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Thought debt was statute barred, its not. Advice required
uiop
Posts: 35 Forumite
Hi all,
Over the past few years I have been successful in paying off well over 10k of debt (maybe even 20k now), something which I am proud of and hope to continue increasing until everything I owe is paid for.
To get to this stage, after many years of struggling to meet a large number of minimum payments after my wife lost her job due to ill health, I realised that if i focused on the debts which were most important or had reached a stage where they couldnt be put off (e.g. legal action started) I could focus on a smaller number of these at any one time but with larger payments which bring down the amounts owed faster. To do this i was using the various templates etc for requesting credit agreements and then more recently statute barred letters, giving me time to deal with each in turn.
So that has been very successful i feel, my wife is now completely debt free and I am well on the way to this but recently I have run into a problem. A DCA sent a letter to me which made it clear that they were becoming more active in progressing a debt (4k). As I was not quite ready to begin paying towards this (only 1 month away from paying off something else to free up funds) I did as much investigation as I could and thought it was statute barred, sent of the letter (rather than requesting an agreement) hoping to buy myself the time required to free up some budget and at the beginning of the week received a response. That showed me that I had made 4 small payments which were still within the time period that meant it was not statute barred.
So, clearly I need to prioritise this debt as the next one I clear but from what I remember this DCA is not the most friendly so I would like some advice before contacting them with an offer.
From experience I know how much I can afford each month (basic payment of £100 with additional ad hoc payments as money becomes available) but how much information am I required to give them? I have been in the situation with another DCA where they asked for details of my earnings etc and then refused my offer based on the fact they thought i could afford to pay more (not taking into account properly what i was already paying elsewhere etc). All this would do is get me into a spiral of stetching each month, stress, possible missed payments and worse.
So...
1) Am i required to tell a DCA what I earn when trying to agree payments?
2) Similarly, do they have any right to know the rest of my monthly budget?
3) Am i required to tell them who my employer is? (My employer would frown upon my financial situation based on some wording in my contract and clearly loosing my job etc if the DCA contacted them for any reason is not really going to help my overall situation!)
4) Should I make this offer in writing or given that I can no longer argue the debt is owed, should I just try to speak to someone at the DCA by phone?
5) If writing, should I enclose a postal order for an initial £100 as a good faith type offer, showing I wish to start this payment plan immediately?
Through experience I know my limitations etc. I do want to clear this debt, just not risk screwing up my finances further in trying to do so.
Any advice answers appreciated.
Over the past few years I have been successful in paying off well over 10k of debt (maybe even 20k now), something which I am proud of and hope to continue increasing until everything I owe is paid for.
To get to this stage, after many years of struggling to meet a large number of minimum payments after my wife lost her job due to ill health, I realised that if i focused on the debts which were most important or had reached a stage where they couldnt be put off (e.g. legal action started) I could focus on a smaller number of these at any one time but with larger payments which bring down the amounts owed faster. To do this i was using the various templates etc for requesting credit agreements and then more recently statute barred letters, giving me time to deal with each in turn.
So that has been very successful i feel, my wife is now completely debt free and I am well on the way to this but recently I have run into a problem. A DCA sent a letter to me which made it clear that they were becoming more active in progressing a debt (4k). As I was not quite ready to begin paying towards this (only 1 month away from paying off something else to free up funds) I did as much investigation as I could and thought it was statute barred, sent of the letter (rather than requesting an agreement) hoping to buy myself the time required to free up some budget and at the beginning of the week received a response. That showed me that I had made 4 small payments which were still within the time period that meant it was not statute barred.
So, clearly I need to prioritise this debt as the next one I clear but from what I remember this DCA is not the most friendly so I would like some advice before contacting them with an offer.
From experience I know how much I can afford each month (basic payment of £100 with additional ad hoc payments as money becomes available) but how much information am I required to give them? I have been in the situation with another DCA where they asked for details of my earnings etc and then refused my offer based on the fact they thought i could afford to pay more (not taking into account properly what i was already paying elsewhere etc). All this would do is get me into a spiral of stetching each month, stress, possible missed payments and worse.
So...
1) Am i required to tell a DCA what I earn when trying to agree payments?
2) Similarly, do they have any right to know the rest of my monthly budget?
3) Am i required to tell them who my employer is? (My employer would frown upon my financial situation based on some wording in my contract and clearly loosing my job etc if the DCA contacted them for any reason is not really going to help my overall situation!)
4) Should I make this offer in writing or given that I can no longer argue the debt is owed, should I just try to speak to someone at the DCA by phone?
5) If writing, should I enclose a postal order for an initial £100 as a good faith type offer, showing I wish to start this payment plan immediately?
Through experience I know my limitations etc. I do want to clear this debt, just not risk screwing up my finances further in trying to do so.
Any advice answers appreciated.
0
Comments
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Hi Uiop,
My advice would be to offer them what you can comfortably afford and not what they want. I would keep all contact in writing and tell them this is how you wish to be contacted. I would not tell them where you work as it's none of their business. They may wish to know the monthly budget to get as much money as possible. Also, be careful with postal orders and keep proof of posting etc as from personal experience they can go missing after being cashed! Hopefully someone with a lot more knowledge than me will be along soon to provide more advice, so until then don't do anything.
Good luck in getting sortedIf you've nothing decent to say, perhaps you shouldn't say anything.
£2 savings jar £300:D
Total credit card debts £1250:mad::mad::mad::mad::mad: - Will I ever learn!!0 -
DCA's have no legal power to any money off you & no legal authority to know your financial situation whatsoever.
Only a county court has this authority.
The only thing you need to do is report the DCA in question to the OFT & trading standards.0 -
Are you sure you made these payments , DCAs are known to tell untruthes.GRADUATED FIRST CLASS WITH HONORS FROM THE SCHOOL OF HARD KNOCKS RECOMENDED READ IF BY RUDYARD KIPLING0
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Your not required to tell them anything.
However you should give them a monthly SOA/Budget sheet to show what you can afford to pay. - http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_wales/budget_sheet.php?country=england_wales or http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html
You do not have to give them payslips/bank statements, however a judge can request to see this.
An employer does not have to know your employer, however even without telling them people have had issues with been phoned at work and in rare occasions somehow even ringing co-workers. This is all against regulations and guidelines - http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/business_leaflets/consumer_credit/oft664.pdf
Im not sure why you want to send £100 in a postal order, work out what you can afford and ask for their bank details so you can start payments yourself.
Did you check the 4 payments they claim were made, have been made?Although no trees were harmed during the creation of this post, a large number of electrons were greatly inconvenienced.
There are two ways of constructing a software design: One way is to make it so simple that there are obviously no deficiencies, and the other way is to make it so complicated that there are no obvious deficiencies0 -
mr ton..... Report the DCA for what?. As far as i can tell from the OP, nothing unfair has been proven to be done, unless i missed something.DCA's have no legal power to any money off you & no legal authority to know your financial situation whatsoever.
Only a county court has this authority.
The only thing you need to do is report the DCA in question to the OFT & trading standards.
This is from the original post...I did as much investigation as I could and thought it was statute barred, sent of the letter (rather than requesting an agreement) hoping to buy myself the time required to free up some budget and at the beginning of the week received a response. That showed me that I had made 4 small payments which were still within the time period that meant it was not statute barred.
OP, i would definitely write and ask them to show 100% proof that you made payments before agreeing to make any further offers of money, after all, this could just be some ploy to get you to cough up. Keep all communication in writing and dont tell them anything that you really dont need to.
Any offers you do make, make sure that you are not leaving yourself unreasonably short.
GBIf you can, help others; if you cannot do that, at least do not harm them~Dalai LamaHow people treat you is their karma; how you react is yours~Wayne DyerLet none find fault in others. Let none see omissions and commissions in others. But let one see one's own acts, done and undone~ch4 vs500 -
Oh were do i start.....demanding monies with menace, harassment,intimidation - they are usually the basic things
Usually being the operative word.. There is no suggestion in this case that any of these things have been done. I agree that a lot of DCA's use unscrupulous methods to obtain payment, and in those cases, they should be reported but where in the OP does it state any of that??, just because it happens in a lot of cases, doesnt mean it happens in ALL cases.If you can, help others; if you cannot do that, at least do not harm them~Dalai LamaHow people treat you is their karma; how you react is yours~Wayne DyerLet none find fault in others. Let none see omissions and commissions in others. But let one see one's own acts, done and undone~ch4 vs500 -
I agree.
Did they turn up on the doorstep and make threatening statements with demands for money?
Did they constantly ring up. Remember they said the debt was statute barred, they said it was not and showed 4 payments.
There is no mention of intimidation.
There is no need to goto the OFT, they are debt collectors and reacting within their rights. You cannot run off to the OFT at every moment otherwise it makes people look like fools.Although no trees were harmed during the creation of this post, a large number of electrons were greatly inconvenienced.
There are two ways of constructing a software design: One way is to make it so simple that there are obviously no deficiencies, and the other way is to make it so complicated that there are no obvious deficiencies0 -
HI all, thanks for the responses. These combined with some other advice have very much helped in allowing me to understand how I can proceed in a way that resolves this as quickly and as free of stress as possible.
To answer a few questions, I am almost completely sure the payments were mine and that I have simply misjudged the SB period. They match the type of payments I was making when trying to satisfy all the DCA's etc at the same time. It looks like i couldnt find evidence on my statement because I have paid cash with a slip rather than using telephone banking (or a debit card as i had cut mine up by then to assist in budgeting). I must have taken some money from the monthly food/travel budget i withdrew each month, paid a few payments and then found I couldnt afford them and stopped.
So... based on advice I should write to them with the offer of £100, stating it is what I can reasonably afford (its what i have free'd up by the payment on another debt ending) and asking for a Direct Debit mandate or bank details to use internet banking.
Agreed?
(I wanted to include the postal order to maximise the chances of acceptance as DCA's have used the "you tried payments before and let us down, we will take legal action now as we dont believe you will pay" style of line on me. I'm aiming for a quick, stress free resolution to this and acceptance of the offer... it will take over 3yrs at £100 a month so dont want to go much longer than that.)
Thanks again for the help and advice.
EDIT: Regarding the behaviour of this DCA, i remember them putting a lot of pressure on me previously (when the debt was first passed to them and I was less knowledgable, more stressed and ultimately pretty scared by the whole situation) and they have written a number of the usual threatening letters over time. The one which prompted my SB letter looked as if they were ready to begin legal action so i took the decision to try and resolve this before it hit that stage... even if it was just being able to delay for a month or so. So nothing out of the ordinary at the moment, apart from their response on the SB letter being a bit snippy/unfriendly.0 -
Nooo, don't ever let them set up a direct debit, they can take what they want then. Ask for details so you can set up a standing order.
What kind of debt is it and how old is it?Unless I say otherwise 'you' means the general you not you specifically.0
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