help with debt collectors

red_eye

i have three debts which i really need advice with. seems like i have bad luck with banks

my longest standing debts is from a credit card. i forgot that when you make a payment in the bank it takes three days to clear so they ended up charging me for going over my limit. so i stopped paying off the balance until i query the charge. by the time i got round to it they passed it on to a debt collector who i had a little argument with about the £20 charge on going 1p over limit, and that i had paid money in the account.
in the end i just had enough of not getting anywhere so i put the phone down.
while writing a letter complaining about the service, i realised that it was my fault and i rang back with an offer of £80 a month to pay off the £500 ballance and was told that they were not prepared to accept any payment and they were sending me a default notice and taking me to court. this was about 2-3 years ago and now the balance has doubled.

now am i right in saying that i am still prepared to pay off this debt only if they drop the payment to what it was when my original offer was rejected? also can they add charges with out informing you?
i really dont know what to do with this one been going round in circles.

next up is my current account at the time i was 18, renting a flat and working part time. it started of with going over my overdraft limit which was ok because it was only £20-30. but then i had an opportunity to learn a trade as an apprentice to be able to earn enough to live on i kept my part time job and reduced my hours. for the 9 months i training i was not paid so i started to go over my overdraft.
to cut a long story short the debt was building up with all the £20 charges being added, till i received a letter inviting me to go over my options, which i did on 3 occasions each i was only given one option and that was to increase my over draft limit which because of the amount i owed the computer declined the extension.
by my third visit the debt was near enough the same amount that i get paid so i arranged for my wages to go into another account at another bank. i also wrote a letter to the bank which i have never received a letter from. come to think of it i have not received a letter from a debt collector for ages. i defaulted on this around 2001/2

with this account im thinking of reclaiming my bank charges and paying off as much of the debt i can with that, but i think this should be written off since i did all i could to get out of debt.

my last debt is from a loan which i think is partly my fault as i tried to make thing a little easy on myself so i could concentrate on completing my assignments. by paying 3 months worth of payments every 3months as soon as i receive my student loan in effect paying in advance.
i rang the bank as soon as i received a default notice and the person on the phone was unsympathetic and would not listen to why i wanted to pay 3 months in advance this has also been passed on from debt collector to debt collect. i wrote to the last debt collector who was dealing with this account about the phone call and also a charge of £110, they wrote back saying that the were investigating and they would not chase me about the debt whilst the account is under investigation. so months go by and i receive a letter from another debt collector who are now ringing my parents landline everyday at 11am. on sunday i put the phone down on them and they would not stop ringing back. this account has been such a hassle. one of my direct debits didt go though and as a result i was incurring charges and i was not informed of these charges for some time when i finally received a letter which i followed up with a visit to my branch where i was told that they would take the charges off which has not happened. i defaulted on this in 2005

i really want to get rid of this debt but at the moment im unemployed and have been since leaveing uni in 2006 so nearly a year, so untill i find work i'll be paying off for the rest of my life

looking for a job is stress alone not to mention my gf nagging me to tie the knot and buying a house.

sorry for the long post and thank you for looking/helping

RAS

Welcome

You need to add some dates to your story.

Some of these debts may be statute barred, all of them merit a letter demanding the CCA and letter of assignment and you can reclaim the charges against anything less than 6 years old.

Also head over here and put up your SOA, so people can advise you.
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=107280

red_eye

thanks for the quick reply

here my SOA

Monthly Incomings:

My salary - £0
Benefits - £200

Total - £200

Monthly Outgoings:

Rent - £varies when parents need money
Internet £18
Phone - £20.00
Food - £80


Total: £118 est

Barclaycard £1,050.96 (£500)
Barclays bank £500 est
HSBC £870 (was £750 on 11/06)

dates are
barclays default sometime in 2001/2

barclaycard default some time in 2003, last contact was on 6/6/07 since i emailed them (before email 4/07

HSBC defualt 2005 , investigation on 11/06 last contact 17/7/07