DCA (Debt Collection Agency) Coverage Details
Visitors here would be more aware of those competing on the consumer side since these are the guys that many of the featured lenders on this site will pass or sell their defaulted accounts on to. When loan repayments have been missed, the switch of contract can go ahead quickly. Since the agreement is unsecured and the amounts are typically of low value, it wouldn’t make much sense for the lender to spend lots of time and money going down the legal recovery route. Most send several emails (at the time adding on charges) and soon enough they will give up and this is when the DCA will step in.
These are naturally more aggressive in nature and you can soon be receiving letters, phone calls and even home visits. It should be noted though that most of these agencies have limited powers. As noted, 35 DCAs have been profiled here that includes most of the established names and industry newcomers. Within each introduction post, we typically reference the customer payment site and their contact numbers if you need to pay them. This is recommended since it will allow you to clean up your credit profile that would be damaged when you fell behind. We also usually make a reference to market share and CSA membership (if this is held).
For market share, we have took the data from one of the top debt management companies who openly share where all of their customer accounts are taken on by. This is just one data source, but from additional research these rankings do reflect the market accurately. We did leave out any companies that didn’t have a website (these are often internal agencies collecting for banks). Regarding the top DCAs, Moorcroft was ranked #1 and they had almost double the volume of accounts than Lowell at #2. We then had #3 Blair Oliver and Scott, #4 Wescot, #5 Fredrickson, #6 BCW, #7 Capquest, #8 Cabot, #9 1st Credit and finally #10 NDR.
Lowell of course now owns Fredrickson and there has been various other major acquisition deals in the industry that we may discuss in further detail at a later date. The only company missed out here was CK Edrupt and Co Solicitors who have no online presence. A few of those that did rank within the top 10 do actively focus on loan defaults. Outside of them, two notable DCAs that are known to work with payday lenders are Mackenzie Hall and Motormile. These aren’t challenging the big names, but they are popular. The prominent commercial firms ranked low in the list, but there is less volume to go after in this sector.
The big 5 here as they were ranked were Equita, Rossendales, Bristow and Sutor, Newlyn and Jacobs. Other than these rankings, a reference is made regarding CSA membership. This is the primary trade association for the debt collection industry. Most DCAs are members, although the qualified services as shown on their member pages do tend to vary. Whilst some may be listed under just Consumer Debt Collection, others may for instance be listed under Bailiff & Process Serving, Court Action, Debt Purchase, Repossessions etc. These are known to aggressively chase debtors and are commonly involved in commercial markets. It is important to settle defaults to improve your score.
Whether you have to deal with the collection agency or the creditor isn’t that important so long as you can get your profile updated. I would advise receiving confirmation that they can do this for you before making any such payments. This process will be detailed further at a later date. It is important to note anyway that CCJs, defaults etc will remain visible on your record for 7 years and so it can take time to completely fix past problems. Within the next few posts we will be providing introductions for the various credit reports available. These are important to receive if you are looking to start repairing the damage.
