Bullying Debt Collectors,help please

angelina2011

I worked fulltime until I developed an illness which meant I could no longer do my job. I had £24k debts mainly overdrafts and loans with my bank who offered them whilst I was at University for 4 years.
I took an IVA 2 years ago and paid £222 a month until they put it up nearly double leaving me unable to pay bills and food etc.
I failed the IVA and now creditors have sold the debts to Scottcall and another I can't remember.
I have moved since my IVA failed and so the creditors do not send any mail to me as they do not know where I am as I am saving for BR.
My problems are that they have started calling and harrassing my 73 year old Mother as they knew I lived there once. One threatened to take her to the Police station and get her processed for withholding my address and it terrified her.
I also cannot afford BR as it is £750 and I have a disabling condition now that means my high earning days are gone
I would really appreciate some help.

mrcurious_2

If you are on benefits the BR fee is lower think i paid £450 in feb 2011. Good luck

kevin52

Could your mother get a caller ID phone and only answer to those she knows (and not have any answerphone facility).

angelina2011

It wasn't a phone call, it was a visit in person.

tigerfeet2006

The DCA have broken all sorts of rules by revealing details to your mother about you so can be reported for that.

If you are on benefits or a low income then you may be able to get a fee remission on the court fee. From the Bankruptcy Help sticky
Court fee remission and forms.

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HMCS - Court fees do you have to pay them? (The form and guidance on completing the fee remission form included). (pdf) <LI sizset="957" sizcache04445758977535449="16">Example application for a fee remission based on gross annual income - EX160 (Thanks to NE Derbyshire CAB) <LI sizset="958" sizcache04445758977535449="16">Example application for a fee remission based on permitted benefits - EX160 (Thanks to NE Derbyshire CAB)
[*]Possible assistance with Bankruptcy costs / fees (Thanks to NE Derbyshire CAB)
[*]
Also have a look at the grant checker on Turn2us, you may find some way to help raise the money on there. http://www.turn2us.org.uk/grants_search.aspx

Also go and see the CAB and see if there are any local grants who might be able to help.

Someone on here sold things like their sofa, microwave and bed in the local paper and then replaced them with stuff from Freecycle/Freegle.

nachtwatcher

There certainly are rules for debt collectors, and calling on someone's elderly mother and threatening them is unquestionably against those rules.

But the problem, like with everything else I guess, is that these rules only matter insofar as they can be enforced

My own personal recomendation (which is just personal) is that you should contact them immediately.

You should do some research on the specific rules that people trying to collect a debt should follow and when you speak to them you should advise them that they are in breach of them.
(I spoke with a charity called National Debtline - its a freephone line and they are reasonably helpful, you can find them just on a google search for that name)

But at the same time, by making contact with the debt collectore you can take control. They cannot just visit your house and take things unless they have a judgment to do so. You may even be able to come to an agreement on payments that you can both accept, but the main thing I would say is:

1) get clued up about your actual rights and the debt collectors rights (national debtline arent the only people who can do this, but I used them and they were ok.) Make sure you really know where you stand and what they have the power to do.

2) make sure that THEY understand that you know your legal situation and your rights. These people basically will do what they can to get as much as they can. They will do things they shouldnt and things they arent supposed to sometimes, but their powers are far more limited than they would like to believe. My expectation is that when they speak to you and they realise you know your stuff and arent going to be pushed around, they start singing a different tune.

Ultimately you do have a debt and do have an obligation to pay it, but that doesnt mean they have the right to harass you or your family.

skintandfat

I can't believe your prediacament
I webt BR last year (£100 standard price- I paid extra for advice above the £100)- Scotland

Get tough with DCA's- they are low lifes.
Write to them- state your concerns and get your mum (if she's upto it) to call the police. It's way wrong to stress and OAP

Contact CCCS or National Debtline, you are not alone