Calls or Letters from Baker Tilly Cyprus? Who They Are and How to Verify the Contact in 2026
In Brief
If you have had an unexpected phone call or letter from Baker Tilly in Cyprus, you are almost certainly not being targeted by a scam, but you do need to verify what is in front of you before you say anything substantive. The contact will, in nearly every case, relate to a historic Swiss franc mortgage taken out with Alpha Bank Cyprus that has since been sold to a credit purchaser (most commonly SKY CAC Limited).
Baker Tilly Cyprus has been instructed to trace UK-based borrowers and explore settlement. The underlying loan is real, the law has changed since the original contact strategies were designed, and your negotiating position is stronger than it was a few years ago. Take advice before you commit to anything.
Why You Might Be Getting a Call or Letter from Baker Tilly Cyprus
The pattern is familiar. A UK landline rings with an international number; the person on the other end says they are calling from Baker Tilly Cyprus, that they are aware of a property loan in Cyprus, and that they would like to discuss it. Or a letter arrives, posted from Cyprus or hand-delivered in the UK, asking the recipient to make contact about an "outstanding matter".
In almost every case, the underlying issue is a Swiss franc mortgage taken out in the mid-to-late 2000s with Alpha Bank Cyprus to fund the purchase of a property in Cyprus. When the Swiss franc appreciated sharply against sterling and the euro, particularly from 2008 onwards, and again after the Swiss National Bank removed its currency cap in 2015, outstanding balances ballooned. Many UK buyers fell into default and heard nothing for years. Now, almost two decades later, the loans are being chased again.
Baker Tilly has been instructed to handle the outreach phase. They are not, in most cases, the lender, the servicer or your eventual opponent in any litigation. They are the firm tasked with making contact and trying to bring borrowers to the negotiating table.
Who Baker Tilly Are - and Where They Sit in the Chain
Baker Tilly is an international accounting and advisory network. The Cyprus member firm has a long-established practice and is a regulated business with real offices in Nicosia, Limassol and Paphos. They are not a fly-by-night operation.
The wider chain behind the call or letter usually looks like this:
| Step | Entity | Role |
| 1 | Alpha Bank Cyprus | Original lender on your Swiss franc mortgage |
| 2 | SKY CAC Limited | Credit purchaser - bought the loan as part of a non-performing portfolio |
| 3 | doValue Cyprus Limited | Licensed credit servicer - manages the portfolio day to day |
| 4 | Baker Tilly Cyprus | Outreach and settlement contractor - making the call or sending the letter |
The reason the chain matters is that the entity on the phone or letterhead is the last link, not the first. The underlying right to be paid sits with SKY CAC, the regulatory obligations to behave fairly sit with the servicer, and the original loan documents sit with the bank that issued them. Knowing which entity has which role is what makes it possible to negotiate effectively. Our note on what a vulture fund is sets out the wider context.
Is It a Scam? A Four-Step Verification Check
Cold contact from Cyprus about an old debt sets off every scam alarm, and it should. The good news is that genuine Baker Tilly outreach has a recognisable shape. Four checks are usually enough:
- The loan matches. The call or letter should reference a loan account number, an amount, and a property in Cyprus that match your original Alpha Bank Cyprus mortgage paperwork. A vague approach with no reference data is a red flag.
- The chain is named. Genuine correspondence will mention SKY CAC Limited as the credit purchaser and doValue Cyprus Limited as the licensed credit servicer. Letters that mention only "the bank" or "investors" are suspicious.
- The contact details check out. Baker Tilly Cyprus addresses, landlines and email domains all correspond to the firm's known offices. A free webmail address or a UK mobile number that the caller refuses to call back from is a red flag.
- No on-the-spot payment is demanded. Genuine outreach is exploratory - they want a conversation, not a card payment. Anyone asking for funds on the first call or instructing you to "secure your account" with a transfer, is a scammer regardless of the letterhead.
If three or four of those check out, the contact is almost certainly real. Treat it as the start of a process, not an emergency.
What the Call or Letter Is Actually Asking For
The opening message is rarely a demand for full repayment. The realistic objective Baker Tilly has been given is to put a proposal in front of you. That proposal is usually one of three things:
- A discounted lump-sum settlement - pay a fraction of the headline balance and close the file.
- A restructure - convert the loan out of Swiss francs, write down part of the capital and put a new repayment schedule in place if you wish to retain the property.
- A voluntary surrender - hand the property back to SKY CAC in exchange for a full release from the loan, avoiding both repossession and personal liability for any shortfall.
Whichever option Baker Tilly leads with on the first call, it is rarely the best deal that can be reached. Their job is to start the negotiation. Yours is not to finish it on the call.
The Legal Framework: Law 122(I)/2024 and What It Says About Conduct
Older versions of this article cited Section 19 of the Sale and Purchase of Credit Facilities and Related Matters Law of 2015 (Law 169(I)/2015 - the "CAC Law"). That law has been substantially replaced.
The Credit Servicers and Credit Purchasers Law 122(I)/2024 was enacted in Cyprus on 8 November 2024 to transpose EU Directive 2021/2167. The notification provisions of Articles 18 and 19 of the old CAC Law were carried over into Articles 22 to 29 of the new Law, with several borrower protections strengthened. In practical terms:
- Credit purchasers and servicers must act fairly, in good faith and professionally.
- Borrowers must be told who their licensed credit servicer is, how to contact them, and which authority supervises complaints.
- Harassment, coercion and undue pressure are prohibited.
The new framework does not erase the underlying debt. It does, however, set the conduct standard against which any call from Baker Tilly, any letter from doValue and any approach from SKY CAC should be measured. If a contact strays into territory that feels coercive, that is itself relevant.
What You Should Not Do
Three things are almost always a mistake:
- Do not acknowledge the debt in writing on the first contact. A short-written acknowledgement can reset the clock under Limitations Law 66(I)/2012
- Do not commit to any payment plan on the phone. Verbal agreements made under pressure are not in your interest and any first offer is rarely the floor.
- Do not ignore the contact and hope it goes away. It did not go away for the borrowers who were sued in 2024 and 2025, and it is unlikely to go away now.
What You Should Do
A calmer sequence works better:
- Note the date, time and content of every contact. Names of callers, phone numbers, what was said. Record where it is legal to do so.
- Gather your loan paperwork. Original mortgage agreement, the sale contract, statements, correspondence with the bank and any earlier letters from doValue or Baker Tilly.
- Cross-check the four verification points above. If they line up, treat the contact as genuine.
- Take specialist advice. A solicitor experienced in Cyprus mortgage cases can verify the chain, assess limitations and Swiss franc mis-selling defences, and lead the negotiation.
How Judicare Can Help
Judicare is a UK-registered, SRA-regulated international law firm with more than two decades of experience handling mortgage problems abroad, and specifically the Alpha Bank Cyprus / SKY CAC / doValue / Baker Tilly cases. We have negotiated over €65 million in foreign bank debt for clients across more than 15 countries.
If Baker Tilly Cyprus has been in touch - by phone, by letter, or by a representative at the door - our international team can:
- Verify the contact, the chain of title to the debt and the servicer's authority
- Assess limitation, unfair contract terms and Swiss franc mis-selling defences
- Lead the negotiation with Baker Tilly, doValue and SKY CAC, with Cyprus lawyers coordinating the local side
- Help protect your UK-based assets from cross-border enforcement if proceedings are eventually issued - see our note on how a foreign property mortgage debt can be enforced in the UK.
To discuss your situation in confidence, call us on 01438 840 258, email admin@judicaregroup.com, or submit an enquiry online.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Baker Tilly Cyprus a debt collector?
Strictly speaking, no. Baker Tilly Cyprus is a regulated accounting and advisory firm that has been instructed by SKY CAC Limited to trace UK-based borrowers and explore settlement on its behalf. The licensed credit servicer in the chain is doValue Cyprus Limited. The original creditor was Alpha Bank Cyprus, which sold the loan to SKY CAC as part of a non-performing portfolio.
Is a call or letter from Baker Tilly Cyprus a scam?
Almost certainly not, although the cold-contact style understandably feels like one. You can verify by checking four things: that the loan account number matches your original Alpha Bank Cyprus paperwork; that the contact names SKY CAC and doValue; that the Baker Tilly address and phone number correspond to a real Cyprus office; and that no on-the-spot payment is demanded. If three or four line up, the contact is genuine.
How did Baker Tilly get my UK phone number?
Public records, tracing agents and the original mortgage paperwork all carry contact information that can be updated by skip-tracing. Baker Tilly's instruction from SKY CAC includes locating UK-based borrowers, and they will often have access to address and contact data that has been refreshed through commercial tracing services.
What should I say if Baker Tilly calls?
Confirm your name only if you wish to. Take a careful note of the caller's name, the entity they say they represent, and the reason for the call. Do not acknowledge any specific debt, do not agree to any plan, and do not provide payment details. Tell them you will take advice and call back through their published office number - and then do exactly that, after speaking to a specialist solicitor.
Can Baker Tilly take me to court?
Baker Tilly themselves do not litigate against you - they are the outreach phase. If contact is ignored, the matter is referred back to doValue and, if necessary, to lawyers acting for SKY CAC, who can issue a Writ of Summons out of a Cyprus court and arrange service on you at your UK address. Cyprus court deadlines are short, so engaging at the Baker Tilly stage is generally far better than waiting until proceedings are issued.
Related Articles
- How Should You Respond to a Legal Demand from a Foreign Bank?
- Can a Foreign Property Mortgage Debt Be Enforced in the UK?
- What is a Vulture Fund?
- Mortgage Problems in Cyprus
- Mortgage Problems Abroad