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Do debt collectors have the right to demand my medical records?
An aggressive debt collector is trying to collect on an unsecured debt (it’s a non-priority debt). They refuse to accept that I’m battling mental illness and am a “vulnerable” person; they demanded a letter from my psychiatrist confirming my precise diagnoses and what medications I am on and they also requested a detailed Care Plan that should show all the contact info for all the mental health professionals who have treated me, what dates I’ve experienced psychosis on and they also asked for some kind of summary print out of my records at the GP surgery.
I sent them a letter from my Psychiatrist confirming my diagnosis. The debt collector replied: “We shall be contacting this Psychiatrist to confirm what your diagnosis is, how often you receive treatment and what medications you are on.”
Surely this is incredibly intrusive?
They claim they need all of this information in order for their client to “consider” whether they will “allow” me to continue my £20-a-month payment arrangement. I’ve been paying the £20 a month for about 15 months and have never missed a payment. Nothing in terms of my financial circumstances has improved to suggest I can afford any more of this; in fact my income has decreased slightly and keeping up the payments to this creditor has meant I’m having to use food banks more and more often.
I made contact with the CAB and the CAB was extremely helpful and she’s offered to take on the case and contact the debt collector on my behalf. I advised them that the CAB will be in touch with them as soon as I have printed off, signed and posted the Letter of Authority allowing the CAB to discuss my case with them. The debt collector’s now harassing me again, claiming that the CAB’s letter has not yet arrived in the post and that therefore they will be taking instruction from their client with a view to litigating against me.
On one occasion in 2020 my £20 payment due date fell on a weekend and thus the Standing Order did not go out until the Monday. That Monday morning I had an extremely aggressive email from a “litigation assistant” at the debt collectors, saying I was clearly not serious about keeping up my payments and that will be taking further instruction . At the time of receiving this aggressive email my payment had actually already been sent — it just seems to take this debt collectors firm 24 hours to be able to see an incoming payment to their bank account as cleared funds.
These debt collectors are actually a firm of solicitors specialising in “debt recovery” and they appear to employ several solicitors as well as a few “litigation assistants.”
Thoughts? Is it even legal for them to demand a person’s detailed medical records and list of prescriptions? The CAB advisor is keen to write them a formal letter of complaint. But would that make things even worse?
I sent them a letter from my Psychiatrist confirming my diagnosis. The debt collector replied: “We shall be contacting this Psychiatrist to confirm what your diagnosis is, how often you receive treatment and what medications you are on.”
Surely this is incredibly intrusive?
They claim they need all of this information in order for their client to “consider” whether they will “allow” me to continue my £20-a-month payment arrangement. I’ve been paying the £20 a month for about 15 months and have never missed a payment. Nothing in terms of my financial circumstances has improved to suggest I can afford any more of this; in fact my income has decreased slightly and keeping up the payments to this creditor has meant I’m having to use food banks more and more often.
I made contact with the CAB and the CAB was extremely helpful and she’s offered to take on the case and contact the debt collector on my behalf. I advised them that the CAB will be in touch with them as soon as I have printed off, signed and posted the Letter of Authority allowing the CAB to discuss my case with them. The debt collector’s now harassing me again, claiming that the CAB’s letter has not yet arrived in the post and that therefore they will be taking instruction from their client with a view to litigating against me.
On one occasion in 2020 my £20 payment due date fell on a weekend and thus the Standing Order did not go out until the Monday. That Monday morning I had an extremely aggressive email from a “litigation assistant” at the debt collectors, saying I was clearly not serious about keeping up my payments and that will be taking further instruction . At the time of receiving this aggressive email my payment had actually already been sent — it just seems to take this debt collectors firm 24 hours to be able to see an incoming payment to their bank account as cleared funds.
These debt collectors are actually a firm of solicitors specialising in “debt recovery” and they appear to employ several solicitors as well as a few “litigation assistants.”
Thoughts? Is it even legal for them to demand a person’s detailed medical records and list of prescriptions? The CAB advisor is keen to write them a formal letter of complaint. But would that make things even worse?
