In a Total Mess and Need Advice

skenny765

This is my first time posting on a forum so please be gentle!

I'm looking for advice on my financial situation. Because of various circumstances I lost my job in September last year. Having worked all my life I found it difficult to adjust from being a successful independent woman to claiming benefits and struggling to make ends meet. I lost my home because of my ignorance of the benefits system and I ended up sofa surfing for 6 months. I am now settling into a home with my partner and I have just received letters from cougar financial services regarding a £500 debt that I owed to capital one which I used to take care of with a monthly direct debit that I obviously cant afford anymore and to be honest that was the last thing on my mind over the last 6 months.

They are threatening a doorstep visit if I don't contact them by tomorrow and I cant work up the nerve to let my partner know.

I have no way of paying them back, I am trying to set in business for myself and I have no money to invest I am literally working one order at a time. Also my JSA got cancelled because (no kidding) they put my file in the closed drawer instead of the current draw so I can't even offer them a payment. Please help I'm on my last nerve here!

reidy100_2

For a start dont worry bout the doorstep visit threat, send them this letter suitably altered to your case.

"Dear xxxx

Account Ref xxxx

Please be advised that I will only communicate with you in writing. I have noted your repeated attempts to contact me by telephone over the past few weeks/months and these have been duly logged by time and date.

Furthermore, should it be your intention to arrange a “doorstep call”, please be advised that under OFT rules, you can only visit me at my home if you make an appointment and I have no wish to make an appointment with you.

There is only an implied license under English Common Law for people to be able to visit me on my property without express permission; the postman and people asking for directions etc (Armstrong v. Sheppard and Short Ltd [1959] 2 Q.B. per Lord Evershed M.R.).

Therefore take note that I revoke license under Common Law for you, or your representatives to visit me at my property and if you do so, then you will be liable to damages for a tort of trespass and action will be taken, including but not limited to, police attendance.

Yours faithfully,"

I am sure others more knowledgeable will be along soon to help, but i just want to take the worry bout the visit threat out as I have been there before, and was worrying bout it myself needlessly. Sleep well knowing you will dictate the pace not them

Snagggles

That's a great letter reidy. I wish I could add more useful advice, but my knowledge of debt management under English law is really shoddy.

A big part of my job is negotiating with creditors on behalf of people with financial difficulties and problem debts (in Scotland), and generally, creditors are willing to give 30 days' breathing space to allow a debtor to work with a debt advice agency and offer a payment arrangement, based on what disposable income they have (or if there IS no disposable income, a token payment of, say, £1 per month for 6 months, if you expect to be in a better financial position by then).

You could do the same yourself, of course. From experience, creditors often have more flexibility when dealing with an agency than they are willing to give to an individual negotiating on their own behalf, but there are lots of people on these boards taking the self-help route and dealing with their creditors themselves.

Does your partner know anything about your financial history? I hope you can manage to confide in him about the potential visit, so you can make sure you just ignore the door if they do turn up (as even if you send that letter, it's not going to get to them in time now).

Try not to worry too much. At the end of the day, if you haven't got it, they can't have it. They can't try to make you bankrupt for that amount, and they don't have the right to enter your property.

I hope you will keep posting as it sounds like you could do with some support. Not surprising, as it is REALLY hard, going from financial independence to financial difficulty (I have been there). Taking control and dealing with it is good for self esteem I think, which is very important when you have gone through something like this.

skenny765

Hi there,

Reidy, thankyou, I have found an email address for them so I have sent the email with letter quoted. Hopefully they will get it in the morning. As I said I have really been struggling to adjust to everything that has gone on. I feel like I have had a bit of a breakdown as my ability to cope is just not there anymore and I can't kid myself that its just been a bad patch.

My partner is very supportive towards me and I just cannot stand to let him down in this way, it is his house, not mine and he is trying to support me whilst I attempt to set up my business.

This debt came totally out of the blue and I'm pretty horrified that I forgot about it more than anything.

I really appreciate the advice and words of encouragement - thank you

I really appreciate the advice and words of encouragement - thank you

I really appreciate the advice and words of encouragement - thank you

skenny765

sorry about that last line I typed it on my phone, I forgot to ask what are my next steps after the email?

Thanks again

Thrifty_Pixie

skenny765 wrote: »

Hi there,

Reidy, thankyou, I have found an email address for them so I have sent the email with letter quoted. Hopefully they will get it in the morning. As I said I have really been struggling to adjust to everything that has gone on. I feel like I have had a bit of a breakdown as my ability to cope is just not there anymore and I can't kid myself that its just been a bad patch.

My partner is very supportive towards me and I just cannot stand to let him down in this way, it is his house, not mine and he is trying to support me whilst I attempt to set up my business.

This debt came totally out of the blue and I'm pretty horrified that I forgot about it more than anything.

I really appreciate the advice and words of encouragement - thank you

I really appreciate the advice and words of encouragement - thank you

I really appreciate the advice and words of encouragement - thank you

i would tell your new partner. i know it seems like a lot to you at the moment, but £500 is really not a lot of money in the grand scheme of things. i suspect that once you contact them they will be amenable to a payment plan that you can afford (even if it's only £5 or whatever a month). really, £500 isn't a lot of money to these people. breathe

Tixy

Hi skenny

What are you going to be living on whilst setting up your business? will you partner be supporting you? will you be claiming tax credits or are you on a back to work scheme through the job centre that should pay you some benefits for a few months?

Ideally you need to offer them a token payment - even if it is just £1 a month. I agree with Thrifty Pixie that it might be best to talk through with your partner - I am sure he will realise this is an oversight and is not that you have been running up huge debts, it was a manageable level of debt for you prior to your change in circumstances.

I would write to them, explain that you lost your job and have been on benefits and that at the current time you are only in a positon to offer a token payment of £x a month at this time, and ask for their bank details so you can set up a standing order.

As an aside - are you owed a back payment of JSA from when it stopped to when you started your business - if so chase it up, don't let it fall by the wayside - it is money you are entitled to and need.

andydgg

Don't email, type out and send the letter, unsigned, by registered post as soon as possible. Great letter btw, you might want to add that you're taking advice on the matter (which by posting here you are, but they don't know that you could be seeing a specialist lawyer!).
They probably don't say in their letter that they *will* visit if you read it again. Send the letter and if they turn up, don't answer the door, if you do then don't tell them who you are and certainly don't invite them into your house, even opening the door wide enough could be seen as an invitiation for them to enter...just dial 999 and tell the police there's people at your door who you've asked to go away.
As for offering payment; You have zero income. You have to claim your benefits. If you are on benefit then this is the minimum amount the government says you can live on, ie food and board. Benefits are NOT for debt payments.
I think you need a lbm...take a step back for a few weeks and think about your circumstances, try to get the stress out of your life and read up the this site and sites such as the consumer action group's. It's not your fault you're in this position, the banks have been manipulating us for hundreds of years, it's just numbers on a computer screen half the time. good luck and don't stress!

skenny765

Tixy wrote: »

Hi skenny

What are you going to be living on whilst setting up your business? will you partner be supporting you? will you be claiming tax credits or are you on a back to work scheme through the job centre that should pay you some benefits for a few months?

Ideally you need to offer them a token payment - even if it is just £1 a month. I agree with Thrifty Pixie that it might be best to talk through with your partner - I am sure he will realise this is an oversight and is not that you have been running up huge debts, it was a manageable level of debt for you prior to your change in circumstances.

I would write to them, explain that you lost your job and have been on benefits and that at the current time you are only in a positon to offer a token payment of £x a month at this time, and ask for their bank details so you can set up a standing order.

As an aside - are you owed a back payment of JSA from when it stopped to when you started your business - if so chase it up, don't let it fall by the wayside - it is money you are entitled to and need.

I am currently making clothes, upholstery, baby accessories and cushions to order so everytime someone places an order I buy the necessary material and take my profit from whatever is left. I have rented a stall for teh third week in March - it's costing me a tenner but they say I can pay out of my profits so fingers crossed.

Everytime I try to claim any benefits I get turned away, they tell me that my NI contributions are too high and I am not entitled to anything except JSA at £52.00 per week, I have tried to explain that I am setting up as a sole trader but they keep giving me numbers for other departments that have been no help. Thats why it was so bad when they put my claim in the 'wrong file' I ended up losing out on 6 weeks worth of payments and had to rely on the generosity of my friends and family I would be interested to know what I may be entitled to re working tax credits as I have never thought this applied to me do you know I should go about applying?

My partner has Chrones disease so he works from home and his income comes in only twice a year. He budgets very well, but since I have been here things have been very tight and I am doing everything I can to try and earn some money.

I have just drafted a letter explaining my circumstances and offered them £1 a month, I'm going to add in the 'not welcome at my home' letter to I'm sure £1 is not going to kill me for now, the thought of actually speaking with these people is what scared me the most I think - thankyou for the advice

andydgg

Don't agree to anything...The standard advice is never pay a dca. You don't have a contract with them. The debt is with the people who lent you the money in the first place. Please check consumer action group web site, they are the experts with this kind of thing.

Tixy

andydgg wrote: »

Don't agree to anything...The standard advice is never pay a dca. You don't have a contract with them. The debt is with the people who lent you the money in the first place. Please check consumer action group web site, they are the experts with this kind of thing.

The terms and conditions of the credit card allow then to assign the debt to a third party, and if they do then the debtor then legally owes the debt collection agency. They are required to provide a notice of assignment from the original creditor and should supply a copy of the credit agreement if the debtor makes such a request, but thet have a right to collect the debt and if a debtor refused to pay could commence court action