Debitas - first steps??

Ethereal_Gaz · 24 January 2010 at 12:35AM

Hi,
I was out of work for 4 months last year and so was unable to make payments on my Cap One card. I spoke to them and entered their debt management scheme (or whatever its called) where I payed £1 a month. After a couple of months I got fed up of making £1 payments so called to set up a direct debit then, rather stupidly, left it at that. 2 months later I'm getting regular calls from Debitas asking me to go through security so I speak to Cap One who tell me there was no DD set up and they've transferred the debt to Debitas and I need to speak to them!

OK - I'm now back at work, albeit on a much lower wage. So I will be able to start making some payment. I have been far from impressed with Debitas so far and know from the Forums they are real chancers.

I haven't received anything in writing from either company to say Debitas have the debt. What do I do next to start making some payment towards the money I owe?

I have previously spoken to CCCS (gave them incoming and ougoings etc) - can I ask them to speak to debitas? What should my next step be, they're now calling my home phone 6+ times a day and my mobile too. I'm not intimidated by them, but I realise I now need to start paying something towards the debt I owe.

andyc225 · 24 January 2010 at 12:48AM

Debitas shouldn't be calling you that many times per day. It's harassment.

Ethereal_Gaz · 24 January 2010 at 5:58PM

I know, and I've read umpteen threads on here about their unprofessional approach.

I do want to start paying the debt off though - so I'll ignore the phone for the moment. I'd just like to know who I should contact to pay this? Do I need to deal with Debitas if I haven't even had a letter from Capital One about any transfer of the debt??

Sorry if this has been answered before - I 've looked through the threads and there's now a LOT to read so I didn't find the info I needed.

DarkConvict · 24 January 2010 at 6:06PM

Send debitas this letter + the DPA bit further down the post - http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.html?p=11571485&postcount=4

I would speak to cap one to confirm debitas are dealing with this account, and ask why it was passed over without you being notified. (As below, debt management scheme might be ran bydebitas )

A DD is a bad idea, they can take out whatever amount they like. Use standing orders!

Deep_In_Debt · 24 January 2010 at 6:22PM

I could be wrong but i think that Debitas are Cap One. They are their in-house collections. I am prepared to be corrected though.

Ethereal_Gaz · 5 February 2010 at 5:08PM

Hmm, I sent them a list of incomings and ougoings and an offer of payment last Saturday. I sent it Recorded Next Day Delivery via Royal Mail but it still hasn't got there. I spoke to someone at Royal Mail and he told me that, as it has been sent to a P.O. box, it won't get to them until they collect it! :mad:

In the mean time I'm getting bombarded with phone calls, which I'm ignoring.

How long has it taken for other people's offers to get to Debitas???

Ethereal_Gaz · 10 February 2010 at 5:33PM

I received a letter a few days ago asking for an immendiat payment or my debt would be transferred to an external collecion agency. I'm still waiting for my letter to be picked up.

I got fed up of waiting for them to pick up my offer of payment from their P.O. Box so answered the phone today. I was initially asked to make a full payment (6k+), which I declined, then they justed asked for an "immediate payment" - I told them I didn't have any money - finally they asked for a "token payment" to show willing and stop my account being passed to external debt collectors.

I refused to make the token payment but did collect the details for me to set up a standing order. Should I still wait for them to reply to my original offer??

never-in-doubt · 10 February 2010 at 5:46PM

Hiya

I think your first port-of-call now would be to formally complain and report their behaviour to the FOS which will at least affect them in so much as they will be fined £500..... You can say they have ignored you for longer than 60 days whatever!

Ok, can you confirm do you have other defaults or late payments, what have Crappy1 done to date - are they just reporting late payments or an A/P (arrangement to pay) or a default? Are you bothered about getting a default, if so forget my next point - if not then have a read here: Unenforceability & Template Letters II

Also, this link is from here (a couple of years old) but gives an insight into Debitas - who is a DCA - not affiliated to one company, they are independent:: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=432055

Regards to the harassment, send the following letter to Debitas and send a copy to Crappy1:

Dear Sirs,

Account No: XXXXXXXX

I am writing in relation to the quantity and frequency of telephone calls that I have received from your company, which I deem to be personally harassing. I have verbally requested that these stop, but I am still receiving calls and I now require all further correspondence from your company to be made in writing only. I am of the view that your continued harassment of me by telephone puts you in breach of Section 40 of the Administration of Justice Act 1970, and the Protection from Harassment Act 1997.

If you continue to harass me by telephone, you will also be in breach of the Communications Act (2003) s.127 and I will report you to OFCOM, Trading Standards and The Office of Fair Trading, meaning that you will be liable to a substantial fine. Be advised that any further telephone calls from your company may be recorded and used in evidence and I expect this harassment to cease immediately.

Yours faithfully

Sign digitally

Ethereal_Gaz · 10 February 2010 at 6:32PM

NID - I have a large overdraft with the Halifax which I've been trying to pay off. I've also got a larger (13k+) debt with MBNA but they have yet to start any harassment as it's just 6 months and I set up an agreement to pay a token amount. I need to call them soon though as I got a phone call this week.

Back to Debitas. I have had no direct contact from CrappyOne to say my debt has been transferred other than, when I called them to ask why they haven't taken my last 2 token payments via DD as I instructed (verbally, doh!). They mentioned I could no longer speak to CrappyOne as it had been transferred to another department - then the barrage of calls began from Debitas. About a month ago I got a letter asking me to call them, then last week I got a further letter saying that if I didn't call them I would have my debt sold on.

Interestingly, in the small print footer of the letter it does say Debitas is a trading name of Capital One.

Not sure about the default. I'd rather them accept my payment plan, but with 22k debts it'll take forever to pay off.

Ethereal_Gaz · 10 February 2010 at 6:35PM

Oh and the offer letter I sent to Debitas also included a letter from a template I found here which told them to stop harassing me by phone and for all future contact to be by letter.

They still haven't picked it up though - 9 days and counting.

never-in-doubt · 10 February 2010 at 8:29PM

Ethereal_Gaz wrote: »

Not sure about the default. I'd rather them accept my payment plan, but with 22k debts it'll take forever to pay off.

Ok, so if this takes longer than 6 years to pay off what purpose does that serve? I'll leave it to you.....

If you need debitas to accept a payment plan then ring them up and quit messing around on here, surely? You seem like you want to pay the debt therefore speak to CCCS or PayPlan...

Debitas may be a trading name but they also deal with non-crappy1 debts - that confuses things - basically they were set-up to deal with internal collections and branched out...

Debitas - first steps??

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