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The problem with this practice is that the legal department were sitting in a Lloyds Bank building, being paid as Lloyd's Bank employees, whilst telling debtors that they were an independent law firm and that they were simply acting on their client's instructions. They were also claiming to be entitled to recover legal fees that simply were not recoverable under the small claims process, and this was in breach of many of the six principles that then existed.
Simultaneously, they were telling the SRA that they were an in-house legal department and as such, most of the provisions of the 2007 Code of Conduct did not apply to them. When investigated by the SRA for breaches of the Code and for operating a pre-emptive ABS, they instructed a magic circle firm who were incredibly aggressive towards the SRA and seemed to believe that they/ their clients were immune from regulation because of their size/ reputation. The SRA did not back down and suddenly SCM were (officially) no more.......