Letters sent out with the purpose of collecting unpaid Tyne Tunnel toll fines from debt collectors have been branded potentially 'threatening or misleading' according to a debt collection trade body.
Concerns have been raised about the "language used" in the letters which are sent out by third-party agencies, with some threatening legal action. And one local source - who wishes to remain unnamed - decided to take examples of the letters to trade body CSA (Credit Services Association) to complain about their nature and content.
Correspondence from Tyne Tunnel operators TT2 regarding Unpaid Toll Charge Notices (UTCNs) typically comes from two external debt recovery agencies, in the form of Marston Holdings and the CDER group. The CDER group also in-turn relayed a number of accounts to their sister company titled Court Enforcement Services, but TT2 Limited instructed them to cease doing so a number of months ago.
UTCNs are initially sent out by the tunnel themselves, for users who fail to pay their toll fee at a standard £60 charge plus the initial toll cost. This price is reduced to £30 plus the fee if paid within 14 days of receipt. If it is not paid within 28 days of receipt, it is then passed onto one of these debt recovery agencies at a cost of £100 plus the initial toll charge.
Read more: Tyne Tunnel would have 'significant' queues without cashless toll system after traffic levels surge
In an initial letter sent in May of this year, the source complained about alleged "misleading use of enforcement language, tactics and threats" to attempt to change the content of the letters.
The CSA then assessed the letters sent out by Marston Holdings and CSE with the upmost scrutiny and found that the debt recovery firms had potentially broken their Code of Policy in their letters.
In their reply to the source, the CSA wrote: "When looking at the Marston letters provided as part of the complaint, whilst in theory a member can state that there can be possible consequences to non-payment of an account, we believe the language used could be considered as misleading and threatening.
"As such this element of the complaint has been upheld. As part of the complaint investigation and process, we will be engaging with Marston to discuss the content of their letter(s)".
They added that it will "set out our expectations regarding the content" of the letter and provide assistance in making "suitable changes".
In regards to Court Enforcement Services, a complaint was made about "the fact that the letter comes addressed from ‘Enforcement Services’ and without a distinction being made that the account was actually for ‘standard’ debt collection and not linked to legal action or enforcement". This element of the complaint was upheld and feedback was also given to Court Enforcement Services on their use of their trading name on communications.
Although the source initially complained about letters sent from CDER also, the CSA do not oversee the agency and therefore couldn't comment on any of their materials.
A spokesperson for the social media group Tyne Tunnel Campaign said in response to the findings: "We repeat our offer and state again that we would love to work with you constructively and collaboratively to make it better for your customers - and indeed make your bottom line better as it costs you money to service all the enquiries that your poor processes generate."
ChronicleLive reached out to both Marston Holdings and Court Enforcement Services - who are a sister group of CDER - as well as TT2 Limited for a response.
Chief Executive at TT2, Philip Smith, said: “Thankfully, the number of people not paying their toll is falling month-on-month and, therefore, the number of debt collection letters being issued is also decreasing. Unpaid Toll Charge Notices as a percentage of journeys made, are down from 5.39% in the first month of open road tolling in November 2021 - to 3.26% in May 2022.
“Only an incredibly small percentage of customers are ever contacted by a debt collection agent in a minority of cases where - despite a number of efforts by TT2 to make contact with individuals at significant cost – the customer has not paid their UTCN. Using debt collection agents gives the customer more time and options to pay, as opposed to taking them straight to court, which can result in a long-term negative impact on their life and financial wellbeing.
“We employ two highly regulated, well respected and experienced debt collection companies - CDER and Marston. We expect these parties to adhere to the appropriate conduct and we are keen to ensure that any debt collection letters issued on our behalf are as clear as possible.
“A customer told us some months ago that - despite the body of one particular letter stating that any enforcement action was not related to court – that they thought having the company name ‘Court Enforcement Services’ at the top of the letter, implied otherwise. We immediately took action and instructed CDER to stop sending letters from its sister company– Court Enforcement Services, to TT2 customers. This took effect from April 2022.
“We take on board any suggestions that the Credit Services Association deem are necessary and will work with CDER and Marstons to make such improvements.”
A Marston Holdings Pamela Mulcahy spokeswoman added: "“While we disagree that the wording of our letters is misleading, as the potential consequences for non-payment we refer to are legitimate, we note the CSA’s position and will review our wording accordingly in consultation with our client.”
A spokesperson from CDER commented: "CDER Group and CES use letters that are standard throughout the debt collection sector and correctly advise the debtor of the possible consequences of non-payment. Following [SIC] initial complaint, whilst CDER Group did not agree that the wording of the letters were threatening or misleading, we undertook a detailed review of the entire outbound letter and communication suite and, as a result, made some minor changes to ensure there could be no misinterpretation by debtors of the potential consequences of non-payment."
"In respect of the outcome of the complaint [SIC] made to the CSA, for CDER Group this only related to a small number of letters issued by Court Enforcement Services (at the request of CDER Group) and these letters are no longer issued to TT2 customers. There is no evidence of any consumer having suffered any detriment due to the wording of the letters sent by CES and CES is working with the CSA to address their concerns which are of a technical nature."
You can find out more about the Tyne Tunnel Campaign, here.
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