My email to Financial Conduct Authority

Dear Sirs

I refer to this email I received from you on 10 April:

On 10/04/2014 15:05, “Freedom of Information” <foi@fca.org.uk> wrote:

Prior to 2010, when HFC sent an account to solicitors to recover outstanding debts (e.g. on personal loans, credit and store cards), it added a charge to reflect the costs of the recovery.  HFC’s agreements with customers gave it the right to do this and the fee was added after the customer had defaulted on the loan/credit card payments.

Whilst we did not forward your complaint to the OFT at that time, we are aware that, in November 2010, following a review by the OFT of Industry debt collection practices, the OFT imposed Requirements on a number of firms, including HFC.  The Requirements on HFC were imposed under section 33A of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 and required HFC to change various aspects of its collection practices.  As a result, HFC removed all of these charges from its then existing book and has not added the charge to any new accounts.

Today a colleague of mine from Move Your Money received an email from Customer Relations at HSBC with the following 2 paragraphs:

Prior to 2010, when HFC sent an account to solicitors to recover outstanding debts (e.g. on personal loans, credit and store cards), it added a charge to
reflect the costs of the recovery. HFC’s agreements with customers gave it the right to do this and the fee was added after the customer had defaulted on the
loan/credit card payments.

In November 2010, following a review by the OFT of Industry debt collection practices, the OFT imposed Requirements on a number of firms, including HFC.
The Requirements on HFC were imposed under s.33A of the Consumer Credit Act and required HFC to change various aspects of its collection
practices. As a result, and to ensure that a consistent approach was taken on this practice across all HSBC brands in the UK, HFC removed all of these
charges from its then existing book and has not added the charge to any new accounts.

Is this just a coincidence or can you explain to me why you are colluding with HSBC in order to cover up the fraud. Is it because of their Deferred Prosecution Agreement in the US?

I would appreciate a full and frank response to this email.

Yours faithfully
Nicholas Wilson