Dispatches

Undercover Debt Collector (2009x26)

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Dispatches goes undercover to investigate one of Britain's least loved but booming industries - the debt collection business. Presented by Jane Moore, the programme reveals some of the tactics deployed to get debtors to pay up, and talks to those unfortunate enough to be on the receiving end of this treatment. Reporter Tom Randall gets a job as a debt collector inside one of the UK's fastest-growing agencies. He discovers that in recession-hit Britian some of the biggest high-street businesses are cutting their losses and selling on their bad debts to agencies for as little as 16 pence in the pound. Agencies who buy up these debts are entitled to pursue debtors for the full amount. In this multi-billion pound industry the stakes are high; Dispatches reveals the lengths that collectors will go to to recover their debts.