Is This Harassment???

kazzaj

I posted on here about ten days ago. I have a debt which is a couple of years old. I accrued a debt with a child care establishment which they passed to a debt collection agency. The minimum payment they would accept was £20 per week and I struggled to meet this and admit to missing a few. The debt company subsequently passed the debt to another debt company and I was corresponding with them regarding an arrangement. I did not hear anything from them for several months then about 2 weeks ago, I received a letter from the first debt management company telling me that they were sending someone to see me because I had broken my agreement.

I telephoned them straight away. It transpired that the company they passed my debt to had gone into liquidation and the childcare company had passed the debt back to them. Nobody had told me about this though. I said I was prepared to start payments again and asked them to send me a copy of payments made to date so I could see where I was at. I also sent a letter to this effect.

This morning I have received a letter saying that because I have broken the agreement they are preparing court papers.

Can anyone advise me whether they are harassing me? I am happy to start paying again once I know what the debt is, but the fact that the second company went bust seems to be being ignored.

Help please. I need to ring them again this morning and am not sure what to say.
Thanks,

skylight

You are not being harrassed (not in a "true" sense).

They want the money and are notifying you of what they *may* do next. Its a cheap trick to get you to pay up asap.

Harrassment is when they start calling you a stupid amount of times weekly/daily/hourly (it happens!).

Check out Baliffchaser's posts - he has a letter template asking for a copy of your credit agreement. They can do bu88er all without one. Cannot enforce a debt in court if they cannot supply one to you.

Send the letter recorded to, so that you can prove they have recieved it. And keep a copy!

DO NOT PHONE THEM!!! All correspondence needs to be in writing should they ever try to take you to court. You will need the PROOF for any defence, and telephone calls do not provide any backup for you.

Plus, they get your number (unless its barred) and they can then really harrass you by calling lots.

Please remember they are a business, will threaten you (as they have done) in order to get money and make profit. They have guidlines to work in, but most DCA's find themselves blurring these guidlines as they assume you do not know your rights. You have the DFW board and MSE! Much more powerful!

kazzaj

There is no credit agreement, just the registration form I completed when I first started using this company (which I obviously do not use any more!!!)

tomterm8

kazzaj wrote: »

There is no credit agreement, just the registration form I completed when I first started using this company (which I obviously do not use any more!!!)

Send them the letter asking for a signed true copy of the credit agreement. If they fail to provide it, or just send you a copy of the terms of the account without your signature, send them a letter saying that the debt is unenforceable by law if they do not have a signed true copy of the credit agreement.

They MUST have a credit agreement. If they do not have a credit agreement, they can do NOTHING to enforce it. Any further calls / letters after you have sent them such a letter woithout the credit agreement IS harassment.

Click through credit is NOT enough. They must have your signature on a credit agreement.

kazzaj

There definitely is not a credit agreement. This debt is owed to a child care establishment that my daughter used to attend. I know I filled a form in when she started but it certainly wasnt a credit agreement, more like a registration form. At the time when she first went there, I was told that reminders would be issued if payment was not received for about 5 weeks. I was struggling with many debts at the time and my head was firmly buried in the sand. I did not realise how many weeks had gone by until I got a bill for about 8 months worth of charges!!! I am happy to pay this back, because I have used their service, but am not happy at the threats they are continuing to make.
Thanks for your help.