Help, Debt Collections for football team.

ste_86

Hi all,
I played for a local 6 a-side team and we stopped playing last year, i managed the team for around 9 months but due to the constant struggle of shift work etc we had to fold, i have recently recieved a letter from Icon Collections LTD for a fee of £186 stating;

We have been instructed by football mundial to commence formal debt recover against you.

TAKE NOTICE

There will be no further reminders sent to you or any opportunities for you to delay this payment any longer.

Should you wish to avoid a COURT SUMMONS being served on you,
payment must be made in full within the next three working days using the pre-paid envelope enclosed.
Alternatively we accept all major credit and debit cards.

We are advised you have been previously furnished with full details of our clients claim
however please telephone our offices immediately should this not be the case
and we shall endeavour to resolve and queries you may have.

Please note that our client has consented to legal action and therefore any litigation issued against you may
result in your credit rating being adversely affected.

I have began my reply;

To Whom It May Concern,

I am writing in regard to the correspondence I received on 4th March 2016 from Icon Collections International LTD, requesting a debt payment of £186.00.

I rang Football Mundial on 29th February 2016 and spoke to Gillian from finance after receiving a letter from Football Mundial stating I owed missed match fees, I explained to Gillian that the team I played with had given ample notice last year that we were leaving the football league and I was not informed at this point of any missed payments, assuming we were in credit as each week we would over pay.

When playing football under Football Mundial’s league I complained numerous times about the league representative, Tom, due to games being played on a Monday I would inform Tom the Friday before whether or not we had a team to play, Tom would often say ring me back on Monday or that he would arrange extra players to play, whom didn’t turn up on the evening.

I spoke to Tom on the phone regarding a change of manager for the team, as I could no longer play, Tom was given full details of the new manager and said he would contact the person to arrange the transfer of responsibility. I have been informed that the team stopped playing at Football Mundial.

Numerous weeks I complained to Tom about the organization of the league and also spoke to member of the management team when Tom was on annual leave, the referee arranged by Football Mundial was aware of the poor service being given and himself said that he struggles each week to communicate with the league representative. As a team we always overpaid and the referee was well aware of this as we wanted to make up the amount when one or two players hadn’t turned up, I was also told by the referee that our balance was in credit from this.

I am extremely frustrated, as I have always tried to contact the league in good time if we couldn’t play and as stated earlier in the letter I also informed Tom that we were leaving the league with ample notice.

I have no knowledge of any such debt being owed to Football Mundial and was not informed of this when I spoke to the league office on the phone when leaving the football team.

I am familiar with the Financial Conduct Authority's (FCA) Consumer Credit sourcebook which states the following.

"A firm must suspend any steps it takes or its agent takes in the recovery of a debt from a customer where the customer disputes the debt on valid grounds or what may be valid grounds." 7.14.1

"Where a customer disputes a debt on valid grounds or what may be valid grounds, the firm must investigate the dispute and provide details of the debt to the customer in a timely manner." 7.14.3

If you do not stop collection activity whilst investigating my dispute, you are breaking FCA rules and guidance.

Also, ignoring claims that debts have been settled or are disputed and continuing to make unjustified demands for payment is harassment.

Please do not make any further contact about the above accounts unless you can provide evidence of my liability for the debt.

I await your written confirmation that this matter is now closed. Otherwise I will have no option but to make a complaint to my local trading standards service and consider informing the FCA of your actions.


Yours faithfully


any advice would be much appreciated as i am really mad.

sourcrates

Hi,


Its a typical "pay up or else" standard DCA theatogram you have received.
Your response seems good to me, but as the DCA is only acting for the client, they cant do anything without the clients say so, so its a lot of hot air basically, hoping you'll pay up quickly and quietly.


I would CC a copy of this to the client as well, In situations such as this, the DCA is like a toothless tiger, roars a lot, but has no bite, you could ignore the DCA and deal directly with the client if you so wished, but sending them a copy of this will probably make them go away, with there tail between there legs !!!

ste_86

Thanks for the reply it is much appreciated, I have found my original email as a complaint in January 2015 so have added this in, I will print it tonight at work and send both a copy, fingers crossed!

National_Debtline

Hi ste_86


I can vouch from personal experience that many of these 6-a-side football operators leave a lot to be desired when it comes to the administrative side of things. Your letter looks very comprehensive at this stage. As sourcrates suggests, the collector's aim is often to browbeat you into offering payment rather than maintaining any dispute you may have. They will need to decide whether it makes sense to continue threatening further action in the face of the points you have raised.


Obviously you should continue to keep a log of all correspondence with this company and their representatives.


Good luck


Dennis
@natdebtline