Contacting debtors - Hows best to do it ?

Zulu_Dawn

sgx.saint wrote:

When you send any important corrospondance to creditors remember to send it by Royal Mail - Recorded Delivery. You then have proof of sending
and also you can prove that the creditor received it.

This is very handy when you get the templated replies from creditors which usually say something like "We are sorry to see that you still haven't contacted us". These letters normally come from the smaller, dodgey DCA companies. Also, if you ever have to present information to a court, you then have a record of all the corrospondance you sent.

I'm not sure if this is useful or not, but I have pasted below a typical offer letter that I recently sent to my creditors. This may help you and other MSE members who are managing their own DMP. Let me know if it proves to be useful.
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Account Number: XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX

Three matters concerning the above account

1. Circumstances Update & Repayment Proposal

I am now in a greater financial position to increase my monthly repayments to >>> CREDITOR <<<. I have enclosed a ‘Personal Budget’ sheet which details all my income and expenditure. As you can see from this information, I only have £XXX left over every month for my creditors. Therefore in view of my current circumstances I can only offer you £XX.XX per month, to be reviewed in six months, or sooner if my circumstances change. The offers to my creditors have been calculated on a pro-rata basis using the same method the County Court employs. I have written to all of my creditors asking them to accept the new repayments.

If interest or charges are currently still being applied to the account, despite my previous requests for them to be stopped. I again echo my request that all interest and charges be frozen so that the payments I make reduce what I owe you, for this I would be most grateful.

Should my circumstances improve I will contact you again.
The first repayment will be made on the >>> DATE <<< May I also request a standing order mandate be forwarded to me so that it is easier to pay you. A standing order between me and your company will ensure an automatic and prompt payment every month.

In summary, I am fully committed to repaying the principal balance outstanding on my account and I therefore hope you will accept my above offer and I appreciate your assistance in this matter.

2. Legal Action

You have previously stated in correspondence your possible future intentions to commence legal action if I do not offer a ‘satisfactory’ repayment schedule or amount. I would like to address this issue by stating that the method I have used to calculate the above offer of repayment is the same method used by the County Court. Moreover, I would suggest that your refusal to accept my above offer could be viewed as unreasonable and we would ask the court to consider this matter with reference to the Overriding Objectives. The commencement of legal proceedings under such circumstances could be counter to the ‘Overriding Objectives’ of the new Civil Procedure Rules. You will be aware that the Overriding Objectives underpin everything the court does. Moreover, paragraph 4 of the Protocols Practice Direction states that in cases not covered by an approved pre−action protocol, the court will expect the parties “to act reasonably…….. in trying to avoid the necessity for the start of proceedings”.

3. For your information

I do not wish to be contacted by telephone under any circumstances and request that you remove my telephone number(s) from your records immediately. All correspondence between myself and any representative of >>> CREDITOR <<< should be in written format only. This is so that an accurate record of all communications is kept for legal purposes. Moreover, any further communication by telephone will be viewed as harassment and a breach of the ‘Administration of Justice Act 1970’. Any such breach will not be tolerated and a formal complaint, containing copies of all correspondence including yours, will be submitted to the relevant authorities if your calls continue. This will be relevant to questions of your fitness to hold a licence under the Consumer Credit Act, whether or not it results in a prosecution.

4. Summary

>>> Insert own paragraph here <<<

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I wouldn't want to fall out with you;)

waveydave

Cheers everyone,

Had another two letters accepting what i offered this morning and one from 1st Credit which has a huge title " OFFER REFUSED" lol - so ive just popped another letter in the post to first credit which essentialy says i stand by myprevious offer as this is all i can afford, ive enclosed my SOA again for your consideration blah blah. and i finished it with
:
"You state in your letter that failure to comply with your request will result in court proceedings being issued and additional charges being levied on my account. The levy of these charges could be avoided if you accept my offer of monthly payment and it is more likely my debt will be paid quicker without these extra charges as you will not be making me suffer more financial hardship. However, if you intend to issue court proceedings please could you inform me in writing of the date and location the judgment will be heard as I wish to attend and present my SOA to the judge so a fair judgment can be made."

I know its not perfect legal prose so too speak but i just wanted to get across to them that im not scared of going to court etc.

Will wait and see what comes of it now

Oh, and cheers sgx.saint - ive saved thatdraft of a letter to send to the next one lol

sgx.saint

I wouldn't want to fall out with you

Heh. Just ensuring the DCA's ply by the rules

needaspirin

waveydave wrote:

Had another two letters accepting what i offered this morning and one from 1st Credit which has a huge title " OFFER REFUSED"

Creditors often reply with an "Offer Refused" letter. This is usually because your offer is not enough to repay the debt within their allotted time and leaves the way open for court action. In practice however creditors will never refuse money or return it to you.
If possible make the offered payments by cheque, postal order, giro or whatever method possible. This shows willingness to pay and would stand you in good stead with the judge if they take court action.

They will be very unwilling to take you to court if they think the judge will only uphold the payments that you offer.

It is important to keep making these payments to all creditors and not to default.:)

waveydave

Woooo ( again lol )

Another 6 agreed via letter this morning

feeling really positive about clearing everything now

waveydave

Well as of the 6th NOvember 11 out of the 18 have agree a payment plan,

1 (1st credit) refuse to accept what i have offered, and the other 6 have not replied to my letter

SO sar far so good i think lol

Knowledge is power as they say and it really feels good to be dealing with my debts in a positive manner, and not being scared to talk to any of the companies or hide away from them, having the knowledge that if there is a problem there are plenty of people on this site who can offer support and advice.

THANKS all