QuickQuid/Mackenzie Hall advice for a newbie

TheEngineeress

Thanks for everyone's help so far.

Comments on this letter would be greatly appreciated





Dear Sir/Madam

I write with reference to your letter dated 14th March demanding payment for the above debt within 7 days.

I am disappointed that you have not responded to my letter dated 8th March 2011. This letter was sent recorded delivery and Royal Mail indicates that this letter was delivered and signed for on the 9th March at your address. In this letter I informed you that I can offer a reduced settlement offer of £350, subject to certain conditions. This money has been offered by a relative on the understanding that it is used as a full and final settlement of the debt.

I can once again confirm that I am unable to offer to pay the money which I owe in full. I have enclosed a Statement of Affairs to demonstrate my monthly income and outgoings.

Should you decide refuse my offer of settlement, I am happy to begin making monthly payments of £20 towards this debt beginning 15th April 2011. I will make these payments into the bank account referred to on the back of your recent correspondence.

I understand that OFT debt collection guidelines would consider this account as ‘Deadlocked’ as I have acknowledged the debt, but you have failed to consider my offers for repayment. If you continue to refuse to acknowledge my offers for either a settlement or a repayment schedule, I will consider this debt ‘Deadlocked’ and any correspondence threatening visits from field agents will be reported. Please find the relevant sections from the OFT debt collection guidelines attached in Ref /A/ below.


I look forward to receiving your reply.

Yours faithfully


Ref /A/ - Extracts from OFT Debt Collection Guidelines

2.12f: Visiting or threatening to visit debtors without prior agreement when the
debt is deadlocked or disputed.
By 'deadlocked' we mean where a debtor (or debtor’s adviser) agrees there is a debt and has offered a repayment programme which has not been agreed by the creditor or debt collector. We are not saying that any offer must be accepted but we have seen cases where offers are disregarded and a debtor is told that 'we are sending field agents'. Many debtors are unlikely to understand this term and are likely to view the visit as a threat designed to make them offer more money when they can pay no more. Some letters appear to be designed to give this impression.

2.6f Examples of unfair practices:
Pressurising debtors to pay in full, in unreasonably large instalments, or to increase payments when they are unable to do so

JoS1972

Sounds Ok to me, just make sure you don't sign the letter. And if they carry on report them, I have just reported one DCA.

Good Luck

TheEngineeress

Just an update.

Thank you so much to everyone again for your advice, it's been invaluable. My 'account manager' at Mackenzie Hall rung me up this morning, much to my surprise as I had requested no contact by telephone (which she duly acknowledged).

I must have said something right in the letter I sent, because I had a rational, helpful conversation without any threats or accusations being thrown!! She said that she had received my letters, but had been unable to reply "because all our letters our automated, we don't send out individual letters." Interesting, anyway...

She said that my offer had been refused, but came back with a counter offer which wasn't too unreasonable at 75%. She was happy for me to reply via letter and said that she would call back to discuss when she had received it. No further questions, goodbye!

I am still in shock that I managed to have a civil conversation with someone there!!

I am going to come back with an offer at around 60% - I am being given this money from my dad and I want to get the best deal possible for him. Is there a specific letter to reply with a counter-offer?

catflea

Wow! You actually got some sense out of MH!

From my dealings, I found them to be the nastiest, sneakiest DCA of the lot (I've had dealings with a few)

I managed to get a F&F of about 65% from them for a not dissimilar amount (it was about £630 from memory) and that was their counter offer to my 52%.

I recall vividly that I called to make the settlement and the woman on the phone, before I could even say why I was calling was demaning to know my income and my outgoings - very rude indeed - of course I refused the info. None of their business.

They do not want £20 a month, and with the end of the financial year coming up they will be crying to clear debts from their books so their financial reports to Companies house will look better.

Remember that they buy these debts at a tiny % of whats actually owed - your 50% offer is likely to be far in excess of what they paid for it already.