How the Major Banks Operate
Barclays
Their central base for dealing with PG issues is in Cardiff, sometimes a bit quick off the mark going legal, particularly if they think there are some assets to grab. Tend to be better at ensuring clients get solicitors advice at the outset but again, inconsistent in this as well as other areas. There may be some initial communications form the local branch but for the most part it is Cardiff that do the bulk of the chasing. They tend to get a bit feisty when asked for original documents, strongly denying the need for them to be produced.
HSBC
In the last 15 months or so, we have seen a department allegedly based in Canary Wharf but actually based in India manage collections regarding PGs- the long Indian names and .in email addresses tend to give them away. However, they are difficult to contact and relatively slow to respond, which is great under normal circumstances if you are fighting a war of attrition but dreadfully frustrating if you actually want to do a deal. We have seen a recent move by HSBC to use their internal Birmingham based resource, Metropolitan Debt Collection Services and DG Solicitors, but again find they can be just as ineffective in pursuing on behalf of the bank.
