Debt advise for family member

DearyMe22

Hi

My younger brother who still lives at home has several debts, as follows:

Westcot - : £350 - last letter asking for full balance or will be sent to door-to-door collection agency.

Moorcroft - £550 - last letter asking for payment in full or for an agreement of £15 per month otherwise court proceedings.

Capquest - £1250 - last letter "Preparing Statuary Demand"

He still lives at home and is on income support at £47 per week. Out of this he has to pay £20 board a week to mother for living expenses etc.

So paying in full isn't an option. He could pay small amounts but considering there is 3 debts across different agencies it will be difficult to arrange this. I am trying to sort this out for him. What is the best option here? Obviously he'll hope to get a job eventually and pay off in full. How little will they accept per month in the meantime? He lives at home but doesn't really have any possessions to take as such apart from clothes. What are they likely to do if the debt is ignored? The statuary demand sounds a bit scary!

Thanks for any advise that can be given on this

RAS

DearyMe22 wrote: »

Westcot - : £350 - last letter asking for full balance or will be sent to door-to-door collection agency.

what is the original debt for?

Door step collectors have not legal rights

Moorcroft - £550 - last letter asking for payment in full or for an agreement of £15 per month otherwise court proceedings.

Ditoo. Tough titty. A court would grant £1 per month if he handles the case properly and attends.

Capquest - £1250 - last letter "Preparing Statuary Demand"

Ditto.
In which case he needs to report them to the OFt as they have alreadyt put major conditions on the licence of another agency which has been making the same threats.

welcome we need to know what nthe debts relate to and when they were taken out.

he should be paying a token £1 per moth for each debt as his only income is benefits, and rather more to mum.

GeorgeUK

Westcot - : £350 - last letter asking for full balance or will be sent to door-to-door collection agency.

If this is sent to a collection agency, be aware that these people have as much right to enter your home or take goods away as the paperboy - none. If they come to the door, ask them to leave - if they don't then they are trespassing. There is a letter somewhere about doorstep collectors. I'll try to look it out for you.

Moorcroft - £550 - last letter asking for payment in full or for an agreement of £15 per month otherwise court proceedings.

They've made an offer of accepting payment - your brother might be able to make a counter offer. The lowest he can offer is probably £1 but i'll discuss this a lttle more later.

Capquest - £1250 - last letter "Preparing Statuary Demand"

This is most probably an idle threat, but it is a helluva threat.
A statutory demand gives a person 21 days warning to pay the debt. After that the statutory demand has runs it course and it can followed by a bankruptcy petition. It would cost the company £150 to petition for bankruptcy and your brother doesn't have any assets. This makes me think it is more of a bluff, especially as they have sent a letter saying they are preparing a statutory demand instead of sending one. It might be a warning shot to get your brother to contact them.

So basically he has £27pw (say £90pm).
350+550+1250=2150
90/2150=0.04186
350 * 0.04186 = 14.65
550 * 0.04186 = 23.02
1250*0.04186 = 52.32

These are the amounts he could pay towards each debt each month (if he was to pay £90pm towards them).

If he has had charges from the accounts, he may be able to claim these back from the original creditor. As he is on a low income, he will hopefully be made a priority case.

If he has charges to reclaim, he could issue a subject access request (SAR - cost £10). This will allow him to see all transactions on the account for the last 6 years and if it is for a loan, creditcard or catalogue debt (and some HP) he can also request a copy of the original credit agreement.

If the debt was taken out before 6th April 2007, the customer credit agreement (CCA) must have certain terms on it to be enforcable. If the CCA is not enforcable or properly executed, then payment of the debt may not be required until a properly executed CCA is available. A court will only be able to make the debt enforcable if the CCA ahs all the terms required and if it is signed by him. (This is why it is sometimes better to do a SAR rather than a simple CCA request (cost £1) - the CCA does not require them to semd a copy with the signature on it).

DearyMe22

Hi thanks for the replies.

The two lower debts were for mobile phone contracts, the higher one for an educational course.

If he was to offer them £1 per month what kind of letter should he send? Will they accept this?

gettingbetter

hi deary

if he makes token payments of a £1
and he is taken to court
it will show he is trying to pay something
ot just ignoring it

that is just my view

hopew everything works out

kas xx