punishment-shoddy-customer-service.html#ixzz0mR0gkZ6i

 

 

If it didn't concern money that staement would have them rolling in the aisles.

 

David

[zazen.warrior]

Post removed.

Edited July 29, 2010 by zazen.warrior

[Jasper1965]

Thanks ZazenWarrior that was an interesting read.

 

"in order to remain compliant Cabot Financial has hired an internal compliance management team of 12 employees whose sole job is to monitor live and recorded calls and then score them according to compliance – the wages alone of this team cost the company around £192,000 a year"

 

Now 192k divided by 12 = 16k pa per employee which probably goes some way to explaining why they struggle to get anyone other than those right at the bottom of the monkey tree applying for their crappy jobs.

 

You get what you pay for on the whole and Crapbot seem to go for cheap staff who struggle to read write and comprehend and cheap debts with little or no paperwork.

 

That they admit to having to get outside help to write their letters is hilarious but something we'd all guessed a while back I mean mine aren't drawn in crayons any more so I knew something had changed.

[DonkeyB]

That's £16k more than any of them are worth...

[NailPost]

Willem Wellinghoff, legal counsel at debt buyer Cabot Finanical, says: "I have no idea how the fines are worked out – it’s like the Information Commissioner`s Office and OFT just put their finger in the air and said ‘sounds like a good number.’"

 

 

This sounds very much the way Cabot works out how much to charge its "clients". When challenged they are completely unable to account for the figure! I know Credit Toady is the industry rag and its very one sided but the fact they are writing about it shows how much the industry is hurting because of the influence of websites like this. And CAG isn't subversive, its just ordinary people enforcing the law.

[cashins]

And CAG isn't subversive, its just ordinary people enforcing the law.

 

Which, over the years, the various regulatory bodies have failed dismally in their duty to do.

 

Do they mean business this time, or have we heard it all before.

 

David

[cerberusalert]

And, in a sign that the industry is changing, the level of complaints appears to be down. The CSA told Credit Today that out of the 20 million individual cases debt collectors dealt with in 2009 it received just 428 complaints. This is echoed in information from the Financial Ombudsman Serv ice (fos), which received over 30,000 complaints about payment protection insurance in the 12 months ending March 2009, but handled just 407 complaints about the debt collection industry in the same period.

Statistics are like bikinis. What they reveal is suggestive, but what they conceal is vital.

 

The vast majority of DCA victims have never heard of FOS let alone the trades own self regulatory no-mark organization the CSA.

[MorganaNK]

Subbing

[sillygirl1]

I love this quote from the Credit Today article

 

The raft of compliance guidelines are a struggle to deal with and it’s making the industry as a whole less profitable than it used to be."

Seriously though I have had similar thoughts for ages, especially sending an invoice when they want a full financial breakdown.

Last DCA drone I spoke to on the phone (they called me) I said I needed his date of birth and full name so I could credit check him before giving him my debit card details as he would now be financially linked with me! He didn't like that and cut me off. Haven't heard anything since.

If anyone wants a letterhead for secretarial services its easy to do one in Word or Publisher.... makes it look a little bit more like you mean business...

 

 

[Pinky69]

Ken should ask for his money back. Having spent £192,000 for compliance, Cabot still aren't compliant and the endless lies they tell aren't true.

[zazen.warrior]

Post removed.

Edited July 29, 2010 by zazen.warrior

[lickthewallfatboy]

zazen is absolutely right

 

I get a right laugh dealing with these idiots