National Debt Service - unauthorised debt company?

[Amethyst]

Came across an unauthorised debt 'solutions' company yesterday with the website nationaldebtservice.co.uk
They do not appear to be authorised by the FCA.

At the bottom of their pages they state;
National Debt Service is a trading style of Financial Support Systems.
Registered office: Bridgewater House. 58-60 Whitworth Street, Manchester, M1 6LT.
Registered in England and Wales, company registration number 4581518.;


The company registration number is for a company called
DEBT SUPPORT CENTRE LIMITED
04581518 - Incorporated on 5 November 2002
Bridgewater House, Whitworth Street, Manchester, England, M1 6LT

DEBT SUPPORT CENTRE Limited used to be authorised however their authorisation was cancelled during the debt interim permissions period.
Interim Permissions Reference Number:
592624

If you read the Debt Solutions pages on the website they do appear to offer Debt Management Programmes.

In the text they refer to
Debt Management offers you a layer of protection between you and your creditors. By taking away the potential strain of dealing with your debts direct as this will be handled by DFH’s customer service teams. They will also handle all your creditor post and any negotiations regarding your offers of payment.


which searching for DFH generally it does lead to an authorised firm, at the same address given for 'National Debt Service.

Registered Office Bridgewater House. 58-60 Whitworth Street, Manchester, M1 6LT Registration ZA084901. Company Registration 7556890. Registered in England and Wales. Bridgewater Support Solutions Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority(FCA), firm reference number 669218. DFH and 'DFH Financial Solutions' are trading names of Bridgewater Support Solutions Ltd.


In addition they give an ICO Registration on the National Debt Service website ;

NationalDebtService.co.uk is registered with the Information Commissioner as a Data Controller under the Data Protection Act 1998 – No.ZA246771


which also appears on https://moneyanddebtadvice.co.uk/


Moneyanddebtadvice is a trading style of Nationwide Direct Services. Registered office: 101, 17 Lever Street Manchester M1 1AN. Registered with Information Commissioner (Data Protection) Office under Registration No. ZA246771

Nationwide Direct Services is not authorised by the FCA.

The Data Protection registration is held by a company called " I Mather And Co Ltd "
Registration number: ZA299621 Date registered: 04 December 2017 Registration expires: 03 December 2019 Payment tier: Tier 1 Data controller: I Mather And Co Ltd Address: Unit 154, 19
Lever Street
Manchester
M1 1AN

The only FCA Authorisation held for the Address M1 1AN is for a 'business services' PSD company that is no longer Authorised (

https://register.fca.org.uk/ShPo_Fir...000000NMcZWAA1

)

The complaints address given on National Debt Service is stated to be

Complaints Department

National Debt Service

1 City Road East,

Manchester

M15 4PN
which seems to be the address of accountants/insolvency practitioners Kay Johnson Gee LLP.

There is also a website for Financial Support Systems -

James Gibson is authorised to act as an Insolvency Practitioner in the UK by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.

which uses the same address -

First Floor,

Bridgewater House,

58-60 Whitworth Street,

Manchester,

M1 6LT

Debt Management Plans
This scheme sets up an informal agreement with you as the client and your creditors. We agree a repayment schedule with your creditors that you can afford. The scheme is informal and designed to be flexible, but it’s important to know that creditors are not obliged to stick to the agreement terms (as they are with an IVA or bankruptcy).

Financial Support Systems provides insolvency solutions to individuals, specialising in IVA's. We do not administer or provide advice solely relating to debt management products, such as Debt Management Plans. Advice and information on alternative options will be provided following an initial fact find were the individual(s) concerned meets the criteria for an IVA and wishes to pursue it further, as governed by our regulators Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. All advice given on any alternative options is therefore provided in reasonable contemplation of an insolvency appointment

Director of Financial Support Systems -

https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/o...I/appointments
https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/o...4/appointments
and https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/o...Y/appointments

which includes DFH, Bridgewater, Debt Support Centre and others.

busy busy...


Response from FCA

Thank you for contacting the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

I understand you’re reporting a firm offering debt management however, they’re not authorised by the FCA. I appreciate the time you’ve taken to make this information available to us.

National Debt Service

Further to the information you’ve provided in your email, I can confirm that

Financial Support Systems

, a trading name of

National Debt Service

isn’t authorised by the FCA.

If this firm is offering any regulated financial service or product to consumers within the UK they’d require to be authorised by us. If a consumer were to use this firm and it’s an unauthorised firm, they wouldn’t have access to the complaints process, the

Financial Ombudsman Services

or the

Financial Services Compensation Scheme

here in the UK if something goes wrong with the firm.

What I’ve done with this information

We have an Unauthorised Business Department and they collect intelligence on firms that appear to be providing regulated financial products and services without our authorisation. This can then be used to post warnings on our website and on the FCA Register about these firms to assist consumers in making an informed decision as to whether to deal with the firm or not.

I’d like to assure you that the information you’ve provided about Financial Support Systems, trading as National Debt Service, has been logged and made available to our Unauthorised Business Department.

I hope you'll understand that it's often not possible for us to tell people about the outcome of any action we may have taken in response to the information they've provided to us. This is because much of the work we do with firms is covered by

legal and policy restrictions

on what we can disclose. But the information we receive from individuals is valuable to us nonetheless, so if you're in a position to share anything further with us, we'd welcome you doing so.

[Amethyst]

A very similar set up had a complaint upheld by the asa today -Â*https://www.asa.org.uk/rulings/money...19-563069.html