A DCA (debt collection agency) is a company that chases up the arrears of accounts that have defaulted. They would either be acting on behalf of the creditor or they would have simply purchased the account. This sale is typically made for a much lower price and yet they would be looking to claim the full original amount (often with added charges). We have now introduced most of the big name debt collection agencies (current count of 35). The type of specialised debts being chased can often vary. Those of interest here collect consumer financial products such as credit cards and loans. Then there are commercial-type debts including businesses and governments.

The Advantis Credit debt collection agency is based in Stoke on Trent and there are just over 200 employees here (150 are situated in their call centre). This DCA was formed in 2004 and soon after in 2005 they followed up with www.advantiscredit.com. This website showcases their available recovery services that caters not just consumer debts, but also arrears that have been made in the commercial sectors. The size of this recovery firm is quite small and they may not currently be one of headlining DCAs, but they have shown impressive growth levels in recent years and the volume of search engine queries in relation to them is continually increasing.

The Arrow Global collection agency carries a rich history that dates back the year 1961. This was as Arrow Financial Services in their home country of America, with this featured firm being their European subsidiary. They have been introduced today due to the owner’s vast experience, but they don’t do a great job of making the payment process easy for anyone who is seeking to pay up. Their website address is www.arrowglobal.net that introduces their services, but there is no payment facility in place that we will come back to later in this post. This US company has of course had plenty of time to master their craft.

Credit Resource Solutions (CRS) is a debt recovery agency that is headed in Elland, West Yorkshire. Their corporate home website is located over at www.creditresourcesolutions.co.uk that was created back in the year 2003. There is a reference that the company was took on by Andrew Calvert in 2004 and so their specific history is unclear and it is not detailed. There is a dedicated customer payment website at www.paycrs.co.uk that will be referenced further below. Credit Resource Solutions are known to chase up both business and consumer debts. Not too many details are disclosed in this regard, but they are known to work alongside utility companies.

The Marston Group will be introduced here that is a division of Marston (Holdings) Ltd. This debt collection agency trades online through the single web property of www.marstongroup.co.uk that they launched in 2008. This company is certainly a large one with over 1200 staff members behind them. This is a commercial debt collector that chases up child support debts, Council Tax arrears and parking fines. Unlike many of their rivals, they choose to disclose who they have forged alliances with. This includes the likes of HMCTS, HMRC, Legal Aid Agency as well as various others. For Council Tax and parking penalties, they have 214 local authority contracts.

This collection agency that is based in Merseyside has received a recent rebrand. Their official name as listed on their CSA page is Jacobs Certificated Bailiffs, however they have generally been known over the years as Jacobs Bailiffs and have operated through www.jacobsbailiffs.co.uk. A recent change has seen them rename as Jacobs Enforcement Agents and they have now setup www.jacobsenforcement.com. The old site is still live, but when you click through the menu selections you are redirected to their new one. Customer payments are taken on a secure domain of the older website at this time, but I can see them eventually removing this.

Newlyn Plc was originally formed as Newlyn Collection Services Ltd back in 1999. They went on to become a public limited company that naturally resulted in them setting up www.newlynplc.co.uk (this was in 2006). This is a central site to deal with visitors on both the corporate and customer side. This website in discussion is currently being updated and so it looks like they are devising a fresh look. They state that you can still make payments if you need to do so. Due to this current state, it is difficult to determine if any major changes have taken place since they were last studied.

Bristow and Sutor is one of the most well known commercial firms across the industry today. This DCA that is fully known as Bristow & Sutor Civil Enforcement collects the arrears of Council Tax, landlord rents, road traffic fees and so on. They are certificated bailiffs and hold a membership place with the CSA. This company that is based in Redditch solely trades online through www.bristowsutor.co.uk that they created back in 1998. They have been trading for much longer than this though with their formation year being 1977 that shows how much experience this enforcement agency carries behind them. Their web popularity is also notably high.

Rossendales was formed in the year 1972 and they started out offering nationwide bailiff and warrant services in these early days. This Enforcement department at www.rossendales.com has 140 clients, but there is a lot of volume here since this includes many popular local authorities. Then there is Rossendales Collect that was setup at www.rossendalescollect.com back in 2004. This is a separate division that was setup to compete with the leading DCAs on the consumer side, although they also promote commercial services here as well. They list having 300 clients on this side. There is a third department although this is merely a training division. They are owned by Marston (Holdings) Ltd.

Equita has always stood clear as one of the premier names in commercial recovery. This popular agency headed in Northampton trades online through www.equita.co.uk that was setup in 1999. They use E PayCapita for payments, but we have referenced their main site today that will be detailed further below. This agency is owned by Capita Plc. Capita who have enjoyed significant growth over the years recently acquired IQor who are a moderately popular collection agency. Equita Ltd has a qualified bailiff team that collects Council Tax arrears, unpaid parking fines etc. The hold CSA membership and this covers all of the required services that they participate in.