Resolvecall: what a letter means and what to do

Check who the letter says you owe before you do anything else, because Resolvecall works for many different organisations and your rights depend on the type of debt. A letter, text or visit from Resolvecall is not a court document, and it gives the firm no special legal powers. You have time to check the details, ask questions and get free advice. Resolvecall is based in Scotland but collects across the UK, so this guide covers England and Wales, with notes for Scotland.

Who are Resolvecall, and why are they contacting you?

Resolvecall is the trading name of Resolvecall Limited, registered in Scotland at Companies House under number SC127277. The company was incorporated on 17 September 1990, is active, and has its registered office in Paisley. It was called Scotcall Limited from 2004 to 2015 and Fidelite Credit Management Limited from 2015 to 2017. Companies House shows its ownership changed in February 2022. A separate company, Resolvecall No. 1 Limited, was dissolved on 20 June 2023; the active firm is Resolvecall Limited.

It has been authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority since 21 March 2016, firm reference number 713946. Its permissions are debt collecting and administering regulated mortgage contracts, and it cannot hold client money. Its website says it is a signatory to the Credit Services Association’s Code of Practice (the CSA is the trade body for debt collectors).

Who Resolvecall collects for

Resolvecall says it does not buy debts: “We are acting on behalf of the organisation that owns the account.” It describes its clients as coming from the banking, financial, government, utilities and debt purchase sectors. It says your details came from one of those clients, or sometimes from a credit reference agency.

GOV.UK lists Resolve Call among the debt collection agencies the DWP may pass benefit overpayment cases to.

Whoever contacts you must explain who they work for, their role and why they are in touch.

Is the debt yours, and is the amount right?

Letters sometimes reach a former occupant, someone with a similar name, or a victim of identity fraud. Check before you pay or admit anything.

1. Look at the “on behalf of” details: the organisation you owe, the account or reference number and the balance.
2. If you do not recognise the debt, tell Resolvecall in writing and ask for the name of the creditor, the account number, the date the debt arose and a breakdown of the balance. Resolvecall’s own FAQs say it will look into it with its client if you think you have been contacted in error or have already paid.
3. For a loan, credit card or other regulated credit agreement, you can ask the creditor that owns the debt for a copy of the agreement and a statement, with a £1 fee. It has 12 working days to reply and cannot enforce the agreement while it fails to do so.
4. For a benefit overpayment, if you think the decision is wrong you can ask the DWP for a mandatory reconsideration, usually within one month of the overpayment letter.
5. If the debt is old, check whether it could be statute-barred. In England and Wales, most debts cannot be recovered through the courts once 6 years have passed from when the creditor could first sue. In Scotland, most debts are extinguished after 5 years without a payment, a clear written acknowledgement or a court claim.

If you dispute a credit debt, say so in writing with your reasons. The firm must suspend collection while it investigates and tell you the outcome. If you tell it a credit debt is statute-barred, it must not keep asking you to pay.

What can Resolvecall do, and what can it not do?

Resolvecall says it contacts people by letter, phone, email and text, and sometimes visits: “Where we visit your home, this may simply be to re-connect you with our clients or to discuss available options.” It says it has its own employed field force covering the UK and Northern Ireland, alongside its collections centre.

Your rights if someone visits about a credit debt

The FCA’s rules say a visitor must:

• explain the purpose of the visit and give you adequate notice of the date and likely time, unless that is not practicable
• not come in without your consent, and not refuse to leave when reasonably asked
• leave if it becomes clear you are unduly distressed
• not visit if they know or suspect you may be particularly vulnerable, or visit without your agreement if the debt is disputed.

FCA guidance also says visiting you at work or in hospital would normally be inappropriate. These rules are written for credit debts. Many of the debts Resolvecall handles, such as benefit overpayments and household bills, are not credit, so the FCA rules may not strictly apply to them, although the general law does.

If a credit debt ever reached bailiffs, the creditor would first need a County Court Judgment and then a warrant of control. A judgment on a regulated consumer credit agreement can only be enforced in the County Court.

What should you do at each stage?

When a letter, text or email arrives

Read it, even if you cannot pay. Check the details as above and reply, keeping a copy. If you are going to get debt advice, say so: for credit debts, a firm told that you or an adviser are working out a repayment plan must pause active collection for a reasonable period. Resolvecall’s website asks you to give it the details of the debt advice organisation helping you, so it can suspend collection activity, including letters and calls, for a reasonable period while you get advice.

If an agent calls at your door

You do not have to let them in, and you do not have to agree anything or pay on the doorstep. Ask to see identification and note the name. If you want them to go, ask them to leave. You can ask for future contact to be in writing.

If you want to offer a payment

Work out a budget first, so you know what you can afford after rent or mortgage, council tax, energy and food. Those priority debts come first, because the consequences of not paying them are more serious. For credit debts, the firm must consider a reasonable offer and explain clearly if it refuses.

If court action follows

Resolvecall does not own the debts it collects, so any court action would be taken by the creditor. In England and Wales, a business should normally send a Letter of Claim before suing and give you 30 days to reply using the reply form. If a claim form arrives, respond by the date on it; if you are not paying in full, you can ask for another 14 days. A county court judgment stays on the public register for 6 years unless you pay in full within one calendar month.

For benefit overpayments, GOV.UK says the DWP can also ask your employer to take deductions from your pay, and its Debt Enforcement Team can make a court claim if you do not respond.

In Scotland, debt claims go to the sheriff court, often under simple procedure, and any enforcement is carried out by sheriff officers, not by a collection agency.

How do debt solutions affect Resolvecall?

A debt solution can change what Resolvecall can do for the creditor, depending on which one you use:

• Breathing Space: creditors cannot contact you about included debts, add interest or charges, or take enforcement action, for up to 60 days (England and Wales only).
• A debt management plan: informal, so creditors do not have to agree, freeze interest or stop action.
• An IVA: a legally binding agreement under the Insolvency Act 1986. Creditors bound by it cannot take further action to recover the debts included in it, but not every debt can be included. Protocol IVAs usually last 5 or 6 years, fees come out of your payments, and it usually stays on your credit file for 6 years from the start. See does an IVA stop debt collectors?
• A debt relief order, for debts under £50,000, less than £75 a month spare, assets under £2,000 and a vehicle worth less than £4,000. Creditors cannot ask for payment of listed debts during the order.
• Bankruptcy: after a bankruptcy order, creditors owed debts in the bankruptcy have no remedy against your property or you personally for those debts.

Each has costs, conditions and long-term effects, and none suits everyone. The debt solutions comparison sets them side by side. IVAs, debt relief orders and Breathing Space are not available in Scotland: see debt solutions in Scotland.

How do you complain about Resolvecall?

1. Complain to Resolvecall by email or in writing, with your reference and what went wrong. Its complaints page says that if it cannot resolve a complaint by the end of the third working day, it follows its full complaints procedure, and its final response (or a letter after 8 weeks) tells you which body you can take the complaint to.
2. For a credit debt, if you are unhappy with the final response, or 8 weeks have passed, you can go to the Financial Ombudsman Service. You normally have 6 months from the final response.
3. For other debts, such as a benefit overpayment or a household bill, complain to the organisation that passed the debt on as well. If it is an energy supplier and the complaint is not sorted within 8 weeks, you can go to the Energy Ombudsman.
4. Because Resolvecall says it follows the CSA Code of Practice, you can also use the CSA’s complaints procedure if you feel a member has treated you unfairly.

Harassing someone with payment demands calculated to cause alarm, distress or humiliation, or falsely claiming official authority to collect a debt, can be a criminal offence. Our guide to dealing with debt collectors explains your rights in more detail.

Is this letter or visit really from Resolvecall?

Scammers copy the names of real collection agencies.

• Check Resolvecall Limited on the FCA register (firm reference number 713946).
• Use contact details from your own paperwork, the creditor’s official website or the FCA register, not a number or link in an unexpected text, email or search advert.
• A genuine letter names the creditor and gives a reference you can check with it. For a benefit overpayment, you can check with DWP Debt Management using the contact details on GOV.UK.
• Be wary of anyone who pushes you to pay at once into an account you do not recognise, or asks for your online banking passwords. If a visitor will not show identification, do not deal with them.

What to do next

1. Check which organisation the debt is for, and whether the details are right.
2. If you owe it, offer an amount you can keep up. If you do not, say so in writing and ask for evidence.
3. Get free, impartial debt advice from MoneyHelper, StepChange, Citizens Advice or National Debtline. See where to get free debt advice.
4. Keep copies of letters and notes of every call and visit, with dates and names.