Credit Agreement

Ashabumbleb

Hi All,

Hope you are fab and well. In November 2008 I stopped paying a credit card due to being a student and not having the income to pay it back. I tried for ages, but it was crippling me and I had no source of income so stopped....

Anyways I completely forgot about the debt and carried on with my life until about 3 months ago when I started receiving leters from Fenton Cooper. I looked online and sent the letter that people reccomend saying that I don't acknowledge the debt etc, they disapeared, did their diggng and hey presto this morning I got a letter from them complee with my signed credit agreement and some old statements to my uni address asking me to pay within 30 days or fill in the financial statement form thing.

So I suppose I'd better start paying them back....but....firstly they have requested to knw my employer etc. Do I HAVE to complete this part? I personally don't think it's anything to do with them who employs me and I certainly don't want them hasstling me at work. Am I within my rights to tell them that I'll pay them x ammount and that's that? Do I wait to see if they send me more letters and offer me discount on the ammont that I owe? I'm hoping to go back to university full-time next year and am not eligible for a student loan as I've already got a degree so I'm going to have to fund it somehow and I struggle on my wage as it is without also having to pay an ammount dictated by someone else. I'm quite happy to offer them say £40 a month and I could probably push to £50 (the debt is just over £2,500), but can't realistically afford more. I work two jobs already as it is so earning more isn't an option.

Any advice on the next steps I should take would be gratefully received.

Many thanks

Tixy

Hi

You are not obliged to complete an income & expenditure or tell them who you work for. Only a judge can force you to declare this information.

You could write to them to offer x per month and set up a standing order for that amount. They will probably say its not enough to start with, or try to get you to pay more but they may well accept it eventually.

If they choose not to accept your repayment plan the only way to try to force you to pay more would be to take court action against you. That will cost them to do and the judge might not order you to pay anymore either.

In terms of offering a reduced amount in full & final settlement you could try this at any point that you can afford to. You need to put the offer to them in writing, no need to wait for them to make you an offer.

Ashabumbleb

Thanks for clairifying Tixy - I'll just write them a letter offering them a certain ammount then....

What happens when I go back to university though? I'll be on an NHS funded course with a Bursery, but I'll be moving away from home, and trying to stay afloat with very little income ( I think it's only abotu £200 a month or so) and I'll have accomodation costs and food etc to pay...I'll have placements to travel too to. When it comes to it can I revise my offer and pay them less, or should I offer an ammount that I should be able to continue to pay this time next year?

I've spent a small fortune and work so hard trying to get back into university and there is no way these folks are going to get in my way if I get accepted. I've worked really hard also to get to grips with my money and not borrow anything for the last 3 years, nor go into an overdraft or spend more than I have. This is a slight setback, but I do owe it, so I will begin to pay it back.

nicp60

Wait!!!

This debt may be statute barred. Although they've sent you paperwork (and in no way am I advising you to not pay your debts), if you haven't paid anything or acknowledged the debt in 6 years, it's statute barred and not enforceable in court.

Obviously you still owe the money, and I would check your credit report and your own records meticulously to work out when it went/will go SB so as to avoid them getting a CCJ at the last minute. However if it was 2008 when you stopped paying, the chances are the it's no longer enforceable. With your change in circumstances coming up, I'd check this out before agreeing to pay anything.

Ashabumbleb

Ahhh, yes I've read aboout the SB thing....but it was only 5 years ago that I stopped paying, rather than the 6 it needs to be. It would be very helpful if it was, but I believe I have just over another year to go before SB comes into effect....and now they have found me and have provided the CCA with my signature on I think I'd find it very hard to spend a year hiding from it - in fact could it not be fraudulant to do such a thing? I don't particularly want to get in more trouble than I would be in, but I also don't want to potentially give myself problems when I finish university, or even worse, whilst I am trying to study. I still have another 28 days to reply....so I don't have to decide just yet.

fatbelly

nicp60 wrote: »

Wait!!!

This debt may be statute barred. Although they've sent you paperwork (and in no way am I advising you to not pay your debts), if you haven't paid anything or acknowledged the debt in 6 years, it's statute barred and not enforceable in court.

Obviously you still owe the money, and I would check your credit report and your own records meticulously to work out when it went/will go SB so as to avoid them getting a CCJ at the last minute. However if it was 2008 when you stopped paying, the chances are the it's no longer enforceable. With your change in circumstances coming up, I'd check this out before agreeing to pay anything.

OP is very precise - stopped paying in Nov 2008. Unless they live in Scotland, the creditor still has 14 months to commence court action.

That does give a third option, 1 being payment plan and 2 being full & final, but there's a risk of a ccj.