Debt Collectors

[lost]

I've looked at all the forms I need to try and recover outstanding rent from an fraudulent agent - does anyone have any experience with debt collectors - I know I will have to pay around 15% but do they work - are they legal?

[Paul_f]

Debt collectors are fine provided that they are established well-known companies. You could of course just go through the small claims court and download the forms & guidance from www.courtservice.gov.uk. Dependent on the amount it shouldn't cost that much and is probably the better course of action, especially if he is still trading!

There are, however, quite a few debt collectors who are anything but genuine. If you can get a copy of last Sunday's Financial Mail supplement from the Mail on Sunday Tony Hetherington highlights one particular partnership/director who operates about 5 companies based in the Manchester/Liverpool area who just rip you off.

[lost]

Thanks. The only problem is that I know that my agent has been here and done this before. The last time someone took him to small claims court the landlord won. The agent was ordered to pay costs and had bailiffs on his door but there was not much recovered.

Does anyone know a good debt collector or any bad ones that I should avoid? How can I tell if they are good or not? Is there a registered body that they should belong to ?

[mjpl]

We use a company called Daniel Silverman but their costs mount up considerably for court action that needs to be taken. I have to agree with Paul go for the small claims and then apply for bailliffs.

How much money are we talking about as this will change the action you need to take.

[lost]

The amount was £1500 - the reason I didn't feel small claims would be successful is that in one of their leaflets they mention the fact that if someonelse has tried to recover money from this agent and has been unsuccessful the likelyhood of my success was low.

I think I'll probably go through small claims anyway.

Thanks