Phone calls from creditors

poppy52

I said this to them and they said it wasn't a loan, it was 'refinancing', but the agreement they want me to sign says 'loan agreement'!

file_wizzard

sportbeth wrote:

I think this might be against the banking code or the OFT debt collection guidance. One of the two says it is wrong to pressure someone in financial difficulty with another loan to "fix" it

OFT – Guidance to consumer credit license holders

Item 2.5

b. Pressuring debtors to sell property, or raise funds by further borrowing

d. pressurising debtors to pay in full, in unreasonably large installments, or to increase payments when they are unable to do so.

tawnyowls

Register the phone with the Telephone Preferences Service - takes minutes on https://www.tpsonline.org.uk/. Once you get the confirmatory letter from them, answer any calls with 'You are aware this telephone is registered with the Telephone Preferences Service, and I am entitled to report you to them?', and wait for the apologetic stutters on the other end. Excellent for anyone, not just people in debt - I registered as soon as I moved and I've had hardly any junk calls since.

Turning_into_scrooge

Thank you to everyone who took the time to post:T . I haven't been on here much this weekend to reply earlier as the stress has caused me a major flare up with the disability i have. Anyway i received a reply to my mail this morning complaining about the situation which stated it has been passed onto the dept. in question for a full investigation but they cannot guarantee the phone calls will stop,:mad: so it looks like File_wizard letter will be winging its way soon toward them. The phone is already TPS registered but i wasn't aware this covered this kind of situation, something i will look into.:idea: I am hoping that i have now managed to block them from getting through via BT choose to refuse service so no more calls and they will have to write instead. LLoydsTSB attitude to debt has allot in common with Cap Quest these days.:mad: :think:

skylight

I had a BIG arguement from a Lady with Egg about this.

She claimed that 2 calls a day everyday was not harrasement.
I told her it was (see where the argument went!)

I suggested that I call the OFT to check their guidelines and suggested she call them for re-training.


Mind you, also just got off the phone to Link Financial (taken over MBNA debt) to argue with me that the budget Payplan have put together is wrong and I HAVE to do it under their guidlines.
Nice little argument with him - I won!

skylight

Do not let these people get you down. The best bit of advice I can pass on (find from these pages too!) is:

The WORST they can do to you is to ask you to pay. All the rest is hot air.

Now, its the asking to pay that they start to get tricky with.

So you have caller ID on your phone? Just dont pick it up if you don't recognise the number. Let them leave a message.

Turning_into_scrooge

charlotte664 wrote:

I had a BIG arguement from a Lady with Egg about this.

She claimed that 2 calls a day everyday was not harrasement.
I told her it was (see where the argument went!)

I suggested that I call the OFT to check their guidelines and suggested she call them for re-training.


Mind you, also just got off the phone to Link Financial (taken over MBNA debt) to argue with me that the budget Payplan have put together is wrong and I HAVE to do it under their guidlines.
Nice little argument with him - I won!

When i said i would check the amount of phone calls a day allowed by the OFT she said to go ahead that was my prerogative. She also threatened to send the debt to a long term DCA which would affect my credit file, er hello its already totally stuffed so one more ain't gonna make a difference, and when i said go ahead you'll be doing me a favour she got quite nasty and said again that was my prerogative. I hung up on her at that point. In fact i have hung on all but one guy who was actually very nice listened to what i had to say and was very helpful. Don't they make notes on their computers anymore? In the email i sent to the complaints debt i put in it that if no one has phoned me form that dept. like i was told on the phone then their systems had been hacked into and they better get it sorted!

sportbeth

If you send File Wizzard's letter you will make it abundantly clear that you insist all communication is in writing. They then have no excuse at all to call you even once a year!!!

If you think about it all they are trying to do is psychologically wear you down. If they pick on you enough then they might get paid first if you owe to 5 creditors because you will be so sick of them calling. I had this situation 8 years ago when I didn't know what I was talking about. I even paid up £200 that I didnt have because a company that said they were a solicitors (another Debt collection tactic) said that they would send a bailiff around the following week (they cannot send a bailiff in unless it is a council debt or you have been taken to county court and still not coughed up)

Spend a bit more time on here and at https://www.debthelp.co.uk and find out your rights. There is no need for anyone to make you feel that you are in the wrong or that they have the right to harass you. That is the most common misconception of debt collectors. You have every right to take control of how and when they contact you and they know it. They just don't want you to know it

MCBIRNIE25

I agree with all of the above.
I am now so comfortable talking to them on the phone I have a lot of fun with them. My favourite trick is to keep a bible next to my phone, say I am a Jehovah's Witness, and ask if they have found god yet, i then start quoting the Bible. Funnily enough, they always terminate the call and haven't rang back since.

EdinburghKev

I am not sure if this will help you or others but if you have your phone line with BT you can sign up for free to the BT Privacy service. As part of this you get BT Caller ID. You can then buy a BT Caller ID Display from eBay for £1.99 with P & P included in this price. If you search eBay for Caller ID you will see plenty of these little units that plug in to your phone socket alongside your telephone. Some of the eBayers selling these units are Power Sellers with excellent feedback so you have nothing to worry about dealing with them. Once you have this in place you can decide yourself what calls to answer and what calls to reject without any of the stress that comes with dreading the phone ringing.

BT Privacy at Home:
http://www2.bt.com/static/i/btretail/consumer/btprivacy/index.html?com.bea.event.type=linkclick&oLName=link.searchresults&oLDesc=ukprivacy