What to do?!

JonW1987

Hello! I'm in a really pickle here!!

Ok so about 4/5 years ago while as an apprentice struggling to get by with no support from family or friends at the age of 17 I did whatever I could do to survive. During this time I had made a few mistakes with taking out a small loan, credit card ect and managed to repay the bulk, then circumstances changed and I moved.I guess at the time I was young and didn't worry about the repercussions of my actions. When I was 20/21 I ended up taking out a shark Loan, who ended up harassing me for cash on the door which was awful however half way through paying I moved to London and chose not to give them my address as it was so afwful previousily. I paniced and took out a repayment plan through an external company to repay the debts, however I noticed that they were helping themselves to a large portion of what I was paying back...so you guessed it, I stopped paying.

I'm now 25 and still aware of this debt that lingers over me, It doesn't hugely bother me but it does mean I can't have normal luxuries like credit (maybe this is a good thing). The other problem is that if me and my partner want to get an apartment (rent or buy one) We wouldn't be able to due to my horrendous credit history.

I recently lost my wallet meaning I needed to update my address with halifax. Ever since then I have been contacted by a few creditors. I have been reading other forums and I have mixed reviews on what action to take...A part of me feels that I should pay the money back and a part feels that maybe I shouldn't acknowledge the debt?

At the moment only the following people have contacted me:

1.
Nelson Guest/Wescot - £436 < These guys have been harrassing me via txts and three letters...they have now stopped, I'm a bit worried about the idea of door stops.

2.
Clarity - £569.25 - This was from when I opened account with Santander, direct debits had been moved into the account that I wasn't aware of (no money was ever paid in) and without my knowledge the direct debits were trying to be taken out incurring this charge, though the bank made no attempt to inform me. This happened over a period of 6 months...I feel this charge isn't fair but i don't know how to deal with it.

3.
Bank (No credit collectors) £352 - From when i was 20 for a loan, for some reason this is still within the banks recovery dept? If I paid this off would the others come chasing?

4.Lowell (On behalf Fedrickson) £335 - O2 bill for a unused phone from years ago.

So as you can see I have a few unpaid debts here, the amounts themselves are relatively small however it concerns me that if I even acknowledge or pay one...they will all come running for me. I'm also worried this is the tip of the iceberg because I'm sure utility companies are also owed some form of money?!

I have also noticed things such as "If you don't pay us within the next 10 days, further collection activity...." or "our client taking legal action in the courts" - Surely the amounts are so small, would it not be worth their time taking it to court?

Also I have noticed on Nelson Guest's letter "For a limited period pay by....To take advantage of the offer" - Its not an offer, its a debt to be repaid? how much more can they bump it up from the original debt? Surely they charges must be illegal?

My next plan of action is to open up and account with a bank that I don't owe money too and then re-assess from the feedback on here.

Any advice is amazing! I've put myself in a real pickle here!

x :money:

Jonny_Belfast

Hello

From what ive learned with similar debts is that if you ignore them they wont go away. also the longer you ignore them the more debt you will get in. Usually once you've made contact they stop adding charges.

You might not think it but your debts are reasonably small compared to most of the guys around here but there spread out so it seems worse.

Don't let them scare you with the whole 10 days then your going to court.. before i manned up and faced my debts i had a company sending me that same letter for like 2 years

your better off filling in you financial details here and list all your debts that collection companies own then the guys here will have better advice for you

endora

It's not very clear from your post but if you stopped paying when you were 20 and you are now 25 then those debts are on their way to becoming Statute Barred which happens 6 years after the last payment or written acknowledgment so it wouldn't be very wise to acknowledge them at this point if you haven't done it for so long.

Nelson Guest are letterheads for rent for Wescot, the Hull Heroes. In my experience, both a useless lot who send a lot of red letters then fly off, last time I heard from them was a year ago and they were after a lot more than what you owe them.

Don't worry about doorstep collectors, there is no law says you have to speak to them and they have no more right to be in your property than your neighbour's cat! Please do not mistake them with bailiffs, they are NOT!