A DCA Writes

[nastyb]

Re: A DCA Writes

You have to remember a few salient facts when considering DCA's

1). Buy it (the debt) from the OC as cheaply as possible.

2). Sell it to you (the debtor) as expensively as possible

3). Always use standard letters and facsimile signatures where possible, requires a no cost action when dealing with you, also gets rid of 90% of debtors who are frightened into responding to DCA's threats.

4). Do what you can to deal with the other 'akward' 10% you may be able to squeeze something out of them. If not the write off cost is covered by the other 90% in any case!

There should be a move towards legislation which ensures DCA's can only recover money in relation to the amount they paid the OC for the debt NOT the full amount of the debt owing to the OC. My logic behind this?, DCA pays 25% of a £4,000 to accquire it, if he recovers the full amount that is a 400% profit. Do the OFT consider this fair trading?

Over to you....

[cardiac arrest]

Re: A DCA Writes

DCA's...Landlords....Tories.....is there a collective noun ?

[daisy]

Re: A DCA Writes

DCA's are a business, all they care about is how quickly they can make money, their staff must be under a huge amount of pressure to meet targets, although, undoubtedly they are rewarded by bonus payments, therefore, they have no interest in debtors lives and threats of what they could or may do, possibly brings a fast response from a majority of people that have fallen into debt.

I tried very hard to repay my debts after redundancy and in return I was constantly harassed, threatened and lied to.

[SaltnVinegar]

Re: A DCA Writes

First things first:

Lets improve communication between the OC and DCA's.

If a debtor has tried to sort things out with the OC, for example tried to make a payment arrangement, then this frequently is not communicated to the DCA.

If a debtor has fallen into arrears then typically there will have been some contact and reasons for falling into arrears given. These reasons again are frequently not given to the DCA's.

Typically all the DCA's have is an outstanding balance and an address telephone number.

There is no visibility of any effort on the debtors side to try to resolve things, so DCA's automatically assume all debtors are won't pays rather than cannot pays.

This should improve initial communication as a DCA will know what the situation is.

Next, DCA's should stop pretending to be qualified 'debt counselors' and demanding (and I use the word demanding intentionally) that debtors contact them to 'discuss their options'.

Anyone thats been on the end of one of these discussions knows that any assessment of I/E is biased, not to mention the conflict of interest that WILL exist if a DCA is giving debt advice and trying to collect a debt at the same time.

Consequently I think all DCA's should be referring people they are contacting to the free impartial debt charities. This should be the goal on the first contact, to help a debtor deal with the situation, not try to recover money.

This should then go a long way to sorting the 'can't pays' from the 'won't pays'.

I don't see why (when you consider what is going on in the insurance world) some sort of 'referral system' can exist between DCA's and people like CAB, CCCS etc.

A debtor could then give a referral reference number to the debt charity, which could then be used by the DCA to check whether a debtor is trying to sort things out.

Stop the threats, lies, intimidation, harassment, calling people at work, placing dozens of phone calls a day, references to bailiffs etc.

If someone is unable to pay at 9am in the morning, then its highly unlikely that their circumstances will have changed by 3pm that afternoon!

Stop trying to embarrass people by using un-necessary 'tracing activity'. If someone has lived at a house for 15 years, whose details are on the electoral role, the same details that the OC have given the DCA it is completely un-necessary to phone the next door neighbour to try to 'trace' the debtor. We know why they do this - stop it!

If a debtor has sent an I/E sheet which clearly demonstrates what they are able to pay, then accept the offer and stop the stupid letters.

Stop transferring accounts between dozens of DCA's (round the houses), if the first 2 or 3 DCA's were unable to collect the debt then the next 6 are not going to be able to either!

Give people some breathing space - if someone asks for 3 months to get back on their feet then give them that breathing space!

If they are unable to pay anything after this point then things can then be escalated.

I could go on and on as you may have noticed!

What the DCA's do not understand is that the majority of people want ti repay their debt, but has to be at a rate they can afford.

Unfortunately the bonus/target related culture of DCA's is at odds with what people are able to afford, so people are then generally bullied into making payments that are unrealistic, and, ultimately will fail.

I've been there got the t-shirt, as has almost everyone on AAD. I tried to do the 'right thing'. I rang all my creditors to try to come to an agreement that was realistic and sustainable.

In return I was treated like brown sticky stuff, subjected to extreme abuse, harrassment and intimidation, was lied to, had information given to my children, the list is endless.

And DCA's want to know how to improve their communication?

Simple answer for them is this:

Imagine a scenario where your company went bust, and you were all made redundant. You want to sort things out. Ask yourself:

You would YOU want to be treated?

That would be a good start

[SXGuy]

Re: A DCA Writes

I was in a very similar position. I was quite happy paying a DMP until one DCA got nasty. I then thought 'stuff this' and like you trawled the net. Now they get nowt.

You are not wrong, the only reason i found this forum, was because of 1 DCA being agressive from the first letter, threatening order of sale and CCJ without even inviting us to offer a repayment.

This all happend after an agreement by the bank for a payment arrangement.

It was only after that threat that it got us on the defensive and requested a copy of the CCA straight away so it put them in a position to back up their threat.

If their first letter said "we have bought your debt, we note you have an arrangement with the OC, kindly telephone us to discuss your situation" its very very likely, we would never have searched the net for CCA Request Templates, and id never have discovered AAD.

So thats a clear example, of how a DCA can conduct themselves better to acheive a reasonable outcome.

[cardiac arrest]

Re: A DCA Writes

I don't think there is a cat in hells chance of getting DCA's to do anything voluntarily , it has to come down to Regulation.

Certain phrases and words should be made illegal
There should be a standard set of template letters agreed by a Regulator which they ALL have to use to remain licensed. These letters could be 'scaled' 1 to 10 say, and clearly state what scale you are on prior to Court action for example. They should all have the same headings and wording and coding system, so everybody knows what's happening.

Crucially more open and honest communication about the debt, a payment profile, balances and projected payments should be provided to all debtors. Discounts for meeting a years payments, a bit like a no default bonus ! lol..

There has to be give and take for trust to be had here, everyone knows the debts are bought for peanuts...the DCA's should offer reduced balance deals to and incentives rather than just use the stick.

To reach out to people who want to pay, will pay..there has to be some sort of reward, as I've said, some share of the 'profit', that might engender some trust between the parties maybe. Like if you owe £2,000 they could say pay x amount for y years and you'll get 20% discount...?

Trouble is, DCA's reputations are in tatters, and will never ever be repaired.

I agree with whoever said the OC should carry the debt for it's lifetime, only that way will they introduce responsible lending.

This 'market in misery' must end.

[oldyboy]

Re: A DCA Writes

I was perfectly happy paying all of my 23 creditors on a DMP for two years and saw it as an interest free loan. But that all changed when I got served with a county court summons by the Lewis Group one Christmas Eve and I searched the net for help. As a result I haven't paid a penny to any of my creditors since 2010.

Thanks AAD

I was in a very similar position. I was quite happy paying a DMP until one DCA got nasty. I then thought 'stuff this' and like you trawled the net. Now they get nowt.

[SA Gold]

Re: A DCA Writes

When people complain about the way they've been treated the banks can just say they had no idea xyz DCA was acting that way when they decided to assign the debt to them.

So true! Outsource and pretend they don't know what's going on.

[SA Gold]

Re: A DCA Writes

Its a game of figures to them not personal as it is to us.

Agreed. It's just another debt to chase. Individual circumstances don't appear to be taken in to consideration. Even in the small amount of cases where they are taken in to consideration; it's only after considerable time, effort and distress - just like Clueless24's case.
Why does it take so long for these things to be spotted? Is it because they have Daleks dealing with these requests, or there is simply no process for dealing with something outside the agreement?
I believe it all boils down to cost -what's cheaper; selling a debt which they know is unlikely to be recovered in full, if at all to a company that wear patches and walk the plank when they don't recover or employ people to deal with things on an amicable basis?

The OC should be forced to deal with the debts and the secondary market should be banned.

Yep. Stop these bullies full stop.

They dont know the history so just bug the life out of posters but eventually work out what the previous DCA has worked out and returns it back to the OC.

Yep, its all based on a "try your luck" basis. Send red letters and threaten to turn up and see what the response it.

[ken100464]

Re: A DCA Writes

FP

Totally agree.

There is a thread about Sainsburys Bank knocking about just now.

For me alot is about Sainsburys image as the cuddly Jamie Oliver type supermarket.

They dont want to be seen shafting their customers. But they are.

[helmsman]

Re: A DCA Writes

when we fall on hard times the OC should take this on board and see how the debtor has tried to repay, when it gets to the point you are trying to pay but because of % charges the debt keeps increasing, thats when despair comes in, untill of course we find AAD.

[PlanB]

Re: A DCA Writes

Maybe like everyone has said if they hadnt pushed us into fighting back by being so aggressive we would all still be paying. Who knows.
.

I was perfectly happy paying all of my 23 creditors on a DMP for two years and saw it as an interest free loan. But that all changed when I got served with a county court summons by the Lewis Group one Christmas Eve and I searched the net for help. As a result I haven't paid a penny to any of my creditors since 2010.

Thanks AAD

[ken100464]

Re: A DCA Writes

Just look at what goes on here.

You have an UE account in dispute.

The OC keeps on farming it out and the DCA's do what they are good (or bad) at.

They dont know the history so just bug the life out of posters but eventually work out what the previous DCA has worked out and returns it back to the OC.

And what have the OC been doing in the meantime. Nothing because they know the dispute and what it is but have done nothing to rectify it. Thats if they could.

Why doesnt the OC admit they have problems and try and reach a proper F & F with you to close the account down. Because the industry is greedy.

[ken100464]

Re: A DCA Writes

Think the real problem here is the DCA's are here to do the OC's dirty work.

If the debtor was paying what the OC deems as reasonable then they tend not to farm out. Why would they.

Its only when there is a problem they get someone else to attempt to get the dosh.

For every person on here or CAG or LB or MSE or even on the net you can bet there are hundreds out there who are not and roll over at the first red letter or doorstep threat.

So the system for DCA's works and gets them results. Every so often they come across someone who is clued up and they are not quick enough to realise this.

Now what they want to know is how do they get to the ones who know they are threats.

Maybe like everyone has said if they hadnt pushed us into fighting back by being so aggressive we would all still be paying. Who knows.

But that would mean the headline figure of collections would be lower than say the next door DCA who still threatens. They lose the likes of people on here but get more back from the fightened masses.

Its a game of figures to them not personal as it is to us.

I would suggest being nicer and learn more about the debt. But that would probably lead to less collection and cost the DCA more. Thats flawed because the DCA will not get the work if the money aint rolling in.

Kilasuit has it bang on. The OC should be forced to deal with the debts and the secondary market should be banned.

But put that to the DCA's and it would be like turkeys voting for xmas.

[PlanB]

Re: A DCA Writes

The DCA Lewis' approach is why communicate when you can litigate.

On their website they boast: "we believe litigation is an underused tool . . . but we at the Lewis Group make full use of it. We work closely with CCBC in Northampton and our on-site solicitors issue around 2,000 actions a week".

http://www.lewisgroup.co.uk/services...ion/index.html

How's that for positive communicating. Over 100,000 county court summons issued online by Howard Cohen each year after typically just one Welcome letter from a DCA headed FINAL DEMAND.