Reduced hours - reduced payments not accepted?

LittleMissSee

Hi all,

I am looking for a bit of advice please?

I have a debt with MCS and I have been paying them £275 per month for the past 10 months all ok. I have generally found them ok to deal with, however I called last night to speak to them, and was left absolutely livid!

Basically next month my hours of work are reducing from 37 to 24, and as such I wanted to see if I could look to reduce my payments to MCS. I was made redundant in Jan and have been on a vastly lower wage, yet I have still been paying them the same payment as when I was earning more, and just struggling each month. I called last night to explain that I will be on a lower wage and simply won't be able to afford the payment I have with them at the moment, and could we look to come to an arrangement for a lower payment? I spoke to the rudest man, who basically told me they now want me to pay £350 per month!! I told him that I couldn't afford that now, let alone when my hours reduce, and he was horrible. He told me that I would have to deal with the solicitors as it would be classed as a missed payment. I asked him would I then have to pay them, and he said he didn't know as he wasn't a solicitor, but they would be looking to get a warrant of execution to seize goods.

I asked if it would help if I sent in a statement of income and outgoings, and he said probably not, but to send it in anyway.

It's not a case of that I don't want to pay anymore, I just want to pay less as I can't pull money out my a$s which they seem to think I can! If I am already in an arrangment with them, and my circumstances change, am I able to come to a new arrangement or does it have to go to a CCJ?

Also, I can't seem to find a template to use to calculate my income and outgoings, so would appreciate any help.

Sorry for the long post.
x

cathdance

LittleMissSee wrote: »

Hi all,

I am looking for a bit of advice please?

I have a debt with MCS and I have been paying them £275 per month for the past 10 months all ok. I have generally found them ok to deal with, however I called last night to speak to them, and was left absolutely livid!

Basically next month my hours of work are reducing from 37 to 24, and as such I wanted to see if I could look to reduce my payments to MCS. I was made redundant in Jan and have been on a vastly lower wage, yet I have still been paying them the same payment as when I was earning more, and just struggling each month. I called last night to explain that I will be on a lower wage and simply won't be able to afford the payment I have with them at the moment, and could we look to come to an arrangement for a lower payment? I spoke to the rudest man, who basically told me they now want me to pay £350 per month!! I told him that I couldn't afford that now, let alone when my hours reduce, and he was horrible. He told me that I would have to deal with the solicitors as it would be classed as a missed payment. I asked him would I then have to pay them, and he said he didn't know as he wasn't a solicitor, but they would be looking to get a warrant of execution to seize goods.

I asked if it would help if I sent in a statement of income and outgoings, and he said probably not, but to send it in anyway.

It's not a case of that I don't want to pay anymore, I just want to pay less as I can't pull money out my a$s which they seem to think I can! If I am already in an arrangment with them, and my circumstances change, am I able to come to a new arrangement or does it have to go to a CCJ?

Also, I can't seem to find a template to use to calculate my income and outgoings, so would appreciate any help.

Sorry for the long post.
x

Hi
I have been in the same situation but just think , they can't have what you havent got! If you try the following ideas and keep a hard copy,then you have tried to come to an agreement. If this went to court, the court would see that you have tried to pay and have paid! and now due to your circumstances you need to have to reduce the amount.


1, I would send them a cover letter explaining your conversation date ect what you offered to pay.
2, ALso if you have Excel i would do an income and expenditure and include all your debts and list the amount you can pay.
3, Keep a copy of both letters and send it recorded delivery ( so they can't say they have not recieved it)

I have done this and it worked for me.

Do you have any other debts?

let me know how you get on.

Regards
Cath

RAS

LittleMissSee wrote: »

I called last night to explain that I will be on a lower wage and simply won't be able to afford the payment I have with them at the moment, and could we look to come to an arrangement for a lower payment? I spoke to the rudest man, who basically told me they now want me to pay £350 per month!! I told him that I couldn't afford that now, let alone when my hours reduce, and he was horrible. He told me that I would have to deal with the solicitors as it would be classed as a missed payment. I asked him would I then have to pay them, and he said he didn't know as he wasn't a solicitor, but they would be looking to get a warrant of execution to seize goods.

Hi

STOP talking to them and only communicate writing as the company's comments are illegal. They would not dare repeat these in writing.

It is against OFT Guidelines to pressure a debtor to pay more than they can afford. It is also against OFT Guidelines to make threats of legal action that are unlikely or impossible to carry out. And they have dones both.

If you get solicitor's letters, then fine. If it goes to court you are likely to end up paying even less than you have suggested.

Jesthar

Hi See

First off, relax a little - any scenario involving baliffs turning up on the doorstep is a LONG way off. And even if MCS were dumb enough to go that route, it involves a court session at during which the court would review your income and expenditure budget, and the COURT would appoint the monthly amount based on what THEY (not MCS) believe you could afford, which in your position would be lower (possibly a lot lower) than you are already paying. So MCS really DON'T want to go that route at all, as the legal ruling is binding on them as well as you, and would make it illegal for them to try to up your repayments - they'd have to go back to court for that.

So why do they do it? Simple - to scare you into making more payments, even if you can't afford it! What you have to remember is that the person on the end of the telephone is almost invariably on commission - i.e. the more money they persuade you to pay, the bigger their pay packet is at the end of the month. So they will tell you the most outrageous and frightening things they can to make you panic an pay up, whilst always carefully adding qualifiers like 'may' or 'could' or 'will be seeking' so they are technically not actually lying, but still hiding the fact that any of the processes they mention are usually about as likely to happen as Elvis and Michael Jackson turning up in your kitchen and performing a tango...

Hope that helps you a bit - you can find Statement of Affairs calculator here: http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

Oh, and as RAS say, it's time to stop talking to these bullies over the phone and insist on written communication only. They can't get away with this kind of stuff in writing, as it would incriminate them...

~Jes

LittleMissSee

Thank you both for your advice.

I will send them a letter. I just wasn't sure whether once you'd entered an arrangement, that it was then fixed?

robpw2

pay what you can send them a letter advising what you can afford and keep doing it ..
they cannot do anything if you pay what you can

LittleMissSee

Thanks Jess too.

I was so angry on the phone last night, the guy was so rude to me.

Is it worth complaining about him too? At one point I asked for the address where to send my letter, and he said "well don't you have letters from us, use that address!" So I asked him again, so he said it really fast, in a very strong foreign accent. When I asked him to slow down and repeat it as I was writing it down he shouted the address really slowly like I was simple! I asked him to spell the town as I'd never heard of it, and he tutted and then spelt it. The next part was Birmingham, and he said "would you like me to spell that for you aswell?" sarcastically! I don't know how I managed to stay calm!!

I'll let you know how I get on.

Do you know roughly how long it will take, as I won't be able to pay my September installment in full (the full £275 is due 15th Sep). Should I pay the amount I am asking for?

Thanks again guys, I really appreciate your help.

robpw2

yes littlemisssee pay the amount you requested

Jesthar

LittleMissSee wrote: »

Thank you both for your advice.

I will send them a letter. I just wasn't sure whether once you'd entered an arrangement, that it was then fixed?

If it were, they woouldn't be trying so hard to get you to UP the payments... Legally speaking they're not allowed to demand payment levels which would leave you in financial hardship (not enough to pay for essential and basic living costs etc.), but it doesn't stop them trying! But if your circumstances change and you can't pay the original agreeed amount any more, then they wil bluster and threaten, but they'd rather have a reduced amount than risk taking you to court.

Normally the only time a repayment amount becomes legally binding is if it is court appointed, and , as I say, they really want to avoid that route as it would cost them a small fortune and they'd likely come off worse...

~Jes

LittleMissSee

Thanks for all your advice.

Sorry if this is a daft question - I have a standing order with them (I completed a standing order mandate) where they take £275 per month from me. As of next month, I want to pay a lesser amount, do I cancel the current standing order and request a new mandate, or leave it and hope they amend the amount in time?

Jesthar

LittleMissSee wrote: »

Thanks for all your advice.

Sorry if this is a daft question - I have a standing order with them (I completed a standing order mandate) where they take £275 per month from me. As of next month, I want to pay a lesser amount, do I cancel the current standing order and request a new mandate, or leave it and hope they amend the amount in time?

There's no such thing as a daft question!

Are you sure it is a Standing Order, and not a Direct Debit? The two are vastly different, in that a standing order YOU are in total control of the wholeprocess and the amount paid, but with a DD the other party has a large degree of control in what amount THEY choose to take. This is why a lot of people get so annoyed about energy companies hiking Direct Debit amounts to astronomical levels withouot warning!

If it is a Direct Debit, you will need to speak to your bank about cancelling this, and also to block all future DD requests from the company in question - the bank has to do all this for you, you can't do it yourself. You can then get them to set up a Standing Order to pay them whatever new amount you choose - you will need to know their bank account and payment details etc. to do this, so make sure you have them to hand before starting the process. If you have online banking, you may well be able to set up Standing Orders using that - I can, takes about 2 minutes!

If your current payment is definitely a Standing Order then things are easier - you can just amend the amount you are paying on the existing Standing Order.

~Jes