debt collection agency

[simon w]

Hi - does a debt collection agency have any duty to confirm that a debt is truly owed before it threatens the alleged debtor with legal proceedings?

[moretolife]

welcome simon....lots of new people on forum tonight...so you may have to wait a while before some of the experts get a chance to post

just wanted to say welcome to forum and its a good place to start

[MelanieGiles]

The Debt Collection Agency will generally rely upon information provided by their clients - but will refer all queries back to their clients in the event of a dispute.

[simon w]

Hi again, and thanks for your replies. If a creditor continues to demand payment and passes your account to a debt collection agency while the debt is in dispute, do you have grounds to complain to the OFT?

[MelanieGiles]

Yes - but you really ought to try and resolve the dispute with the creditor concerned first. What is the nature of the dispute?

[simon w]

Due to a "system error" the company continued to bill me for the supply of services after my contract had been cancelled and it had ceased to provide them. It took me 4 weeks of telephone calls, emails and letters to the company's customer services department to get it to recognise its mistake. During that time the company continued to pursue me for the alleged outstanding debt and eventually passed my account to a debt collection agency, despite the fact that I had asked it not to do so while the matter was being investigated. I paid the debt collection agency in order to get it off my back. Now the company says that these things happen from time to time through no fault of its own. I still haven't got the money back, and I think I deserve some compensation for the inordinate amount of time that I spent in trying to resolve the matter. The company says it’s not liable to pay me any compensation, but it will refund any overpayment. I'm not at all happy about what happened. The company's behaviour caused me a great deal of unnecessary stress and I'm worried about how this might have affected my credit rating.

[kallis3]

Hi Simon,

How badly you have been treated!

Have you checked your credit record to see if it has been affected? If so, you need to contact the company to get any adverse records taken off there.

[simon w]

Thanks for your reply Jan. I guess that I'm going to have to spend more time and money getting copies of my credit report from the various reference agencies once my account with the company has finally been corrected and closed. However, I believe that the company was in breach of the OFT guidelines on unfair business practices in debt collection, and I'd like to know what, if anything, can be done about that. The company's handling of the matter has been appalling throughout.

[kallis3]

Hi Simon,

I honestly don't know the answer to that one.

Have you spoken to OFT? Perhaps that is something you could do?

[Storm]

The OFT don't deal with individual complaints but more strategic matters.

You could have a look through http://www.consumerdirect.gov.uk/ or call there advice line.

It will depend on the type of service as whether it will have any impact on your credit file or not but given such a short period of time I suspect it hasn't and could easily be rectified if there is a footprint.

Probably worth getting your money back asap and then look to see if the supplier will do a good will gesture to you ... just to go away.

[simon w]

The company is an Internet Service Provider (ISP). It's dragging its heels on closing my account and refunding the money. I believe that we've reached a deadlock over compensation, so under the company's published complaints procedure I should be able to apply to an independent arbitrator (CISAS) for help in resolving the matter. However, the company is not cooperating.

[kallis3]

Perhaps you need to contact someone in the press. There is a good bloke who writes in the financial part of the Mail on Sunday. He deals with things such as this.

It's worth a thought.

[simon w]

Thanks for the idea. I think there's also a similar thing in the Sunday Times.

[kallis3]

I think they usually manage to get things shifted.

Don't know what sort of a backlog they have though.

[Wizzard]

Hi Simon
Contact the consumer watchdog section of Computer Active magazine. The Address is http://www.computeractive.co.uk/. They love stories like this and have a high percentage hit rate of solving the problems for their readers. I have used them myself and heartily recommend them. Keep us posted as to the outcome.