INTRUM JUSTITIA. Unreasonably increased debt

Finance, Taxes, Banking, Insurance and Retirement
1
Hi everyone

I was having a 24 months mobile phone subscription with Salt. Starting from 2nd October 2016 to 2nd October 2018.

My monthly price is CHF 9.90.

On 11th September 2018, Slat terminated my contract as I forgot to pay it for three months, and it turns out my debt was sold to Intrum Justitia with the unreasonably increased amount to 646CHF.

To break down 646CHF,

Salt charges me

--100 CHF (For the case of early termination) an administrative fee.

--100 CHF (For the case of early termination) contract without a device with a minimum period of 12 months.

--220 CHF total late payment/reminder fee(80+30+80+30(four months)).

--37.5 CHF monthly price until the end of the minimum contract.

Intrum charges me

--1.2 CHF Zinein(interest)

--187.3 CHF Verzugsschaden(damage caused by delay)

I'm having the following questions:

-- My contract was terminated one month before the minimum period.

Can early termination be charged full amount? In my opinion, it should be pro-rated.

-- Does these late payments are reasonable in CH? Although I've checked the Salt general T&C, they can charge up to 75 CHF for each subsequent reminder...

-- I've done some research. I think I don't have to pay Verzugsschaden to Intrum, if they can't provide evidence for any cost. see below.

-- If i wish to find a third party to pursue a contest, where should i go?

Thanks for the any advise!

Bestr regards,

Shaun

2
A lawyer would charge you at least that amount to contest it.......

Pay them what you think you owe, then write to them to tell them this, and that you don’t think the other fees are justified. Then see what happens.

Also, don’t forget to pay bills for 3 months, as this is what can happen 🤣🤣

3
IJ use intimidation short of mafia methods. Pay what you owe to the original and tell IJ to off as they don ́t have a legal foot to stand on.

4
Sorry, but you're liable for the lot but not the Intrum Justitia fee if you settle with SALT in full and promptly.

The only thing i would query is

100 CHF (For the case of early termination) an administrative fee.

or

100 CHF (For the case of early termination) contract without a device with a minimum period of 12 months.

This seems to be a double charge and it seems you are paying to the end of the contract.

5
How can you forget to pay for a contract for 3 months ?

Anyway this topic has been raised many times, do a forum search for previous threads. According to previous topics you are liable for the SALT debt but not the Interim Justicia additions.

6
As the others say. Pay what you are contractually obliged to pay but none of the IJ fees. Check and read your contract to find out what fees you owe. Even if they are outrageous high they might be upheld in court as contractual liberty is very high and consumer protection pretty low in Switzerland. If you have pocket money to burn and can live with an non-perfect debt record you might risk a Betreibung and challenge the Salt fees in court.

7
Thanks everyone.

I think the tricky part is the late payment/reminder fee.

The amount of late payment was written in the T&Cs, and the T&C's doesn't bear my signature.

I'm then wondering, does it still apply?

I think if the amount of late payment is more than the market standard, at least my signature is required.

What do you guys think?

Regards,

Shaun

8
Nice one, but you will for sure have signed the contract and that will revert to the terms and conditions....

9
Late payment and interest apply, IJ collection fees do not.

i.e:

--1.2 CHF Zinein(interest) YES

--187.3 CHF Verzugsschaden(damage caused by delay) NO

Tom

10
As the others say. Pay Salt directly what you owe and Forget Intrum Justice. Have done this myself and after about 3-4 threatening letters and reminders Intrim Justice just leave you alone.

11
Welcome to the joys of SALT (old Orange).

Had a similar issue some years back.

Paid IJ in full and then followed up with them for the entire amount.

After many calls and emails, I managed to Get a refund.

Learnt my lesson - a very loyal Swisscom customer since.... :-)

12
DHL enthusiastically / rapidly pass overdue / unpaid bills to Intrum too it seems. I have just had an instance where a bill sent to another address (long story) went unpaid as we hadn't seen it.

our story: a February bill of CHF 24.85 (unseen) rapidly became 110 by early July, of which we paid 87 and I have just logged into the Intrum site to find they automatically cancelled the remaining 23.05 in fees.

I do like the advice of go pay the original company (plus reasonable interest like 5% and overdue fees), and tell Intrum to go away.

As I understand it, debt collection agencies buy debt for a fraction of the price and here they then keep adding spurious amounts which are really disproportionate