Advice for dealing with Moorcroft Debt Recovery

SeaThreePeeO

Hi

I'm after some advice. I had a Lloyds TSB debit sold onto Moorcroft back in 2010. As I was doing my own DMP I set up a monthly repayment plan with them for just over £190 a month. They were also sent by recorded delivery the 'please contact me via letter only' letter.

A while back they started writing saying that it would take us far to long to clear the debt and because we should have paid off a council tax debt we were £20 better off so they're upping the monthly amount to something like £210. I pay by standing order.

I told them that as I have other creditors to pay they weren't getting the whole £20 as it was unfair to the other creditors. I worked out they should get around £11 and my other creditors £5 and £4. I upped the SO and they went quiet for about 4 months.

Now they're phoning me on my mobile 3-4 times a day asking to me to increase the payments and to send them a SOA on their SOA forms. I have no idea how they got my mobile number and they deny all knoweldge of the please don't phone letter and have even said it doesn't apply to my mobile. They have even threatened with defaulting me if I don't up the payments.

What should I be doing? We can't afford to up the payments and can only just afford the £200 odd we pay them now.

Any advice most gratefully received

vax2002

What date did you default on the TSB debt ?
And when did you start re-paying.

SeaThreePeeO

Goodness I have no idea off the top of my head, I'll have to sort through all my paper work. But it was around December 2009 Moorcroft took over the debt and we started paying from January 2010. I think, I shall confirm later.

SeaThreePeeO

I have a default notice from Lloyds dated 28th July 2009. Oddly it's in just my name, but the loan was a joint one.

At the moment I can't find they infomation on when Moorcoft took over the debt. I've obvioulsy put it in a safe place and forgotten where as it's not with the Lloyds stuff.

MuffinTops

Hi SeaThreePeeO,
I have a debt with Moorcroft. Initially I had the same issues you did with the constant contact asking for more money, just 2 months after making the agreement in the first place, but I never get irate with them. I just calmly do the broken record thing that "my situation hasn't changed, therefore my payments won't" after everything they say and now they leave me alone. I had to call them this year as I didn't even get a statement.

I'm wondering if you getting upset with them makes them think that if they keep prodding then you may offer more money just to shut them up and get rid of them?

I honestly realise how frustrating and hard it is to get that constant contact, but the facts are that £190 + each month is a decent amount out of anyone's salary and it's showing without any doubt that you want to pay this debt off. They're just trying their luck at getting it paid faster, understandably, but they haven't worked out how to do that in a constructive way!!! Just put up a brick wall and continue your agreed payment plan. My payments haven't increased at all and the only time they will is when I'm in a position to offer them a settlement figure.

I hope that helps but feel free to pm me if you want any more information.

SeaThreePeeO

Thank you MiffinTops. I am always clam and polite and all I say to them on the phone is that they're to contact be via letter only, thank you. But they have now started threatening with defaults and court if I don't pay their increased payment plan.

MuffinTops

They said things like that to me, but I can't think of any court that would increase a regular £190 a month payment. Although I have no financial expertise, just lots of experience unfortunately. It's far more than minimum acceptable payments and if you're paying every month with no missed payments then you're showing 100% willing to pay the debt off which can only look positive for you.

Apologies too. I obviously read your tone wrong with assuming that you get upset with them which was very wrong of me. I didn't assume you were rude though. Just that maybe they could hear they were getting to you. I hope I didn't offend you.

My details with Moorcroft were already in default before Moorcroft took it over. But as you've sent a recorded letter telling them you'll only deal with them by letter then I guess your best recourse is to just keep telling them you'll only accept contact by letter and hang up? I think they use a blocked number, don't they? If they're using empty threats on the phone then they won't back those up in a letter.

Would a default negatively affect you on top of everything else? For me, the default was welcome as it prevented any more interest and I was already in for 6 years of financial grief by then anyway so that debt just got added to the pile of problems already there rather than creating the first black mark. That default is due to drop off my record in the next few months.

vax2002

And when did you take out this loan and last make a payment prior to the default notice they sent ?

Basically if six years elapsed between you last making a payment on the loan with the lenders, not the default notice an actual payment or acknowledgement from you then you to the period you paid moorcroft may be able to stop paying them and tell them to get lost.
It is just that Moorcroft are stale debt sharks so it rings an alarm bell.

SeaThreePeeO

No you didn't offend me. I'm just fed up and at a lose as to how they got my mobile number, I have never phoend them on it or given it to them. I can only think they got it off Lloyds. Some days they phone before 8am.

I'm not really sure what a default would actually mean, but since my credit rating is less then dirt at the moment, probably not much.

SeaThreePeeO

Thanks Vax, the last payment made to Lloyds would have been in 2009 too because I carried on paying them via SO until Moorcroft sent me a letter to say they had taken over. So not 6 years.

vax2002

In that case the way to play these silly dogs is next time they call push them in to a corner, say are you trying to cancel the agreement we have, because I have other creditors I can allocate this money to and if I have to review it , I will do so by taking all my creditors and dividing it by the money I have which will leave you substantially out of pocket, you are in the Honey now, call me again and I will re structure all my debts and there is nothing you can do, you see an age old saying rules supreme here, you can not have what I have not got, now when I put this phone down, "sorry what did you say your name was" if you call back the SO will be cancelled, the debts restructured in order of importance and your name will be on top of the letter with the new standing order amount as the reason why you will be getting less , YOUR MOVE >>>
Goodbye.