Removal of money without permission!

aliwatts

Hi I need a bit of advice?

A friend of mine has a bank loan which he hasnt paid for a while and has been passed to a debt collection company. He has written to them to make arrangements to pay and explained his situation.

He had a small amount of money put into his bank a/c from a friend to help him and the debt collection company removed it without prior permission or authority.

Can they do this? Where does he stand legally?

Thanks for any help given.

Burlesque_Babe

How did they do this ? Did they have his bank details? Unless he has signed a Direct debit mandate I can't see how they would have authority?

aliwatts

They must have got his bank details from the loan company but still he hasnt signed anything with debt collection company direct?

fermi

Yep. Doesn't make sense unless they have already given the collectors a direct debit mandate or debit card details.

The other thing to ask is:

Is the loan they are not paying with the same company/bank as the bank account?

emmy05

he didnt give any permission at all over the phone to them? cos i didnt think anyone is allowed to pass on any bank details of someone elses, unless he wrote in his letter maybe?

TakeittotheLimit.

Banks are allowed to offset money in accounts to pay any debts you might owe(not sure a DCA can though,unless they are maybe `in house` collection agencys?)
Thats why you should change your bank account to somebody you don`t owe anything to,also never give a DCA your Debit Card details or let them set up a Direct Debit,use Standing Orders instead or get the scrotes to send you a payment book.

fermi

TakeittotheLimit. wrote: »

Banks are allowed to offset money in accounts to pay any debts you might owe(not sure a DCA can though,unless they are maybe `in house` collection agencys?)

That is one of the things I was beginning to suspect.

aliwatts

The bank loan is with Halifax and the DCA is EOS solutions, does anyone know if these are inhouse? He hasnt given them any authority at all, either on phone or direct debit!

can anyone give me a link to a website where I might find out if its legal or not?

TakeittotheLimit.

No they are NOT in house.

EOS are used by Halifax but they don`t usually use them straight off they usually use Blair OLiverHardy and Scott(who arn`t that bad really)they are usually used for bad debtors as they are a real piece of nasty scum and like to bully and harrass people and use very underhand methods(so it doesn`t surprise me that they have pinched your friends money.)

Maybe thats why they are always using different names,they came under the Logic group and also have used the moniker Collection Agencies,it`s either a tax fiddle or they`ve had that many complaints that they keep changing it to keep OFT off the case!

aliwatts

Can they do what they have done? Taking money without authority or can we complain?

maninthestreet

You say the bank loan is with Halifax, but what bank is the bank account with - Halifax as well?