Reliable Collections

Pinkteapot_2

Hello,

I was recently horrified to find that Relicable Collections have been charging me £12 for every reminder they send me, so in spite of regular monthly repayments being made by Payplan on my behalf, my £500 debt became £1100.

So, I looked into the guidance published by the OFT, and they are not allowed to apply charges which are not in relation to the debt, nor are they allowed to over charge for a service (£12 for a computer generated letter is steep even for debt collectors).

As I have recently been made bankrupt I did kind of stop caring, and answered the phone when they rang as I could just tell them I was bankrupt, and it turns out they weren't just calling 4 times a day because I wasn't answering, even when I answer and speak to someone, they still call that much. I told one lady that under the protections of harrassment act they are not allowed to call me that amount, she said I was wrong and they could call as much as they liked. That proved to me that there was a flagrant disregard or ignorance of the rules for debt collectors, and it annoyed me enough to make a complaint to the Office of Fair Trading, as although they can't help with an individual case, they can stop the renewal of Reliable Collections Consumer Credit Licence.

So, the purpose of this post is to let people know that if you are trying to clear their debt with them and they keep adding charges, or if you are simply annoyed by all the phone calls, etc, the more emails to the OFT the beter. They did was send me a release form to sign so they can use me details in any future legal action against Reliable Collections, and that was all I had to do. They won't get anyone's money back, but it was nice to tell the people on the end of the phone that I had been in contact with the OFT, and if Reliable Collections lost their licence I'd be so happy I'd run naked through the streets of my hometown (Aberdeen, it's cold, but my joy would keep me warm....) [EMAIL="enquiries@oft.gsi.gov.uk"]enquiries@oft.gsi.gov.uk[/EMAIL].

Geebee

Hi Pinkteapot, couldnt help laughing when i had the mental image of you telling the caller that you would run through Aberdeen naked. Thats the best laugh i had all day.... Thank you. :rotfl:
Oh... and hope you get it sorted out. :beer:

Geebee

lindann_2

me too run starkers, please see my threads, l have reported them to trading standards/consumers got a number its on file. I am being charge the same rate, with payplan.

but hubby been charged £360, for forty pound debt, l did not know he had it, so sent an cca, also l will get hubby to do a report in his own right, l did not know these facts, thank you so much. l may have some money to come back to me, I paid £160 plus, and the debts been paid.

deankenny

my banks charges me £30 for going £2 in debt

Hannah_10

Deankenny your bank isn't regulated by the same code of practice, however should you find it unfair you are equally entitled to complain to the regulator.