Help

spiritual_butterfly

Hey Everyone I am hoping someone can offer advice.
I am dealing with the most petty debt company ever.
I owe less than £95 however I cannot afford at the moment to pay the full amount off, I have offered to pay £5.00 per month until it is paid off.
however they insist on adding a £1.50 transaction fee and refuse to give me another way to pay.
I know this sounds like its not a lot but to me it is at the momnt.
all my other creditors whom I owe more too is accepting it.
I have put in a complaint to financial ombudsman about this did I do the right thing?
These people are so nasty and horrible to me over the phone have sent letters about door step recovery etc help.

mynameistallulah

Can you not sell a few things on ebay, get rid of the debt once and for all?

spiritual_butterfly

Thats just it I have nothing to sell because I have sold everything I can to get rid of other debts

SevenOfNine

I suppose the phone thing may be an assumption given that the OP said they keep being nasty over the phone??

It's difficult for debtors to recognise that they DO have things to sell in order to help pay their debts, they just don't want to give up the TV, PC and whatever else they've got. Maybe the answer IS doorstep recovery - they'll be a better judge of what can be parted with whether OP likes it or not.

Having said that, nowadays I have more sympathy with debtors. Store cards, credit/debit cards being thrown at you left, right and centre. The buy today, pay tomorrow culture is also rife - gone is my own rule of "if you can't afford to pay for it, you can't afford to have it".

Even the Government help youngsters get deeply in debt whilst they try to further their education at Uni.....I'm definitely getting old!

I think OP, that you should probably visit CAB at the earliest opportunity. You do sound like you are at least attempting to sort out your debts but perhaps your expectations of how far backwards a debt company should bend isn't realistic?

Not sure what you expect the financial ombudsman to do, how have you arranged to make the £5 payment per month for 19 months? A £1.50 'fee' may be considered unreasonable if you are setting up a direct debit but there will be admin fees for the debt company to process this incoming monthly payment I suppose. Perhaps the FO will decide the fee is unreasonable, seems a tad high to me seeng as it's going to add nearly 1/3 to what you already owe.

Do visit CAB and I hope they help you get yourself on track. Good luck

CAB_Swansea_Bay_representative

Hi Spiritual Butterfly, thank you for your query regarding help
I would suggest you write to the debt collection company to explain the cost of making the agreed payment is causing you hardship and asking if you can set up a SO or DD. Another option would be to send them a cheque monthly and see if they add an administration charge to that. You have done exactly the right thing by making a complaint to the Financial Ombusman Service although it can take some time for complaints to be dealt with and in meantime the important thing to do is make sure you are making the agreed repayments no matter how you are making them. If you have other debts you may want to see a specialist debt adviser to discuss options such as a Debt Relief Order or Debt Management Plan which will depend on your circumtances. You can find your local Citizens Advice Bureau at www.citizensadvice.org.uk
Hope this is of assistance