All crashing down

pamstretched

The debt company is Phoenix. We can pay the £50 per month but refused because we don't believe we owe anything - to be sorted soon
The bailiffs are sent by the court because the CCJ - from Phoenix has being ignored. It was not but the different departments did not know we were in contact
Spoken to the court all on hold until they get new forms and a hearing has passed.
We can then all operate on the result


There were 2 loans,3credit cards and an overdraft. All in trouble.
I set up sensible payments totalling about £600 per month
They were being handled but there were periods where we were "persuaded" to make large payments to "get rid of it quickly" (eg.Barclays Bank loan at £400 per month) So their loan is now repayed but everyone else is screaming because the other agreed payments have not been adhered to. This includes Barclaycard who also now don't want anything to do with us and have sent it to a collector company who are threatening legal action.

pamstretched

To DancingFairy

Yes we have been paying the debtors first - stupid I know. The problem is timing eg avoiding them going to court in seven days etc... We were just trying to get rid of them so the phone can be answered and the door opened without fear.

I am redoing the budget today
Citizens Advice come the library once a week so I am getting it ready.

katsu

pam - this "going to court in 7 days" etc is often in a sentence that starts with something like "we can, or we may...", not "we definitely will". I haven't read your other thread but it sounds like a complex situation where the debt collectors' threats are working on you. Once your mum's money has got in a mess with debt collectors etc, then it can't really get much worse. Prison is for things like not paying council tax so definitely deal with priority bills and go from there.

Jesthar

Hey Pam,

Katsu is absolutely right - it sounds very much like the DCAs are trying it on a lot, as they know from past experience if they threaten enough and mention 'court' they can force a payment out of you.

You need to get your head around the following fact as fast as you can:

DCAs do NOT have your best interests at heart, only their profit margins, and will lie to you, bully you and threaten you in whatever way they think will scare you into paying up - EVEN if they are breaking the law by doing so.

Remember, these are companies which routinely try to get people to pay debts that are not theirs, or which are legally blocked. They are not truthful, and certainly not trustworthy, so never take anything they say at face value! All they are after is the cash - whether they are entitled to it or not, and whether you can afford to pay them or not.

A threat to go to court in 7 days is usually worthless when coming from a DCA, doubly so if it is only over the phone. If it's in a letter, why not type one of them in for us to look at, the guys and gals here are pretty good at spotting what is genuine and what is hot air and bluster

Put simply, if the choice is between paying something essential and paying a DCA demand, pay the essential bill! DCA's can't send you to prison or cut off your utilities, and so are the last to be paid, not the first

~Jes

pamstretched

I will be going to a hearing to dismiss the CCJ on the basis on denying the debt.

Is there anything I will need to take? or
Preparations

pamstretched

We have a hearing date for July and bailiff action is suspended until then.. so a bit of time but want to make sure we are prepared.

The debt details are still flimsy but it appears to be a catalogue bill from the mid 90s. The bill went to a collector which was ignored and the original company paid direct - in full.

We will try to find any paperwork on this but also should they be taking action for such an old bill.

Is it worth writing to them before the court case to request a copy of their files or wait for the hearing.

hallowitch

I know very little about debt collectors ECT but (someone please correct me if I'm wrong) i suggest you send the original creditor a subject access request

Triggles

If the original company was paid direct in full, why are they chasing you for it? Very confusing.

pamstretched

Yes confusing
We are not 100% sure its this bill - we just have the debt company name and an in brackets creditor name - on guessing the only thing we can recall for this name is an old catalogue which was finalised years ago.
They may send some more information now there is a hearing coming up

Triggles

Perhaps I'm missing something, but if you're basing the court issue on denying the debt, shouldn't you know enough about the debt to know if it's actually yours or not? Sounds like further checking would be in order. Do you actually owe money to a catalogue company by that name? If you're going into court, you really should have all the information available or you're going to be ill prepared, TBH.