advice required to help my son please

gill07

hi all
my son was keen to get a pedal bike and went to somewhere for credit which was accepted even though he was only working temporary.he had only just turned 18 at the time and i didnt know about any of this until he came home with the bike.my son has suffered with adhd from being young so is very impulsive and doesnt think of the consequences. he was laid off from temp job soon after and managed to get bits of work with people he knew so was sending £75 a month to black horse.he hasnt managed to get any work for a while even though he is trying.they were ringing him everyday and have now passed on to a collector who wants £1600 now.he has become very worried and depressed about his situation. i am lone parent working part time so cant help him though i want to.any advice would be greatly appreciated.
thank you gill ( worried mum)

RAS

Hi

He needs to go down to one of the local debt charities

see this article with all their contact numbers

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cgi-bin/viewnews.cgi?newsid1103204730,72152,#counselling

They can make arrangements with the creditors for him to pay as little as £1 per month while he is not working.

it may affect his future credit rating but that might not be a bad thing?

sammy115

Wow - what kind of pedal bike is it... Is it worth selling to pay the debt off..

Can only agree with the above poster. Ring one of the debt charities. The lenders can chase but should be strung up for lending without stringent checking. I live in fear of someone lending my son money....

gill07

thank you for the advice i will look into it.it making me ill at mo cos every time they ring they are very rude to me
cheers gill

sammy115

I guess that aren't really allowed to talk to you under the data protection act, so I would either put their telephone number on block (you can do this on BT) or refuse to talk to them.

Please don't let them harrass you.

rayday2

You could pen a letter to them get your son to sign it asking them to only write to your son concerning the debt and explain that his medical condition means he has to deal with things when he is feeling "right" he cannot cope with spontaneous phone calls.

Then either ring the national debthelpline - they are really fab or contact CAB the debthelpline would probably be the quickest for you.

I work with young people with ADHD so can understand that all his worries are yours and more besides! Take care and don't worry you will get an answer to the problems and hopefully this will teach your son a valuable lesson in life - but you are right it is not fair he had to learn this way.

firesidemaid

ignore the phone. let it ring and then check for messages if it's someone you know.

if you/he writes to them via recorded delivery and state that you only want to be contacted by letter and not phone, they should honour this or you can report them.

you/he could also go to citizens advice if it is easier. it may be that they shouldn't have sold him the loan in the first place.

good luck x

gill07

thank you all so much for your advice.i dont feel as alone in this now.
would i be able to ring debtline on his behalf?
gillxx

rog2

gill07 wrote: »

thank you all so much for your advice.i dont feel as alone in this now.
would i be able to ring debtline on his behalf?
gillxx

They will, probably, need to discuss the details of the debt with your son, but since it is impacting upon your life, they will, no doubt, be able to advise you on how to deal with the Debt Collection Agency's harassing phone calls.

gill07

hi
we made an offer of £10 a month.which really is the most my son can afford and they have turned it down and are now threatening legal proceedings. where do we go from here ?
thanks gill

angelavdavis

Hi Gill,

Did they put this offer in writing? If so, the letter below should help, if not, you will need to amend to reflect the situation.

Ignore them and set up the payment for £10 anyway (see letter below).

Complete a Statement of affairs for your son (to demonstrate he can't afford more) and then send recorded, keeping copies of soa and letter and all proof of payments. I also suggest you refuse to speak to them over the phone when they call and insist they remove your phone number from their records and only contact you or your son in future via written correspondence.

If it goes to court, the court is likely to back you, insist they freeze the interest/charges and provided you have been honest with the soa content, they will stick with the agreed amount anyway.
_________________________________

Dear Sir/Madam

Acc/Ref No xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Thank you for your letter of xxxxxxxxxxxxx concerning the above account.

I am sorry that you feel unable to accept the offer which we have made. As I have explained, my son is not working and as you will see from the enclosed statement of affairs, he is unable to offer you more.

In the light of the fact the enclosed soa clearly demonstrates his inability to pay, please would you reconsider our offer and if interest or other charges are being added to the account, we would be grateful if you would freeze these so this debt does not increase.

I will be making the payments in line with the offer to your company, on a monthly basis, as a gesture of goodwill.

We look forward to hearing from you as soon as possible.
______________________

They will still send automated letters and possibly phone you (if they become harrassing, there are laws to protect you and tell them to only contact you via written correspondence - this is better anyway because then you have proof of your contact for court purposes if necessary).