Red Debt help

[lincsloon]

My girlfriend has received a letter from Red Debt Collection Services saying she owes £402.54 on an account she originally had with Shop Direct. She admits she defaulted on the Shop Direct account & although vague with the details, reckoned the original amount was for £140ish, so it obviously appears a lot of charges have been added to the original amount. The letter from Red is as follows:-

 

Your debt remains unpaid

We stated in previous letters we could take further action against you if you didn't start to repay what you owe. It is unfortunate that you have decided to ignore our requests for payment and we now intend to continue with further action.

 

Our intentions

We have a copy of your credit file and are currently in the process of obtaining your employment details. Once we have this information, we will be in a position to make a decision as to whether to use courts to recover what you owe; serve you with a Statutory Demand (if your account meets certain criteria) or arrange for a debt collection agentto visit you at home to discuss payment.

 

Avoid further action

You can still avoid the above by setting up a payment planand by paying your debt back at £15 per month, which is only £0.50p per day. You can setup a payment plan by calling us or by completing the Direct Debit mandate which is overleaf. If you cannot afford £15 then you must tell us and we may be able to arrange a different repayment plan. If you do not contact us we can only assume you are unwilling to pay your debt. This debt will remaining outstanding and you need to honour the agreement you previously made with Shop Direct to repay the money that you owe.

 

Please call us immediately on 0113 308 6004

 

 

Now my girlfriend has said she'll pay the £15 per month, but after dealing with Red/Lowells on a personal level & with the help of CAG given them short shrift, they are a pet hate of mine. If my girlfriend wants to pay the debt, then ok, but i'd still like Red to send copies of the original Shop Direct account. After looking at the templates in the library, i think the CCA request the more likely for these circumstances. What does the forum think?

 

Thanks in advance

lincs

[silverfox1961]

Post moved and new thread created

[UnitedFront]

Where the alleged debt is recognised, I always think a cca request is a good place to start. But first, I wonder if you have a few more details?

 

- When was the account taken out?

- When was it defaulted?

- When was the last payment on the account?

 

More people will be along shortly with advice etc.

 

Cheers

UF

[PGH7447]

Avoid further action

You can still avoid the above by setting up a payment planand by paying your debt back at £15 per month, which is only £0.50p per day. You can setup a payment plan by calling us or by completing the direct debit mandate which is overleaf. If you cannot afford £15 then you must tell us and we may be able to arrange a different repayment plan. If you do not contact us we can only assume you are unwilling to pay your debt. This debt will remaining outstanding and you need to honour the agreement you previously made with Shop Direct to repay the money that you owe.

 

Love the it's only £0.50p a day, - so that makes it alright then, I mean it's only 50p a day - FOOLS

[Tingy]

I would take great exception to this. Have a read of pages 3-6 of this:

 

http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/business_leaflets/consumer_credit/oft664.pdf

 

I'd be inclined to write back saying you find their letter offensive and in clear breach of OFT guidance (enclose copies of these pages), so are sending their letters to the OFT as a formal complaint. I wouldn't respond any further than that.

[lincsloon]

Where the alleged debt is recognised, I always think a cca request is a good place to start. But first, I wonder if you have a few more details?

 

- When was the account taken out?

- When was it defaulted?

- When was the last payment on the account?

 

More people will be along shortly with advice etc.

 

Cheers

UF

 

 

Account was taken out about 3 years ago. Last payment was about a year ago, which is when i presume my girlfriend defaulted. She cannot be exact with dates, so the above is a little vague.

[losing the plot]

red are my favourite company tell them to go swivvel and get a CCA sent off, but 50p a day is a bargain i must say... fools

[lincsloon]

Thanks to United Front, PGH7447 & Tingy for the great advice. Tingy, is there a template letter that i can copy & send to Red in respect to finding their letter offensive, if not i'll word it myself? I was initially going to fire off a CCA request template letter to them, but do you think it's best to hold back until i send the 'offensive' letter.

Many thanks to all for the great input thus far.

 

lincs

[Tingy]

I'm not ignoring you - give me a few minutes and I'll be back to edit this post with a definitive answer. Just had an idea, but need to do some reading!

[lincsloon]

red are my favourite company tell them to go swivvel and get a CCA sent off, but 50p a day is a bargain i must say... fools

 

 

That's what my girlfriend said, even she can see a bargain, lol, but i told her it will take 3 years to pay off & only IF Red/Lowells don't make further demands, i know what they are like.

[Tingy]

Right I'm back! I don't know how familiar you are with CPUTR 2008 (Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008), but in very simple terms it makes a lot of things that DCA's threaten criminal offences for which they can lose their licence to trade. It is therefore a VERY powerful piece of legislation.

 

Having thought and read further I would put together a letter (I'll gladly do it for you if you wish) stating the bits from the OFT Guidance originally mentioned, but concentrating mainly on the fact they are in serious breach of CPUTR 2008 Section 7 Subsections 1b and especially 2b,c and e.

 

Section 11 clearly states that breaching Section 7 is a criminal offence which means they could lose their licence to trade.

 

And finally refer them to Schedule One Section 12.

 

Having done this add further to this you are also in breach of OFT guidelines...... as above.

 

This should put the fear of God into them, and if they are arrogant enough to ignore you, then report them - they could seriously lose their license for the threats they have made too you and the way in which they are worded.

 

If you'd like me to word the letter I'd be more than happy to do that for you, just ask!

[lincsloon]

Tingy, sorry haven't been back sooner, been in shower got to get up at 5am for work. What you have offered is so very kind, if it's not too much trouble i'd love your help with your worded letter. Quite simply i'm overwhelmed by the kindness, so if you can help me i'd be delighted. I have to log off now however my friend, as i need to get some sleep ready for a 10 hour shift tomorrow, but i'll be back on tomorrow night.

Many many thanks Tingy for your generosity, i look forward to reading the letter whenever it's ready.

Goodnight.

 

lincs

[Tingy]

No problem at all, I'll enjoy putting it together. I'll have it ready at latest by Sunday night so you can post it Monday morning.

[lincsloon]

Brilliant Tingy, my girlfriend is very grateful also & passes on her gratitude.

[Tingy]

Here you are - hope it's something along the lines you wanted. Tingy!

 

Dear Sir / Madam,

 

Your Ref: abcd1234

 

I am writing in response to your later dater dd/mm/yyyy which I find grossly offensive and patronising as well as being full of threats which I believe shows a massive understanding of the law regarding debt collection in the United Kingdom. By the time you finish reading this letter you will realise your licence to trade is in serious danger of being revoked and I look forward to your proposed response to that.

 

Before I start my complaint about the letter, I would be grateful if you could provide me with a full breakdown of fees which explains clearly how the alleged debt has risen from around £140.00 to the £402.54 you are now demanding.

 

The rest of my letter will focus on just four lines of writing under the heading, “Our Intentions.” To save you the effort of looking out the letter I will quote the paragraph word for word below:

 

“We have a copy of your credit file and are currently in the process of obtaining your employment details. Once we have this information, we will be in a position to make a decision as to whether to use courts to recover what you owe; serve you with a Statutory Demand (if your account meets certain criteria) or arrange for a debt collection agent to visit you at home to discuss payment.”

 

It is hard to believe that this paragraph has been scribed by somebody whose supposed expertise is in the collection of debts.

 

To start with, may I point out to you the existence of a law called, “The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008” (CPUTR 2008). As you appear to be unaware of the existence of this piece of legislation, you can find it at http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukdsi/2008/9780110811574/contents on the internet.

 

The paragraph quoted above is in serious breach of these regulations. I have not by any means tried to pick out all areas where you are in breach, but would like to draw your attention to the following sections:

 

S7ss 1b where you are clearly trying to make me make a transactional decision I may not otherwise have taken.

 

Far more serious for you is your very clear and extremely serious breach of S7ss 2a,b,c and e. I don’t intend patronising you by quoting the legislation direct, however I am sure you are capable of looking it up for yourselves. I am referring to the use of harassment and undue influence. I am sure you will agree when you read them that you are quite clearly in breach of the legislation.

 

If you now refer to Section 11 it states, “A trader is guilty of an offence if he engages in a commercial practice which is aggressive under regulation 7. I am sure again I do not need to point out to you that when it mentions the word offence, it is not referring to a civil offence, but is saying you are committing a criminal offence as a result of which you could lose your licence to trade.

 

Is the paragraph quoted at the start aggressive under regulation 7?

 

Well, there is a clearly implied threat in stating you have a copy of my credit file and that you are in the process of obtaining my employment details. The latter statement in particular has caused me great distress as I am now not surprisingly concerned that my private business is about to be made public to my employers which could possibly result in me losing my job.

 

You then go on to say that once you have that information, you will be in a position to make a decision as to whether to use courts to recover what I allegedly owe – this again is a highly distressing threat, but having sought legal advice I am informed that unless you have an absolute assignment of this debt, and I have received no Notice of Assignment at all, so I have to assume the assignment is an equitable one, then you are not actually able to take me to court without doing so in collusion with the Original Creditor.

 

Next you say you will serve me with a Statutory Demand if my account meets certain criteria. As you have mentioned it, I have to assume my account does meet these criteria as otherwise mentioning it would again just be another cruel and aggressive threat which you cannot carry out in reality.

 

Finally you say you will arrange for a debt collection agent visit to me at home to discuss payment. Again I would point out that any visit by a debt collector to a debtors house may only be carried out by mutual consent. You cannot arrange it, you can merely ask whether I would agree to it. I will tell you now that the answer to that would be no I do not. So again you are making aggressive threats which yet again you cannot actually carry out.

 

So, in summary, in three and a half lines of writing, you have clearly committed four criminal offences, any one of which could result in you having your licence to trade withdrawn.

 

Finally I would like to refer you to Schedule One Section 12 which refers to you making materially inaccurate claims concerning the nature and extent of the risk to myself if I do not give in to the threats made in your letter. This is just one of a list of 31 criminal offences which again you have committed, I will not at present outline the others, I will save those for when you take me to court as you have threatened to do.

 

I shall now be passing all this information to both the police as it is a criminal, not a civil matter and to the OFT for them to consider whether or not you are considered a fit institution to be licensed for the purposes of collecting debts.

 

I could go on and mention the OFT’s own guidance, but have decided instead to enclose a copy of the relevant part of this. You will see that you seem to be more in breach of this guidance than in compliance with it.

 

I would like to finish by asking you under CPUTR a series of questions. Please remember that these could well end up being used in a court of law. You are legally obliged to answer them honestly and truthfully, and in a Court of Law would be put to strict proof that your answers are honest and truthful:

 

1. Do you have an absolute assignment of this alleged debt?

 

2. Will you be contacting my employers, or was that just a threat?

 

3. Can you (by yourselves, without the original creditor) take me to court?

 

4. If the answer to 3 is “no,” why did you make this threat when you cannot carry out the action?

 

5. Does my account meet the criteria for issuing me with a Statutory Demand?

 

6. If the answer to 5 is “no,” why did you put that in your letter other than as an aggressive threat?

 

7. Can you unilaterally arrange for a debt collector to visit my house or do you need my agreement for this?

 

8. Do you currently hold, or have you ever held an executable agreement for this alleged debt?

 

Note well that to not pay a debt is a civil matter. However, to mislead a debtor by deception into making a financial transaction is actually A CRIMINAL OFFENCE under CPUTR 2008.

 

Given the gravity of this situation, I feel that this debt is best placed into dispute with immediate effect, and that no further collection activity be carried out by either yourselves or the original creditor until such time as ALL criminal investigations have been concluded.

 

If you still hold a licence to trade at this time, then I shall of course give full co-operation in establishing that this debt is indeed mine and then arranging a suitable and affordable repayment plan.

 

Yours faithfully,

 

OFT Guidance below with relevant parts highlighted in red.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

OFT Guidance on Debt Collection

 

2 Debt collection guidance July 2003 (updated December 2006)

What is the purpose of the guidance?

1.5 This guidance is intended to set out the type of behaviour the OFT considers to fall

within the category of unfair business practices which will call into question fitness

to retain or be given a licence. It is expected that applicants and licence holders

will abide by the spirit as well as the letter of this guidance. Publication of this

guidance will also enable the OFT to take speedier action against behaviour that

clearly falls into the type of categories of unfair practices shown.

1.6 This guidance is not designed to be a comprehensive checklist of behaviour. Nor

are we advising on best practice or a code of practice. The guidance outlines unfair

practices with illustrative examples. The examples given are based on OFT

complaint information and issues brought to our attention by organisations

representing consumers, business and other regulators.

Who does this guidance apply to?

1.7 This guidance applies to all consumer credit licence holders and applicants.

1.8 Our guidance does not relate to the routine collection of repayments. It applies to

the collection of debt once an account is in default. This guidance does not

therefore affect the ability of traders who deal in home collection of repayments to

visit their customers as those payments fall due.

Creditor responsibility for third parties

1.9 If consumer credit licence holders choose to do business or continue to do

business with third parties engaged in questionable fitness behaviour, then their

own fitness will be called into question. Our aim is to ensure that creditors do not

ignore the unfair practices of debt collectors, whether in-house or external, acting

on their behalf. It is not for the OFT to specify in this guidance how choices about

third party selection are made nor to advise on desired conduct between third

parties. However, during any investigation in this respect, we would expect to see

that care had been taken in the selection process, complaints had been

investigated and that firm action had been taken as appropriate. It would be

unlikely that we would take action against a creditor who could demonstrate such

action had been taken.

Office of Fair Trading 3

2 UNFAIR BUSINESS PRACTICES

Communication

2.1 It is unfair to communicate, in whatever form, with consumers in an unclear,

inaccurate or misleading manner.

2.2 Examples of unfair practices are as follows:

a. use of official looking documents intended or likely to mislead

debtors as to their status, for example, documents made to resemble court

claims.

b. leaving out or presenting information in such a way that it

creates a false or misleading impression or exploits debtors'

lack of knowledge

c. those contacting debtors not making clear who they are, who

they work for, what their role is, what the purpose of the

contact is

d. unnecessary and unhelpful use of legal and technical language, for

example, use of Latin phrases

e. failing to provide debtors or creditors with information on status

of debts, for example, not providing requested balance statements when

reasonably requested

f. contacting debtors at unreasonable times

g. ignoring or disregarding debtors' legitimate wishes in respect

of when and where to contact them, for example, shift workers who

ask not to be telephoned during certain times of the day

h. asking or instructing debtors to make contact on premium rate

telephone numbers

4 Debt collection guidance July 2003 (updated December 2006)

False representation of authority and/or legal position

2.3 Those contacting debtors must not be deceitful by misrepresenting their authority

and/or the correct legal position.

2.4 Examples of unfair practices are as follows:

a. falsely implying or claiming authority, for example, claiming to work on

instructions from the courts, claiming to be bailiffs or, in Scotland,

sheriff officers or messenger-at-arms

b. falsely implying or stating that action can or will be taken when it legally

cannot, for example, referring to bankruptcy or sequestration proceedings

when the balance is too low to qualify for such proceedings or claiming a

right of entry when no court order to this effect has been granted

c. misrepresenting status or backing, such as

• using a logo which falsely implies government backing

• using a business name which implies public body status, or

• falsely claiming trade body membership

d. falsely implying or stating that action has been taken when it has not, for

example, that civil action has been taken or that a court judgment has

already been obtained

e. falsely implying or stating that failure to pay a debt is a criminal

offence or that criminal proceedings will be brought

f. pursuing third parties for payment when they are not liable

g. taking or threatening to take court action in the wrong jurisdiction, for

example, taking action against a Scottish debtor in an English court unless

legally justified.

Office of Fair Trading 5

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:

a. contacting debtors at unreasonable times and at unreasonable intervals

b. pressurising debtors to sell property, to raise funds by further

borrowing or to extend their borrowing

c. using more than one debt collection business at the same time

resulting in repetitive and/or frequent contact by different parties

d. not ensuring that an adequate history of the debt is passed on as

appropriate resulting in repetitive and/or frequent contact by different

parties

e. not informing the debtor when their case has been passed on to a

different debt collector

f. pressurising debtors to pay in full, in unreasonably large instalments,

or to increase payments when they are unable to do so

g. making threatening statements or gestures or taking actions which

suggest harm to debtors

h. ignoring and/or disregarding claims that debts have been settled or are

disputed and continuing to make unjustified demands for payment

i. disclosing or threatening to disclose debt details to third parties unless

legally entitled to do so

j. acting in a way likely to be publicly embarrassing to the debtor either

deliberately or through lack of care, for example, by not putting

correspondence in a sealed envelope and putting it through a letterbox,

thereby running the risk that it could be read by third parties.

6 Debt collection guidance July 2003 (updated December 2006)

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:

a. sending demands for payment to an individual when it is uncertain that

they are the debtor in question, for example, threatening debt recovery

action to 'the occupier' or sending a payment demand to all people sharing

the same name/date of birth as a debtor in the hope that contact with the

correct debtor will be made.

b. disclosing debt details to an individual when it is uncertain that they are

the debtor in question, for example, disclosing details to 'the occupier' of

an address.

c. refusing to deal with appointed or authorised third parties, such

as Citizens Advice Bureaux, independent advice centres or money

advisers

d. contacting debtors directly and bypassing their appointed representatives

e. operating a policy, without reason, of refusing to negotiate with

debt management companies

f. passing on debtor details to debt management companies without the

debtors' informed prior consent

g. failing to refer on to the creditor reasonable offers to pay by instalments

h. not passing on payments received within a reasonable time resulting in

delays that adversely affect a debtor's financial position.

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

queried or disputed, possibly resulting in debtors being wrongly pursued

j. requiring an individual to supply information to prove they are not the

debtor in question, for example, driving licences, passports, full name,

date of birth, signatures

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

disputed debt.

Office of Fair Trading 7

Charging for debt collection

2.9 Charges should not be levied unfairly.

2.10 Examples of unfair practices are as follows:

a. claiming collection costs from a debtor in the absence of express

contractual or other legal provision

b. misleading debtors into believing they are legally liable to pay

collection charges when this is not the case, for example, when there

is no contractual provision

c. not giving an indication in credit agreements of the amount of any

charges payable on default

d. applying unreasonable charges, for example, charges not based on actual

and necessary costs

e. applying charges which are disproportionate to the main debt.

[Halibutt]

I think that's an excellent letter Tingy and thanks from me, also, for your time and effort. If you have no objections, then I'd like to adapt it for my own next round with Lowells. I'd suggest a few small changes in wording though, as if language comes across as too thretening or belligerent, it can sometimes backfire slightly if the correspondence ends up going before a judge. Nothing major, just a few tweaks. Happy to PM you a copy of my rewording if you think it would be of interest!

 

Thanks again

 

H. x

[Tingy]

That is not a problem at all. Hope it will be useful.

[lincsloon]

Absolutely brilliant!!!! Awe-inspiring letter Tingy, thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

 

Just a few questions.

Do we send the letter, sit tight & do nothing else?

If they ignore this letter & don't respond do i assume they've given it up, then report them to the police/OFT for criminal offences anyway?

What will happen with this action?

If they do respond & are bullish about it, do i actually report them to the police & OFT for criminal offences?

What happens then?

If they answer 'yes' to any of the questions that you highlighted 1-8, what happens then?

 

My girlfriend is terrified of Court, so if they try to flex their muscles & are prepared to go further, do we back off & accept a payment plan?

The last bit about establishing that my girlfriend is indeed the debtor, she has admitted, (to me), that the debt is hers.

 

Obviously, MYSELF realises this letter is meant to scare them, but the girlfriend doesn't want any 'heavy' action.

 

 

Brilliant piece Tingy, worthy of a literary prize.

 

lincs

[means2anend]

subbed

 

Red are just another part of Lowells!!!

 

Tingy ...have copied and pasted your letter!!! for personal use in future if need arises...but obviously tailored for particular circumstances...

 

thx

 

m2ae

[Tingy]

Absolutely brilliant!!!! Awe-inspiring letter Tingy, thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

I think the easiest way to answer this is to write an answer next to each question - hence the red.

 

Just a few questions.

Do we send the letter, sit tight & do nothing else? For the moment yes, give them 2-3 weeks and then write again and ask for a response with 14 days, reminding them that there are a series of questions asked of them under CPUTR 2008 to which they are legally bound to respond honestly.

If they ignore this letter & don't respond do i assume they've given it up, then report them to the police/OFT for criminal offences anyway? Realistically the police won't get involved. They should, but they won't. My feeling is you should report it to the OFT in any case.

What will happen with this action? It will have no repercussions on you. At worst Red wold lose their licence, though this is highly unlikely, much morelikely a slap on the wrist.

If they do respond & are bullish about it, do i actually report them to the police & OFT for criminal offences? As above I'd enclose a copy of their letter and your reply as a complaint to the OFT anyway, otherwise the DCA's just keep on getting away with it.

What happens then? OFT investigates, probably looks at what other complaints they've had about Red, then decide on their course of action. None of this will involve you.

If they answer 'yes' to any of the questions that you highlighted 1-8, what happens then?

1. Do you have an absolute assignment of this alleged debt? They are within their rights to take court action etc... by themselves. Effectively they are now the OC.

 

2. Will you be contacting my employers, or was that just a threat? Ask them not to phone you at work re the debt and to respect OFT guidelines.

 

3. Can you (by yourselves, without the original creditor) take me to court? Trying to get them to confess they can't if it is only an Equitable Assignment, in which case it is an agressive threat rather than a statement of fact.

 

4. If the answer to 3 is “no,” why did you make this threat when you cannot carry out the action? As above.

 

5. Does my account meet the criteria for issuing me with a Statutory Demand? It doesn't so this is an agressive threat.

 

6. If the answer to 5 is “no,” why did you put that in your letter other than as an aggressive threat? To hammer home question 5 - they should not be doing this.

 

7. Can you unilaterally arrange for a debt collector to visit my house or do you need my agreement for this? No, they need to arrange it with you and your agreement.

 

8. Do you currently hold, or have you ever held an executable agreement for this alleged debt? If yes, CCA them and ask for a copy of it.

 

 

My girlfriend is terrified of Court, so if they try to flex their muscles & are prepared to go further, do we back off & accept a payment plan? Do not panic - let them respond first and see what happens. I think they will know after reading this that if they were stupid enough to go to court they would be ripped to pieces by the judge.

The last bit about establishing that my girlfriend is indeed the debtor, she has admitted, (to me), that the debt is hers. But has she asked Red if they can prove it? Has she ascertained if Red even have the right to be collecting the debt?

 

Obviously, MYSELF realises this letter is meant to scare them, but the girlfriend doesn't want any 'heavy' action.

 

 

Brilliant piece Tingy, worthy of a literary prize.

 

lincs

 

Back to a more sociable colour. There is a lot more you could still throw at them over that letter, but you don't put all your eggs into one basket. At the end of the day, to the best of my knowledge there is nothing in that letter which is not 100% true - if there were, hopefully somebody would have pointed it out by now. This puts your girlfriend on strong ground and she knows how dirty the DCA plays, so she needs to steel herself a little and show them she's not just going to give in and say OK, here's my last few quid!

The DCA's have lots of people with lots of debts. Ask your girlfriend this question - If she was Red, what would she do, pursue this and risk losing their licence or move on to easier prey?

 

The thing is, if they do pass it on either back to the OC to resell or to another DCA to try and collect, you're in a strong position to keep making them pass it on. You have, in my opinion reasonably placed it into dispute - this means you have to do something - ie- report them to the OFT (forget about the police). It stays in dispute which stops them collecting until you hear back from the OFT. This means they cannot enforce the debt through court. They may write and ask for money in which case you just write back and say sorry, not while it's in dispute. Simple as!

 

Good luck - glad the letter was OK. If you need anything further, just post up and possibly drop me a pm if you want my input as it could well pass me by otherwise - I'm pretty dopey!

 

Tingy

[Tingy]

m2ae - great. Hope you don't need it, but at least there's bits you may find useful if ever you do.

T.

[lincsloon]

Back to a more sociable colour. There is a lot more you could still throw at them over that letter, but you don't put all your eggs into one basket. At the end of the day, to the best of my knowledge there is nothing in that letter which is not 100% true - if there were, hopefully somebody would have pointed it out by now. This puts your girlfriend on strong ground and she knows how dirty the DCA plays, so she needs to steel herself a little and show them she's not just going to give in and say OK, here's my last few quid!

The DCA's have lots of people with lots of debts. Ask your girlfriend this question - If she was Red, what would she do, pursue this and risk losing their licence or move on to easier prey?

 

The thing is, if they do pass it on either back to the OC to resell or to another DCA to try and collect, you're in a strong position to keep making them pass it on. You have, in my opinion reasonably placed it into dispute - this means you have to do something - ie- report them to the OFT (forget about the police). It stays in dispute which stops them collecting until you hear back from the OFT. This means they cannot enforce the debt through court. They may write and ask for money in which case you just write back and say sorry, not while it's in dispute. Simple as!

 

Good luck - glad the letter was OK. If you need anything further, just post up and possibly drop me a pm if you want my input as it could well pass me by otherwise - I'm pretty dopey!

 

Tingy

 

 

The letter & answers are absolutely brilliant, i'm well impressed, should i have any concerns or issues i will PM you first, if that's ok with you? I will get the letter printed off tomorrow & send it, i will also keep you informed of any developments.

One final question, how do i go about complaining to the OFT, obviously i will send a copy of Reds letter, but is there a letter template or do i just drop a short line saying 'I'm not happy with the content of the enclosed letter, can you ascertain that they are in breach of financial regularities', or something along those lines?

Does anyone have the address for the OFT?

 

Thanks again Tingy for the time & effort you've put in, once i've fired off the letter i will make a contribution to the CAG.

 

lincs

[lincsloon]

Back to a more sociable colour. There is a lot more you could still throw at them over that letter, but you don't put all your eggs into one basket. At the end of the day, to the best of my knowledge there is nothing in that letter which is not 100% true - if there were, hopefully somebody would have pointed it out by now. This puts your girlfriend on strong ground and she knows how dirty the DCA plays, so she needs to steel herself a little and show them she's not just going to give in and say OK, here's my last few quid!

The DCA's have lots of people with lots of debts. Ask your girlfriend this question - If she was Red, what would she do, pursue this and risk losing their licence or move on to easier prey?

 

The thing is, if they do pass it on either back to the OC to resell or to another DCA to try and collect, you're in a strong position to keep making them pass it on. You have, in my opinion reasonably placed it into dispute - this means you have to do something - ie- report them to the OFT (forget about the police). It stays in dispute which stops them collecting until you hear back from the OFT. This means they cannot enforce the debt through court. They may write and ask for money in which case you just write back and say sorry, not while it's in dispute. Simple as!

 

Good luck - glad the letter was OK. If you need anything further, just post up and possibly drop me a pm if you want my input as it could well pass me by otherwise - I'm pretty dopey!

 

Tingy

 

Far from dopey mate/ms, far from it

[Tingy]

There you go, hopefully all sorted and ready now!

 

If you want to report a business that you feel may be unfit to hold a consumer credit license, please send your concerns in writing to us, indicating if you are happy for us to disclose details to the trader. Your complaint will then be added to any evidence we have about that trader and will help us to decide whether they are fit to hold a licence. Please note that we will not be able to help you with your individual dispute.

 

Enquiries and Reporting Centre

Office of Fair Trading

Fleetbank House

2-6 Salisbury Square

London

EC4Y 8JX.

 

Tingy

[lincsloon]

There you go, hopefully all sorted and ready now!

 

If you want to report a business that you feel may be unfit to hold a consumer credit license, please send your concerns in writing to us, indicating if you are happy for us to disclose details to the trader. Your complaint will then be added to any evidence we have about that trader and will help us to decide whether they are fit to hold a licence. Please note that we will not be able to help you with your individual dispute.

 

Enquiries and Reporting Centre

Office of Fair Trading

Fleetbank House

2-6 Salisbury Square

London

EC4Y 8JX.

 

Tingy

 

Nice one my friend, will keep you informed, i bid you goodnight.

 

lincs