DCA Modus Operandi - Discussion

[bradholmes]

Just wanted to add my 2p worth to this discussion. Both the information provided to me by various members of the site team and regular caggers as well as the template letters have indeed been instrumental in saving me thousands in relation to a debt I genuinely did not even know existed, for money I never actually spent. Were it not for cag, my life would truly have come to an end.

[Fred Bassett]

I find it a amazing that somebody can criticise what they claim are 'clone' letters on this site but ignore the steady stream of toilet paper issued by ****** DCAs. I even started a thread on the garbage that Moorcroft spew out: http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?232061-The-various-stages-of-a-Moorcroft-collection-attempt-...... As has already been stated, it is best to ignore everything on here except the advice of the site team and other senior members and never act on information you receive in a private message - in fact those should be reported at once as they are likely to contain bad advice.

 

Regards.

 

Fred

Edited May 2, 2012 by Fred Bassett

[ScarletPimpernel]

I think that if you are going to suggest that people have a responsibility in re debt, first of all you need to know the difference between moral and morale - especially if you then wonder why we think that many in the debt industry are morons.

 

On the question of morality, there is no doubt that the vast majority of people in debt would want to repay their debts. However, the general practice in the debt industry of treating all as 'won't pays' rather than 'can't pays' often ignores the reasons why people are in debt - bereavement, redundancy, mental health and so on - and their standard collection practices are often unnecessarily aggressive. In many cases the effect of this is to create even more problems.

 

Then we can look at the morality of buying a debt for peanuts, or statute barred debt, and then pursuing for a much greater amount. Ask yourself why the OFT has to keep strengthening its regulatory guidance.

 

Finally, as the recipient of very many template (or 'clone') letters from the debt industry, I have to say "Hello pot, this is kettle. Colour check, over.".

[Bazooka Boo]

Reading this with tears in my eyes.......

 

ceeatp, the response your comments have received is nothing personal, but is indicative of just how pitiful and laughable this industry has now become.

 

DCA's are not important at all, they have NO legal powers, I strongly doubt they have any legal qualifications either and as for their immature empty computer generated letters, seriously!

 

Are debtors supposed to take any notice of them? The threats that litter these childish missives are so 80's, they should have a comic of their own.

 

To earn money, out of others misery and misfortune, at a time their lives maybe going through major upheaval is IMO only something a morally bankrupt bully could do.

 

DCA's are as effective as indicators on a submarine, and long may their demise continue, fools.

[BRIGADIER2JCS]

I think it is time ceeatp, explained their connection to and defence of

this entirely irresponsible and corrupt (allegedly) business.

[Fred Bassett]

I think it is time ceeatp, explained their connection to and defence of

this entirely irresponsible and corrupt (allegedly) business.

 

Yep.

[intend]

Nuff said in last three posts, especially about the morality of selling on debts and the greed of both the OC and the buyer of these debts. For me as more evidence the working people of this country support a corrupt system that will never reward them.

 

Intend

[Bazooka Boo]

Please let it be ceeatp who penned the sentence "Valid even if not read by you"

 

If it is you ceeatp, I'll buy you a drink and tell you who it is I owe this 60k to, and where I now live.....just so you can get a bit more commission and be able to afford a new saddle for your phone..

[BRIGADIER2JCS]

[stormski]

Hi,

 

I've not been on for a while..but since i took over the 'opening' of the threatograms...for my girlfriend she's a lot happier in herself.

 

I wish this site existed when i was nearly hounded to death after the split of my marriage nearly 10 years ago and i always log in everyday just to see the news etc.

 

Ceeatp just made me log in properly and say something. There is nothing worse than someone giving misinformation. He's not the first...and propably certainly not the last 'troll' from a DCA.

 

Regards,

Stormski

[jim 20]

I think that if you are going to suggest that people have a responsibility in re debt, first of all you need to know the difference between moral and morale - especially if you then wonder why we think that many in the debt industry are morons.

 

On the question of morality, there is no doubt that the vast majority of people in debt would want to repay their debts. However, the general practice in the debt industry of treating all as 'won't pays' rather than 'can't pays' often ignores the reasons why people are in debt - bereavement, redundancy, mental health and so on - and their standard collection practices are often unnecessarily aggressive. In many cases the effect of this is to create even more problems.

 

Then we can look at the morality of buying a debt for peanuts, or statute barred debt, and then pursuing for a much greater amount. Ask yourself why the OFT has to keep strengthening its regulatory guidance.

 

Finally, as the recipient of very many template (or 'clone') letters from the debt industry, I have to say "Hello pot, this is kettle. Colour check, over.".

 

WELL THIS WAS MY CASE 10 YEARS AGO! i tried to repay my debt shortley after they terminated the agreement, but they didnt want to know took the car and left me jobless, if they had listened at the time all monies would have been payed now..that makes me immoral..ceepei or whoever you are! sorry ceeapt!

[citizenB]

I would just like to point out that even the likes of National Debtline, CAB, CCCS, tend to use "template" letters where only personal information is required to be input !

 

The reason DCAs do not care for "template" letters from consumer forums, is probably because the breaches of OFT guidelines are usually being highlighted.. !!

[BRIGADIER2JCS]

So true, I think our poster here is a rather pathetic troll.

[intend]

As a novice I always use the template leters as the basis of my screed but ensure that the contents are tailered specifically to my needs. Without this site and those letters I fear I like many would have been steamrolled by the debt industry - and I include the banks in that, just they a bit further up the food chain.

 

Notice today LTSB put away a bit more for PPI then the CEO complains about "fraudlent" claims. Remeber that extra monies have come from us via the granny and pasty taxes.

 

Intend

[jim 20]

It is a good job the templates are here as i would not know what to write to them, iam fairly ignorant when it come to finance and the law,

[Bazooka Boo]

It is a good job the templates are here as i would not know what to write to them, iam fairly ignorant when it come to finance and the law,

 

Ask, I am always very willing to knock up a letter to send DCA's, after all, they don't read them, there is no-one old enough or intelligent enough to be able to read at their mickey mouse firms.

It is a shame ceeatp doesn't have the minerals to retort? Is this indicative of the level of education of ex burger flippers who are then seconded to DCA's? Surely a DCA outfit MUST have some kind of legal, numerical, or lawful knowledge? an independent accreditation of some kind? NO!? Well blow me down with a computer generated empty threat template letter....come on ceeatp, I can seriously boost your sleazy commission!

[stormski]

Greetings again,

 

I know i might have been a bit 'outspoken' but i see all the letters..i don't even let my girlfriend read them.

 

The banks ignored absolutely everything that wasn't a legal request from her...including complaints...and then threw her into the 'fish pond' of DCA land.

 

I'm glad to have 0 credit. Legal loan sharks are just as bad as the illegal ones.

 

Any phone calls i answer..and get 2 words once i work out who they are.

 

Looking forward to the claim forms if they ever do turn up..which i doubt very much.

 

Especially halicrap and farcleycard.

 

Regards,

Stormski

[jim 20]

Ask, I am always very willing to knock up a letter to send DCA's, after all, they don't read them, there is no-one old enough or intelligent enough to be able to read at their mickey mouse firms.

It is a shame ceeatp doesn't have the minerals to retort? Is this indicative of the level of education of ex burger flippers who are then seconded to DCA's? Surely a DCA outfit MUST have some kind of legal, numerical, or lawful knowledge? an independent accreditation of some kind? NO!? Well blow me down with a computer generated empty threat template letter....come on ceeatp, I can seriously boost your sleazy commission!

..... Im really getting to like you bazooka boo, you have attitude..like me

[Happyhippy1959]

Well said Boo and Brig and Stormski,,,, DCA'S ARE NOT WORTH MISSING A BITE OF YOUR CORNFLAKES FOR. As for the letters, well Boo, I have used a lot of yours and it works a treat, don't hear jack off them after.. PUERILE MISSIVES WILL STAY ETCHED IN MY BRAIN TILL ME LAST BREATH...

 

I have a great one at the moment, ABLE debt collectors chasing what they say is two months of premiums from my old insurance company, I cancelled it as I am giving house back to lender and took a cheaper one, from £57 at the 1st of March they keep upping by £15 every time I don't ring...haaaa now £163 jokers,, mind you I have written three times and I charge £25 a time so they have my invoices... heeee now for that troll, how do you expect us to take any of you pond life seriously when you won't answer the letters sent and add illegal charges at will.... hmmmmmmm Boo for the booker award 2012 please..

[rockwell304]

The chuckle brothers appear to have abandoned us!

As for DCA's, particularly so called doorstep collectors, if one does turn up just give them 5 seconds to move....10 if you are feeling particularly generous!

Brigidier commented recently that Lowell are becoming very aggressive, especially with statutory demands. Despite the usual platitudes that SD's should not be used for debt collecting Lowell get away with this and seem to be sending out thousands weekly. Not sure how to counter this other than set aside asap. The regulatory bodies appear disinterested.

[BRIGADIER2JCS]

I guess that when the successor agency to the OFT

is fully working then matters such as this and the whole

BR system will be revamped.

[merlin100]

Yes, I imagine the CAB get fairly busy. its a shame that they could not offer any useful information when you eventually received a response.

Its a shame that you had to pay a fee to simply be listened to by the DCA. I think they tend to ignore the clone letters they receive from templates provided on these sites so that might be why yours was more effective.

 

Thats why we all know to send any correspondence by Recorded Delivery!! It doesnt matter if they throw away - what they consider to be - "clone" letters. That would be very much to a debtors advantage.

I posted it Your Honour, and here is the signature of acceptance from the Royal Mail website - end of a DCAs arguement!!

[Halibutt]

Some good points made here - by genuine CAG staff and members.

 

My opinion on templates is that in some cases, they're well worth using. For instance, a CCA request, SAR, Statute barred, No doorstepping, Telephone harassment and similar where certain things are best kept concise and to the point, quoting regulations or legal precedents. Those templates, in most cases, tend to get the desired results.

 

I would agree that templates for everything isn't necessarily a good idea, but they do provide guidelines and a basis for a letter tailored to the individuals circumstances. I think of the templates as a bit of a reminder or crib sheet of the points I need to remember (or on occasion, need to omit depending on circumstances) and put things in my own words, reflecting the situation.

 

If I try to help out in posts asking for help with letters, I try to take the poster's stated circumstances into account and suggest wording - sometimes based on template ideas and sometimes simply a response as I would word it. I've found that many others do the same and the letters tend to be pretty good. It would be interesting to find out how many "template" letters receive either no response or have no effect. Similarly, how often do original letters garner a response?

 

Generally speaking, my own worded letters have had more response as I think DCAs feel that they are either more able to argue back, or they just get annoyed at what they see as being "baited". In a couple of cases, individually worded letters have either had a good response, or scared off a DCA completely.

 

As long as there are staff and members here willing to give up their own time to help others and give constructive advice/comment on posts, I think CAG will continue to be a source of invaluable support to many. Thanks to all here for the help, advice and support you've given me in the past!

 

H. x

[dadofholly]

surely it is only morale to pay it back?

The above quote comes from the very first post in this thread, and is about the morality invloved in taking out a loan.

 

Credit is created when a bank makes a book keeping entry into a ledger - no 'money' needs to exist for this to be done. In effect the new credit, because it can be used to purchase goods, is treated as money.

 

So what we have is a system where banks create this 'new money' from nothing.

 

Hard work will have gone into not only building, (creating), your home, but also by the house purchaser in trying to maintain the payments.

 

But they can take away the fruits of all that work, your home, for something that they created out of nothing by the simple flick of a pen, or in modern times the typing of some numbers into a computer screen.

 

Is that Moral?

Edited May 4, 2012 by dadofholly

[Fred Bassett]

Some good points made here - by genuine CAG staff and members.

 

My opinion on templates is that in some cases, they're well worth using. For instance, a CCA request, SAR, Statute barred, No doorstepping, Telephone harassment and similar where certain things are best kept concise and to the point, quoting regulations or legal precedents. Those templates, in most cases, tend to get the desired results.

 

I would agree that templates for everything isn't necessarily a good idea, but they do provide guidelines and a basis for a letter tailored to the individuals circumstances. I think of the templates as a bit of a reminder or crib sheet of the points I need to remember (or on occasion, need to omit depending on circumstances) and put things in my own words, reflecting the situation.

 

If I try to help out in posts asking for help with letters, I try to take the poster's stated circumstances into account and suggest wording - sometimes based on template ideas and sometimes simply a response as I would word it. I've found that many others do the same and the letters tend to be pretty good. It would be interesting to find out how many "template" letters receive either no response or have no effect. Similarly, how often do original letters garner a response?

 

Generally speaking, my own worded letters have had more response as I think DCAs feel that they are either more able to argue back, or they just get annoyed at what they see as being "baited". In a couple of cases, individually worded letters have either had a good response, or scared off a DCA completely.

 

As long as there are staff and members here willing to give up their own time to help others and give constructive advice/comment on posts, I think CAG will continue to be a source of invaluable support to many. Thanks to all here for the help, advice and support you've given me in the past!

 

H. x

 

I agree with you. Also, it's fair to say that there are some people who come here for advice who would struggle to put together a comprehensible letter and who really struggle to correspond with some of their creditors. To them, these templates must be a godsend. I've used them myself, because they contain the relevant information and I find them extremely useful. I have been know to add my own, usually none too flattering sentences, but that's my choice.

 

The big difference here is that we can use the templates and modify them to suit our own circumstances whereas the drivel we get from DCA's is usually just that and the thickos we speak to on the 'phone can't deviate from the script. For example, "Dear Sir or Madam". Well they didn't work hard on that did they? Or better still, "If you live in Scotland" and you have an address in England. Honestly, I could do better than that - it's pathetic. So don't let anybody tell you that template letters are a bad thing. They are not, they are extremely useful to all of us in our fight against the scumbags in DCA land.