A warning about DCA's

[Monkeys Magic]

Out of the blue about 6 months ago I received a letter from a DCA saying that they had taken over a debt

from Orange which was due to an unpaid contract in 2009.

 

The amount they requested I paid them was app. £80.

 

I wrote back to them saying that I had no record of the debt and could they provide more details.

 

They sent a demand saying that they would call round to my house in 7 days so I decided to take action.

 

I found this site and based on the advice I sent the DCA a CCA request.

this has turned out to be just about the worst advice I have ever been given.

 

They failed to reply ever again and failed to send a CCA

but instead I noticed that they registered a default on my Credit Report

and my credit score dropped significantly.

 

I then started to get refused credit as a result.

 

I wrote to them and told them I would pay the £80 even though they have been unable to prove it is my debt in order to remove the default but they refused.

 

I paid the £80 anyway and they are taking their time but will eventually mark the debt as satisfied.

 

Credit Expert state that a satisfied account is better than a default

but if I had just paid the £80 originally and not taken this websites advice,

there would be no entry at all and I would still be enjoying a good credit history.

 

As it stands at the moment I now have a worse credit rating and it is due to the advice I was given from this website so be warned.

[ims21]

Well as this is your first post it would seem that you have not received any advice from this site.

 

Had you done so you would have been advised not to bother sending a CCA request on a mobile phone contract as it does not apply.

 

It would also have been more than likely that it was the phone company who defaulted you and the DCA should have only updated the entry already made.

 

If the DCA put their own default then that should have been challenged.

 

So all in all you might have read a few threads and made incorrect assumptions on how to proceed. Would have been far better to start a thread of your own and get specific advice to your problem rather than make assumptions based on a bit of reading around and then getting hold of the wrong end of the stick.

[Sidewinder]

Can you point to the advice that you were given that a CCA was the way to go?

 

Mobile phone contracts are not covered by the CCA so you wouldn't get anywhere with such a request. Instead of that you seem to have fallen for the threatogram and paid up where you don't need to.

 

If the debt isn't yours, then there is absolutely no need to have a marker on your CRA file full stop - so why not challenge it? Why did you pay up if you did not owe the money? Did you actually go to Orange and ask for details of the account? Did you reclaim any unlawful penalty charges?

 

If the debt was genuine, then the DCA would be perfectly entitled to update your file - that is not CAG's fault. You should have - and still should - look further into this and get it removed if it is genuinely not yours.

 

I notice that this is your only post....did you actually start a thread and ASK for help? If so, where is the thread?

 

Something doesn't sound right here, and it is a bit rich to blame the site if you went off half cocked and asked for a document which does not apply to your case. Most sensible people would do a bit more research and act appropriately based on the advice of a consensus of people.

[dx100uk]

urm...

 

yes I wonder where you ACTUALLY saw this advise to send a CCA on a mbile phne account on here.....

 

also you've just wasred that £80

 

as the default will be there for 6yrs regardless of if you pay

 

shame it was to a dca too.

 

did you not demand they remove the default as part of the settlement.

 

sorry I don't believe any of your post.

 

and neither should anyone else

 

dx

[Monkeys Magic]

OK, point taken I'll except the 'slap on the wrist'

 

but in my defense you do not need to post on this site in order to read the forums

and there are many entries on here where members have posted about them receiving letters from DCA

and the advice given is to send them a CCA request.

 

Had I read on here that it does not work where phone companies are concerned then I wouldn't have bothered.

 

Unfortunately I cannot point to a particular thread as I read the post sometime ago,

but I am convinced I looked further into it and there are many on here that do not state the phone contract fact.

 

Regardless of what I did and didn't do, the fact is still the same,

 

people reading many of these posts should take into account that some of the information may not be completely correct or in some cases incomplete.

 

My warning to your members is simply giving out the same advice as you are giving to me which is too be cautious and get the facts right otherwise you can fall foul as I have done.

[Monkeys Magic]

Why don't you believe any of my post? I paid the £80 because of the advice I received from the CRA that a satisfied account is better than a defaulted account. I wrote to them requesting that I pay in full if they remove the entry completely but they refused.

 

I understand that my post may have got your hackles up, but at least I haven't been rude.

Edited July 31, 2013 by Monkeys Magic
previous post from site admin annoyed me when I read it again

[dx100uk]

ok so you've learned its better to start a thread.

 

we cant or don't want to control what you read

but,

I don't think you'll ever find a thread that says CCA a mobile phone debt, however

that's not how the damage was done.

 

what is the date of the default please?

 

dx

[Monkeys Magic]

Please send me details on how to close this account or just do it. I cant find a button anywhere in my CP or account settings that says "close account".

Thank you.

[dx100uk]

what was the date of the default please

 

we are trying to help you resolve this

 

we don't hold grudges.

 

dx

[dx100uk]

date of the default please

 

dx

[Bombaymix]

“You can please some of the people some of the time all of the people some of the time some of the people all of the time but you can never please all of the people all of the time.”

 

Abraham Lincoln

 

OP... DX is trying to help you out here.

 

Seriously if this phone bill has nothing to do with you why should you take the 6 years of a trashed credit history for it? You need to investigate further.

 

Before you leave the site, take into account that you may have been the victim of identity theft and you need to look into that as a realistic possibility.

 

CAG is made up of volunteers who give their advice freely and with a lot more respect than another somewhat similar site (that won't be named).

 

Good luck. Hope you get this issue sorted.

 

Regards

 

BM

[bigshoes...bigsocks]

I'll give my left testicle to scientific research if the OP is not employed by a DCA...

[Bombaymix]

^ lol

[casper1963]

i'll give my left testicle to scientific research if the op is not employed by a dca...

 

lmao

[Hacked_Off]

I'll give my left testicle to scientific research if the OP is not employed by a DCA...

 

Had to sign in just to say 'hahaha'

[Peterbard]

To be fair, it's an easy mistake for someone to make. I've known plenty of people send CCA requests for mobile contracts and be surprised they don't hear back.

 

You do get the feeling the OP here was not altogether genuine though, and certainly if he was he needs to do two things:

 

i) Reply to dx's post

 

ii) Provide proof in order that bigshoes....bigsocks can make his donation.

 

The ball is in his court in more ways than one! :lol:

[unclebulgaria67]

The question I would ask is whether Orange had their default on the credit record, before the DCA added theirs. I thought that the original creditor had to place their default on the record within a certain period (6 months ?) and if they did not do so, it would be difficult for a DCA to add a default in their name possibly several years later.

 

What are the rules (if any) about a DCA placing a fresh default in the absence of any previous OC default ?

[citizenB]

The question I would ask is whether Orange had their default on the credit record, before the DCA added theirs. I thought that the original creditor had to place their default on the record within a certain period (6 months ?) and if they did not do so, it would be difficult for a DCA to add a default in their name possibly several years later.

 

What are the rules (if any) about a DCA placing a fresh default in the absence of any previous OC default ?

 

It is my understanding that the default marker must be placed within 6 months of the "breach", by the original creditor. It is then updated by the 3rd party if it is sold on. They cannot change the original default date.

 

It is very rare that a DCA would be sold an active account on which no breach had occurred. If this were the case and the consumer continued making payments to the DCA and then stopped, I guess they could then start the Default markers in their own name.

 

I think it needs someone with more knowledge of this area to comment.

[themagician]

Please send me details on how to close this account or just do it. I cant find a button anywhere in my CP or account settings that says "close account".

Thank you.

Kids and flat beer !!!

[Peterbard]

The information above is accurate except it is only guidance, as seen in the ICO document below (page 6 is the relevant page):

 

http://www.ico.org.uk/for_organisations/sector_guides/~/media/documents/library/Data_Protection/Detailed_specialist_guides/default_tgn_version_v3%20%20doc.ashx

 

It is not law.

[renegadeimp]

Might not be statute law, but anyone processing a persons data should treat it as if it was. Else they fall foul of the DPA and can be subject to prosecution and restrictions.

[Peterbard]

Might not be statute law, but anyone processing a persons data should treat it as if it was. Else they fall foul of the DPA and can be subject to prosecution and restrictions.

 

I would disagree with this, but only my opinion. I think although any default should be recorded within 6 months, there is little realistically which can be done if it isn't. I'd love proof to the contrary.

 

For lending decisions the guidance also states that 6 months worth of no payments should be treated the same as a default. This, I believe, is their way of trying to get round the legal requirements.

[BRIGADIER2JCS]

The Guidance states NORMALLY Placed within 6 months!

 

'Lending Decisions'????

 

There are remedies for 'late place defaults', a little research on the forums will show considerable successes in having default dates change or in case where defaults have been placed long after a cause of action, particularly when an account is defaulted days before sale to a 3rd Party this have actually been removed.

[Peterbard]

The Guidance states NORMALLY Placed within 6 months!

 

 

Accounts should not be routinely filed as being in default where full

payments or those due under a rescheduled agreement are fewer

than three consecutive months in arrears.



Accounts should normally be filed as being in default where those

payments due have not been received for six months.

 

 

'Lending Decisions'????

 

 

A record showing a series of payments as six months in arrears should be used as an equivalent of a default.

 

 

 

There are remedies for 'late place defaults', a little research on the forums will show considerable successes in having default dates change or in case where defaults have been placed long after a cause of action, particularly when an account is defaulted days before sale to a 3rd Party this have actually been removed.

 

Of course there are Brig, it would be crazy if there weren't. I suspect the forum would also show considerable frustrations in trying to get defaults removed.

 

[All information above quoted directly from ICO guidance.]