please help - creditors are being helpful!!!!

charliemonkeyface

i have several debts that i have always paid regulary although sometimes late until i was left unemployed 3months ago, anyway i am dealing with my debts.(i posted for the first time yesterday explaining all)i have found all my creditors to be very difficult until today!

i sent vanquis/impact collections an offer of £5 a month with a soa about 1 month ago and they flat refused and were not willing to negoitiate, i then sent a 3month bank statement showing i have no-income and a new offer of £20 a month if all further charges and interest could be held and i have'nt heard anything since.
i was sitting here looking at ways to claim back my late charges and interest and sending a cca as my credit agreement was before april 2007.
then impact collections called informing me i was about to issued with a default against me unless i payed in full (£670). i briefly explained about the offer i sent but he stated nothing has yet been recievede but we could agree a plan over the phone now, (funny as they would'nt even entertain this when it was my suggestion).
he suggested if i payed £27.90 a month over 24months they would hold all interest and charges, he then moved around the payment dates by over a week to accomadate me, (his own suggestion). of course i agreed but could someone more experiance please try to explain why they are being so co-operative and helpfull.
what am i missing ?

mr.ton

Typical greed from these leeches.
Its not for them to say what they will & wont accept - you are the boss, not them.
Dont speak to them on the phone & refuse to answer security questions if they ring you - everything in writing only.
Tell them you'll offer them £1 per month in a like it or lump it sort of way.
If they refuse then thats their problem.
Report them to the OFT & trading standards if they refuse to get lost.

treetrunks

mr.ton wrote: »

Typical greed from these leeches.
Its not for them to say what they will & wont accept - you are the boss, not them.
Dont speak to them on the phone & refuse to answer security questions if they ring you - everything in writing only.
Tell them you'll offer them £1 per month in a like it or lump it sort of way.
If they refuse then thats their problem.
Report them to the OFT & trading standards if they refuse to get lost.

not exactly responsible, i thought these boards encourage dealing with debts not burying our heads and running away from them.

mr.ton

treetrunks wrote: »

not exactly responsible, i thought these boards encourage dealing with debts not burying our heads and running away from them.

Whats not being responsible exactly?
I am advising the OP whats in their best interests not whats in the best interests of the DCA

spursfan14

That is fantastic news!! Don't knock it. :-p

I think its all about confidence, on your part and your creditors. They can see that you are making a big effort to resolve your debts so they are treating you with respect.

In regards to another post, the OFT rules state-

• your creditors can not force you to repay more than you can comfortably afford each month.
• If you make a reduced payment, your creditors can not refuse it.
• your creditors can not add charges as a penalty for non payment, other than to cover the real costs of collections activity.

All the best.

dancingfairy

It so happens that the OP is unemployed (from another thread) so 1 pound per month would be reasonable in this situation.
Back to the original question - 2 points
1) it's 24.95 this month (no record of this in writing though) then they'll push you for 27 a month then it might be 30. etc etc
2) they are trying the 'we'll be nice to you tactic'. - basically whichever tactic they think we'll get more money from.
They could of course be genuinely nice/helpful - not exactly what DCA's are known for and better to be on your guard.

Get it in writing and like someone said - you said be offering them what you can afford, not what they want as ultimately with them in control it can lead to either a) them getting an unfair share and others getting less or b) you overstretching yourself and getting in a further mess.
df

charliemonkeyface

the offer they made was fine, i want to repay my debts but i am struggling because of a change of cirumstances, they would not cooperate before and i couldnt understand the complete turn-around.
also as this is my first experiance of debt trouble i couldnt understand why my other creditors wont even try to cooperate as i havent tried to hide anything from them. they have been so difficult and have constantly phoned and harrassed me that i have now decieded to try and claim back excessive charges on to credit cards i signed pre april 2007 and i have requested cca's from two catalouges i never signed a credit agreement with.

mr.ton

It is in their nature to be as unhelpful & un coperative as they possibly can be.
Their greed knows no bounds.
I am not advising anyone to deliberately not repay debts - but if you simply have not got the money to repay then thats all there is to it.
£1 per month is more than enough - is whats known as the "legal minimum" in this country and is only what a court would order anyway after all outgoings are catered for.

dancingfairy

mr.ton wrote: »

It is in their nature to be as unhelpful & un coperative as they possibly can be.
Their greed knows no bounds.
I am not advising anyone to deliberately not repay debts - but if you simply have not got the money to repay then thats all there is to it.
£1 per month is more than enough - is whats known as the "legal minimum" in this country and is only what a court would order anyway after all outgoings are catered for.

Hang on - I don't know where you got that from. In the OP's case yes this is certainly the case that 1 pound would be sufficient but a court is not going to only make an order for 1 pound if the defendent could clearly afford to pay more.
df

charliemonkeyface

thank you spursfan, but these dca dont seem to follow the rules.

dancingfairy, youre comments from yesterday were helpful and encoureaging and i thank you,
i agreed as we should be able to afford the payments and i want to make this experiance as stress free as possible. impact said they would confirm in writing and send payment slip for the agreed amount.
i also plan to claim back the prior charges placed on my account as my agreement with them was before april 2007.
i just with my other creditors were as cooperative, capital one are being extremely difficult and have sent me a 28day notice of default but as my agreement with them was from 2006 i am going to request a cca and then challenge the agreement and try to claim charges back from them as well.
wish me luck.

mr.ton

dancingfairy wrote: »

Hang on - I don't know where you got that from. In the OP's case yes this is certainly the case that 1 pound would be sufficient but a court is not going to only make an order for 1 pound if the defendent could clearly afford to pay more.
df

Did you not read my response properley...
A court takes into account a persons income & essential outgoings (bills/clothes/food/travel costs etc..)
For a person with very little money or out of work - then £1 per month would be ordered.
If they have more left over - then of course it may be more (£5 or £10 or whatever....) but on the whole it would more than likely be the £1 per month.