Please help!! Vanquis debt. Suicidal.

JohnLuther

Hello.
In December 2012 i got a letter saying "you have been pre selected for a vanquis card". Now... i had been declared bankrupt in 2009. So ofcourse i never expected to ever get offered a card.
I have NO bank account, ive been unemployed since 2007, aged 40 live with my parents and i own nothing in the way of property a car or anything. Even this PC is on finance via my parents.
I get benefits that are paid directly into my mothes bank account... Recently applied for a basic HSBC bank account and was refused....

Anyway... i got the call in december from Vanquis... and i did tell them i was unemployed had no bank account etc. yet i still got the "congratulations you now have a card with £1000 etc etc"

You know the next bit..... within a few weeks ive drawn it all out .

Now so far ive only made two payments one of 72 and one of 26. I thought by now id be employed etc etc.....im gettin calls from them every day and now IMPACT COLLECTIONS letters.
Its the calls that are driving me suicidal. I have to leave the phone unplugged 24/7.

I did tell em a 3 weeks ago id be able to pay £25 a week... but when your on job seekers ..try living £25 minus a week.

Anyway.... sorry for the rant folks but can someone just tell me if there is any way i can get the payments to an abolute minimum so i dont do myself in.. i have severe anxiety problems and cant sleep cos i think they might turn up at the house ...which would cause my father to have a heart attack.... he worries about the slightest thing i cant tell my folks i owe on a card...
the payment is now around £1300 .. i know its not a crazy huge amount..but it is when you are living on jobseeks allowance.

I need to know if it would be better if i just called them and told them to forward my debt to someone else so at least they wouldnt phone me at 8 am every day.....
Is that a better idea? then at least i can start to negotiate with someone else from scratch... I fear Vanquis will never leave me alone. I tell my folks that my name is on a mailing list and to ignore these vanquis calls cos its just offers of insurance etc... honestly im in a total mess.

I am sorry to go on but i really do need someone to tell me that maybe im worrying over nothing. I actually didnt worry this bad several years ago when i owed over 30 grand on various cards etc....

please help me...

again apologies for my erratic post.

Is it better if i just wait till they summons me to court?

I would prefere ANYTHING than have the phone ringing . It has me on edge so much. Any time i plug it in...i panic thinking its going to ring.

Please can anyone tell me what i can do to at aleast stop them calling/

How much should they accept as minimum monthy payments under my circumstances.

And were they right to give me a card in the first place when i told the guy on the phone i didnt have a bank account.

Thankyou...

PS. the last payment of £26 was made only 3 weeks ago... i had agreed over the phone to pay £25 a week cos i trhought i could manage it..but i just couldnt.. now i got a letter saying i owe minimum £119...
Also...as i have no account i have to pay at Barclays over the counter which then takes several days to clear... so my dilema is even if i make a payment i get calls every day till it clears.

Really... i know its my fault. i just need some advice .

thanks again.

[Deleted User]

Have you answered the phone and tried explaining your situation - even if it only buys you a couple of days and you always have the option to hang up if it gets to much

In the meantime try the National Debtline (debt charity) website for letter templates to use to have backup in writing, can you go back to the advisor who helped arrange your bankruptcy see what they suggest, the creditor should only get as much as you can afford and as I'm really not so sure how unemployed benefits fare with debt on a non priority level maybe one of the charity debt org's can recommend what you could be paying if at all taking into consideration your circumstances and available fund, you're always in the stronger position by attempting to tackle this x

JohnLuther

Hi my bankruptcy was 4 years ago now. i had no advisor i just had my forms filled by someone who i cant remember now. my debts were credit cards and a loan etc..no buisness or property involved. so its not like im some professional buisness man or anything. i was stacking slelves at Asda when i was using cards. paying one of with another till it got out of control.. stupid i know.... but ...

now i am worried more though over this one card. cos i have zero spare cash..

im worried they will come to my parents house.

mum2one

the first thing I would do is speak to them and say that your are taking advice from a debt management company - I am currently on a DMP with stepchange, - same reason as you, cards, loan, overdraft, not working but still got the cards chucked at me.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4271235

thats a link the the stepchange (debt management charity) pages - the main info you need is on the 1st couple of posts, please speak to them for help.

The 1st thing to do is a budget on incoming and outgoings and anything left would go to your creditors - stepchange should be able to help.

have a look at the link I've given you and take a deep breath and tackle it.

The next step is send in writing a letter saying your seeking advice - this needs to be sent by recorded delievery (or special delievery) as you need to prove it has been recieved, yes special delievery is lot more expensive, but it gets there to their hand, has to be signed for - this would then mean that you get a breathing space and time to get a plan together which ever way it may be,

You can also ask to be contacted by writing only.

JohnLuther

thanks.
i will proberbly call them tommorow. its just that some of the people who work for them can be really off hand/rude.... as if you owe THEM PERSONALLY money...

My problem is im so paranoid i have it my head that its just me they are chasing. cos they call every day both to mobile and home line .

happygirl148

hi just wanted to say please dont worry about impact collections / vanquis they were constantly harassing my partner for money he owed them after he fell behind with his payments and they were calling up to 20 times a day and texting him as well i would tell them he was not in he was at work and to ring back after 6pm when hes home i would put the phone down and 10 mins later they would ring again on a different number and i would say ive just spoke to you and told you to ring back after 6pm their response to this was "yes well we will keep ringing until we speak to him" this would go on all day everyday .

he has now spoke to stepchange and has a client reference number from them and he has sent a letter to vanquis/impact collections with the ref saying he is seeking help from stepchange and as soon as they received the letter they rang and said as he is seeking help they will freeze his account and interest for 30 days to give him time to work out a repayment plan with stepchange and all calls have now stopped they did state tho that as soon as the 30 days have passed if no offer of payment has been received the calls will commence again . i would defiantly go down this route as it gives you 30 days peace and quiet to work out a plan of action .

Also its very unlikely that they will visit you at home they sometimes send you a letter stating they will visit you at home in xx days time but 9 out of 10 times its just to make you panic so you will call them.

if on the off chance they did turn up at your door you dont even have to answer the door they have no powers and if they dont leave when asked you can call the police to get them to leave.


as stated on stepchange website -

If a debt collector did come to your home, they can’t:
Enter your house or take any goods. You don’t have to open the door to them or speak to them if you don’t want to.
Discuss your account with anyone else in your house and they have to leave if you ask them.
Act in a threatening or intimidating way, and they should always carry photographic identification

bmma

I would recommend Stepchange-bmma

blitzboy

Sorry if this sounds harsh, I don't mean it to. But you've been unemployed for 6 YEARS? I know the job market is tough at the moment but that is a long time! If you were only stacking shelves 6 years ago then surely you could have found a similar job in that time?

As for the debt, as you say you don't own anything etc and it's not a secured debt so try not to worry too much. get in touch with one of the free debt charities and they will advise you on how to go forward. I'm sure you can come to some sort of arrangement with vanquis through the debt charity and pay a token amount each month until your financial situation improves.

JohnLuther

happygirl148 wrote: »

hi just wanted to say please dont worry about impact collections / vanquis they were constantly harassing my partner for money he owed them after he fell behind with his payments and they were calling up to 20 times a day and texting him as well i would tell them he was not in he was at work and to ring back after 6pm when hes home i would put the phone down and 10 mins later they would ring again on a different number and i would say ive just spoke to you and told you to ring back after 6pm their response to this was "yes well we will keep ringing until we speak to him" this would go on all day everyday .

he has now spoke to stepchange and has a client reference number from them and he has sent a letter to vanquis/impact collections with the ref saying he is seeking help from stepchange and as soon as they received the letter they rang and said as he is seeking help they will freeze his account and interest for 30 days to give him time to work out a repayment plan with stepchange and all calls have now stopped they did state tho that as soon as the 30 days have passed if no offer of payment has been received the calls will commence again . i would defiantly go down this route as it gives you 30 days peace and quiet to work out a plan of action .

Also its very unlikely that they will visit you at home they sometimes send you a letter stating they will visit you at home in xx days time but 9 out of 10 times its just to make you panic so you will call them.

if on the off chance they did turn up at your door you dont even have to answer the door they have no powers and if they dont leave when asked you can call the police to get them to leave.


as stated on stepchange website -

This is EXACTLY what i worry about... your post saying they rang 20 times a day has actually made me feel terrible. i cant possibly have that happen!! this would cause untold stress to my family.

i only owe £1300 ... will they still call 20 times a day if i plug my phone in?

JohnLuther

blitzboy wrote: »

Sorry if this sounds harsh, I don't mean it to. But you've been unemployed for 6 YEARS? I know the job market is tough at the moment but that is a long time! If you were only stacking shelves 6 years ago then surely you could have found a similar job in that time?

As for the debt, as you say you don't own anything etc and it's not a secured debt so try not to worry too much. get in touch with one of the free debt charities and they will advise you on how to go forward. I'm sure you can come to some sort of arrangement with vanquis through the debt charity and pay a token amount each month until your financial situation improves.

severe mental health... trust me, if id of worked for you you might of found me hung in the changing rooms.... so.....

also this is the thing ..which debt charity should i go for? there is so many on tv... is stepchange the absolute best/easiest?

Fosterdog

Ignore most of the TV ones, they charge you for doing it by addi an amount onto your monthly figure or spreading it over a longer time. You need to use a free service, they do exactly the same thing just don't charge you for doing it