London House News

I am delighted to announce that our newest Franchise Owner is just about to finish his 2 week residential training programme.

Mike King has a background in the design and print industry and more recently as Manager of major UK companies at Senior Executive level responsible for operations and staff in multi-site locations.  

Mike will be our Franchise Owner for the Cheltenham & Gloucester area covering the GL postcodes. Welcome!

We have further training dates scheduled for August and September for more new Franchise Owners.  

It is worth mentioning that all of our Franchise Owners are CRB checked, fully insured, registered for Data Protection , hold a Consumer Credit Licence and are members of the CSA. 

Focus On......Customer Interviews

Latest statistics from the financial education charity, Credit Action, show that 829,000 people have been unemployed in the UK for more than 12 months and that £55,862 is the average household debt including mortgages. As consumers begin to focus on their debts and tighten their belts, the figures also tell us that the CAB are dealing with 9,072 new debt problems each working day, while 1,271 people on a daily basis are being made redundant.Staggeringly, the Banks and Building Societies are writing off £20.71m of loans every day.  

Here at London House we interview many individuals on a daily basis on behalf of our clients in an effort to get their up to date financial position. Wherever possible we meet them at home and complete a detailed income/expenditure/assests/liabilities breakdown. If our client has asked us, we will also negotiate a repayment programme on their behalf within agreed parameters.

Evidence of Means

The figures are what they are

As you might expect, by interviewing subjects at their home address we often find and see details that they have omitted to tell our clients...the new car on the drive, the home multi media centre, the valuable antique collection.

On one occasion we were asked by a bank to visit a customer who owed them £2m and with whom they had had no contact for 9 months.

We expected to begin by having to trace the subject but, on visiting the last known address, we were delighted to meet with him there. He told us that he was surprised the bank had not been in contact because he had not moved and had received no correspondence from them.  

When we interviewed him we were able to ascertain that he had assets of £1.9m and was very happy to prove his worth and show all documentation to the bank. A mutually acceptable agreement was reached.  

So, not everything is bad news. Sometimes it is simply a case of lack of communication.

You asked us

"In light of all of the current spotlight on the investigations industry, why are you different from investigators working for the news media?".

This is a good question and one that I feel will be asked not only to ourselves but also to a number of other reputable investigators around the Country.

Our industry is highly regulated and we are governed by the Data Protection Act 1998, Regulation of  Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA), Human Rights Act (HRA) , the OFT, OFCOM, the FSA and our own industry Code of Practice as members of The Credit Services Association. It is important that London House maintains its integrity in the industry and therefore we are happy to adhere to these regulations. It is important for our own reputation but also that of our clients. As is currently being seen, reputational risk is not to be ignored.

There are legal and ethical boundaries to be respected and this has clearly not happened with the News of the World case. We are asked, on occasion, what can we do with mobile phone numbers (we can only call them!), NI numbers, passport numbers, bank account details and the simple answer is "nothing".  It is illegal for us to try and access these records or to obtain subject information using these records. 

  

Nor are we swayed by the fees paid for this illegal activity. No amount of money is worth me, or our team, spending our days enjoying the hospitality at one of our Majesty's establishments.

If it is illegal, London house will not be involved.

What an interesting month

What an interesting time to be in our industry! Private Investigators very much in the spotlight, the News of the World being closed down, alleged payments to police, arrests, political debate and it's still only the middle of the month. This one will run and run.  

Please be assured that not all Private Investigators, London House included, obtain information using illegal methods. 

  

Hot off the press is the news that the Payments Council has reversed its original decision to abolish the cheque as a payment method by 2018. This follows a public outcry over the original decision. The Council, whose members include banks and payment organisations, said cheques would continue as long as customers needed them.