Debt collectors ringing my neighbours

[shellycav66]

WEscot have now decide to call my neighbours asking them if i still live at this address. I have offered to pay them a minimum payment as im on benefits but they have refused. How do i stop them from ringing my neighbours?

[Caspar]

Re: Debt collectors ringing my neighbours

Very naughty, but also unfortunately legal as far as I'm aware. I've had the same thing. They rang a few doors either side of me. Fortunately where I live nobody tells outsiders anything at all.

[Luminol]

Re: Debt collectors ringing my neighbours

If that's legal, then its appalling, what an awful tactic

[CleverClogs]

Re: Debt collectors ringing my neighbours

If that's legal, then it's appalling,

If my granny had wheels, she's have been a wagon.

what an awful tactic

It contravenes the OFT Guidance Notes: (i) and/or (j), on page 5

[Luminol]

Re: Debt collectors ringing my neighbours

I didn't think they were actually allowed to do it, I would report them Shelly and also write to them advising them that you have done so...

Send them the telephone harassment letter to advise them that you will only deal with financial matter via correspondence, if I can find the letter I'll post up the link.
------------------------------- merged -------------------------------
I would edit it to suit your situation, and add that you intend to report them to OFT regarding the calls to your neighbours.

Letter courtesy of Celestine.

Your Name
Address
Address


DATE


Company name
Address
Address





Re: TELEPHONE HARASSMENT


ACCOUNT NUMBER: XXXXXXX

Dear Sir/Madam

I am writing to complain about the high number of telephone calls I have received from your company.
Despite a verbal request to stop these calls, I am still being contacted and I deem this to be personal harassment.
I now request that ALL further contact from your company be by letter only.

I believe that your continued harassment of me by telephone places you in breach of Section 40 of the Administration of Justice Act 1970, and the Protection from Harassment Act 1997.

If you continue to harass me by telephone, you will also be in breach of the Communications Act (2003) s.127 and I will report you to OFCOM, Trading Standards and The Office of Fair Trading, which could result in a substantial fine against your company.

Be advised that any further telephone calls from your company will be recorded.


Yours faithfully,



(NAME)


Read more at: Telephone Harassment Letter - Legal Beagles Consumer Forum

[CleverClogs]

Re: Debt collectors ringing my neighbours

WEscot have now decide to call my neighbours asking them if i still live at this address. I have offered to pay them a minimum payment as im on benefits but they have refused. How do i stop them from ringing my neighbours?

You could try telling them that, as they've refused your offered payments, you have spent the money on a tent. :tinysmile_grin_t:

[Caspar]

Re: Debt collectors ringing my neighbours

If my granny had wheels, she's have been a wagon.


It contravenes the OFT Guidance Notes: (i) and/or (j), on page 5

I don't think it does, because they don't actually embarass you or reveal anything about you, they just ask if you still live there. You can't claim telephone harassment as they're not harassing you, they're harassing your neighbours.

I agree totally that it is appalling and should be illegal, but I have not yet seen anything that states it is illegal. Also, really playing Devil's Advocate, Guidance is just that, it is not legislation. This may mean it is bad practice, but not illegal / unlawful.

I hope somebody can post something which proves me wrong. As I said it happened to me and it is an intrusion. It is also highly embarassingwhen a neighbour says, "I had a phone call for you earlier. They wouldn't say who they were, but wanted to know if I knew you" or something similar.

[The Debt Star]

Re: Debt collectors ringing my neighbours

Set up a free 087 number, give that to your neighbours to pass on to any DCAs that call and start earning some money from those calls. You will also create a record that is sent by email and recorded voicemail of the pestering calls when they do contact you. The service is free, does not require a telephone or a real land line and is conducted solely on your pc - and, as stated, is for free. See my thread on Flextel.

[Caspar]

Re: Debt collectors ringing my neighbours

Hi DS! Long time no see. I've got the TrueCall so don't know how Flextel would react with that - they couldn't tell me either. Does one earn much from this? Can't understand why those without any recording device aren't leaping at the idea.

[CleverClogs]

Re: Debt collectors ringing my neighbours

what an awful tactic

It contravenes the OFT Guidance Notes: (i) and/or (j), on page 5

I don't think it does, because they don't actually embarass you or reveal anything about you, they just ask if you still live there.

That may be sufficient in and of itself, if they declare themselves to be Wescot; anyone with access to the Internet (at home, at work or at a public library) can do a quick search for that name and in a trice they may discover what Wescot does. They may also learn something on how that odious firm does what it does and may form the opinion that it would be long overdue for Wescot to be put out of everyone else's misery.

You can't claim telephone harassment as they're not harassing you, they're harassing your neighbours.

But they can claim and, as they don't owe a bean to Wescot, they may be more likely to get the indolent plods to do something.

I agree totally that it is appalling and should be illegal, but I have not yet seen anything that states it is illegal.

Try section 43 (1)(b) of the Telecommunications Act 1984.

Also, really playing Devil's Advocate,

And also citing the "cab rank rule"?

Guidance is just that, it is not legislation. This may mean it is bad practice, but not illegal / unlawful.

Quoting from OFT664.pdf:

1.5 This guidance is intended to set out the type of behaviour the OFT considers to fall
within the category of unfair business practices which will call into question fitness
to retain or be given a licence. It is expected that applicants and licence holders
will abide by the spirit as well as the letter of this guidance. Publication of this
guidance will also enable the OFT to take speedier action against behaviour that
clearly falls into the type of categories of unfair practices shown.

2.5 Putting pressure on debtors or third parties is considered to be oppressive.
2.6 Examples of unfair practices are as follows: ...
:
(i) disclosing or threatening to disclose debt details to third parties unless
legally entitled to do so

(j) acting in a way likely to be publicly embarrassing to the debtor either
deliberately or through lack of care...

I will, however, concede that guidance from the Office of Faffing and Twaddling is rather moot, as they rarely - if ever - revoke a company's licence for breach of their guidelines or even impose fines on a company for their malicious or aggressive antics. The most they'll do is to get the company to agree to an undertaking which might, at best, be kept for a few weeks before the company starts to demonstrate its inability to "play nicely" in some other way.

The OFT is less use than a chocolate tea pot.

I hope somebody can post something which proves me wrong. As I said it happened to me and it is an intrusion. It is also highly embarassingwhen a neighbour says, "I had a phone call for you earlier. They wouldn't say who they were, but wanted to know if I knew you" or something similar.

It would be much more embarrassing if the message also included advice to attend the local clap clinic.

[Garlok]

Re: Debt collectors ringing my neighbours

It most definitely is an infringement of the Guidelines for Debt Collection. Also any activity (which can be construed as almost anything a DCA gets up to) which has the possibility of leaving the alleged debtor open to humiliation, distress, derision etc IS an infringment of the Protection from Harassment Act 1999, section 1, I believe, plus if they ever dare to take matters further this sort of behaviour can be presented to a court as an infringement of the Administration of Justice Act 1970 section 40. On top of this further regulation has been enacted in the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations (2008 ??) which many now see as a direct replacement in these matters for the Administration of Justice Act 1970, (wrongly in my view) I stand to be corrected.

However that all being said Wescot and its employees including their tame solicitors are one of the worst basket cases you will come across, I know for certain that their staff is illiterate and incapable of reading even large writing with words of only one syllable. We have a number of letters from them, all templates except one which in turn had all the material facts incorrect. Lovely for a court hearing!!

regards
Garlok

[The Debt Star]

Re: Debt collectors ringing my neighbours

Can't understand why those without any recording device aren't leaping at the idea.

I don't know, Casp, I just don't know. Its a mystery.

But, I can vouch for the service personally - as you can TruCall (which you have to pay for).

As soon as a call is made to Flextel using a unique (and free) 0871 number they email me and I open up a recorded message on my pc, listen to it and then decide if I want to respond to that call with my real telephone.

As to what I've earned, it aint much but its the principle of getting something back off those pesky DCAs that counts. Since September I've earned £1.50. You simply convert that into a direct payment to your bank account on-line.

[Caspar]

Re: Debt collectors ringing my neighbours

£1.50 is still something for nothing, but as you say the real value of having it is that it records the call free of charge for you with no hassle, ties, hidden clauses etc.... I wish I'd known about it before forking out over £100 for my TrueCall - I'd definitely be enrolling alongside you!

Even more distressing is when you read the posts of people saying they have no way to record conversations. They do, but just haven't read the posts you've put up about this.

[The Debt Star]

Re: Debt collectors ringing my neighbours

Indeed so Caspé, indeed so.

[seduraed]

Re: Debt collectors ringing my neighbours

when i worked for welcome if we had lost touch with a debtor we were asked toknock on the doors of the neighbours and ask if they knew where debtor had gone. we always said we had some confdential business wit tehdevbtor bu without giving the company name .