Bristol based debt recovery business which didn’t hand over money is shut down
An Insolvency Service investigation found that Encore Capital Group Inc Ltd trading as Encore Debt Recovery failed to fully hand over the money it collected it has been revealed.
The Scam debt collectors service was incorporated in late 2021, targeting businesses and private individuals with their fake debt collection services.
- Encore Capital Group Inc Ltd cold-called businesses and potential customers and then collected debts which they did not fully hand over.
- In some instances, they falsely claimed to be regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
- The company was shut down following a winding up hearing at the High Court in London on 25 February 2025.
A Bristol-based debt recovery company which collected debts for businesses and individuals but failed to forward on all the money has been shut down.
Encore Capital Group Inc Ltd, which traded as Encore Debt Recovery, cold-called businesses and individuals offering commercial debt collection and consumer debt recovery in return for an up-front fee or a percentage payment.
In some instances, they falsely claimed to be regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) – which they were not – and said they had been appointed by a court to make debt collections.
Encore was subject to a winding up hearing held at the High Court in London on 25 February 2025.
Falsely claimed to be an FCA regulated Debt Collection Agency
Edna Okhiria, Chief Investigator at the Insolvency Service, said:
“Our investigation found many aspects of Encore’s operations that were not legitimate, namely money not being fully forwarded after a debt collection and false claims to being FCA regulated.”
“Encore continued to bank the money they collected, while ignoring emails and phone calls from those they had been contracted by to recover the debts.”
“The Insolvency Service is grateful to those who came forward with their complaints, whose information and evidence helped us to shut down this scam business, protecting the public and economy from further financial harm.”
The apparent services offered by Encore included debt collection and County Court Judgement (CCJ) enforcements.
The Insolvency Service identified at least 27 complainants during the investigation who said the company had collected debts on their behalf, or from them, but had failed to forward some or all the money received.
Encore also failed to cooperate with the investigation despite having a legal requirement to do so and did not produce any trading or accounting records, despite repeated requests.
Encore did not have a presence at its registered office or obtain proper authorisation to use that address, despite it being a legal requirement to have an address at which official correspondence can be received.
As well as the Insolvency Service, complaints about Encore were made to Action Fraud and Citizen’s Advice.
Have you been the victim of Scam Debt Collectors?
If you have not received monies that were collected on your behalf, then we strongly urge you to report the matter to the authorities. This can be reported to Action Fraud or the Insolvency Service.
UK Debt Collection News is already aware of a small number of scam debt collection agencies operating with rogue practices within the UK.
Scam Debt Collectors blight the UK’s Debt Collection industry. Never take a chance on working with cowboy debt collectors in whatever guise they may come. Do your hone work before instructing any debt collection agency on your behalf.
Always check the following:
- Are they genuinely FCA regulated?
- Are they members of the Credit Services Association?
- How long have they been trading?
- Search for online reviews such as Trustpilot, Google etc and check their general reputation
- Ensure they have experience of your type of debt/s
- Under the terms of their service and how they intend to collect your money as you will be liable for their conduct and actions.
- Exercise caution with Cheap or ‘Free’ services. No Business can operate on goodwill or empty promises.
Here are some tips on choosing a debt collection agency for you or your business.
