Charges from PDC forming majority of theservice charges debt?

[panda986]

Hi all on CAG,

 

Sorry about the header, while it is not majority but it is still over 40% of the total!

 

I am new to this forum and have been doing some reading for the past 2 days.

 

I have been contacted by Property Debt Collection Limited (PDC) for 2 years worth of Property service charges on 2 accounts which amounted to around £3900!

(a quarter of it was not owed by us but by the previous owner).

 

However the total was taken to £6300 due to various charges

(which means about £2400 or the charge is about 70% of the original debt was just extra charge!)

 

Here are some of them listed out:

 

Debt Referral Fee - £120 x 3 (it was charged twice on one of the account)

court fees - £120 x 1, £95 x 1

Admin Fee - Late Payment: £30 x 2

PDC Fee- £150 x 2

Costs- £655.80 x 2

Solicitor Fee - £80 x 2

 

I am concerned the most about the "Costs" part (that's all they put on the statement) which amounts to £1310!

 

My question is:

are these charges legal or enforceable (from my reading so far, it seems no to most)?

Any advice on what to do next as they are pressing for payment and threaten to get court judgement?

 

Any help/recommendation is appreciated.

Edited November 13, 2013 by panda986
For better clarity

[dx100uk]

you cant have court fees without it going to court

what is PDC fee?

 

dx

[dx100uk]

ah sri PDC is a dca probably.

get those back too.

 

have you checked your cra file to see if any ccjs are registered against you?

 

see below

 

dx

[panda986]

Hi du100uk,

 

thanks for the reply, that's why I found these charges quite puzzling... Checked my Experian credit report, it says nothing about CCJ and my rating was as before. PDC said they have send the claim form to the court but have not taken any further action yet to request a judgement. May be that's what the "court fee" comes from? Is it possible to just send the paper and not actually file a claim?

 

P.S I also have no idea what "PDC Fee" means. I have asked them to clarify and provide invoices/proof of the actual cost. Along with all the other fees/cost they added.

Edited November 14, 2013 by panda986

[dx100uk]

very dodgy me thinks

 

PDC are a DCA that specialise in property management debts

they are NOT BAIIFFS

and thy have NO SUCH LEGAL POWERS.

 

unles they OWN the debt

then they have no rights to add anything

nor

take or PRETEND to take you to court or even ISSUE a claim form.

 

looking at the net about the company

they pull this stunt a lot & often get people done over

by making £1000's out of them.

 

got to say 90% of what im reading is spoof/fake upon what they can do and charge

 

this smells

 

I hope ALL your comms is in WRITING not on the phone?

 

so what have they actually said about this supposed claim form?

 

dx

[panda986]

Yes so far pretty much all the communication are done via email. I will be picking up my mail tonight from the rented out flat to see if there is actually a claim form.

 

At the moment, I am looking to make an offer for paying off part of the service charge that I duly owed (about £3000). But nothing else ( including outstanding service charge of the previous owner) unless they can provide proof/invoices. If I make an offer and they reject it, can I revise it or they can make a counter offer?

[dx100uk]

NEVER EVER pay a DCA

 

deal with the property people directly.

 

and I would NOT be offering to pay anything other

than what YOU owe!!

 

no charges, no-one elses past service charges either.

 

it would be interesting to see these emails then.

 

but PLEASE make SURE you remove ALL personal details that could ID you or them.

[panda986]

I have tried to talk to the management company but they want nothing to do with this

and keep referring us to the DCA.

 

If I pay the management company directly, do I just pay it into the account and ask them if they accept it?

 

I would really like to find out if the DCA have actually brought the debt so now they own it?

 

If I ask the DCA do they have to tell us?

 

Here is an email they replied to me..

 

. Very vague (just ASAP) when asking for an action deadline + when questioning them regarding the detailed breakdown of the 2x £655.80 "Cost"

e.g. what was involved, how many man hours and material cost etc . Then they just asking us to pay.

 

Dear Mr XXXXX,

 

Thank you for your email.

 

As stated below, our Solicitors have now issued claim forms in regards to both sets of arrears.

The cost of preparing and issuing Claim forms is £655.80 on each file,

these are costs relating to the time spent and preparation of the Claim against you.

 

You can make payment via Credit/Debit card where there will be a fee of £2.35 for debit card

or 2.85% for Credit card or we can accept payment via BAC’s or Cheque.

 

Please advise how you are looking to make payment?

 

As the files have been sent to Court payment is required ASAP

to avoid further action including our Solicitors requesting Judgment against you.

 

Kind Regards,

[dx100uk]

bowlarks!

 

they cant claim legal fees UNTIL the claim form arrives on your doorstep

 

I bet this is just a bluff.

 

dx

[raydetinu]

If they bought the debt you should have received a notice of assignment to the DRC!

 

if not the debt is still owned by the service co.

 

You can send them a SAR and enclose PO for £10 they then must disclose everything to you within 40 days.

[ericsbrother]

Calculate what you owe (not previous owner-that is not your debt) and pay that directly to the landlord. The landlord can then pay their agent.

Ignore the debt collectors, they are rentamouths and have no rights in this or any other matter. the management company are being very stupid over this as they will have to deal with you in the future and shouldnt want the matter referred to higher authorities.

Now, for your part why are you owing money from more than a year ago? Was it a disputed charge at the time or have you just not paid it on time? If the latter then you had better organise yourself properly to ensure that this event isnt repeated in the future.