Intrum Soldiers On in Norway, Appeals Loss of License

Intrum Justitia is “conducting business as usual” in Norway as it appeals a decision by the Norwegian Financial Supervisory Authority to revoke the firm’s license to work there, an Intrum spokesperson tells insideARM.com.

The authority had charged the largest European debt collector with “committing serious breeches of, among other things, debt collection laws and regulations,” according to a report by the Associated Press.

Norway’s Justice Ministry will hear Intrum’s appeal of the Financial Authority’s ruling. That probably won’t happen until after the December holidays, said Anders Antonsson, communications director of Nacka, Sweden-based Intrum.

Antonsson said the violation last summer involved a software error that caused a phrase to be inserted in a ‘warning letter’ that is sent to debtors before a payment is due.

“This text should not have been in the warning letter. Instead it should be in a ‘reminder letter’ that goes to the debtor after a payment is due,” said Antonsson.

Intrum discovered the error, corrected it, sent apologies to consumers that received the letter and returned any money those consumers paid, Antonsson said. The letter was sent to “several hundreds” of consumers or about 0.2 percent of the cases that Intrum handles annually in Norway, according to Antonsson.

Intrum has about 8,000 clients in Norway, where it generates 3.6 percent of its annual revenues. Intrum operates in 24 countries and reported revenues of $467 million in 2006.

“The financial impact (of leaving Norway) will not be that severe but that is an option we would like to avoid,” said Antonsson.