Is this normal?

outoffunds

Have lurked on the site but this is my first time posting.

OH and I got into financial difficulties in 2004/5. Originally set up a DMP with Payplan in late 2005. OH became seriously ill in 2006 and has been unable to work since. Payplan were unable to continue with our DMP due to insufficient money to make more than token payments so we have been doing a self managed plan since then.

We have several creditors and still owe about £48,000. We have been making small payments each month for the last few years. All of the defaults apart from 1 have fallen off our credit report (the last one should fall off later this year).

However over the last 3/4 months several of our debts have been sold on, mostly to Arrow Global and 1 to 1st Credit. On some we were told to stop making payments and we would be contacted by the new company. Is this normal?

As well some companies we have been paying for years with very little contact have now started to request 6 monthly reviews on our debts. Our circumstances have not changed and most are happy to carry on accepting the amount we are paying. I wondered if anyone had any ideas why they have started to do this.

National_Debtline

Hello there,

Debts often get sold on and 'passed around the houses'. It's quite normal. The general approach if you are contacted by these new companies would be to submit a financial statement and make a reasonable offer of payment. Given the information within your post it appears that a token payment would be the way to go.

What type of debts are they? I'm assuming we're talking credit debts here - but I just wanted to check.

Also, do you own a property, have you other assets?

Best wishes,

David @ NDL.

outoffunds

Yes these were old creditcards, store cards and loans taken out in more affluent days.

We do not own a property or have other assets.

happy_bunny_2

Yes it's normal. Some accounts get passed about frequently when a company realises there's no quick cash to be had.

The 6 month review is to see of they can squeeze more out of you.

They can't have what you haven't got...

Good luck

HB

outoffunds

We wrote to 1st credit making the same token offer we had been paying the previous DCA (we cannot afford to pay more).

We also explained in the offer letter about my husband's ill health and his not working as to why our income is low. They have written back to say they want documentary proof of his ill health. A letter from our Doctor or similar. Of course we have the proof but I don't see why we need to supply them with this.

The original default date was Sept 2006 so it dropped off our credit report in 2012, so I know they would have a hard job taking him to Court.

Do we have the right not to supply this information?

outoffunds

Just to add we have been making payments to them even though they do not seem to acknowledge this

National_Debtline

Hello again,

It is not obligatory to send the information although you may find that creditors are more flexible if they have proof. There is a fair amount of trust involved with negotiating. A creditor (or debt collection agency) cannot make unreasonable demands on their customers. You are absolutely right to continue what you have been doing. Stick to your guns. Some creditors have been known to agree to write-off a debt on health grounds, we have a sample letter which you could use in situations like this.

Best wishes,

David.

sourcrates

outoffunds wrote: »

Do we have the right not to supply this information?

Of course you do, DCA`s have no right whatsoever to your confidential information, send them a CCA request, this is an official request for a copy of your original credit agreement, as it dates from b4 April 2007, chances are good, they wont have it, or if they do it will be defective in some way, which will mean the account could be unenforceable in court, it will cost you £1 fee for this, but well worth it in my opinion. Send to all your creditors, at best you may not have to pay back everything, it could be a good bargaining tool, at worst it will cost you the price of some stamps.

happy_bunny_2

outoffunds wrote: »

Just to add we have been making payments to them even though they do not seem to acknowledge this

If you have been paying they can still take him to court. The credit file entry is irrelevant.

Sourcrates offers an alternative.

theoretica

outoffunds wrote: »

They have written back to say they want documentary proof of his ill health. A letter from our Doctor or similar. Of course we have the proof but I don't see why we need to supply them with this.

Is the proof something which you could remove the private information from? I am thinking of a letter from your doctor saying Mr X has diagnosis which prevents him from working and redacting the condition by photocopying the document with a bit of post-it note over that. As the NDL representative says playing nice(ish) might get them to acknowledge the situation will never change and write off the debt entirely.

dancingfairy

To be honest you would probably be better off going bankrupt then having these debts hanging over your heads and paying token payments for years.
You'd have to pay the upfront fee, but depending on your income you may not need to pay anything into your bankruptcy. Your credit file wouldn't be great but then, it's probably not great now anyway.
It might be worth talking to one of the debt charities and seeing what they suggest. Also the bankruptcy board on here might have some suggestions on how to raise the fees required if it is something you feel would be useful.
I feel it is important to try and repay one's debts but there comes a point where it is detrimental to yourself and there is no point in carrying on paying token payments if things seem unlikely to change. I appreciate though that it is not an easy decision and very much a personal choice so if you wish to continue with token payments then do that.
Regards
df