Is this too good to be true?

RAS

If you send a cheque, it has your account number of it and your signature. do which ever you wish but be aware that there have been a few instances of DCas taking money from accounts and installing signatures into blank CCAs.

jackit

RAS wrote: »

If you send a cheque, it has your account number of it and your signature. do which ever you wish but be aware that there have been a few instances of DCas taking money from accounts and installing signatures into blank CCAs.

My partner will be sending these letters off and I would write the cheque from my account - different name etc - is it still likely to cause problems ie can they then take money from my account for debt in his name (we are not married).

RAS

No

In fact if they install a signature in a blank CCA, it would have the advantage of being the wrong name (has been done before - the signature was that of the debt advisor).

dn2004

Well I have paid I will let you know what happens and I will keep an eye on this thread to find out what happens to others.

maxriz

JRP1414 wrote: »

My girlfriend has also received one of these letters from Aktiv. They are offering 30% to clear a £14k debt. Initially I told her to jump at the chance but seeing settlement figures on here as low as 10%, I've told her to haggle! When she first spoke to them, she offered them 25% but they declined and gave her until the end of the month to come up with the money. I'm guessing that as she currently pays approx £50 per month to them, they think she is capable of paying more than clients who are only able to afford £1 per month. Has anyone managed to haggle with them and get the settlement figure down?

Yes it would be great if anyone can let us know if they have managed to reduce the settlement figure. When I mentioned the subject during my call to AK/Thames Credit I wastold that because of the "incredible offer" there was no way that negotiation was an option.

poochunk

Hi folks,

One of the authors of our blog also got this letter today. We had a chat and a think about it, and came to the following conclusions:

• The letter was dated 5th September, but the envelope was postmarked (franked by Thames Credit themselves, presumably) on 10th September, arriving today, the 12th. Why the delay in posting such an “urgent” letter?
• As a company specialising in debt collection, you’d think Thames Credit would know pretty well what the “Credit Crunch” means to people. Instead, we wonder what the credit crunch means to Thames Credit? Perhaps it means that in the face of global economic recession, all of the debts they’ve purchased are quite likely to become utterly worthless.
• That until now, Thames Credit have been anything but nice to deal with. Why the sudden change in their tune - helping their customers!?
• Going against the credit crunch just to be nice to people - at a time of global economic trouble, that sounds utterly insane!
• The tone of the letter is very nicey-nicey but still please call us ASAP and so on. Feels like a trap to us.

So our diagnosis - they're attempting to cut their losses and run, before the debts they've purchased become totally worthless.

If anything, them offering to forget probably millions of pounds of debt for £150 per account says to me that the global economy is in even worse shape than I thought (and I've been quite pessimistic about it anyway, despite not having that much to lose personally).

So we decided that while £150 seems like quite a low price to pay, it sticks it to them far more to call their bluff, and hope that they'll go out of business with no likely buyers for such a measly debt at such a risky time to be in that business.

Pehaps not the wisest decision to refuse their "offer", but since this debt is never likely to get paid off, and since they wouldn't be sending out such pathetic letters unless something was really wrong (ie. they are on the verge of going out of business), why should anybody help them? (Especially after how they treat their "valuable customers" - with threatening letters and harrassment!)

Still, I guess we'll be chatting about it some more over the weekend, but we thought we should get something online so that others Googling for information about what to do about this letter would find it.

You can read more in our blog posting.

JRP1414

It had crossed my mind about Aktiv possibly going bust. The bit in the letter about 'credit crunch' really stuck out.

Just to keep you updated, my otherhalf called them about their offer, discussed it with them and was told someone would call back the next day to see if she had decided to settle. The guy called but my otherhalf was busy and asked him to call back on Monday morning. He then called back 45 minutes later, asking if she was free to speak now. Again, she asked him to call back Monday. The reply... 'ok, but Monday is the very last day to make a decision'. Hmm, a bit desperate aren't we?! I can make only two conclusions from this... 1. Their staff are on commission or 2. The company is struggling and desperate to shed some load.

Looking at the letter received by Poochunk, it is a bit different to my otherhalf's. Poochunk has been offered a settlement fee of £150, whereas my girlfriend has been asked for 30%. I'm not sure what Poochunk's current balance is but for my girlfriend this would mean a settlement figure of just over £4000. Considerably more than £150! Reading through the posts, others have also been offered £150 for debts in the region of £8000. So why the big difference with my otherhalf's?

It would be interesting to know whether Aktiv are going under as I am really unsure what action to take with regards to this letter. To give them £4000 is going to cost me all of my savings and in all honesty, I don't want to be giving it to these scumbags if I can help it. However, to hang out and possibly lose out on the offer is just as bad. I wonder if a company search on Aktiv Group would tell us more?

pop-tart

it appears to me that they are making offers based on your current monthly payments, I have had two offers for two debts owed to them, one for 25% and one for 30%. Other people have had offers as low as 5%, however these seem to be the folk who are making smaller monthly repayments.

I haven't spoken to them about my offers yet, but given that I have just broken my foot, and will be off work for at least 6 weeks, and then don't know if i will have a job to go back to as farming is suddenly up the spout again, i might be having to drastically reduce my monthly payments anyway.

JRP1414

pop-tart wrote: »

it appears to me that they are making offers based on your current monthly payments, I have had two offers for two debts owed to them, one for 25% and one for 30%. Other people have had offers as low as 5%, however these seem to be the folk who are making smaller monthly repayments.

I haven't spoken to them about my offers yet, but given that I have just broken my foot, and will be off work for at least 6 weeks, and then don't know if i will have a job to go back to as farming is suddenly up the spout again, i might be having to drastically reduce my monthly payments anyway.

Yes I think you're right. They obviously assume that with some people they can push to get more out of them. My only other thought was that those who are being offered the chance to clear for 5% or less, that Aktiv probably don't have the paperwork to enforce anything in court anyway. Hence why they are pushing such tight time limits, not giving you the chance to request copies of your agreement.

Mollymop5

I have been paying £2.50 per month and have also received a letter offering me a settlement figure of £150.I'm very tempted.I've had good dealings with this company.I acknowledged my debts from the very beginning with the help of CAB and know the debts are mine.
If the company does go bust would my debts disappear? or could they end up with another firm?