Debt Write Off Schemes etc Abbey Compass Harrington Queensbeck Rowan Rose

[Amethyst]

Re: Debt collection agencies after payments Abbey Compass Harrington Greenbeck Rowan

I think the Queensbeck / Rowan issue was first raised by [MENTION=103485]earleebird[/MENTION]

http://who-called.co.uk/Number/01618540653

[Kati]

Re: Debt collection agencies after payments Abbey Compass Harrington Greenbeck Rowan

http://who-called.co.uk/Number/01618540653

and there's this of course (screenshot from linkedin ) ~

[injineer]

Re: Debt collection agencies after payments

I have had partial success with Abbey Solicitors as they have one debt of four written off still waiting for the other three cases to be determined.

[Amethyst]

Re: Debt collection agencies after payments

Good to hear Have you had confirmation from the creditor that the debt has been written off ?

[Third Carp]

Re: Debt collection agencies after payments Abbey Compass Harrington Greenbeck Rowan

Good afternoon to all - I did a bit of googling today on my problem and was pleasantly surprised to find this thread which mirrors my issues. I was contacted out of the blue at the start of the year by Rowan Rose to discuss the debt plan I had had with Harrington Brookes since 2010. I was told that Harrington Brookes were being closed down by their regulator and that they could get my debts written off within 6 months. I asked how they had obtained my number and was informed that Harrington "had passed us your details and asked us to contact you".


I have been paying Rowan Rose £200 a month and with the exception of a few meaningless emails/letters, they have not done anything to date. I was promised by Rowan Rose that not only would my debts be written off, but also that my creditors were "legally obliged to freeze interest and would not be able to pursue [me] for the debts". Well, I can tell you that every single promise and advice was a lie:


(1) Harrington Brookes did not authorise Rowan Rose to call me. In fact, I have been told that they are in contact with the ICO regarding a potential data breach by Rowan Rose
(2) They in fact could not write my debts off, or more precisely, they do not have the relevant experience to be able to achieve this. The solicitor who was assigned to deal with my case has never spoken to me. Like a similar post above, we have been left to deal with a junior member of staff (not a solicitor) who has no idea how to progress or deal with my claim. Several months back, I questioned her closely on what the precise legal arguments were that Rowan Rose would be using. By her own admission, she was "not legally qualified", did not "really understand how the legal claim works" and would be just trying to get my creditors to "do a deal"
(3) Rowan Rose had no legal basis to say that the interest would be frozen or my that my creditors would not be able to chase me for the debt. Interest has not been frozen and I am being aggressively pursued with attachment to earnings orders, statutory demands and looming county court action.


Turning to the post by 'Queensbeck' above - I'm not sure how anybody else's documentation looks like but my contract is with Rowan Rose not Queensbeck. If anything like my circumstances, I can understand the confusion as the young lady who usually deals with my calls uses the company name Rowan Rose/Queensbeck interchangeably. As for their comment that "The reason for us questioning the validity of the post is because Queensbeck do not cold call"- Well that did make me laugh. The original (cold) call was made to my direct dial work number which records all incoming calls with a warning that all calls are recorded for training and monitoring purposes. At the beginning of the call, the agent clearly identifies himself as a "solicitor calling from Rowan Rose Law (sic)"


A copy of that recording along with a complaint has now been made to the SRA, the Claims Management Regulator and the ICO. I also note that previous comments have suggested making a similar complaint to the FCA in relation to whether Rowan Rose were offering debt advice or legal advice. From my point of view, I would say that the majority of the original conversation lent more towards legal advice (and I say 'legal in the loosest possible context). However, all subsequent conversations with the case handler at Rowan Rose has been more about how they can "manage the debt" and "negotiate a reduced settlement". I will most likely refer this part of the issue to the FCA and allow them to determine whether they were sitting in the shoes of a debt advisor rather than a solicitor.


In summary, the whole thing has the characteristics of a get rich quick scheme by Rowan Rose and now feels to me like a scam. If this is not the case, perhaps Rowan Rose/Queensbeck can explain how they in fact proposed to "write of the debts" and why they have been unable to undertake any meaningful work in 8 months.


To date, there has been zero substance in any of their promises. In nearly 8 months, I have not been allowed to speak with the solicitor that my original welcome pack said would be "dealing with and supervising" my case. None of my creditors have had a letter of claim and I am now at the precipice of financial ruin in contrast to the effective management of my debts by Harrington Brookes. Even worse than that, the majority of my creditors are now not willing to play ball with a new debt plan.


If I can be of any help to others with this problem, please feel free to message and I will share all the information I have collated so far, including the complaints sent to the regulators.

[Amethyst]

Re: Debt collection agencies after payments Abbey Compass Harrington Greenbeck Rowan

Thank you for posting so comprehensively about your experience. I have a number of complaints in on the issue however they ( FCA ) prefer to hear directly from affected consumers, so hopefully they will be receiving complaints from lots of different angles ( and not just on this Rowan / Queensbeck issue, but on the bonkers gaping hole between FCA and SRA regulation that a number of firms are trying to take advantage of at the moment)

You should be able to ask Rowan for a copy of your client file, to find out exactly what they have done to date ( possibly sent off a cca request to creditors ( at a minimum one would hope))

Are you continuing paying Rowan for the remaining 4 months? Was the £200 the amount you were paying to your DMP with Harrington ?

So you still need to look at those debts - how much overall ish? And are any threatening any court action etc? Have you actually had a Statutory Demand ? (may be worth starting a new thread on those bits if you need some support )

If they won't play ball you could send a subject access request.

The SRA looked into a different firm (AbbeySolictors) flooring complaint about a similar issue but came back stating they could see nothing wrong. It might be different coming from someone directly affected - make sure you give the SRA the correct SRA ID as Rowan is just a trading name of GLM Legal LLP. They should look into it at least due to identifying himself as a solicitor on the cold call.

[Amethyst]

Re: Debt collection agencies after payments Abbey Compass Harrington Greenbeck Rowan

Ooo another thing - did they mention a Notice of Contention ?

In this kind of context ?

How does it work?
Once a client has been referred and completed the solicitor Client Care Pack, our solicitors will write to their creditors informing them that they are officially contending the debt.

This means until they have satisfied the Notice of Contention they cannot:

Communicate with the client
Accept payment from the client
Charge any additional Fees, charges or interest

By Contending the debt our solicitors will ask the creditor to provide a series of documents, the original agreement or true copy, the notice of debt assignment etc.

Failure to produce valid compliant documents allows the solicitor to request that the outstanding balance be partially or fully written off.

Far as we can work out ''Notice of Contention'' is only an official thing in Australia.

[Lastmanstanding]

Re: Debt collection agencies after payments Abbey Compass Harrington Greenbeck Rowan

Ooo another thing - did they mention a Notice of Contention ?

In this kind of context ?


Far as we can work out ''Notice of Contention'' is only an official thing in Australia.

Hi

Are there any updates on this thread? x

[Third Carp]

Re: Debt Write Off Schemes etc Abbey Compass Harrington Queensbeck Rowan Rose

Hi All - I just wanted to provide an update on this thread. There have been a couple of developments.

First, we have now been informed by Rowan Rose that despite being told during the (recorded) call to cancel our debt management plan immediately and that we should not make any payments to our creditors, we have been told by Rowan Rose's Elaine Walker that in fact, we shouldn't have cancelled our debt management plan and should have continued paying our creditors. The scam that Rowan Rose appear to have pulled here is a complex ruse designed to misrepresent the position to their own ends (which I will come to). The basis of the pitch we were put though at the start of the year was that we would only be paying to Rowan Rose what we had previously been paying to Harrington Brookes. It seems that Rowan Rose are now trying to save their own skin by changing the advice we were given.

Secondly, my partner was discussing this issue with a friend several weeks ago and explained the problems we had encountered with both Rowan Rose and Queensbeck. As it transpired, her brother had in fact worked for Queensbeck until quite recently and we met with him last week to see if he could give us any assistance in sorting the complaint. The core work they do are some form of financial claim against a company called Blemain Finance. He explained that Queensbeck and Rowan Rose were handling thousands of these Blemain claims and only begun these debt management cases to help fund both companies. Apparently, they had nearly run out of money in December 2016 and in his own words, "this was a last grasp attempt to keep it afloat" because if Blemain found out they had no cash left it would mean they would probably not be able to settle the cases against them. He said they were living from hand to mouth each month and if Blemain were clever, all they would need to do is to drag the claims on for another 12 months and they would run out of money before they settled.

On any reckoning, this is disgraceful actions and motives. I would be keen to be contacted by any other victim of this scam as I believe the SRA and MOJ will take far more notice if a group of us could push the issues. It seems as if we and others have been conned so that Queenbeck could save its own skin.

I would love to hear anyones else thoughts or views on what could be done.

[Lastmanstanding]

Re: Debt Write Off Schemes etc Abbey Compass Harrington Queensbeck Rowan Rose

Hi All - I just wanted to provide an update on this thread. There have been a couple of developments.

First, we have now been informed by Rowan Rose that despite being told during the (recorded) call to cancel our debt management plan immediately and that we should not make any payments to our creditors, we have been told by Rowan Rose's Elaine Walker that in fact, we shouldn't have cancelled our debt management plan and should have continued paying our creditors. The scam that Rowan Rose appear to have pulled here is a complex ruse designed to misrepresent the position to their own ends (which I will come to). The basis of the pitch we were put though at the start of the year was that we would only be paying to Rowan Rose what we had previously been paying to Harrington Brookes. It seems that Rowan Rose are now trying to save their own skin by changing the advice we were given.

Secondly, my partner was discussing this issue with a friend several weeks ago and explained the problems we had encountered with both Rowan Rose and Queensbeck. As it transpired, her brother had in fact worked for Queensbeck until quite recently and we met with him last week to see if he could give us any assistance in sorting the complaint. The core work they do are some form of financial claim against a company called Blemain Finance. He explained that Queensbeck and Rowan Rose were handling thousands of these Blemain claims and only begun these debt management cases to help fund both companies. Apparently, they had nearly run out of money in December 2016 and in his own words, "this was a last grasp attempt to keep it afloat" because if Blemain found out they had no cash left it would mean they would probably not be able to settle the cases against them. He said they were living from hand to mouth each month and if Blemain were clever, all they would need to do is to drag the claims on for another 12 months and they would run out of money before they settled.

On any reckoning, this is disgraceful actions and motives. I would be keen to be contacted by any other victim of this scam as I believe the SRA and MOJ will take far more notice if a group of us could push the issues. It seems as if we and others have been conned so that Queenbeck could save its own skin.

I would love to hear anyones else thoughts or views on what could be done.

Happy New Year everyone.

Has the SRA responded to your complaint?