Complaining to the Financial Ombudsman about Debt Collectors.

rog2

Since April 2007, the Financial Ombudsman Service has covered complaints by consumers against Debt Collecting Businesses who act on behalf of consumer credit lenders.
Under their rules a complaint can be made by any consumer against whom a Debt Collecting Business - not just the person named on the credit agreement.

Amongst those complaints that they receive are cases where consumers are being pursued for debts which are owed by someone else - 'because the debt collecting business has not taken enough care about tracing the right person.'

Other complaints may involve a dispute over the amount owed.

Further, I would imagine many, of the complaints that they handle concern the way in which a 'business' has gone about collecting a debt - for example the consumer may feel that the debt collecting business has pursued them in an 'oppressive or unreasonable' manner.

It is interesting to see just how the Financial Ombudsman handles such complaints, in particular with regard to financial compensation to the consumer:

"Where we decide that a debt-collecting business has not dealt reasonably with a consumer, we will normally tell it to pay appropriate compensation as redress."

It is comforting to see that the Financial Ombudsman is taking the whole question of how 'debt-collecting companies' work. We, and the Debt Charities, often advise 'debtors' to use template letters which state "your actions will be reported to the relevant Statutory Bodies", including the Financial Ombudsman.

The following link, to the Financial Ombudsman's own news letter, contains several reports of actual cases - which are applicable to many who post on this forum:

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/ombudsman-news/81/81-debt-collecting.htm

I think that this link re-inforces the need for any 'debtor', who is unfortunate enough to have to deal with the underhanded tactics that are so openly practiced by the least savoury elements of the burgeoning industry of 'Debt Collection', to avail of their right to complain to the Financial Ombudsman, in the knowledge that such complaints will be handled fairly and impartially.

I would like to, publicly, thank magpiecottage for bringing this publication to my notice, by posting on the MacKenzie Hall thread on the 'Loans' forum. His post, along with an excellent template letter, to be used when complaining to a dca, can be seen, in full, on:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.html?p=27297119

Your thoughts appreciated.

pepe2008

Everybody who is contacted by the DCAs in a way in which they break the Debt Collection Guidelines ( download them at www.oft.gov.uk ) should already be complaining.

Now, as you phone the OFT to Complain, you can also write to your lovely DCA and send them the ltter that is on 'magpiecottage' post as detailed above.

We can bury the DCAs in paperwork AND cost them money....brilliant!

To steal from Celebrity Come Dancing.....Keeeeeeep Complaining!

magpiecottage

It will cost a DCA if you take them to FOS but what you must NOT do is make a vexatious claim.

FOS will not award punitive or exemplary redress payments and if it thinks you are only complaining out of spite it can throw your complaint out without even considering it on the grounds that it considers it vexatious.

I suspect, though, that unscrupulous DCAs see their tactics as an easy way of getting money out of the innocent.

If so, then this sort of response is likely to undermine their business model.

If you DO consider telephoning, do remember that you cannot record the call unless they know it will be.

If they say "calls may be recorded" that would seem to be granting you permission. If you don't have a recorder you could get a free Skype recorder and SkypeOut (sadly only Windows versions seem to be available).

The complaint can be made verbally but you have to be able to prove it.

If and when you DO complain to FOS you need to use their form, print it off as a hard copy and snail mail it, along with your letter and any response from the DCA. The FOS form can be downloaded as a Word or pdf document.

magpiecottage

I think it is time I made a contribution to this thread.

Under the Consumer Credit Act 2006, debt collection agencies have come under the jurisdiction on the Financial Ombudsman Service which has just published case studies involving them. You can see them here.

The particular one of interest to me was the sixth. There seems to be an error in it because it suggests that the complainant was acting reasonably in offering proof of her own identity when in fact the OFT Guidance specifically says that it is unfair to require it.

The point is that she ended up with £100 for distress and inconvenience.

So I am posting a template below for copying and pasting. You will need to put in the actual date where I have put square brackets and you will need to go to the OFT Guidance and copy and paste all the issues that the OFT says are unfair that they have actually done. Don't put any that they didn't do, though - you want to be seen to be acting reasonably and telling porkies won't help you.

They probably won't know the rules so I will tell you what they are so that you can tell them - I do like to be helpful.

[Your name and address]

[Debt collection agency's name]
[DCA's address]

Your ref [DCA's reference number]

[Date]

Dear Sirs

Complaint

I am writing in connection with your correspondence under the above reference and wish to complain that you have breached the following section of "Debt collection guidance - Final guidance on unfair business practices" published by the Office of Fair Trading:

Section [Number] - [what the section says]

[Add all relevant sections].

This has caused me considerable distress and I consider it appropriate that you compensate me for this.

In case you are unaware of the rules of that you are required to follow, I have been told that they are as follows:

On receipt of this complaint, which will be deemed to have occurred two working days after it was posted, you must promptly acknowledge it, in writing, and provide me with a written copy of your Complaints Procedure.

You must keep me updated with the progress of your investigation of my complaint.

Once the complaint has been investigated you must issue me with your final response, explaining your findings and including any proposal you may wish to make in order to put things right. Your final response must tell me if I may take my complaint to the Final Ombudsman Service and how long I have to do so. You must also provide me with a booklet published by the Financial Ombudsman Service, about how it works if you have not done so already.

If you are unable to provide me with a response within eight weeks, you will have to write to me to explain why, confirm that I can then ask the Financial Ombudsman Service to consider my complaint and provide me with a copy of its leaflet.

I look forward to hearing your proposals.

Yours faithfully




[Your name]

magpiecottage

Mackenzie Hall have a complaints procedure. This is

1. rather long winded.
2. says you have no further right of appeal

Under the rules FOS operates by, a firm can either

• give a response which it tells you is its final response and tell you that you now have six months to go to FOS
  
  OR
• give a response which says you can make further representations if you remain dissatisfied but that you will ultimately have a chance to take the complaint to FOS.

If it does the latter and you indicate that you remain dissatisfied then it still only has eight weeks from the receipt of the initial complaint to the point at which it issues a response of the first type except that the clock will stop seven days after the first response is issued and not restart until it receives your indication that you are still not satisfied.

If the DCA says you have no further right of appeal, take the complaint straight to FOS. If the DCA says you cannot take it to FOS try anyway. FOS is very possessive of its right to decide what is and is not in its jurisdiction.

They may also say they are members of the Credit Services Association and you must use its dispute resolution - ignore it and go to FOS which can make legally binding awards against the DCA.

If the time limit expires, allow an extra week for postal delays then go to FOS.

Finally (I hope) they MAY try to tell you that FOS will charge you or, worse, that they will add charges if you go to FOS and lose. This is absolutely categorically 100% NOT the case.

There ARE circumstances in which you can be charged to go to FOS but they are very specific - essentially complaints that are silly, fraudulent or malicious. Even then you would need to have contractually agreed to them charging.

I am not for a moment suggesting people should not pay what they owe - but DCAs need to act fairly and reasonably.

rog2

magpiecottage wrote: »

I am not for a moment suggesting people should not pay what they owe - but DCAs need to act fairly and reasonably.

Exactly. :T :T

DarkConvict

Handy topic, Added as Favourite.

MarkWatson

If anyone has had problems with a debt collection service and wishes to pursue a complaint about their behaviour through the Credit Services Association (www.csa-uk.com/) can I warn you that this is just about the most inept organisation I have ever come across.

I brought a complaint to this organisation about one of its debt collecting members three months ago (the company were aggressively pursuing my elderly father-in-law for a debt he did not owe and for which they could produce no original bill). For three months this organisation (the CSA) sat on my complaint, failed to follow up and require their member to respond to me, failed repeatedly to acknowledge or respond to any of my emails I send them and then failed to actually address the complaint I originally brought to them.

This is an organisation that exists because it is paid for by its debt collecting company members. My whole experience with them has left me with the very strong suspicion that they will do absolutely nothing to harm their relationship with the companies that pay for their own existence.

In terms of the CSA being an even handed and independent ombudsman, they are absolutely nothing of the sort. Avoid!

magpiecottage

MarkWatson wrote: »

In terms of the CSA being an even handed and independent ombudsman, they are absolutely nothing of the sort. Avoid!

Of course - the Financial Ombudsman Service is the one with the force of law behind it.

magpiecottage

I thought I had better put a further post as I have learned that some adjudicators are siding with DCAs.

Do not be put off by this. Write back (or e-mail), quote "chapter and verse" from the OFT guidance and ask why they disagree.

MarkWatson

Thanks magpiecottage, in terms of the Credit Services Association however (www.csa-uk.com/) it's pretty much impossible to get any kind of response out of them; having sent numerous emails trying to find out what they were doing about my case without reply or acknowledgement, it's clear their tactic is to use a brick wall to avoid having to offend their paying debt collecting clients!