Credit Card Companies Keep Calling Me

steverido

I am in my first month of not being able to pay my credit card bills because of being out of work for 6 months. As previously posted here I have sent the standard letters to them all and added ingoings and outgoings and they did not want to help at all. I have sent another letter requesting that they stop calling me as advised here (all day long, even on weekends) but they will not listen over the phone because they are running from a script and even the letters does not work.

I have sent them all another letter explaining what I do for a living and that I am hoping to be back at work in April and I have even told them the kind of money I can earn as a contractor but they send letters back telling me standard stuff and to call a number. I also said that I will pay as much as I can when I can until I return full time to work and will pay it all back within six months but none of them are interested in helping.

One of the culprits is Barclaycard and the worst offender. I spoke to one of them on the phone and they gave me a minimum payment and would not negotiate anything and I found that I got a weeks work and paid this and they are still hassling me and sending me letters.

A friend has told me that one of the charities will contact them on my behalf and stop the harassment. Does anyone know who I can contact for help before I go insane please?

Merlinexcalibur

Re Barclaycard, I reported them to FOS, who sorted their phone calls out. And BC were also fined last year for mostly the same reason. I will not go into what they were doing to my phoneline precisely except it made it impossible for me to use it for up to 20 minutes several times a day.

The one piece of advice I would give - and it was given to me and is given to mostly everyone in debt so just passing it on as it's no use to me eg knowledge shared - is no more phone contact with them. Only in writing. Don't even pick the phone up when they ring.

As to the debt charity. That may depend on you being eligible for a debt management plan but I am not sure. I know one thing, they will not stop phoning you. But I don't know whether they would contact them eg 'stop the harassment'.

I would continue to pay them what you can afford, and they are accepting your offer (again from what I was told by several debt advisors) by taking the money. As long as you are paying something they cannot accuse you of not. Remember, it's what you can afford and they will always argue what they see as minimum payments. It's scripted for example. BC is usually £25 (again information taken from another consumer forum like MSE) minimum and they are trained to say that regardless.

One avenue you could now do is request your credit agreement. This can become useful at a later stage eg when a debt collector becomes involved or even beforehand in some instances.

Lensman_2

Here you go.
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=963087
The harassment letter is post number 5.

Nargleblast

Steverido

Remember the hassle you are getting is not personal - credit card companies are under pressure to get the cash rolling in so they are stepping up the pressure on their customers in turn. Just make sure all communication is in writing and that you have a copy of it, so you can prove if need be that you have done everything in your power to address the situation. And don't be afraid to contact any one of the debt counselling charities for advice - you may not need anything else from them at this stage but they can still advise you. Stay cool, you are not the only one in financial difficulties in these trying times, and you will find a way through this.