Debt Management and the DPA

[Delta]

Hi guys, happy new year, sorry I haven't been around, but have not been having a good time recently. Anyway I digress.

I had a B&Q You Can Do It Card and owed about £200 on it, they were being assholes about it (kept passing it between the main dollections bit and the inhouse debt collector, and my letters were never going to the right place), anyway beginning of December I got a letter from the courts at Northampton about it, seems that their solicitor had filed at court.

So I filled in the paper work, stating that I had never heard of the solicitors, that I had had toruble getting to the right person to speak to at GE Money, and that as I was skint, could they accept £20 a month.

I got the CCJ back just after Christmas, dated 23/12/08 agreeing to the repayment plan. Then got a letter from the solicitors enclosing payment slips, and made the first payment, all is hunky dory.

Then, I received a letter dated 9 January, from some outfit called EuroDebt Financial services, based in Bedford.

It starts....

Dear Mrs Delta
Can we help with your County Court Judgement No (with judgement number) Date 23/12/08 Amount (correct amount)

So it seems these guys are the type that you pay to manage your debt for you, and they have the details of my CCJ and I have never heard of them. It does say at the bottom in little letters that if I think the CCJ was made in error, or has been appealed, please let us know and we will take you off out mailing list.

I don't want to be on their mailing list, and I definately don't want their assistance, but what has riled me more is the fact that they have all the details of my CCJ, and I want to know where they got it from and if this is a breach of the Data Protection Act, and if so, what can I do about it?

Any ideas peeps?

[enaid]

Re: Debt Management and the DPA

Happy new year to you too Delta

Unless you pay the full amount of the judgment within one month, your CCJ will be recorded on the Register of County Court Judgments for six years.
Organisations such as banks, building societies and loan companies use the registered information to help decide whether to give you credit or loans, like a mortgage.

From what I understand anyone can search the registers for a small fee, so I don't think they have done anything wrong.
Hope this helps Enaid xx

[Delta]

Re: Debt Management and the DPA

Thanks for that Enaid,

So even though the 28 days from judgement isn't up yet, the information is on the register and all these sharks have to do is pay a small amount and get details about it? I can understand the need to know if I was applying for a loan or credit, but these guys want me to pay them money to pay a small portion of it to my creditors (luckilly I don't owe enough for them to take me on! lol)

But just cos they have a credit licence thingy, shouldn't mean that they can get this information to use for mailshots touting for business.

Credit search is one thing, drumming up business is something else!

[Amethyst]

Re: Debt Management and the DPA

I got a letter from umm Eurodebt I think, about 4 days after judgment was handed down on my last CCJ. Sharks the lot of 'em.

[enaid]

Re: Debt Management and the DPA

As long as you don't miss a payment Delta you will be ok and no one can tell you to pay more except a judge.
They can sell the debt on also, as I recently found out, but again only a judge can up your payments.

[Emerald]

Re: Debt Management and the DPA

But just cos they have a credit licence thingy, shouldn't mean that they can get this information to use for mailshots touting for business.

You don't need a credit licence anyone can do it for a small fee - until quite recently it was free.

http://www.trustonline.org.uk/about-us/