I have sent out reduced payment letters and need some help!

yogibear999

Hi there,

I am a long time lurker, but first time poster! I recently sent out reduced payment offers to all of my creditors as my take home pay is due to reduce. On top of this, my husband has changed jobs and was out of work for a month which meant we only had my wages to live off. I sent out the reduced payment letters in anticipation of my reduction in salary, however it looks like this is not going to happen for a couple of months. This would have meant that we could have paid additional amounts to our creditors this coming month, but we have just had a massive gas and electric bill which is going to eat up any surplus (we have just changed suppliers and are now on a direct debit).

My plan is to continue with the reduced payments, and we have been in contact with CCCS, but I am concerned that some of the creditors have requested proof of income etc before they will accept the reduced payment and we actually can't provide that at this moment. Does anyone have any suggestions of what we can do?

MyLastFiver

Who has asked for proof of reduced income? This seems weird as I have 10 separate creditors and none of them asked for this.

Anyway - the "proper" thing to do would be continue to make full payments until your salary is reduced.

Alternatively, IF your debts are non-secured and non-priority... continue to make reduced payments for the next couple of months anyway, until you get a payslip with your reduced salary on. However your creditors won't like it and you will get calls, letters, late charges and interest charges, and put yourself at risk of legal action.

Buddingblonde

I would have thought that most creditors will want to see a financial statement as this would stand you in a better stead of the payment offers being accepted ie they cannot get more off you than you have.

yogibear999

Hi,

Thanks for your reply. I was absolutely planning on making as big a payment as I could but the combined total of our utility bills are over £300 and these have to be paid this coming month. If I have any surplus left from paying the utilities, I will distribute it to my creditors, but this looks unlikely.

It is Capital one and a store card that are requesting the proof of payslip. No one else has asked as yet...

yogibear999

Buddingblonde - i did include a SOA in with the letters so they could see exactly where the money was going, it's just these couple that want payslips

10past6

yogibear999 wrote: »

it's just these couple that want payslips

There is NO legal obligation for you to provide what they request, only a court has the power to request such information.

You don't need their "permission" to make reduced payments, you pay what you can afford, not what they demand.

If they don't like it, TUFF!! they'll soon pick their dummy up :rotfl:

MyLastFiver

yogibear999 wrote: »

Hi,

Thanks for your reply. I was absolutely planning on making as big a payment as I could but the combined total of our utility bills are over £300 and these have to be paid this coming month. If I have any surplus left from paying the utilities, I will distribute it to my creditors, but this looks unlikely.

It is Capital one and a store card that are requesting the proof of payslip. No one else has asked as yet...

So if you are earning your full salary and still can't meet the payments, it sounds like your anticipated reduction in salary isn't the problem. You're just overstretched. An accurate SOA will reflect this.

OR if your deficit this month is just due to the one-month loss of your husband's earnings, and you will be back to normal next month, then tell your creditors this. They may be prepared to re-schedule the one missed payment.

What I'm getting at is try to be completely straight with your creditors, even if it's a pain in the neck. Good luck.

MyLastFiver

10past6 wrote: »

There is NO legal obligation for you to provide what they request, only a court has the power to request such information.

You don't need their "permission" to make reduced payments, you pay what you can afford, not what they demand.

If they don't like it, TUFF!! they'll soon pick their dummy up :rotfl:

I agree, but I also know that the period between initial delinquency and acceptance of reduced payments can be traumatic (due to collections calls) and expensive (due to charges).

10past6

MyLastFiver wrote: »

What I'm getting at is try to be completely straight with your creditors

By the same token, make sure their being straight with you by checking they have the right to collect on the debt, to do that, make a CCA request using the template letter below:

Dear Sir/Madam

Re:− Account/Reference Number: XXXXXXXXX

With reference to the above agreement, I would be grateful if you would send me a copy of this credit agreement.

I understand that under the Consumer Credit Act 1974 (Sections 77−79), I am entitled to receive a copy of our credit agreement on request.

I enclose a payment of £1.00 which represents the fee payable under the Consumer Credit Act.

I understand a copy of my credit agreement should be supplied within 12 working days.

I understand that under the Consumer Credit Act creditors are unable to enforce an agreement if they fail to comply with a request for a copy of the agreement under these sections of the Act.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours faithfully

PRINT ONLY - DON'T SIGN

10past6

MyLastFiver wrote: »

acceptance of reduced payments can be traumatic (due to collections calls)

Never heard of telephone harassment letter?

Dear Sirs

Harassment by telephone

Account Number: XXXXXXX

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. (Delete if necessary)

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 will be recorded. (**Even if you don‘t yet have recording equipment!!**)

I request confirmation that my telephone details have beem removed from your databases.

Yours faithfully,

MyLastFiver wrote: »

and expensive (due to charges).

An SAR request would soon sort that out, regarding any unlawful charges:

*See, creditors don't have debtors over a barrel as much as they think they do*

Data Protection Act 1998 Subject Access Request

Dear Sir/Madam

Account number: xxxxxxxx

Please send me the information which I am entitled to under section 7(1) of the Data Protection Act 1998 in relation to detailed occurrences relating to the account Numbers xxxxxxxx and xxxxxxxx-x

The following is by no means an exhaustive list but in the main this is what I require.

Please supply me with a complete list of transactions and charges relating to ALL accounting history with your organisation.

Additionally, all records you hold on me relevant to the above accounts, including but not limited to:

1. A transcript of all transactions, including charges, fees, interest, repayments and payments and both the original amount of the loan and any repayments made to the account.

2. Transcriptions of all telephone conversations recorded and any notes made in relation to telephone conversations by your company

3. Where there has been any event in my account history over this period which has required manual intervention by any person, I require disclosure of any indication or notes which have either caused or resulted in that manual intervention, or other evidence of that manual intervention in relation to my account. If you are unable to supply this data because there has been no such manual intervention, then please be so kind as to confirm this in your response

4. True copies of any notice of assignment and/or default notice or enforcement notices that you may have sent to me, with a copy of any proof of postage that you hold.

5. Documents relating to any insurance added to the account, including the insurance contract and terms and conditions, date it was added and deleted.

6. Details of any collection charge added to the account; specifically, the date it was levied, the amount of the charge, a detailed financial breakdown of how the charge was calculated, and what the charge covers.

7. Specific details of the fees/charges levied by any other agency in respect of these accounts and a detailed breakdown of said fees/charges and what each charge relates to and on what date said fees/charges were levied.

8. A genuine copy of any deed of assignment, or proof that you have a legal right to this money.

9. A genuine copy of any notice of fair use of my data as required by the Data Protection Act 1998

10. A list of third party agencies to whom you have disclosed my personal data and a summary of the nature of the information you have disclosed.

11. A copy of all account statements for the duration of the agreement.

12. Please would you also advise me of the logic involved in any automated decisions taken by you about me pursuant to section 7(1) (d) of the Data Protection Act 1998.

13. A True copy of the consumer credit agreement section 77-79 of the Consumer Credit Act of 1974.

Any other information relating to the account.

I enclose the statutory maximum fee of £10. You have 40 days in which to comply. Furthermore, if I discover that you have levied disproportionate penalties against me, I shall be reclaiming them, and reclaiming the enclosed £10 Data Protection Act subject access request fee.

If there is specific information which you require in order to satisfy yourself as to my identity, please let me know by return. However, please note that the above address is the one which you normally use to communicate my private business to me and which you have found to be acceptable.

yogibear999

10past6 wrote: »

If they don't like it, TUFF!! they'll soon pick their dummy up :rotfl:

:rotfl: Thanks, that gave me a much needed laugh!

Mylastfiver - I completely understand what you are saying, our situation was getting bad prior to the anticipated reduction in income and that was the LBM that made us realise we needed to sort it asap as we wouldn't be able to meet our minumum payments. We wanted to be on top of things and send out the letters before defaulting on payments, so we could keep everything up to date, it's just unfortunate that the plan didn't quite work out that way! Our plan is to look into a DMP with cccs very shortly.

10past6 - Sorry if I'm being a little dense, but I don't understand what you mean by checking that the company are able to collect on the debt? Surely by taking on the agreement, I am liable for it?? Sorry, it's the end of the day!!