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Gunning for the debt cowboys | Mail Online
Gunning for the debt cowboys who target innocent people
By James Coney
Last updated at 10:57 PM on 02nd June 2009
Rogue debt collectors are flouting weak laws to hound innocent people who have never missed a bill payment in their lives.
Money Mail is compiling evidence on several firms that chase individuals for money they do not owe. They refuse to listen to complaints from homeowners who say they're not the person the collectors are seeking.
Frequently even the simplest of checks, such as looking at the electoral roll, would be all that is needed to end the misery. But penny-pinching firms have cut back on costs, do not make these checks and refuse to give in until money is paid.
And as increasing numbers of debtors default on credit agreements and run away from their responsibilities, more innocent families are expected to be harassed by these intimidating tactics.
Heavy-handed: But don't be intimidated if a debt collector demands money you do not owe
Retired antiques dealer Malcolm Joslin was pursued for more than a year by three debt collectors chasing a bill of £790 owed to Provident Financial.
Mr Joslin, 65, and his wife Pamela, 63, received countless phone calls from collectors looking for a man at their Winchester home with a completely different name.
Money Mail checked the list of voters - a process that took one minute. There was no record of the name at the Joslins' home. On each occasion collectors called, Mr Joslin told them the person was not there. He also sent letters back to the company.
But weeks later a new debt collector would contact them again. He says: 'It's enormously frustrating to be hounded like this for debt that is not ours. I've never missed a payment on a bill in my life. There is nothing I can do to convince them.'
Pensioner Sheila Wilson, 76, has been bombarded with letters and phone calls chasing a debt an old next-door neighbour owed to Capital One.
That person moved out three years ago, but for the past eight months, Mrs Wilson has been receiving debt collection letters for him. Capital One says the information it had listed the former neighbour at Mrs Wilson's address. Yet the man never lived there - as backed up by the list of electors and credit reference agencies.
Mrs Wilson has sought help from Citizens Advice. Credit reference companies Call-Credit, Experian and Equifax all sent letters confirming she could not be liable for a debt racked up by someone who had a different name, lived at a different address and had a different date of birth.
Mrs Wilson says: 'Capital One just won't leave me alone. I am really worried. I never gave this company my telephone number and now they keep ringing me.'
The behaviour of debt collectors is covered by the Office of Fair Trading. The OFT makes it clear firms should not pursue someone when there is no debt owing, but it cannot intervene in individual disputes.
However, it can later look into cases where there has been a breach of the rules. The collection agency and the firm that employed them can then be struck off.
The OFT says it's investigating the methods used by collection agencies. A major problem seems to be the way details of debts are passed on to them.
Collectors buy bundles of debts. The cheaper the package, the less information about the debtor is available and the more work needed to track down the right person.
However, many firms seem to be doing the very minimum amount of work - in some cases none - to ensure they are chasing the right person.
An OFT spokesman says: 'We act where a case is particularly bad, or where we see a pattern of problems. This is something take very seriously.'
After Money Mail intervened, Capital One apologised to Mrs Wilson. Provident also admitted its mistake to Mr Joslin. It wrote off the debt to ensure he never gets chased for it again, sent him a letter of apology and gave him £100 for the inconvenience.
If you're threatened, call the police how to deal with the heavy mob
• Tell the company that has employed the debt collector about its behaviour. The OFT says anyone who employs a third party will be held responsible for its behaviour.
• If A debt collector harasses you, contact your local council's trading standards department. If the collector threatens you, call the police.
• Debt collectors are not allowed to contact you at unreasonable times, or ignore your wishes about how or when to contact them. Take a note of when they call and the language they use.
• They also can't ask you to contact them on premium-rate numbers.
• Neither should they ignore or disregard claims that debts have been settled and make unjustified demands for payment.
• Debt collectors are not court officials and don't have the same power as bailiffs - so they can't enter your home and seize your possessions.
• If the debt collector continues to hound you, contact the Financial Ombudsman Service (Tel: 0845 080 1800 or 020 7964 0500). It can award you compensation for distress and inconvenience. Last year it received almost three times as many complaints about collection agencies as in the previous 12 months.
An Ombudsman spokesman says: 'We find that once we are involved, things get settled very quickly. Frequently when a company knows that someone else is looking at their actions, it seems to focus their minds very quickly.
'It is unacceptable for someone to keep being harassed when they have done everything in their power to explain that a debt is not theirs.'
Keep complaining guys! :beagle:
Lumi x
Gunning for the debt cowboys | Mail Online
Gunning for the debt cowboys who target innocent people
By James Coney
Last updated at 10:57 PM on 02nd June 2009
Rogue debt collectors are flouting weak laws to hound innocent people who have never missed a bill payment in their lives.
Money Mail is compiling evidence on several firms that chase individuals for money they do not owe. They refuse to listen to complaints from homeowners who say they're not the person the collectors are seeking.
Frequently even the simplest of checks, such as looking at the electoral roll, would be all that is needed to end the misery. But penny-pinching firms have cut back on costs, do not make these checks and refuse to give in until money is paid.
And as increasing numbers of debtors default on credit agreements and run away from their responsibilities, more innocent families are expected to be harassed by these intimidating tactics.
Heavy-handed: But don't be intimidated if a debt collector demands money you do not owe
Retired antiques dealer Malcolm Joslin was pursued for more than a year by three debt collectors chasing a bill of £790 owed to Provident Financial.
Mr Joslin, 65, and his wife Pamela, 63, received countless phone calls from collectors looking for a man at their Winchester home with a completely different name.
Money Mail checked the list of voters - a process that took one minute. There was no record of the name at the Joslins' home. On each occasion collectors called, Mr Joslin told them the person was not there. He also sent letters back to the company.
But weeks later a new debt collector would contact them again. He says: 'It's enormously frustrating to be hounded like this for debt that is not ours. I've never missed a payment on a bill in my life. There is nothing I can do to convince them.'
Pensioner Sheila Wilson, 76, has been bombarded with letters and phone calls chasing a debt an old next-door neighbour owed to Capital One.
That person moved out three years ago, but for the past eight months, Mrs Wilson has been receiving debt collection letters for him. Capital One says the information it had listed the former neighbour at Mrs Wilson's address. Yet the man never lived there - as backed up by the list of electors and credit reference agencies.
Mrs Wilson has sought help from Citizens Advice. Credit reference companies Call-Credit, Experian and Equifax all sent letters confirming she could not be liable for a debt racked up by someone who had a different name, lived at a different address and had a different date of birth.
Mrs Wilson says: 'Capital One just won't leave me alone. I am really worried. I never gave this company my telephone number and now they keep ringing me.'
The behaviour of debt collectors is covered by the Office of Fair Trading. The OFT makes it clear firms should not pursue someone when there is no debt owing, but it cannot intervene in individual disputes.
However, it can later look into cases where there has been a breach of the rules. The collection agency and the firm that employed them can then be struck off.
The OFT says it's investigating the methods used by collection agencies. A major problem seems to be the way details of debts are passed on to them.
Collectors buy bundles of debts. The cheaper the package, the less information about the debtor is available and the more work needed to track down the right person.
However, many firms seem to be doing the very minimum amount of work - in some cases none - to ensure they are chasing the right person.
An OFT spokesman says: 'We act where a case is particularly bad, or where we see a pattern of problems. This is something take very seriously.'
After Money Mail intervened, Capital One apologised to Mrs Wilson. Provident also admitted its mistake to Mr Joslin. It wrote off the debt to ensure he never gets chased for it again, sent him a letter of apology and gave him £100 for the inconvenience.
If you're threatened, call the police how to deal with the heavy mob
• Tell the company that has employed the debt collector about its behaviour. The OFT says anyone who employs a third party will be held responsible for its behaviour.
• If A debt collector harasses you, contact your local council's trading standards department. If the collector threatens you, call the police.
• Debt collectors are not allowed to contact you at unreasonable times, or ignore your wishes about how or when to contact them. Take a note of when they call and the language they use.
• They also can't ask you to contact them on premium-rate numbers.
• Neither should they ignore or disregard claims that debts have been settled and make unjustified demands for payment.
• Debt collectors are not court officials and don't have the same power as bailiffs - so they can't enter your home and seize your possessions.
• If the debt collector continues to hound you, contact the Financial Ombudsman Service (Tel: 0845 080 1800 or 020 7964 0500). It can award you compensation for distress and inconvenience. Last year it received almost three times as many complaints about collection agencies as in the previous 12 months.
An Ombudsman spokesman says: 'We find that once we are involved, things get settled very quickly. Frequently when a company knows that someone else is looking at their actions, it seems to focus their minds very quickly.
'It is unacceptable for someone to keep being harassed when they have done everything in their power to explain that a debt is not theirs.'
Keep complaining guys! :beagle:
Lumi x
