HELP!: Debt Collectors are after me! (Update: 30th Dec 2009)

indebtindevon

Hi guys and girls, This is my first thread (one of many i'm sure) but alas its not what i'd call a happy post..

Basically last year I couldnt pay a 190 quid phone bill to orange and stupidly did the whole hiding my head in the sand thing hoping it would go away.. Guess what? IT DIDNT!

12th of December I get a letter saying I owe the best part of 600 quid and they want it asap. Now i'm willing to settle this figure as I dont want to be paying token payments for the rest of my life and Im setting my debts as my main life goal at the moment.. (Thanks MSE)

I've done some reading and from what I can gather this is the way I should be dealing with it:

1; Write a letter asking to only be contacted via letter
2; Write a letter asking for my telephone numbers to be removed under the DPA

Step 3 i'm not so sure about? I've been told to send an offer of 25% of the sum for a quick settlement and you can usually get away with paying alot less.

So my question to you all is what should I do?! Have you got some template letters I can start firing out? Also do I send things recorded delivery?

Any help is appreciated! Thanks in advance!

:money:

GeorgeUK

Hi Idid.

The first thing i would be doing is asking how the bill has increased by so much so quickly. I would send the 'prove it' letter (from the template sticky at the top) and request a breakdown of costs and a copy of the airtime agreement.

Have you checked your credit file? Do you have a default for this debt?

If you are going to make a reduced settlement offer, do not send any payment until you have written confirmation that it will be considered a "full and final" settlement and that you have no further liability. Partial or short settlement just mean they will pursue for the remainder at a later date.

indebtindevon

Right ok, I'll send off a prove it letter today and wait for a response.. How do i check my credit file?!

gwon

Experian will do you a months free trial, which gives you access. Just remember to cancel within the month if you don't want to continue to pay a subscription.

MrsTinks

Did you have a fair amount of time left on the contract? If you did they are almost certainly asking for the full value of the contract now which would explain most of that amount
25%... depends on if the debt has been sold to a DCA or is still with Orange really... If it's with Orange then they are not likely to settle for 25%... if it is with a DCA and you have no chance of ever repaying that amount they might agree to a lower amount - but there is no guarantee... event then I'd call 25% on a pretty new debt "optimistic" at best But you can but try...

indebtindevon

MrsTine wrote: »

Did you have a fair amount of time left on the contract? If you did they are almost certainly asking for the full value of the contract now which would explain most of that amount

See thats what I thought it was but my dad said it was them putting their collection fees ontop of the amount.. I think it would be a good move to ring orange and see where the debt lies.

indebtindevon

Ok, I spoke to the collections team at orange (twice) and it looks like I owe DLC ltd the money and can no longer pay orange..

I've sent a letter to them saying I will only deal with them in writing, So the question is WHAT IS THE NEXT STEP?!

This is starting to get me down, I want to get a decent way to pay back the amount so it doesnt ruin my credit rating any more than it already is..

Thanks in advance for any help.

GeorgeUK

If it were my debt, i would want a detailed breakdown of how the balance came about. I would request this and proof that the debt is yours - no sense in you paying someone elses debt, and yes DCA's do sometimes chase people who don't owe that debt.

indebtindevon

OK, So next step is to write asking for a breakdown of the debt and credit agreement?

fermi

A breakdown of the debt certainly.

Mobile phone contracts don't normally fall under the rules governing requests for copies of consumer credit agreements. You can often see the historical T&Cs on the provider's website, so could check what any termination conditions were in the contract.

indebtindevon

Ok, great.. well thats in the post when i finish work. It feels nice to be finally determined to sort this out. I'm filling in a financial evaluation now for the next step of this process..

So what do you know about making offers to Debt Collectors?