Since 2015 I been paying a debt to RACQ for an accident I was involved in in 2014. As part of the agreement I am obliged to pay an amount on the date agreed upon, the 18th of each month. At the time I was not living in the home I shared with my ex partner but seeing as our seperation was amicable she agreed that I could use the address for RACQ correspondence as I did not have a stable and permanent address. That was working fine and payments were being made as required.
On Thursday 9th April 2020 I received a call from a gentleman who would not declare who he was untill I had identified myself. I did so upon which he advised that he represented a company called Milton Grahame and that as of that day they were now taking over the management of my debt with RACQ and future repayments starting with payment due on 18th April 2020. Told the person I had had no correspondence from RACQ he said take that up with them. I asked what is the nature of their business as they sound like a collection agent. He replied that they were but not to be alarmed as my case was not part of a debt collection. No reporting had been done and that RACQ had decided to outsource certain debts. Are there missed payments -NO are there any defaults-NO so I have honored and continue to honor my agreement - YES I said that I think I need to get some advice.He replied there was no need. My case had been handed over to them to be managed and not to act as a debt collection agency again stating no need to be concerned and that I was not being placed as a bad debt and no reporting would be done.I again asked why it was being handled by them and he said you have to take that up with RACQ. He asked for my email so he could send the information for my repayments, not sure if I was breaking the law by saying no so i confirmed my email. I then contacted RACQ and spoke to a lady who advised that she was my new case manager. I asked about Milton Graham. She confirmed that they were now handling my file and to make all future payments to them. Have i missed a payment,- NO have I defaulted - NO.Have i honored my agreement-YES. She told me RACQ after looking at the internal process, had decided cases like mine and similar, would be better managed by an outside party. I asked why I hadnt been notified and was advised that mail, both postal and EMAIL had been sent out. I said I never got it she said she had done it that morning. She advised postal was sent via Australia Post and to an address I left in 2015. I asked why after 5 years have you suddenly decided to send to an address that i was at at the time of the accident when there was a perfectly good one on file that you have used for five years without issue? An address chosen for its stability. The address change was made in December 2019 after a check with main roads. I told her main roads should have my current address but that was beside the point. Why after 5 years was it suddenly an issue, and one that required a double check with main roads. She said she did not know. But all correspondence was sent to Highgate Hill. to clarify I said I have no dafaults and have honored the agreement-yes You sent important correspondence from January 2020 to a different address after 5 years of there being no issues with the adress given-yes and the day Milton Grahan call is the day you draft a letter and email to notify me that they were taking over the account-Yes. She said she had sent a few emails, none of which were to advise of RACQ's decision to outsource, I advised her i never got them, she said check spam I did, nothing there. , I told her RACQ had a rule so it wouldnt spam. She said I will send you two again. I checked and confirmed they had arrived. I said if I had seen them like that i would have deleted. I get a lot of spam and hoax mail so unless it is clear who its from id have trashed it. she said I should have noticed because it has RACQ in her from address. I use Mozilla and this is how it appears in my inbox MVXXXXX ccmvoutbound thats it. i would only have seen RACQ if i were to open it and i wouldnt do that for fear it may be contaminated. She said that she had sent it and it wasnt her problem if I deleted it. I told her that if it had said RACQ i would have opened the email, probably still ringing to confirm that it was safe to open the attachment. I said that I was unhappy with all of this and she said I can lodge a complaint. RACQ complaints team would look at it and get back to me. With it being a long weekend it would probably be Wednesday the 15th April or Thursday the 16th April. If after that I was still unhappy then I could take it up with the Ombudsamn.
Is what RACQ have done legal. Handing over my case file to an outside company, a debt collection agency, and notifying me via postal and an email on the day the file is handed over
to Milton Graham. If they had not contacted me I would be no wiser.
I know that I still have to continue my payments but as far as I can tell I do not have any such agreement with Milton Graham and I think that by making a payment I would be accepting an agreement should i still send payments to RACQ or Milton Graham? The fact that the day before the easter break I am called by Milton Graham to advise that they now manage my files, the day they do is the day that RACQ send postal and email information regarding the change, the fact that they have sent to wrong postal address and the email does not clearly identify RACQ as the sender , that any complaint cannot be attended to untill the 15th or 16th of April has left me with little time to find out my rights, to obtain legal advice or to lodge a complaint that can be dealt with in a fair and reasonable time frame leads me to beleieve that this hasd beena premeditated well cordinated covert operation. I feel bullied and trapped and also feel that my rights have been violated and a proper and fair process has been ignored.
On Thursday 9th April 2020 I received a call from a gentleman who would not declare who he was untill I had identified myself. I did so upon which he advised that he represented a company called Milton Grahame and that as of that day they were now taking over the management of my debt with RACQ and future repayments starting with payment due on 18th April 2020. Told the person I had had no correspondence from RACQ he said take that up with them. I asked what is the nature of their business as they sound like a collection agent. He replied that they were but not to be alarmed as my case was not part of a debt collection. No reporting had been done and that RACQ had decided to outsource certain debts. Are there missed payments -NO are there any defaults-NO so I have honored and continue to honor my agreement - YES I said that I think I need to get some advice.He replied there was no need. My case had been handed over to them to be managed and not to act as a debt collection agency again stating no need to be concerned and that I was not being placed as a bad debt and no reporting would be done.I again asked why it was being handled by them and he said you have to take that up with RACQ. He asked for my email so he could send the information for my repayments, not sure if I was breaking the law by saying no so i confirmed my email. I then contacted RACQ and spoke to a lady who advised that she was my new case manager. I asked about Milton Graham. She confirmed that they were now handling my file and to make all future payments to them. Have i missed a payment,- NO have I defaulted - NO.Have i honored my agreement-YES. She told me RACQ after looking at the internal process, had decided cases like mine and similar, would be better managed by an outside party. I asked why I hadnt been notified and was advised that mail, both postal and EMAIL had been sent out. I said I never got it she said she had done it that morning. She advised postal was sent via Australia Post and to an address I left in 2015. I asked why after 5 years have you suddenly decided to send to an address that i was at at the time of the accident when there was a perfectly good one on file that you have used for five years without issue? An address chosen for its stability. The address change was made in December 2019 after a check with main roads. I told her main roads should have my current address but that was beside the point. Why after 5 years was it suddenly an issue, and one that required a double check with main roads. She said she did not know. But all correspondence was sent to Highgate Hill. to clarify I said I have no dafaults and have honored the agreement-yes You sent important correspondence from January 2020 to a different address after 5 years of there being no issues with the adress given-yes and the day Milton Grahan call is the day you draft a letter and email to notify me that they were taking over the account-Yes. She said she had sent a few emails, none of which were to advise of RACQ's decision to outsource, I advised her i never got them, she said check spam I did, nothing there. , I told her RACQ had a rule so it wouldnt spam. She said I will send you two again. I checked and confirmed they had arrived. I said if I had seen them like that i would have deleted. I get a lot of spam and hoax mail so unless it is clear who its from id have trashed it. she said I should have noticed because it has RACQ in her from address. I use Mozilla and this is how it appears in my inbox MVXXXXX ccmvoutbound thats it. i would only have seen RACQ if i were to open it and i wouldnt do that for fear it may be contaminated. She said that she had sent it and it wasnt her problem if I deleted it. I told her that if it had said RACQ i would have opened the email, probably still ringing to confirm that it was safe to open the attachment. I said that I was unhappy with all of this and she said I can lodge a complaint. RACQ complaints team would look at it and get back to me. With it being a long weekend it would probably be Wednesday the 15th April or Thursday the 16th April. If after that I was still unhappy then I could take it up with the Ombudsamn.
Is what RACQ have done legal. Handing over my case file to an outside company, a debt collection agency, and notifying me via postal and an email on the day the file is handed over
to Milton Graham. If they had not contacted me I would be no wiser.
I know that I still have to continue my payments but as far as I can tell I do not have any such agreement with Milton Graham and I think that by making a payment I would be accepting an agreement should i still send payments to RACQ or Milton Graham? The fact that the day before the easter break I am called by Milton Graham to advise that they now manage my files, the day they do is the day that RACQ send postal and email information regarding the change, the fact that they have sent to wrong postal address and the email does not clearly identify RACQ as the sender , that any complaint cannot be attended to untill the 15th or 16th of April has left me with little time to find out my rights, to obtain legal advice or to lodge a complaint that can be dealt with in a fair and reasonable time frame leads me to beleieve that this hasd beena premeditated well cordinated covert operation. I feel bullied and trapped and also feel that my rights have been violated and a proper and fair process has been ignored.
