CDER Group: Should I repay my debts?

If you have been contacted by a company called CDER Group, then it’s possible that you owe money to a creditor which has now been passed to a debt collection firm.

This can be a stressful discovery, but before you agree to repay a debt you should always find out what you can about the company who is pursuing you.

In this guide we’ll explain who the CDER Group is, how they ended up with your information in the first place, and what you should do if they contact you claiming that you owe money.

Who is the CDER Group?

The CDER Group is a UK recovery and debt collection company that specialises in the recovery of debts to local authorities and central government.

The CDER Group is an umbrella organisation that brings together three of the leading debt collection agencies across the UK: JBW Group, Phoenix Commercial Collections, and Collect Services.

The Group has grown to the point where its employees now include over 400 enforcement agents operating all across the UK.

What kind of debt collection do they focus on?

Local and central Government debts

One of the three areas CDER Group specialise in is in local and central government debt recovery.

They support local councils and centralised authorities to recover unpaid taxes like Non-domestic Rates – a tax on non-domestic (or commercial) properties that helps to pay for local council services.

Unpaid council tax

Another specialism of the CDER Group is helping governments and local authorities recover unpaid council tax from local residents, including CTRS schemes.

Road traffic and road user charging

The third area of debt recovery CDER Group focuses on is road traffic charges. They work to recover outstanding road traffic debts, mostly in the form of unpaid parking fines (otherwise known as Parking Charge Notices).

Where is the CDER Group based?

The CDER Group is based in London, UK. Their main business address is as follows:

Penninsular House,

36 Monument St,

London,

EC3R 8LJ

Are CDER Group regulated?

Yes, the CDER Group is a regulated debt collection firm. Their recovery practices are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the independent regulator that oversees around 50,000 financial services companies in the UK.

That means that their debt recovery practices should always be ethical, legal, and fall firmly within the FCA guidelines.

As well as this, CDER also boast of their own ‘Fairness framework’, a set of internal guidelines that they claim helps them to embed fairness and good conduct into all of their recovery practices, especially when dealing with vulnerable people.

Why would debt collect services like CDER be contacting me?

Like many debt collection companies in the UK, CDER Group provides collection services for other organisations, in their case local and regional governments.

The process works like this:

• An individual accrues a debt to their local authority, like a parking fine.
• That local authority tries, and fails, to collect the debt
• Rather than pursue the individual further, the local authority ‘sell’ the debt to CDER Group
• After making that investment, CDER Group will begin the process of recovering the debt

If you’re being contacted by a member of the CDER Group enforcement team, the chances are a debt you owed to your local authority or another government body has since been passed on to the debt collection company.

How do I deal with debt owed to CDER Group?

There are a few ways you can deal with debt owed to a debt collector like CDER Group. You should start by asking for proof of the debt you owe.

Ask for proof before you pay

If you have received debt letters from CDER Group, they should state the details of your debt, including how much money you supposedly owe as well as who the original creditor is.

If you haven’t received proof of your debt in writing, you should wait until you receive this before making any move to repay the debt in question.

Repay your debts upfront

Once CDER has provided proof, the quickest way to end the debt recovery process is to pay your debt upfront.

If you can afford to, there are various ways to repay a debt to CDER, including via their website (here), via direct debit, or even directly over the phone. Once you’ve paid your debts, fees, and other costs, CDER enforcement agents should leave you alone.

Agree to a payment plan

Not everyone can afford to repay a debt collector via a single payment. If you don’t have the money to repay what you owe upfront, CDER Group does accept payment plans.

The easiest way to go about this is to suggest a plan where you will repay a reasonable amount towards your debt each month until it is repaid in full.

It’s not unheard of for debt collectors to accept a settlement offer (you pay a portion of what you owe upfront and have the rest written off), but because settlement offers don’t involve repaying your debt in full, it will be listed on your credit report for six years and will have a negative impact on your credit rating.

Can CDER send an enforcement team to my home?

It’s possible that CDER will send debt collectors to your home if you ignore their phone calls and letters or refuse to repay the money you owe.

If making contact with you hasn’t proved successful, bailiff visits might be the next step in the enforcement operation.

Enforcement agents use home visits as a way to pressure you into repaying your debt, but it’s important to know that they don’t have any legal powers of their own. The only way they can compel you to repay what you owe is by applying for a court order like a County Court Judgement.

Can they take me to court?

Yes, it’s possible that if you continually ignore your debts to CDER, they may seek to take clients to court in order to force them to repay.

County Court Judgement

The most common way for debt collection operations like CDER Group to pursue their clients through court is via a County Court Judgement (CCJ).

If a debt collector feels you are unfairly withholding payment, they can make that case to a county court. If the court agrees with them, you will receive a CCJ against you, which will order you to repay the money in full within the court’s chosen timeframe.

A CCJ will be listed on your credit record for six years. If you fail to repay the CCJ, you may face further legal action, whether that’s bailiffs coming to your home and seizing your property, or having payments withdrawn directly from your earnings.

If you’re worried about being able to repay a CCJ, you should seek debt advice immediately.

Where can I get advice if I can’t afford to repay what I owe?

The moment debt collectors get in contact with you is stressful under any circumstances, but especially if you can’t afford to repay the money you owe. It’s crucial that you make the right move at this critical time.

Talk to Creditfix. We’re one of the UK’s biggest providers of formal debt solutions. Our trained debt specialists can offer you responsible debt advice and are committed to helping every customer find the financial solution that’s right for them.

If you’re being harassed by debt collectors and you’re not sure what to do, get in touch with one of our advisers today on 0800 0431 431.