Can someone please help me, I'm scared.

rog2

jo1972 wrote: »

Can they not be done for harrassment, 2 phone calls and it's not even lunchtime is out of order, does anyone know about this?

Have a look at the following link;

http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/business_leaflets/consumer_credit/oft664.pdf

Are they ringing you at work?

BCW can be right Pains in the **se.

a87

OH MY GOD!

They have broken so many laws! It states that I shouldn't be called at unreasonable intervals, if twice in less than 3 hours is not unreasonable than I don't know what is! They are phoning my mobile when I am at work but not my work number. And they are demanding that I phone them back on a premium rate phone number which is also illegal.

Thank you for sending me that rog2. Makes for interesting reading...

a87

Has anyone had any contact with Buchanan Clark and Wells? If so, could you give me a little detail on your experience with them? Thank you xxx

joeblack066

BC&W have a few different offices and none of them seem to be linked which is strange. I have found them to be ok, and have 3 debts with them, all at different offices. If you send them a SOA, showing that you can only afford the £10, they should accept this. Another way to go if you could raise the cash is to offer them a Full and Final Settlement. I did this with a £340 debt that I had that they had bought, and they accepted £200 F&F, giving me 10 days to pay it as well. Good luck, and try not to panic.

MCBIRNIE25

Hello A87. Sorry to hear about your difficulties with BC+W,hereafter known as scumbags.I had a couple of thoughts.Firstly, if this company have taken illegal payments from your bankunder a direct debit, not a standing order,you are protected by the directdebit guarantee. This makes your bank liable for any charges/payments received by law. I would pursue this.Second,this is taken from another thread of mine:UNDERSTAND THIS, AND UNDERSTAND IT WELL! – YOU OWE CREDITORS MONEY, NOT YOUR LIFE! Yes, your creditors or their agents are allowed to contact you if you default on a loan repayment or credit agreement. They are even allowed to contact you at work (but they must not discuss your debts with your work colleagues) or call at your home to discuss the matter with you (although you are not obliged to discuss it with them and you are perfectly within your rights to ask them to leave). But what they are NOT allowed to do is to harass you, discuss your situation with neighbours, pretend that they have more powers than they do have, pretend that they have the right to visit your home and take away goods or add collection fees to your debt, call you repeatedly at work or during unsociable hours. Regrettably, some over zealous collection agencies seem to be flouting the laws because they know that most people are not aware of what they can and can't do. There are a number of laws that protect people in debt from unreasonable behaviour from creditors or their agents, namely, Section 40 of The Administration of Justice Act 1970 and specifically, The Protection from Harassment Act 1997. Let's be clear about this, it is a CRIMINAL OFFENCE if a creditor or their agent makes demands for money in such a manner that it causes the debtor or his/her family, alarm, distress or humiliation. Specifically, harassment is a criminal offence under Section 2 of The Protection from Harassment Act 1997 and punishment on conviction, is six months' imprisonment and/or a level 5 fine (up to £5,000). Before we can begin to tackle harassment, I think it is relevant to understand why creditors or their agents use 'questionable tactics' in their endeavours to collect in delinquent accounts. In a nutshell, it is fear. The first thing that happens is that they realise that they are not the only creditor. Upon this realisation it seems to set off an 'every man for himself' reaction and they appear hell bent on forcing as much payment as they can, in as quick a time period as possible, from their 'victim'. The idea here seems to be, damage limitation. “The more we can get in now, the less we are likely to lose in the long run”. In my opinion, this is a very short sighted policy and in fact only serves to worsen the situation and in many cases, actually tips the decision to declare bankrupt. Let's look at some of the more common threats or tactics used by these 'debt collectors' and analyze them a bit. 1. “We won't accept £25 per month, we will only accept a minimum of £38.50 per month and if you don't pay this, we will take you to Court.” It's the 'Take you to Court' part that is designed to frighten you and understandably this does get results for them. No-one wants to go to Court do they? Or do they? First of all, the threat of Court action is usually an empty one and this action is usually reserved for people who won't make any kind of payment or who ignore them. If you do what we recommend on this board, produce a statement of affairs and make a realistic offer in line with your ability to pay, there is no way in this world that they would take you to Court. Why? because the likelihood is, that the Judge would absolutely wipe the floor with them for wasting Court time and it is even more likely that the Judge would make an order for payment for LESS than what you actually offered and also it is likely that the Judge would not award them any costs. FACT: the Courts will not permit your income to be lowered below a level which you require to subsist. So, if you can't afford to pay more than you've offered, there is not a Law which will make you do so. Creditors know this but they are banking on the fact that you do not – now you do. 2. “If you don't pay us at least £50 a month, we will send one of our collectors round to your house” And? Let me know what time he's coming and I'll buy a cake, is it one sugar or two? Again, it is the 'fear' of someone turning up on your doorstep that they are relying on to get you to commit to more than you can afford. Debt collection agencies do have a license to make 'site visits' (within reasonable hours) to your home to attempt to discuss the matter with you although they very rarely do this because it costs them a lot of money. However, they have absolutely no right of entry, they have no right to take anything from you and you are under no obligation to discuss anything with them. Very often you will get more sense from a visitor than you would with someone calling you over the phone so I'm not saying categorically don't discuss anything with a collector if they do turn up, but I am saying don't feel intimidated and don't feel obliged to do so. If you are not comfortable discussing the matter with a visitor, keep cool and ask them to leave, if they refuse to leave, tell them they are trespassing and that if they don't leave, you will call the police. If they remain, call the police, tell them that someone is trespassing on your property and there is likely to be a breach of the peace. 3. “If you don't pay us now, we will send the bailiff around next week to seize your goods” – 99% of the time this is total hogwash. Unless they have a County Court Judgment against you, they can not instruct a Bailiff. Even if they do, contrary to popular belief, you do not have to allow a Bailiff into your home and they cannot force access. These are the three most common frighteners that they will use. Now if this doesn't have an immediate effect, they will resort to harassment, that is, they will call you on the phone continually, some times being mean and nasty. This means that they are getting desperate and whilst you should recognise it for what it is, there is no way that you should put up with this.Write to them now and demand that they stop calling you and you will only deal in writing. I can help ya with this if needed.Then make them an offer, on your terms not theirs.

a87

Wow! Thanks McBirnie25! That was...detailed! But very helpful

My father has sent them an email demanding that they stop harrasing me and that they only contact him from now on. He has also added that they cease any action immedeatly (which is doubtful) but he said it was worth putting. I'm going to give it until the middle of next week and if the situation still stands, I'm going to write to them offering to pay £10 a month. Although my dad won't be happy about this, he wants THEM to pay ME compensation for a variety of reasons but again, I think that is doubtful.

Thank you McBirnie25 xx

jo1972

Hi there,

You've been given some excellent information in the last post and hope that sets your mind to rest a little.

Just wanted to say though, if you do correspond with them I'd recommend you send it by post by recorded delivery and keep copies of all correspondence just in case one day you do end up in court. The court will then see that you have done everything in your power to reduce your debt or work with the DCA.

Good luck

Jo.

rog2

You should, also, write a brief letter giving your father the authority to deal with this matter, on your behalf, and demand that BCW ONLY discuss the matter, in writing, with him.

a87

Okay, I shall speak with my father although he has been kind of annoying about it recently. When I said you guys were helping mw out with some advice, he got really shirty. Last thing i bloody need. They have just phoned me again, this time on a 0845 number, usually it's 0871....I wonder what that means? I didn't pick up fortunatly. I don't know wheather it is worth me picking up next time they phone and telling them that my father has phoned and emailed and that he is the one in control of this now, not me...what do you think? xxx

MCBIRNIE25

Hello A,icndo you a letter to send to them if you like? Just dropme a message, although it will be tomorrow now as i'm consuming a vast quantity of beer tonight;-)I would also write to the photo company, get a detailed statement of account,which you are entitled to. This then puts you back in control.I would not advise speaking to them on the phone as they will threaten, harrass,cajole etc trying to get you to agree something there and then.