• Encore Capital Group Inc Ltd cold-called businesses and potential customers and then collected debts which they did not fully hand over.
• In some instances, they falsely claimed to be regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
• The company was shut down following a winding up hearing at the High Court in London on 25 February 2025.

A Bristol-based debt recovery company which collected debts for businesses and individuals but failed to forward on all the money has been shut down.

Encore Capital Group Inc Ltd, which traded as Encore Debt Recovery, cold-called businesses and individuals offering to recover commercial and consumer debts in return for an up-front fee or a percentage payment.

In some instances, they falsely claimed to be regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) – which they were not – and said they had been appointed by a court to make debt collections.

Encore was subject to a winding up hearing held at the High Court in London on 25 February 2025.

Edna Okhiria, Chief Investigator at the Insolvency Service, said:

Our investigation found many aspects of Encore’s operations that were not legitimate, namely money not being fully forwarded after a debt collection and false claims to being FCA regulated.

Encore continued to bank the money they collected, while ignoring emails and phone calls from those they had been contracted by to recover the debts.

The Insolvency Service is grateful to those who came forward with their complaints, whose information and evidence helped us to shut down this scam business, protecting the public and economy from further financial harm.

The apparent services offered by Encore included debt collection and County Court Judgement (CCJ) enforcements.

The Insolvency Service identified at least 27 complainants during the investigation who said the company had collected debts on their behalf, or from them, but had failed to forward some or all the money received.  

Encore also failed to cooperate with the investigation despite having a legal requirement to do so and did not produce any trading or accounting records, despite repeated requests.

Encore did not have a presence at its registered office or obtain proper authorisation to use that address, despite it being a legal requirement to have an address at which official correspondence can be received.

As well as the Insolvency Service, complaints about Encore were made to Action Fraud and Citizen’s Advice.

All enquiries concerning the affairs of the Encore Capital Group Inc Ltd should be made to the Official Receiver of the Public Interest Unit:

16th Floor, 1 Westfield Avenue, Stratford, London, E20 1HZ.

Email: piu.or@insolvency.gov.uk

Further information:

• Encore Capital Group Inc Ltd, company number 13204266
• The Insolvency Service can investigate complaints about corporate abuse by live companies. This may include serious misconduct, fraud, scams or dishonest practice in the way the company operates. Further information on our live investigations can be found here  
• Further information about the work of the Insolvency Service, and how to complain about financial misconduct.