Scotcall called out of the blue!!

[codecheka]

Hi All,

am a bit shaky at the moment, and feeling more than a little intimidated...

 

A guy knocked on my door this evening telling me he was from Scotcall. Told me he was collecting a debt from Scotcall, who I told him I had never heard of.

He told me that I had(!), and that they were collecting on behalf of Equidebt, who has passed the debt on to them.

 

This debt had originally started with The Co-operative bank, (with whom it is in dispute).

I informed Equidebt of this fact, and they have obviously passed it on again.

 

I told this guy I had made no appointment for him to call and that I was not going to discuss anything with him. He then said I could make an appointment with him there and then, and I said no. I told him if he didn't leave I was entitled to call the police, which he then told me to go and do.

 

He said that I would be getting a visit from a Bailiff next, if I didn't pay up, and that he was giving me a letter, which he was addressing to me on the doorstep.

 

I told him I was not going to speak to him any longer and I closed the door. He then put the envelope through the door and inside was his calling card.

 

I had no clue that I was going to receive a doorstep call.....

What happens now.. I feel like I'm under siege in my own home!! Do I expect a bailiff visit now???

[harrassed senior]

No !!!

 

More help following

[harrassed senior]

Make sure you are clear on exactly what he threatened and complain to the OFT and Trading Standards about his threats.

 

As you have had no contact from Scotcall by letter, this too needs to be reported to the above.

 

First things first, the order of events would be:

 

1. You will receive several we may, might, could etc. take legal proceedings unless you do the following - IMHO - send the 'prove it letter' or the 'in dispute with Equidebt' letter in response, request their Complaints procedure as you will be making an official complaint against their use of a cold caller.

 

You may, receive a Letter Before Action

You may, receive a County Court Summons

 

All a million miles away, and not really expected if they have no CCA.

 

You would need to have the Summons proved against you and you would then have a chance to offer payment.

 

Only if you miss one of those payments, can the bailliffs be called in, so it is a gross lie that you have been told, and that is why you must complain.

 

If he calls again, have the 'doorstep letter' from our templates section by the front door, push it through the letter box without opening the door, and tell him , in your own words, to go away. You are entitled to call the police, though not 999, call your local station.

[Bazooka Boo]

My first reaction was to PMSL!

 

You SHOULD have called the Police 999, once you have asked someone to leave your property and they don't they are then committing an offence of Trespass, and are likely to be in breach of the peace also.

 

Give them the template letter linked below through the letterbox or chained door.

 

http://www.consumerforums.com/resour...ep-visit-.html

 

Tell them to leave as you have nothing to discuss and all communication must be in writing.

 

Tell them you will call the police if they don't leave immediately.

 

Remain calm and polite at all times.

 

Walk away from the door so the visitor cannot try and talk to you.

 

If they don't leave, call the police to report that you are being harassed and the visitor refuses to leave.

[Bazooka Boo]

If he calls again, have the 'doorstep letter' from our templates section by the front door, push it through the letter box without opening the door, and tell him , in your own words, to go away. You are entitled to call the police, though not 999, call your local station.

 

I disagree HS, if there is 'someone' on your premises who will not leave after being told to, then you MUST phone the Police USING 999, and inform them that there is someone on your property who has failed to leave when asked, and you believe there will be a breach of the peace caused by this person.

 

Any other method of contacting the Police will be a total waste of time, and it is extremely unlikely they will turn out to it, the offence is being committed there and then, which is why you need to ring 999.

[codecheka]

Thank you for your replies.... I feel a little better now, slightly calmer..

 

I have definatley NOT received a letter from Scotcall, I had one from Equidebt, who then passed me onto a company called Weightmans LLP, who claimed to be a national law firm.

I sent them the 'why are you contacting me letter', telling them the debt was in dispute with the Co-op, and has been since October 2007.

I heard nothing back from them, (this was in Feb this year), until I get this guy on my doorstep this evening...

 

He wrote my name and address on a brown envelope, stuck his calling card with his mobile and his name on it, in the envelope and shoved it through the door after I had told him the debt was in dispute and that I wasn't going to speak to him. At which point he told me I was playing games!!!

Even the reference number he wrote on it doesn't match Equidebts.

[marie6666red]

hes lying....no bailiff will be calling. and by him threatening you with this is an offence under the consumer protection regulations 2008.

 

it is an offence for a trader to

 

a)harass the other with demands for payment, which by their frequency, or the manner or accasion of their making, or any accompanying threat or publicity are calculated to subject him or his family or household to alram, distress or humiliation.

 

b} falsely represents, in relation to the money claimed, that criminal proceedings lie for failure to pay it.

 

c}falsely represent themselves to be authorised in some official capacity to claim or enforce payment.

 

d}utters a document falsely represented by him to have some official character or purporting to have some offical character which he knows he has not.

 

in laymans terms, only a court can order you to pay money....type the above up, print it and laminate....if he comes again...tell him to read it....then get down your path!!!!!!

 

also report him to consumer direct...and trading standards... the information i have given you is a reply from consumer direct with regards to a complaint i have just made with them.

 

these idiots can collect nothing....

[Bazooka Boo]

The bailiff procedure goes a little like this:

You get a request to pay a debt, you ignore it, they then send you a letter telling you to pay, you ignore it.

They then send you a letter threatening litigation/legal proceeding etc, you ignore that also.

 

You then receive a summons, you go to court, the Judge looks at your I&E and orders you pay the debt back at £10 a month, you go home, and ignore the CCJ.

 

They then have to take you back to court where you will have to explain to the judge why you failed to keep to the CCJ, he will then decide on the best course of action to recover the money, which could be a number of things, Charging Order (On your Property if you own one) An attachment of earnings order 'OR' he may instruct court certified bailiffs to remove property to the value of.

 

So that uneducated knuckle head who foolishly knocked on your door, and thought he could intimidate you and exploit your lack of knowledge, is very very mistaken, and was probably bullied at school.

 

Ok to the constructive bit, has Snotcall contacted you in writing yet?

Have you checked your Credit File to see what, if anything, is on there, this will tell you who owns the alleged debt.

 

Did you inform Co-op or Equidebt that the account was in dispute?

Have you any evidence of your CCA request or that you told them the account was in dispute?

 

Co-op is at fault for passing your disputed debt to Equidebt, who are also at fault for passing it onto Snotcall, who are now also at fault for failing to correspond or arrange an appointment.

 

If Snotcall ring you, put the phone down, if they turn up at your door again tell them to foxtrot oscar, hand them the doorstep letter, and if they fail to leave or are stupid enough to try the childish, 'go on then call them' routine, then you MUST ring the Police 999! And report them as previously advised.

 

You need to get a copy of the Co-ops complaints procedure, and exhaust it.

And that of Equidebt.

 

Speak to Consumer Direct and they will be able to advise if you should make formal complaint to all three (Co-op, Equi, Snotcall) they will also pass the details of your complaint to TS, and I believe, possibly, to the OFT, but check with them.

 

If not Contact us - The Office of Fair Trading

 

You did all the right things, don't worry, and DON'T feel like a prisoner in your own home. The Law is more on your side than theirs..

 

Boo;)

[angry cat]

OFT Debt Collection Guidelines:

Deceptive and/or unfair methods

 

2.7 Dealings with debtors are not to be deceitful and/or unfair.

 

2.8 Examples of unfair practices are as follows:

 

i. failing to investigate and/or provide details as appropriate, when a debt is

queried or disputed, possibly resulting in debtors being wrongly pursued

 

k. not ceasing collection activity whilst investigating a reasonably queried or

disputed debt."

 

Report them to the OFT

[angry cat]

The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008

 

These new consumer protection rules came into force in May 2008. They are designed to stop traders acting unfairly including the use of what the rules call ‘aggressive commercial practices’. These rules may help you tackle harassment by your creditors because the OFT and trading standards now have the power to take enforcement action against creditors. This can lead to fines or even imprisonment if the creditor is found guilty of an offence.

 

The OFT has issued guidance on how they will take action under the rules. This includes examples such as:

 

•a debt collector pressurising you to repay a debt by contacting you at unreasonable times such as late at night or at unreasonable locations such as your workplace;

 

•a debt collector threatening you with action, such as use of bailiffs, to recover money for unenforceable debts.

 

If you think you may have a complaint about your creditor under these rules, contact Consumer Direct.

[Bazooka Boo]

he told me I was playing games!!!

 

Yeah that's right I am, and I bet you can't beat me at this one, I bet you can't make it to the safety of your car, before my Alsation has ripped your crown jewels off! Ready after 3.......,1.....3...............

 

Complete loser, It is just a shame you hadn't had this knowledge before hand as you would have laughed at him so much you'd have done a little squirt of wee in your pants!

[codecheka]

I would love to put his name and mobile number on here so everyone could give him a ring!! lol...

 

Thank you so much, I realise I shouldn't have been intimidated by him, but it was a shock to answer the door and be told you owe us money!!

 

I have printed one of your letters off to send to scotcall tomorrow, telling them to 'go away', I suspect they will just pass me back again and it will all start over again...

 

I will compose a letter to send off to the OFT too, and hope they can deal with them

[marie6666red]

does anyone have contact details for scotcall?

[harrassed senior]

I disagree HS, if there is 'someone' on your premises who will not leave after being told to, then you MUST phone the Police USING 999, and inform them that there is someone on your property who has failed to leave when asked, and you believe there will be a breach of the peace caused by this person.

 

Any other method of contacting the Police will be a total waste of time, and it is extremely unlikely they will turn out to it, the offence is being committed there and then, which is why you need to ring 999.

 

I guess it depends where in the country you are, where I am we only have 0845 numbers to ring, and this gets you to a police call station across 5 miles of water, and 20 miles from the coast, so you would think calling 999 is the surest way of getting help. I have called 999 on several occasions and been chastised because in their opinion it is not an emergency, once when a poor dog was nearly dead in a car and I said I was going to smash the window and they said they would come and arrest me and that I was to call the dog warden!!!, (someone else forced the car door and saved the dogs life - no police or dog warden ever came). I was threaten by a lout who threw a pointed branch at me because he would not give my grandsons' football back, again, not an emergency even though I needed hospital treatment, so I always suggest not calling 999 to saving being 'told off' like a naughty child. But this is just my experience and hopefully others get a more helpful service.

[angry cat]

scotcall.com : The UK's leading Doorstep Recovery Agency.

[Bazooka Boo]

I guess it depends where in the country you are, where I am we only have 0845 numbers to ring, and this gets you to a police call station across 5 miles of water, and 20 miles from the coast, so you would think calling 999 is the surest way of getting help. I have called 999 on several occasions and been chastised because in their opinion it is not an emergency, once when a poor dog was nearly dead in a car and I said I was going to smash the window and they said they would come and arrest me and that I was to call the dog warden!!!, (someone else forced the car door and saved the dogs life - no police or dog warden ever came). I was threaten by a lout who threw a pointed branch at me because he would not give my grandsons' football back, again, not an emergency even though I needed hospital treatment, so I always suggest not calling 999 to saving being 'told off' like a naughty child. But this is just my experience and hopefully others get a more helpful service.

 

6 of one half a dozen of the other I guess HS!

I would always advise calling 999 in these circumstances, then if they decide not to turn out, it will have been recorded, and noted, plus you will be able to take any necessary action against the force if needs be.

 

But I agree, that not every occasion you report a breach of the peace, will they bat an eye lid, it will however have the desired effect on the trespasser who foolishly knocks your door asking for money!

 

Boo;)

[harrassed senior]

Agreed

[unclebulgaria67]

I will compose a letter to send off to the OFT too, and hope they can deal with them

 

Don't bother with the letter to the OFT. It is better to phone Consumer Direct who are the telephone helpline for the OFT and Trading Standards. Depending on who you speak to. Consumer Direct have been known to contact these debt collectors and warn them about their behaviour, if you give them the details.

 

Consumer Direct

[codecheka]

Hi All,

A small update for you..

 

I sent off the letter that you advised me on, to Scotcall 3 weeks ago and have heard not a thing from them!

I also emailed Trading Standards at the same time to let them know what had occurred. I had a very nice lady from my local Trading Standards ring me this afternoon asking for more details as she is going to be ringing Scotcall and speaking to them about their practices. She also took the lovely doorstep collectors name and phone number too.

She asked for a copy of the letter that I sent to Scotcall, and I explained that it was you kind people on here that had helped me with that.

 

I will update again when I know more, but I also want to say thank you again for your help so far

[Bazooka Boo]

Excellent..