Being harrassed by a debt collector and don't know what to do??

JDM12

Hello everyone,

I’m looking for some advice regarding debt collectors contacting me to pay a debt and what course of action to take, any help would be greatly appreciated whether its what I want to hear or not. It’s the full story of how this arose so thanks in advance for reading.

I got a phone call in March 2011 from my tenant stated the pipe in the roof space had burst and flooded the house, I was advised to contact a loss assessor by a friend as they would be quicker at getting the claim settled.

The company that took my case asked for a payment of £300 up front which I paid but after 3 months I still hadn’t received a penny and was told the insurance company was disputing the amount needed to fix the property.(£11000 was offered) After many unanswered calls and brush offs I decided to change loss assessor as my tenant was threatening to leave if he couldn’t move back in soon.

Upon inspection the new assessor thought the amount offered was ‘’laughable’’ and £16000 would be needed to fix the property ( he told me he would be able to get £18000 which would cover his costs). After signing a contract agreeing to pay 10% he got to work, But after a week, problems started to arise.

I contacted him for an update but was told he wouldn’t be starting for 2-3 weeks and would be in contact then. I stressed I had to pay my rent and the mortgage for the damaged property and couldn’t afford to live and if it wasn’t sorted shortly I would cancel his contract. He contacted me a week later to get a list of items damaged in the flood which I supplied.

After many more unanswered calls I decided to contact the insurance company directly in early November, I was told they were still awaiting evidence which I supplied to my loss assessor 2 months previous

Strangely I received a call from my assessor saying the insurance company had agreed to settle for £12000 – I couldn’t accept this as the cheapest builder quote was £15500. he told me if I don’t accept this I would have to take the case to court were it would be tied up for years. I told him this was out of order and decided to contact the insurance company again myself.

After a few weeks of collecting info, quotes, receipts I had my case settled for £14000 paid directly to myself. At which point my assessor kept contacting me telling me I owed him £1400 for works completed. I told him I was not willing to pay the amount owed as I had done most of the work myself and I was forced to accept an amount less than the amount it would cost for the builder. I offered to pay him £300 pound but he declined.

Now I am receiving threatening letters and phone calls from a debt collection company saying if I don’t pay the debt I would be taken to court, I really don’t know what to do as I don’t want to lose everything or be put in jail for failing to pay.

Thanks again

Tixy

What did the contract you say signed? Did it state how quickly he would deal with it? did it state if and how you could terminate the agreement? Did it state anything about you only paid if he managed to get a certain amount for you from the insurance company?

Without knowing the contents of that it will be difficult to advise, but I would guess if it went to court you might struggle.

Whilst its a relatively small debt the assessor/firm might be more likely to actually take court action than a financial institution would, as to him it may well not be an insignifcant figure.

Oh by the way - there is no way you could put in jail over this, so certainly don't worry. Worst case scenario is likely that he takes you to court and win and you have to pay the debt & small court fees.

give_them_FA

He was incompetent. He failed to live up to his promises. You did better on your own. It's called failure of consideration because he wants to be paid for a job he couldn't manage to do. He isn't going to bring any claim to court as IMHO it will be a failure. He won't do any better with a judge than he was able to do with the insurance company.

The fact he has called in some shady firm to put frighteners on you indicates that. Tell them if they want to take it to court they can be your guest. That is what I would do. And watch them disappear.

However, bear in mind that the legal aid scheme allows you to have an hour's free consultation with a solicitor so you could seek advice there. Make sure you get a good firm that are experienced litigators, not someone who does conveyancing!

Anyway, he told you that if it goes to court it will be tied up for years. It's a small claim so you won't pay his costs regardless. Do you really think he is going to go in a Courtroom and say, I'm supposed to be a professional, but my client got £2,000 more than I was able to get for him, but I still want to be paid? Don't think so.

neverbefore2011

JDM12 wrote: »

I was advised to contact a loss assessor by a friend as they would be quicker at getting the claim settled


Some kind of friend

stusan

im at a loss as to why you would go to a loss adjuster in the first place. Surely your first port of call should be the insurance company.

Im with give them FA tell them youll see them in court. Document every phone call,email, letter just in case.They dont stand a chance.