Domestic and General missed payment + debt collection letter

ry91

I booked a repair for my Hotpoint dishwasher several months ago through Hotpoint customer service. They advised me to purchase a monthly payment plan for a protection plan through them (provided by Domestic and General) which worked out as a bit more than £100. I was told that in the case that the appliance could not be repaired, there would be no fee to pay and the protection plan would be cancelled.

The engineer came over and decided quite quickly that the dishwasher could not be repaired. I phoned Hotpoint customer service and informed them of that, and they assured me that they would cancel the protection plan and that I didn't need to do anything else. I binned the old dishwasher, bought a more reliable one and thought that was the end of that.

Today I received a letter from Domestic and General saying I missed a payment on my protection plan for my Hotpoint dishwasher and that my debt of £100 had been passed to a debt collecting company (Arc Europe Ltd) and that I should pay them quickly before they add the administrative charge of £30 on top of that. What do I do? I never received any correspondence from Domestic and General about a protection plan or any missed payments or anything like that.

MalMonroe

If it were me, I'd phone Hotpoint and tell them what has happened and that you appear to have been misled by their customer service department because someone has passed your non-existent 'debt' along to Arc Europe Ltd. who are now chasing you for money that is not owing.

Then I'd phone D&G and ask them what on earth they are playing at, demanding money when no plan is in place.

Did you actually receive any written agreement or plan from Hotpoint or D&G?

I wouldn't be harassed or pushed into paying anything to anybody. If Arc Europe Ltd do actually write to you, then you can write back to them and say that Hotpoint and D&G have their wires crossed and that you don't have a plan and you don't owe anyone anything.  But anyway, if D&G have passed the 'debt' to Arc Europe, then it's not up to D&G to now chase you or tell you that you are going to be chased. That is most unprofessional.

I don't understand why the cost of any plan was £100 anyway - what kind of plan was it? The usual monthly cost is nowhere near that amount. I had a plan with D&G once and it was £12 per month for three appliances. And when I phoned to cancel my plan it was NOT easy!

If all else fails you can appeal to the Financial Ombudsman, as per this link -

https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/businesses/complaints-deal/consumer-credit/debt-collection

But I'd just start off with those two phone calls in the first instance.