debt collection agencies fees

jkhillary

i have recently had a debt sold by the bank to a debt collection agency. they have added a fee to the debt of nearly £2000. looking at the current situation regarding bank charges it seems to me that it cannot be right that they can levy a charge against me for a service that i did not ask for

can anyone offer any advice....

rog2

Seems very high, but difficult to comment on without a bit more info, such as amount of debt, name of bank and name of DCA. :beer:

smashedbooboo

Who is the bank. And more importantly who is the debt collection agency. How much was the original debt. Have you checked your credit file. How old is the debt. Is there a default on the debt. What contact have you had with either bank or DCA. Was it by letter or phone. There is a letter you can send to DCA but if you can answer the questions i can help you more.

BAILIFFCHASER

have you sent the bank/dca a cca or a sar ?

BAILIFFCHASER

[your address]



[their address]


[DATE]



Data Protection Act 1998
Subject Access Request



Dear Sir/Madam


ACCOUNT NUMBER: xxxxxxxxx or if more than 1 account list them all !!!!


Please supply me with a complete list of transactions and charges relating to my banking history with your organisation. Alternatively, a complete set of statements for that period will be acceptable.

Additionally, where there has been any event in my account history over this period which has required manual intervention by any member of your staff, or any other person, I require disclosure of any indication or notes which have either caused or resulted in that manual intervention, or other evidence of that manual intervention in relation to my banking business with you.

If you are unable to supply this data because there has been no such manual intervention, then please be so kind as to confirm this in your response.

I enclose the statutory maximum fee of £10. You have 40 days in which to comply. Furthermore, if I discover that you have levied disproportionate penalties against me, then I shall be reclaiming them, and also reclaiming the enclosed £10 Data Protection Act subject access request fee.

If there is specific information which you require in order to satisfy yourself as to my identity, please let me know by return. However, please note that the above address is the one which you normally use to communicate my private business to me and which you have hitherto found to be acceptable.
I would be happy to collect the Data from my local branch.


Yours faithfully,

sangie_2

i have just encountered a similar situation. i was with Barclays bank, due to unpaid direct debits (which were cancelled) my account was closed as they said i owed them £170. This was in 2001 since then i have moved propery and not heard anything until 4 weeks ago i recieved a letter from debt collectors stating that i owed the £799 and they are willing to take it to county court. surely this cannot be allowed

someone pls help? i am unsure whether i can reclaim any of these charges.

jkhillary

what is a SAR and what is a cca please

jkhillary

what is a SAR and what is a cca please

tomterm8

cca is the short form name of the Consumer Credit Act, a law that regulates most types of consumer credit.

SAR = Subject Access Request, a request for information under the Data Protection Act 1998 asking for all information an organisation holds on you.

rsykes2000

SAR = Subject Access Request. See a few posts up for the sample letter.

tomterm8

sangie wrote: »

i have just encountered a similar situation. i was with Barclays bank, due to unpaid direct debits (which were cancelled) my account was closed as they said i owed them £170. This was in 2001 since then i have moved propery and not heard anything until 4 weeks ago i recieved a letter from debt collectors stating that i owed the £799 and they are willing to take it to county court. surely this cannot be allowed

someone pls help? i am unsure whether i can reclaim any of these charges.

Send the above letter by baliffchaser. If they can't find the credit agreement, they can't enforce. In any case, you will be able to reclaim any charges (look at the reclaiming bank charge forum).

"surely this cannot be allowed"

Actually, the Consumer Credit Act 2006 has been enacted in order to solve this problem. From 1 October 2008 Creditors will be required to send debtors notices of any arrears, defaults etc at periods ranging from 6 months to a year; failure to do so will prevent them charging interest. They will also only be able to charge simple interest (i.e. no compound interest).