Warning and advice about LCS Utility Investigation Civil Enforcement Debt Recoveries

LizzWright88 · 23 June 2017 at 8:05PM

Exactly the same happened to me today! Did you ignore them?

fatbelly · 23 June 2017 at 8:45PM

LizzWright88 wrote: »

I just want peace of mind to know I should 100% ignore them? The calls were from Scarborough by the way.

Any info would be great thanks.

They do have a call centre in Scarborough.

It appears to have a high turnover of staff. Some comments from ex-employees:

Horrible. The jobs boring, complicated and the wages are poor and the company expect you to learn everything about the job after a weeks crash training course and like to turn around and say "we've put a lot of time and effort into training you and we're not really seeing it' if you make a slight mistake. The job is often advertised, the staff turn over is high and most of the people that I started with left the company within 3 weeks

Start with a two weeks training crash course and then on to the job which is terrible. 1st Locate is a harder job than it needs to be and the wages are shocking. One of the first things said to me in training was "80% of people leave their job as a result of not liking their employer", the trainer who said this has now left the company.

Not good. I remember in training the instructor accidently mentioned that a lot of people here don't last long. I can see why. Works overly complicated, management are horrible and the money is so poor its ridicules. Wouldn't recommend this company to anybody.

Started in a group of 10/12 people and a few weeks later there was hardly anyone left. The jobs dire and the company has an overly complicated way of conducting themselves. A small company but has a very high turnover of staff and the job of Tracer/Debt Recovery Agent is always advertised.

Poorly managed from the start and has continued to remain poorly managed due to senior members of staff leaving the company and being replaced with younger staff members who have not got a clue what they are doing half the time. This job is suited to a college leaver/student/ someone going back to work after a gap of employment or who hasn't got a clue what they want to do in life. Not much progression at the company and salary is not worth the time you spend there being abused by the public on the phone and for the hard work and effort you put in daily that goes unoticed. Late shift times are silly 12pm until 8pm without a break after 5pm.
If you are "caught" leaving your desk after 5pm you may be subject to disciplinary action. Poor Training. Childish behaviours from the majority of the staff members and team leaders. Overall a very immature and difficult company to work for.

You've been contacted by 'tracing'. That involves finding some name and address with a tenuous connection to the original debtor.

They should really be shut down.

Chilliflavour · 29 July 2017 at 7:14PM

Hi. Just registered to say that today I received one the LCS utility investigation letters FAO the occupier / landlord, asking for my name, date of occupancy, name of previous occupier if known etc. The same type of letter as mentioned many times in this thread.

We bought this house just over 3 years ago and I know it was a rented property prior to that so I suspect one of the previous tenants or the landlord owes something as 100% sure it's nothing to do with me.

First result in a Google search of LCS turned up this thread so just wanted to say thanks to all for the advice. I won't be responding to the letter in any way! Given the experiences of others in this thread I expect a barrage of letters in the upcoming weeks and I will keep you updated if that turns out to be the case.

Mr.Boy · 8 August 2017 at 2:25PM

I found this thread as the first result when searching for "0344 5439084", following texts "Please contact LCS regarding your British Gas account".
I've started getting these texts about once a week and have had one phone call (voicemail) from them, the last couple of months.

I am a BG customer and recently moved house, transferring my account with me and payments are being made. The previous owner of this house did not have BG as their provider (SSE) so I'm a little confused where they've got the idea I or a previous owner owe BG money, since there have been no letters from BG.

Should I just block the number?

magsdonaldson · 11 August 2017 at 2:21PM

I have had a similar situation with this company and an outstanding debt with Scottish Gas. This debt of £36.39 is not ours as we had already moved from the premises over the period.

In short, after sending all details, no less than three times, clearly showing that we were not responsible for this debt - and also providing details of the liable new owner - LCS continue to act as if we have had no communication with them at all.

We have made a formal complaint about this harassment to the energy ombudsman who are now acting on the matter on our behalf. We will have no more contact with LCS.

But I will keep the forum posted re the eventual outcome. If we ever get one!

fatbelly · 11 August 2017 at 8:34PM

magsdonaldson wrote: »

I have had a similar situation with this company and an outstanding debt with Scottish Gas. This debt of £36.39 is not ours as we had already moved from the premises over the period.

In short, after sending all details, no less than three times, clearly showing that we were not responsible for this debt - and also providing details of the liable new owner - LCS continue to act as if we have had no communication with them at all.

We have made a formal complaint about this harassment to the energy ombudsman who are now acting on the matter on our behalf. We will have no more contact with LCS.

But I will keep the forum posted re the eventual outcome. If we ever get one!

Given the discussion elsewhere on this forum at the moment I would suggest you complain to LCS, their 'trade body' the Credit Services Association and then report the result to the FCA.

https://www.firstnow.co.uk/dispute

http://www.csa-uk.com/assets/documents/forms/csa_complaint_form.pdf

consumer.queries@fca.org.uk

See also my post #262 referring to OFT & FCA requirements

norsefox · 11 August 2017 at 10:24PM

Not sure I've been contacted by LCS but I have had British Gas somehow manage to pass on my details to three separate collection agencies in the past 24 months.

Each time they've had my correct name and most of my address. Problem is the address is for my building and not my specific flat.

More importantly I'd never had an account with British Gas. I've threatened BG with a report to their ombudsman for harassment at the third referral and stated that I'd invoice them £20 for every hour of my time I spent dealing with these stupid requests + a nominal amount for every call/letter etc.

Seems that BG and a few of the other energy companies have no clue what on earth they are doing.

magsdonaldson · 13 August 2017 at 1:23PM

Thanks for that Fatbelly

EveUK · 22 August 2017 at 3:05PM

Thanks for this - I got one out of the extreme blue - checked with Google - found you. Now have reported them for phishing to my gmail account and blocked them. People - beware. Thanks again.

sabinamay · 3 September 2017 at 8:57PM

My daughter has received a letter from LCS saying they have been instructed to collect £4 thousand pounds from HMRC for an overpayment supposedly made to her in 2013. she has not received any other correspondance from HMRC in respect of this (nor does she think she owes it) they have given her 1 week to sort it out before they come to collect the payment ? anyone else had one like this? surely if this were the case HMRC would have asked for it first ? her employer phoned them on her behalf and said he thought it was a scam but they just replied that she had 1 week to respond. any advice please (I have said to ignore it and see what happens).

Warning and advice about LCS Utility Investigation Civil Enforcement Debt Recoveries

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