Advice - can I ask for communication by mail only?

nickyhutch

HI, hope there's someone who can help me with this one.

I had a letter from Ford Credit, advising that I owed £280 ish pounds after handing back my car at the end of an Options pack. I don't dispute the debt or the amount, but it slipped my mind to write and ask if I could pay monthly until it was cleared. Around 3/4 weeks later, I had a letter from Direct Legal and Collection, writing for their clients, FCE Bank, who I finally worked out was Ford Credit, saying that I owed £523.67. I tried emailing them to ask them firstly to confirm that FCE IS in fact Ford Credit, and secondly to explain how the debt had jumped up to such an amount. The email kept bouncing back, so I put the same query in writing, adding that I would prefer to keep all communication in writing.

I have a letter today thanking me for my letter, and asking me to telephone to discuss the account. SO my question is this - am I within my rights to ask to keep communication in written format? I'm uncomfortable discussing it on the phone, and in my experience, once they have your number, they just wont leave you alone! ALso, any ideas on why the debt has shot up so much?

Any thoughts or advice much appreciated.

Thankyou :T

cattie1

yes you can ask for writing only and they probably added late payment charges on.

sportbeth

Yes, ask them to provide not only a notice of assigment (to ensure they're not fishing for the debt but are entitled to collect it) and ask them to justify their charges. At the end of the day you haven't asked them to provide you a service so why the hell should you pay them any fees? They are trying their luck. Doubling the charge from the original one then they'll give it "if you can pay today we'll reduce it for you"

Do not ever, ever speak with these people on the phone. They are trained to frighten and intimidate people into paying. It is your telephone, your bill and you can tell them that they are only entitled to communicate with you in writing otherwise you will consider it harassment and report them to the OFT

rog2

Totally agree with sportbeth - ask them to communicate only in writing.
Also do not acknowledge any debt to Direct Legal and Collection - ask them for the original credit agreement, signed by you - there is a template letter and I will post link when I find it.
Question any additional costs and ask for a detailed breakdown.
Should they continue to phone, once you have asked them to conduct all future correspondence in writing, it becomes harrassment and illegal.

nickyhutch

Thankyou so much, all of you. I'd be very grateful for the template letter Rog, if you can dig it out. I'm so glad I found this site - people who know what they're talking about and don't look down on me for being financially useless.

Thankyou again.