Not upheld: Debt collection practices complaint against NCO Europe Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Miss T complained that NCO Europe Limited improperly contacted her about a very old debt (approximately 20 years old) without verifying the data, refused to delete her data, and failed to provide a full Subject Access Request. NCO did not uphold any of the complaints. The ombudsman found that NCO appropriately acted as a debt collector following the debt servicer's instructions, that their six-year data retention policy is standard practice and not unfair, and that data protection concerns should be raised with the ICO. The complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

As a debt collector, NCO should act on the debt servicer's instructions unless there is a reason not to. The age of the debt and it being statute barred does not prevent recovery or contact, as statute barred debts can still be recovered. NCO's six-year data retention policy is standard in financial services and therefore not unfair or unreasonable. Data protection and SAR concerns are matters for the ICO rather than the FOS.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website