Debt collector nonsense – Get your time at £19 per hour

Debt collector nonsense – Get your time at £19 per hour

8:07 AM, 18th July 2019, About 5 years ago 3

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II was recently speaking to a Debt Collector. He was a nice chap, but there was one flaw. The Debt Collector had not put the subject property on the letter and I did not have a clue which address it was. He was pursuing a Utility Bill.

I asked him which property it was and he said “I am not allowed to tell you”. I said “look you have asked me to telephone and discuss the alleged debt. How am I meant to do that if you will not tell me the address? “You have a point” he said.

“If you sue me in the County Court for the debt in your Particulars of Claim you will have to tell me the property! If you don’t then the District Judge will throw it out for lack of particularisation.”

I asked for a SAR report. That is a Subject Access Report to you and I and I asked for a recording of the telephone call. The SAR arrived and sure enough I had the address!

Now I am certain that just about every landlord has had this. It takes up time. You can now sue for a loss of time. Keep as Record in a diary format. It is best to do it on a time spreadsheet. You can get your time paid at £19 per hour! That is the High Court Rate for Litigants in Person.

If they start Demanding Money and saying they will report you to a Credit Reference Agency then I suggest you point out it is Demanding Money with Menaces. In England and Wales this offence is created by section 21(1) of the Theft Act 1968. Further it is an offence under the Theft Act 1968 S15.1 to put a tenant’s bill into the landlord’s name.

If the Debt Collector does not give up then I suggest the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 Section 2. If you do owe the money then pay it! If you do not owe the money then say I Dispute the Debt! They must then “prove” the debt or drop it.

If it goes to Court then the debt collector will have to come to Court to give evidence in my Local Court.

Fergus Wilson


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Comments

Mark Alexander - Founder of Property118

16:34 PM, 18th July 2019, About 5 years ago

I wasn’t aware of some of these laws Fergus, thanks for sharing, I will be looking into what you’ve suggested. It’s not on my high priority list though, because bad debts are something I rarely have a problem with, perhaps because I reference all tenants to RGI acceptance level and purchase the insurance.

Kay Landlord

8:20 AM, 19th July 2019, About 5 years ago

I’ve had this issue with Lowell over tenants’s unpaid utility bills and they demanded my date of birth before they would discuss the property addresses. I refused of course. Brilliant points Fergus and thank you for sharing.
Last year, i sued a well know bailiff for my time but I justified the hourly rate at 65.00 as that’s what I’m worth. I also included in my demand to them, late payment fees of £35 per month as they took 4 months to return an overpayment. They enjoy the benefit of enforcement fees so we should have the right to charge them

Rob Crawford

13:48 PM, 19th July 2019, About 5 years ago

Some good points here. I am regularly in receipt of debt claims and it's like banging your head against a brick wall trying to get more info when all you hear is, "we can't discuss that because of GDPR".

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