Debt Collecting Merry-go-round

Anthony Reeves

Description

The Debt Collecting Merry-Go-Round is a very pertinent book for our times. As more people find it difficult to pay debts, the incidences of unfair practices are rising. Many people do not know their rights and how to handle debt collectors who use harassment and unfair practices. This book spells out those rights in a very clear manner. This second edition includes a discussion of recent cases involving the Protection from Harassment Act 1997, such as the case of Roberts v Bank of Scotland (2013).

Informations

• Publié par: Straightforward Publishing
• Date de parution: 31 octobre 2014
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781847165077
• Langue: English

Extrait

THE DEBT COLLECTING
MERRY-GO-ROUND
HOW TO DEAL WITH HARASSMENT
FROM DEBT COLLECTORS
Anthony Reeves
Emerald Publishing
www.emeraldpublishing.co.uk
Emerald Publishing
Anthony Reeves 2011 First Edition
Anthony Reeves 2014 Second Edition
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in a retrieval system or transmitted by any means, electronic or mechanical, photocopying or other wise, without the prior permission of the copyright holder.
British Cataloguing in Publication data. A catalogue record is available for this book from the British Library.
ISBN
978-1-84716-463-6
eISBN
978-1-84716-507-7
Printed in the United Kingdom by Grosvenor Group London
Cover Photo: Merry-go-Round CCby-SA 2.0 Quinet
Cover Design: Eyeball Media Publications, Devizes.
Whilst every effort has been made to ensure that the information in this book is accurate at the time of going to print, the author and publisher recognise that the information can become out of date. The book is therefore sold on the understanding that no responsibility for errors and omissions is assumed and no responsibility is held for the information held within.
THE DEBT COLLECTING MERRY-GO-ROUND CONTENTS:
Introduction
Chapter 1. What is the Debt-Collecting Merry-Go-Round?
Chapter 2. What Laws Can Assist the Harassed Debtor?
Chapter 3. Debt Collectors and their Lack of Powers
Chapter 4. Practical Advice to Deal With Harassment
Chapter 5. Taking Legal Action to stop Harassment
Chapter 6. What remedies can the court award for harassment?
Chapter 7. What Will Stop the Merry-Go-Round?
Appendix 1. Court Forms
Appendix 2. Legal cases
INDEX
Introduction
When I began doing debt recovery work in the late 1990s I did not think I would be sitting down a decade later and writing a book about the practices of some debt collectors and large organisations. It is very easy to think - without further consideration - that I have crossed the divide from being an assertive debt collector, once known as Mr Nasty, to a lawyer who has gone soft and is helping people avoid paying what they owe. Such a view is not correct; I have always engaged in a no nonsense approach to debt collecting and any associated litigation. Perhaps, in the past, I would have been rather more robust in my telephone contact with debtors who had the money but simply refused to pay, but we are living in a different world now and there is greater regulation as to what is acceptable and what is not.
The key difference between my methods, and those adopted by others, is that when I am presented with a genuine dispute, or the individual is not going to pay, I am inclined to consider a method of resolving the dispute; however, if that is not appropriate then court action is likely to be the next step rather than engage in further pressurising contact which might be pointless and has the potential to cross the line into harassment. In the old days , I always felt that one had a limited opportunity of making a point to a debtor when contact was established. One had to create the necessary impact when making contact (and this I endeavoured to do) but, also, because the opportunity may not arise again as it was unreasonable to repeatedly contact the debtor when there was no genuine reason or no significant change in the situation from when they were last contacted. If I was told that they did not want contact from me then I respected that and realised that the time to make the decision, as to whether or not to issue court action, had come.
As a matter of course, you would attempt direct communication with the debtor but, once you have tried all the various telephone and written techniques to recover the money, and they are refusing to consider Alternative Dispute Resolution - such as mediation, then court action is an option unless you decide that the debt is not worth pursuing. However, there has been a trend away from following proper procedure, followed by court action, towards continually haranguing a debtor until the coercion succeeds in obtaining payment.
I have no sympathy for a debtor who knows he or she owes the money being claimed and has the means to pay. Neither do I have sympathy for a debtor who wastes the court time in defending a claim on unreasonable grounds. However, where there is a genuine dispute I am against the tactic of using - what can only be described as - harassment to obtain payment. The form of pressure is like a Chinese water torture with that constant drip feed of contact. Once the creditor has sent its entire repertoire of threatening letters and nasty telephone calls, it usually passes the matter to a debt collection company to go through the same cycle. When that fails, often another debt collection company will start the whole process again. This debt-collecting merry-go-round spins round and round until either a debtor succumbs to the pressure and pays or takes action to stop it. Those taking action to stop the harassment had often been small in number, perhaps thinking they could not take on the might of the big utility company or bank. This is changing and individuals are realising that they do not have to put up with the bullying. Thankfully, there are still individuals who are prepared to stand up against big business and achieve what is fair and just. Lord Jacob opened his Judgment in Ferguson v. British Gas by stating:
lt is one of the glories of this country that every now and then one of its citizens is prepared to take a stand against the big battalions of government or industry
This book is not a guide to avoid paying your dues, but hopefully a clear and practical guide to those who are facing the mechanical debt collecting machine of some large organisations; the majority of whom seem to be utility companies and banks. I do not advocate this as being an avenue for people to make a fast buck at the expense of companies whose public profile has not been good in recent years. Instead, it is a guide to what is happening in the real world of debt collecting and what can be done by the ordinary person if caught up in the merry-go-round.
There is an analysis of the various pieces of legislation that has developed to protect the individual from unfair practice. As well as the Guidelines from the new Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which has taken over the issuing of consumer credit licences to debt collectors from - the now defunct-Office of Fair Trading (OFT), consideration is given to the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 ( PFHA 1997 ) which, although originally designed to repel stalkers, is now being used to restrain unreasonable intrusion from debt collectors. The important cases such as Roberts v. Bank of Scotland (2013) and Ferguson v British Gas (2009) are examined and the full text of these Judgments are set out in Appendix 2.
There is practical guidance on what can be done to stop harassment or unfair practice. It is hoped that action taken at an early stage will be sufficient to end the unwanted or unnecessary actions of debt collectors. When it is possible to resolve the matter in other ways they should be pursued first. It is only as a last resort that court action should be contemplated. I do not want to be seen as encouraging people to have a pop at banks or utility companies where it is not justified in order to seek compensation. Hopefully by reading the relevant case contained in this book it will be seen that something has to be pretty serious before it can be regarded as harassment.
Since the first edition, there has been the introduction of the provisions in the Tribunal Courts and Enforcement Act 2007 that make changes to bailiff law. However, I intentionally do not consider in great detail the actions of a bailiff; there are some individuals who hold the view that every action taken by a bailiff is illegal and unreasonable. Of course there are some bailiffs who do not behave in the way they should; the so called bad apples as there are in every walk of life. The new provisions in the 2007 Act are designed in part to tackle bailiff behaviour.
Some prefer to not pay a small debt or fine so that they can engage in legal combat with the bailiff. I often think that in many of these situations, the debtor has had plenty of opportunities to challenge the fine or debt well before the bailiff comes knocking. Also, if an individual is in financial difficulty, there would normally have been the chance to seek debt advice well before the bailiff arrives.
Although the majority of the book looks at unfair practice and harassment, consideration is given to what have driven some organisations to resort to such practices. There is a fair amount of sympathy for creditors in the current climate. It is becoming increasingly difficult to collect debts as the court system is struggling to function effectively through under funding and the court s customer is paying considerably more in court fees for what can be an ineffective method of collecting debts. Little wonder that some have given up on the court system. The ways to reduce the harassment of debtors are explored and the answer seems to be that the courts need to provide an efficient and effective means of recovering money.
Much of the book relies on case studies; I believe that this is an effective way to express legal issues rather than simply set out the relevant law. The reader might be able to identify with the types of scenarios used in these examples. Although they are based on real cases, I should emphasize that none of the case examples are intended to refer to, or comment upon, any real case that may have happened.
Anthony Reeves
September 2014
Chapter 1
What is the Debt-Collecting Merry-Go Round?
There has been a growing tendency in recent years for organisations, especially banks and large utility companies, to subscribe to the debt-collecting merry-go-round . Businesses will understandably want to recover unpaid debts