Debt Collection Agency Question...

Karma67

Hi all,
About 1 1/2 weeks ago my husband received a letter informing of an unpaid debt that this company had taken over. It was for £1,450 (approx), I telehoned then and of course they couldn't talk with me as the debt is not in my name, but I did inform them that my husband would be writing to them with consent for them to discuss this matter with me aswell as a financial breakdown of our monthly in/outgoings.

I sent this letter on the 15/02/05 and telephoned this company yesterday to see if they had received the letter, to which I was informed that 'it wasn't on their system', and to call back in a week or so time to check.

Anyway, today we recieve another letter from a solicitors firm stating that they have been instructed by the other company (Cabot) and because they have not 'been able to obtain a satisfactory settlement from us', they will be proceed with recovering the full amount 'without further notice or warning ' if we fail to agree to payment terms within 7 days, etc....

Well, I phoned them again, then had to get hubby to phone to give verbal consent, as our letter is still not on their system 8 days after being sent. I verbally gave them our financial breakdown, as i was being asked questions from this woman I felt some of the q's weren't necessary but, as I'm not used to dealing with this company/situation, i answered them...

So back to my original query....

1) I was asked what i owed to other people in total...is this allowed?

2) It was commented that I was paying other debts a higher amount than that we were offering....I explained that these were already pre-arranged and on going payments...and that we could only offer what we had left after all these were paid each month. and

3) She asked me (but it felt like she was telling me to..) reduce payments to other creditors so that we could pay then a larger amount....is this allowed?

4) I also said to her that, the letter that we recieved today, was dated on 21/2/05 and had put an extra £50 on the debt, and that we had been in contact before this. She acknowledged that we telephoned on the 11/2/05, but refused to take this last amount off...is there anything I can do about this?

Thank you for your help

loobyloo1980

Hiya, I have had this happen numerous times and as long as you have now spoken to someone legal action should not be taken at this stage. I too have had to give verbal financial information over the phone because of a letter mix up (Wescot). In answer to your queries, yes it is normal and allowed for your creditors to know what you are paying others.

It is also perfectly normal, and in fact the right way to do things, to take the available income and pro-rata it between all your creditors regardless of existing payment arrangements. It is the only fair way to do it and if this creditor feels they are being treated unfairly then they may proceed with legal action so tread carefully.

I would work out your total available income and pro rata payments and write to all the other creditors with a copy of your financial statement and details of the new payment arrangements. I used CAB to do mine, and it could be something you could do too.

loobyloo1980

as for the extra £50 - did you ask what this had been added on for? I would request a written breakdown of how the debt is made up and what charges/interest have been incurred. If a charge has been added after you initially made contact I would firmly request in writing that this charge be waived.

P.s. while writing to all creditors with pro rata payments, don;t forget to ask them all to freeze interest. Some may not, but most will (they all did for me), but you need to prevent the debts getting bigger than they already are.

moggins

Good luck, you will need it. I'm having trouble with Cabot too over a debt that isn't even mine but my ex-husbands (under the terms of the divorce agreement.

Karma67

Thanks loobylou

I was just surprised she asked me to change pre arrangements to other people...I did, however, point out to her that one of our debts would be finished in 2 mths time (hubby's car fine) and that we would be in a position to offer a higher repayment amount.
I haven't heard back from her, she went to talk with their 'underwriters' with our offer of repayment plan, and said she would contact us if any problems, so i presume all is sorted now *fingers crossed*
They have our back details to sort out a DD for payment, so at least i know it will be regularly paid now.

Also how does repayment agreements look on/affect credit reports?

Thanks once again

Karma67

moggins wrote:

Good luck, you will need it. I'm having trouble with Cabot too over a debt that isn't even mine but my ex-husbands (under the terms of the divorce agreement.

Are they being awkward too? re how much you can afford to pay?....Good Luck

loobyloo1980

Karma67 wrote:

Thanks loobylou

I was just surprised she asked me to change pre arrangements to other people...I did, however, point out to her that one of our debts would be finished in 2 mths time (hubby's car fine) and that we would be in a position to offer a higher repayment amount.
I haven't heard back from her, she went to talk with their 'underwriters' with our offer of repayment plan, and said she would contact us if any problems, so i presume all is sorted now *fingers crossed*
They have our back details to sort out a DD for payment, so at least i know it will be regularly paid now.

Also how does repayment agreements look on/affect credit reports?

Thanks once again

My fingers are crossed for you ;-)

I would imagine that repayment agreements look far better than a line of late or missed payments. I haven't checked mine in a while but would imagine there will be details of the arrangement and payment amount and someway of showing that those arrangments are being kept or eventually satisfied.

If one of your debts is over in two months, I would imagine they may put you on a temporary payment until after that, then ask for a revised offer. This is what Wescot keep doing with me, agreeing to payments for 3 months at a time, then asking for me to resubmit my details.

Best way to pay is standing order or DD then you have an accurate record of what you have paid in case of dispute, and you know it is going to be paid without forgetting.

Good luck hun, I hope you get sorted out. I have found these boards immensely helpful. If you need any help shaving a bit off your budget keep your eyes open, there are some real money savers on some of the boards ;-)

moggins

Karma67 wrote:

Are they being awkward too? re how much you can afford to pay?....Good Luck

LOL, it's not the amount, it's the fact that I am completely disowning this loan

We split the debts equally between us, in fact I took on more than my fair share, he ignored the one he was supposed to take care of and it now totals £13,000. I am not paying it, no way no how!!

Good luck with yours though, there are a couple of nice people there, if you can get hold of one you could be in luck.

Debt_Free_Chick

Karma67

You need to take the total amount that you can afford each month to pay off debts and then make a pro-rata payment to each one. Let's say that you have £300 a month to pay towards your debts and that your debts are as follows

Loan 1 £2000
CC1 £1000
CC2 £3000

Total Debt is £6000
Total monthly repayment is £200

Pro-rata payments are

Loan 1 £100
CC1 £ 50
CC2 £150

To get to your figures, divide each individual debt by the total debts then multiply that by the total monthly repayment you can afford.

Theres full information on this and dealing with your creditors in this DIY Debt Management Plan from the National Debtline (a charity helping people with debts). I strongly recommend that you download that pack and do exactly what it says. I'm certain you'll find it helpful - it also has tips on how to deal with creditors and debt collection agencies, including sample letters.

http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_factsheets/debt_advice_england_wales.php3#3