unfair treatment!!!

[lizzy40]

Can anyone tell me whether the rules covering DCA's would apply to a solicitor collecting debt on behalf of their clients. Also who do I complain to if I felt I have be mis treated via a solicitor?

[PriorityOne]

Harassment is the same, wherever it comes from..... if this is what you mean. As for complaining.... I believe that The Law Society would be a good place to start.

[diskmandave]

Office of Fair Trading - Debt collection guidance.

Final guidance on unfair business practices, July 2003 (updated December 2006).

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

 

Trading Standards is a good place to go as well!

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

 

Regards, Dave.

[rory32]

Solicitors Regulatory Authotity is another option, this was previously The Law Society Regulatory Board. Their address is:

 

8 Dormer Place

Leaminton Spa

Warwickshire

CV32 5AE

 

Tel: 0870 606 2555

 

website: Solicitors Regulation Authority - Home

[lizzy40]

Thank you all for that information. Not sure what way to go yet may be if I tell you a about my situation one of you can guide me in the right direction or whether its worth pursuing. Due to my situation I was unable to make my monthly payments so my credit card account was passed to a solicitor. I did fill in a budget plan and offered to pay what I could afford this I sent off in January 2007 few days after this date I received court papers I was shocked that they didn't even acknowledge my offer and so scared to have received court papers. I couldn't afford to pay the full amount off in one go so had no option then to fill out a budget plan and offer the same amount as to what I had already offered. I was exstreamly worried whether this was enough as I thought they would have excepted it originally. I couldn't offer any more. When I recieved the judgement the court had fixed my monthly payments at half the price of my original offer, so why didn't they except my original offer they must have known this would happen. Could it be that the solicitor will get something out of it as they have added quite a bit of money on top. I don't think the solictors had acted in the best interest of their clients but may be I have missed something or maybe my credit card company is not bothered when its been passed to someone else to manage. I don't think they should be allowed to act in this way. Is it worth making a formal complaint I don't want to make things worse for myself, even if I do complain how will It benefit me I cant un do my CCJ also I'm not law literate so don't know where I stand? Any help will be truly appreciated.

[powelll]

It's quite common for a creditor to pass an account on to a 3rd party to collect. In your case these solicitors may even be the 'in house' solicitors for the creditor.

 

If you owe the money and couldn't pay under the terms of the original agreement you signed for then yes, in theory, they can take county court action against you - some creditors never go this route but some are much more aggressive in their approac. This isn't a criminal record it just affects your credit reference file.

 

As long as you pay under the terms of your CCJ the creditor / solicitor / whoever cannot take any further enforcement action against you.

 

There is something called the Civil Procedure Rules ( CPRs ) which govern the county court. Contained within these is something called the 'Overriding Objective' of the court. This does state that creditors should make every effort to come to a reasonable arrangement without having to take court action. ie county court action should be a kind of 'last resort'.

 

Now you can't defend a county court claim based on this as you are not disputing you owe the money. What you could possibly have done is argue against court costs being added to your debt - on the basis that the creditor would have got more from you by avoiding court action so the action wasn't reasonable, contravention of CPRs so they should pay their own costs.

 

Now the CCJ is in place you have a choice - continue paying, or apply for something called a 'set aside'. A set aside puts the CCJ back to the 'claim' stage so giving you a chance to defend or partly defend the claim. So you could try to partly defend the costs part of the debt. You need to be aware that if you are unsuccessful in your defence you could then be liable for further additional costs ( remember the court staff & judges can and do exercise their discetion when interpreting some of the CPRs ).

 

I hope this helps

[lizzy40]

Thanks very much that was very helpfull. I will think about those options and decide if its worth all the aggravation. Wish it was more straight forward. I wonder if anyone has actually done that?

[lizzy40]

Powelll have a another question you may have the answer too?

 

If say my offer of payment crossed in post at the time the court papers were issued can the solicitor stop this action and except the offer?