Wonga to pay redress for unfair debt collection practices – FCA - £2.6m to 45k custs

[Guest]

Re: Wonga to pay redress for unfair debt collection practices – FCA - £2.6m to 45k cu

So effectively its a criminal offence that isn't a criminal offence, that's clear no wonder we all make mistakes when we are brought up believing there is right and wrong.

On a breach under civil law only proportionate damages can be assigned as remedies, in order to issue a fine it has to be considered a criminal breach, however it is not a crime against the state as in robbery or assault etc. it is merely a fine for a breach of the CCA and in particular section 21, the remedies are detailed elsewhere within the act. Section 170 says that there can be no further sanctions, so it is just a matter of really whatever the FCA says it is.

[meellis]

Re: Wonga to pay redress for unfair debt collection practices – FCA - £2.6m to 45k cu

As I said in an earlier post its strange how words are used. OFT stated criminal act yet it is a breach not a criminal act (not questioning you Andy questioning OFT terminology). Again things are going to have to lead back to the OFT's legacy. If all the people that requested the OFT either became more authoritative or should be replaced knew that it would have effectively left previous misdemeanours going unpunished then I am sure they would have kept their requests to themselves.

[Amethyst]

Re: Wonga to pay redress for unfair debt collection practices – FCA - £2.6m to 45k cu

On Moneybox Paul said that Halifax had admitted doing similar (blair Oliver Scott) but had stopped in November 2013. Wonga stopped in 2010. So BOS 'victims' should be getting compensation too ? (as if but they should)

[Amethyst]

Re: Wonga to pay redress for unfair debt collection practices – FCA - £2.6m to 45k cu

Yorkshire Bank / Jeremey Sutcliffe & Co / Fairhaulsen / Brunswick too

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk...=1#post2345199

[dogtired]

Re: Wonga to pay redress for unfair debt collection practices – FCA - £2.6m to 45k cu

Subscribe.
Will post up one about "papers being prepared" from Blair Oliver when I can find it.
They paid a CCA fee into the disputed account passed it to two (technically three as it appears that Arrow Global have now "acquired" this but appointed Wescott as collectors) have had fifteen "we are seeking information" letters from them so far.
Also Welcome Finance have to date got two DCA involved Incasso LLP when challenged to prove that I was liable for any outstanding amount and sent the fee for a CCA they passed this to Welcome who paid it into the disputed account.
Not long afterwards they went to the wall
http://www.legalweek.com/legal-week/...insents-advise

They then passed it to Mackenzie Hall who have tried for almost three years now to get us to pay up but documents do not correspond with those we have.
Hope tat Wonga do get what they deserve but very much doubt it.
http://www.insolvencynews.com/articl...administration

In case the first link fails

[Guest]

Re: Wonga to pay redress for unfair debt collection practices – FCA - £2.6m to 45k cu

On Moneybox Paul said that Halifax had admitted doing similar (blair Oliver Scott) but had stopped in November 2013. Wonga stopped in 2010. So BOS 'victims' should be getting compensation too ? (as if but they should)

As said earlier, IMO the issue of misrepresenting the status of the letter as being from a solicitor is the the thin end of a very large wedge, the real issue is the unscrupulous measures which many(if not all) DCAs and creditors go to in order to collect. Don't want to get on a soapbox and start a rant about this but the strategy for debt management has to change.

[PAWS]

Re: Wonga to pay redress for unfair debt collection practices – FCA - £2.6m to 45k cu


I saw the copy of the original letter posted by Amethyst. Cheeky! I keep thinking about the fact that ‘threatening’ was also mentioned in disciplining(I use that word in high sarcasm) Wonga. I know there are many more threatening letters out there from DCA’s and their real-but-dodgy solicitors. Also, many firms claiming to be solicitors might be separate registered companies from the DCA /OL but does that necessarily mean that they really are solicitors and if not are they impersonating solicitors? I suppose what I am trying to say is when is a firm of solicitors a firm of solicitors and not simply a registered ompany calling itself ‘Norfolk and Chance’ Solicitors. Do they need to have at least one bona fide, qualified solicitor on the payroll? I seem to remember, and I could be wrong, that the list of solicitors ‘partners had to be listed onthe letterheads (including the dead and retired ones) was this correct? :confused2:

[Nibbler]

Re: Wonga to pay redress for unfair debt collection practices – FCA - £2.6m to 45k cu

I missed this video somehow.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-28029669


Wonga fake law firm tactics may be more widespread, says FCA

25 June 2014 Last updated at 23:09 BST

Payday lender Wonga must pay £2.6m in compensation after sending letters from non-existent law firms to customers in arrears.

The letters threatened legal action, but the law firms were false. In some cases Wonga added fees for these letters to customers' accounts.

Wonga has apologised and said the tactic ended nearly four years ago.

Martin Wheatley of the FCA told the BBC's Kamal Ahmed the payday loan sector had a 'lot of problems'.

[Wombats]

Re: Wonga to pay redress for unfair debt collection practices – FCA - £2.6m to 45k cu

To me the criminal element does not have to be anything at all to do with CCL's, or whether they really are solicitors etc... It is surely classic CPUTR territory, or Protection from Harassment Act.

Many 'normal' people find dealing with the harassment and endless letters from these companies highly stressful. There are are huge number of vulnerable people, many with mental health issues, who are also receiving these letters and might just be pushed over the top and end up committing suicide as a result of the relentless and oppressive pressures being placed on them from these companies.

To me, that is a far more significant criminal element than whether or not the right piece of paper is held as it is directly affecting peoples' lives, and possibly in some cases ending them. These companies pay little heed to notice that people have possibly severe mental health issues and need handling differently, they just carry on. That is criminal.

[dogtired]

Re: Wonga to pay redress for unfair debt collection practices – FCA - £2.6m to 45k cu

This the letter from Blair Oliver Scott, please note the date and the threatening tone of it

bos.pdf

I realise now this was little more than a template and they have passed it round since!

[meellis]

Re: Wonga to pay redress for unfair debt collection practices – FCA - £2.6m to 45k cu

Wombats, you are correct about it being about harassment and the criminal element in that but how could anybody get up in court and say it was a Wonga letter that pushed them over the edge as opposed to any thing else they would have been dealing with at the time. I seriously would not want to undermine the seriousness of harassment in any shape or form but I believe a Barrister would argue that it could have been any of numerous factors. The letters of this type need to be controlled by the whole industry in a way that makes them fair and correct but we also need to make sure there is proper punishment, not just a fine that looks big on paper but is chickens feed in reality, and that's why I feel all of the issues of rules, laws and fairness should be highlighted so that none of these companies can get away with a light sentence and everybody says it has been dealt with. The problem with these fines is they pay them and then alter their terms so they make back what they haven't wrote off against losses.

[PAWS]

Re: Wonga to pay redress for unfair debt collection practices – FCA - £2.6m to 45k cu

I am totally with Wombats on this – when arrow bought a load of debts early last year they did not write to the debtors themselves but weighed in immediately with solicitors letters.
On dogtired’s posted letter from BOS - funny the way the signature looks like ‘A HOOD’and on that subject see Amethyst’s thread from 9.39am letter from Smith Lawson Company; Does anyone else think the signature looks like Ar*e H*le? How very apt.

[Guest]

Re: Wonga to pay redress for unfair debt collection practices – FCA - £2.6m to 45k cu

To me the criminal element does not have to be anything at all to do with CCL's, or whether they really are solicitors etc... It is surely classic CPUTR territory, or Protection from Harassment Act.

Many 'normal' people find dealing with the harassment and endless letters from these companies highly stressful. There are are huge number of vulnerable people, many with mental health issues, who are also receiving these letters and might just be pushed over the top and end up committing suicide as a result of the relentless and oppressive pressures being placed on them from these companies.

To me, that is a far more significant criminal element than whether or not the right piece of paper is held as it is directly affecting peoples' lives, and possibly in some cases ending them. These companies pay little heed to notice that people have possibly severe mental health issues and need handling differently, they just carry on. That is criminal.

It would be nice if there was action taken under one of the four criminal elements mentioned by the SRA, once supported the decision could I imagine be rolled out to a number of other situations and scenarios, I imagine other creditors are watching very carefully to see what happens.

[PAWS]

Re: Wonga to pay redress for unfair debt collection practices – FCA - £2.6m to 45k cu

When you read stuff like this you know something has to change.
Farming Community Network chief executive Charles Smith said: "There is seldom a month goes by that one of our volunteers is not called to help a farmer who has contemplated suicide because of debt or to help the bereaved family of a farmer who has died by suicide.

According to debt counselling charity Christians AgainstPoverty (CAP), more people may be driven to suicide by their debts in the future. In a recent survey of 1,500 customers, the charity found that 40% of them had either tried to kill themselves or thought about doing it.

“After a decade of decline, there is now a rise in the suicide rate in the UK believed to be linked to the recession and debt. There has also been a massive increase in the number of antidepressant drugs prescribe by GPs for patients with financial worries.” Ian Williamson,Co-founder CAMIAD

“Many people who call us are in financial difficulties. Peter O'Connor, Samaritans, Northwich,Cheshire

From The University of Brighton School of Applied Social Science report:
those in debt found themselves party to "distressing and persistent collection tactics that frequently constituted abuse". Debtors described being bullied, patronised and harassed and that nothing that they could say or do would alter these practices of "brutality".
The report said the processes of debt collection had a clear impact on people's mental health including experiences of despair, depression, suicidal thoughts and what was frequently referred to as 'breakdown'.

[meellis]

Re: Wonga to pay redress for unfair debt collection practices – FCA - £2.6m to 45k cu

I think a lot of people who use these forums for debt reasons, probably the largest user type, could relate to at least one of the feelings named in post 164 even if they have never realised it. Financial penalties on these companies give great headlines for the masses but do they really do anything good. If you are still in debt with them they try to right it off the balance and then find another way of putting it back on. The clauses in their interest rates generally mean they can set them against the costs of their funding and business so they will try to keep the interest high to cover the losses imposed on them so its only a temporary glitch and they end up getting it back off of another customer, its not a punishment its part of business to them. It is time that people start having to take responsibilities for their actions, compliance departments should be more accountable outside the business and people who make these decisions should be made pay the price personally so they all really consider their actions.