cant pay debt to Cabot Finance

lizziedrippin58

I had a couple of credit cards a few years ago. I was made redundant and the insurance paid the debt for a year. However I became ill and couldnt work for a while so the company added loads of interest on, probably because I was to frightened to contact them. They passsed the debt on about a year and a half ago to a debt company called Cabot Finance who have been harrassing me every other day & night for some sort of payment. They say anything will do but we are on a tight budget as it is and they wanted a breakdown of my husbands salary but he refuses to give them and I dont blame him after everything is paid we live on his overdraft. Once the schools start back I will have to find some sort emplyoment to pay it as I am getting extremely distressed. The debt has now accumulated to about £9,000
My Husband went to our building society to see if we could remortgage as we have equity on the house and he was going to pay it off, but the building society wouldnt let us remortgage as my debt showed up on experian report.

wuckfit

what amount was the debt originally? have Cabot added charges and interest?
Usually when a debt is sold on then interest and charges stop.

Others will be able to advise better but you'll need to post a full statement of affairs (SOA) so that the 'nerds' can come along and offer some ways to cut back...

lizziedrippin58

wuckfit wrote:

what amount was the debt originally? have Cabot added charges and interest?
Usually when a debt is sold on then interest and charges stop.

Others will be able to advise better but you'll need to post a full statement of affairs (SOA) so that the 'nerds' can come along and offer some ways to cut back...

Sorry to be ignorant, what does (SOA) mean

Let_Robinson_Sing

lizziedrippin58 wrote:

Sorry to be ignorant, what does (SOA) mean

Statement of Affairs, your full incomings (Wages, benefits) and Outgoings (Bills, Food, Debts) and your defecit or positive at the end of the month

Broken_hearted

Look at the first time posters thread it tells you in there.

Dammam

Ok. First things first, DON'T pay the full £9,000 to Cabot. They will have bought this debt for something like 10-20% of its' value. Anything over a couple of grand is profit for them and you will NOT be paying back the original debtor, so there is no sense og honour in paying the full wack to Cabot.
Secondly, how much of this debt is made up in charges? You say that the debt has 'accumulated' to £9000.You'll need to look at your old statements if you still have them, or better still get the original creditor to send all details to you. If there are countless £20+ penalty charges for missed payments etc, you can claim these back from the amount that you owe. Any that you have actually paid can also be claimed back.
You'll find a lot of help and advice on what to do about Cabot at the consumer action group

http://idigital.vm.bytemark.co.uk/bag/forum/index.php

armed with all the facts and support, you need not feel a victim of the debt any more.

Incidentally, if Cabot are continually calling you let them know by both phone and in writing that you wish to be contacted by mail only. They will then stop ringing you.

almostthere_3

I have a £5000 debt with Barclaycard who in turn have passed it on to Cabot. I have been paying them £60/month for about 18 months now and I find them quite helpful and professional, any problems with paying them a few days late etc and they are very accommodating (compared to others). They often send me letters with a balance and/or an acknowledgment of payment and in bold writing they always say that interest will be re-applied and often quote on the phone that they are holding back £400-500 of interest. But, up to now, thay haven't applied it.
I rang them a few months ago for a settlement figure and it was only about £500 less than the amount oustanding, not worth paying them £4500, but they are quite happy to receive my £60/month indefinitely!!
Also, make sure that whoever they bought the debt off has made it 'settled' on your credit report. I had an Experian report which stated that I owed Barclaycard £5k and a firm called 'Kingshill No:1' £5k also. 'Kingshill No:1' are in fact Cabot Financial Europe. I wrote to them saying that I requested my credit report updating to reflect that my Barclaycard had been settled, (bought by Cabot) and that I only owed Cabot, or Kingshill, the £5000. They did this within 2 weeks and my credit report now reflects this.

AGB863

It may be possible for interest to still be added to the original debt, it all depends if Cabot are only "handling" the debt for the original creditor, this way the account is still having interest charges added.

It may me worth asking Cabot for proof of assignment of the debt, ie do they own the debt (have they purchased the debt) or are they handling the debt on behalf of the original credit card company. Ask for the information to be put in writing.