Credit Resource Solutions - "Civil Justice Reforms Act"

nhp61

Hello

My partner's son abruptly moved out a few months ago, leaving no forwarding address. He also left behind a debt for over £1750 with JD Williams.

We have had umpteen calls from JD Williams asking to speak to him, and every time they were told he had moved out, and we had no idea where he was.

Today my partner received an email from Credit Resource Solutions quoting the "Civil Justice Reform Act" and stating a representative from their company will call at our home within 48 hours.

The email (how they got my partner's email address is anyone's guess) also stated:

"Under the Civil Justice Reforms Act all parties MUST seek an alternative resolution and the court has the power to penalize any party who refuses to do so, and we are writing to advise you that we intend to produce a copy of this correspondence in our evidence to the court, of your lack of co operation in dealing with this matter."

I have googled "Civil Justice Reform Act" and it appears to be some US legislation and therefore not applicable within the UK.

I think this company might be breaking the law. If they are, who can I report them to? I fear someone who is not as savvy as I might have the life scared out of them on receiving an email, or possibly a letter, quoting this "law"

Thank you

fermi

It could be an incorrect reference to the UK Civil Procedure Rules Pre-Action protocols?

They basically set down what both parties should reasonably to do to resolve a claim/dispute before a court claim is brought, including using ADR (alternative dispute resolution) where appropriate.

http://www.justice.gov.uk/guidance/courts-and-tribunals/courts/procedure-rules/civil/menus/protocol.htm

However, if that is the case then by (a) misleadingly quoting the wrong legislation and (b) pre-empting the court's conclusions, they the are certainly acting in a deceptive and misleading manner.

They are probably breaching several OFT guidelines.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2992820

nhp61

Thank you, fermi.

I had a look at the links and it certainly looks like this company have breached some of the OFT's guidelines.

To clarify my earlier post, the email, which was sent to my partner's email address, was for the attention of her son. As well as a breach of OFT's guidelines, I also believe it is a breach of the Data Protection Act. My partner's son is responsible for his own affairs, and has a right for his financial matters to be kept private, no matter what financial state he is in. This company have a job to do, I admit, but they have to abide by the guidelines and rules as defined by the Office Of Fair Trading. That doesn't give them the right to disclose to a third party, his mum, details of any debts that he may have accrued to anyone else, not even a parent, spouse or sibling.

I will call Consumer Direct tomorrow regarding their breaching of the OFT's guidelines, and also see what I can do about getting them done under the Data Protection Act.

stclair

It could be when the account was set up the account holder used your partners email address.

When a company passes on debt they will also pass on contact details etc.

nhp61

That could well be true, stclair, but until today, my partner had received no correspondence at all from JD Williams via her email account. Her son had no access to the account as he did not know the password.

All the same, sending an email to, for example, John Smith, to Jane Jones @someobscureemailcompany.co.uk, does strongly suggest that someone other than John Smith might see and read that email. That is no different from sticking a note on the outside of the front door saying "John Smith is in debt to Credit Resource Solutions to the tune of over £1750!" Whichever way you look at it, the company still dropped a big one.

stclair

As the debt is not yours or your partners I would not worry about to be honest....

If you receive any letters etc just return them marked no longer living at address they will be able to trace him via the CRAs at some point.

Pipper

Yesterday I received an automated phone voicetext 2.05pm telling me to phone CRS as soon as possibe on an 0844 tel no which costs caller and from which the company earns money! I ignored it. Later yesterday and this morn I have received 2 texts on my mobile asking me again to phone 08445596531 asap ref BGRPLB033139. Again I delete but feel I'm being hounded. I have no debts.

CRS appears to have a website:

Credit Resource Solutions Ltd
Rosemount House, Rosemount Estate, Huddersfield Road, Elland, West Yorkshire HX5 0EE
Telephone 01422 324 515 Email info@creditresourcesolutions.co.uk

elaine12022

hello Pipper, well done for ignoring the phone calls. I would suggest you have a look at the 'prove it' letter, which is a 'sticky' on this forum (and is on the National Debtline website). This tells them not to contact you unless they can prove you owe them anything, and should stop any phone calls/texts.