Rockwell Debt Collection 22K Debt Advice!!

Kalinikta

Hi all, thanks for taking the time to read my post. I know a lot of people come here looking for advice, so if anyone can guide me here; I would be grateful.

I took a loan out with what was then Alliance and Leicester for £20000. It was for a new business and a deposit on a flat. I took the loan out around March 2008.

Without boring the pants off of everyone, the business never got off the ground due to the global recession; luckily I still have the flat.

As far as this loan goes, I have failed to keep up with the payments of £445 a month, I was on a payment plan with A+L and for a while wa paying them £50 a month.

They have now passed this loan over to Rockwell Debt Collection Agency in around February this year.

I have received a letter from Rockwell saying I need to pay the full amount inthe next ten days or to phone their "pre legal department" to discuss other payment options. It says:



Dear Sir,

We have been instructed by Santander PLC to contact you regarding the above account which remains unpaid.

Your debt is now overdue and must be paid in full to these offices within the next ten days otherwise we will take immediate action. See overleaf for ways to pay.

If you are unable to pay the debt in full within the timescale specified you must telephone the pre legal department on the above telephone number immediately to discuss other possible options. You will be asked to provide a full statement of your income and expenditure in order to validate any instalment/payment arrangement.

WE ARE HERE TO HELP YOU RESOLVE THIS PROBLEM. TELEPHONE THE PRE LEGAL DEPARTMENT NOWON THE ABOVE NUMBER TO DISCUSS.

ROCKWELL DEBT COLLECTION AGENCY



I have luckily not rang them yet. They rang my mum asking for me, and she said she will tell me to ring them, and they left their number.

Thats where I am at right now.

This was originally with Westcott Credit Sevices.

Moral issues aside, where do I go from here. Ignore them completely? Wait for the next couple of letters? Send them a letter demanding the credit agreements and signed copies to show they now own the debt?

Thanks very much in advance for your replies.

(My hunch is not to do anything at all at the moment).

K :beer:

WRINKLES

DO NOT PHONE THEM they will be abusive and threaten all sorts from making you bankrupt to sending the boys round, only deal with them by letter , how old is this debt

Kalinikta

I took the loan out in March 2008.

The loan was passed to Rockwell by Santander around February 2010.

This is the first letter I have had from Rockwell.

Cheers

WRINKLES

OK start by sending a prove it letter

WRINKLES

Have to go out ,do not be worried by the term pre legal department it means nothing just a scare tactic

DVardysShadow

Kalinikta wrote: »

I took a loan out with what was then Alliance and Leicester for £20000. It was for a new business and a deposit on a flat. I took the loan out around March 2008. ....
Moral issues aside, where do I go from here. Ignore them completely? Wait for the next couple of letters? Send them a letter demanding the credit agreements and signed copies to show they now own the debt?

You did a dodgy deal taking out a loan for a deposit. And now you are supposed to find £445/month for 5 years at a guess

£50/month will not keep them away. I would say that unless you can raise some money by selling your flat and pay them off, you are looking at being made bankrupt.

You will need a Statement of Affairs sooner or later. If you want to ignore it, then fair enough. But if you want to see if there is any way you can resolve it, you might as well go to http://www.makesenseofcards.co.uk/soacalc.html fill out the statement of affairs and post it here, to see if anyone can see a way forward for you.

DVardysShadow

WRINKLES wrote: »

OK start by sending a prove it letter

In this case, OP knows about the debt and does not dispute it. At best the 'prove it' letter is a stalling tactic here.

WRINKLES wrote: »

Have to go out ,do not be worried by the term pre legal department it means nothing just a scare tactic

I think you are underestimating the seriousness of this situation

Kalinikta

As in some other posts, im not entirely sure whether Santander have sold the debt to Rockwell, or if they have just asked them to recover the money. I think this is a tactic they use to confuse.

Well, from the things I have read, I dont think it is as serious as you are saying DVardysShadow; but of course if you have knowledge then do please share it.

Can you answer what this actually means..Bankrupt?. I dont want a credit rating, it is nothing but a noose so that can be as broken as it wants to be!

Also if I do end up having to pay it back in some form or other, what is the legal position on them having to accept a nominal repayment fee...surely they cannot refuse a payment?

Also from reading a few of these cases, isnt the point who owns the loan? In respect of my agreement being between myself and Santander and not Rockwell.

If people can shed any more light on this, that would be great. At the moment I have had just one letter as above.

Cheers

K

fermi

How much equity do you have in the flat?

Do you have any other assets?

Kalinikta

No equity as of yet due to recession. Maybe a couple of grand.

No other financial assets. No other significant assets.

woody01

WRINKLES wrote: »

Have to go out ,do not be worried by the term pre legal department it means nothing just a scare tactic

Wrinkles....you are SO wide of the mark and that advice is pretty poor.

For 22K i doubt this is a scare tactic.
If you also read the OP, you would they are ACTING on BEHALF, so it doesn't read as though they have bought the debt.

If this is the case, they won't let this drop.
They could take you to court for a CCJ (which sounds like a certainty), and then they could force a bankruptcy to get some money from the property bought.

We are talking big money here, not just an unpaid mobile phone bill.