Restons solicitors - aggressive debt collectors?

Wolfsbayne

Back in 2006 I defaulted on my credit card, overdraft and loan with HSBC. I was unemployed at the time and have had low income ever since. Every debt collector that the debt got sold on to time and again were always fine when I explained my circumstances, sent them my income and expenditure and we agreed small repayments.

August 2013 I received letters from Arrow Global saying they had taken over the debt and all repayments were to go to them. I sent a letter requesting a statement for each account detailing charges made and payments received along with direct debit details. A few weeks later I got letters saying they were 'looking into my complaint' but I never received the payment details and other than a letter every few months saying they were still looking into things, I didn't hear anything more from them. I assumed that they clearly couldn't provide the information and had placed things on hold.

Early September I'm in the process of moving house after being stalked and harassed by neighbours and I receive a phone call from Restons Solicitors. I refused all security questions as I never deal with anything over the phone. They said I should have received letters from them - I hadn't and told them of this, they said I had to pay the debt in full - I explained that Arrow Global were currently looking into the situation and that it was their job to 'prove' I owed this money and how much. Of course he then complained how they couldn't do this if I didn't answer security, etc, etc - I told him to put everything in writing and they would receive a due response. Naturally I received nothing.

Yesterday, I receive (re-directed) letters from Restons Solicitors saying that if I do not pay in full they will take me to court for CCJs. This is the first written contact I have received from them. the debts are £1430, £2500 and £9000.

What is the best way for me to proceed? Looking around various forums it would seem they always take people to court - I'm self-employed and not drawing a wage from that at the moment, I'm existing purely on disabled working tax credit and housing benefit.

Should I give them my new address?
Should I ask for CCA etc?
Should I go straight in with an income/expenditure and payment offer?

I must admit, I've dealt with a few debt collectors over the past eight years but these guys really scare me. I have ME and the stress is likely to make me very ill if I do end up going to court over this.

All advice gratefully appreciated please.

National_Debtline

Hi Wolfsbayne

Thanks for posting and sorry to hear this is causing you such concern.

Hard to guess the likelihood of them taking you to court. It sounds though as if they don't know anything about your current financial circumstances, unless they were passed any case notes by Arrow Global. Therefore it would be a bit of a shot in the dark for them to sue you, with no guarantee that they would get a worthwhile return.

Of the options you list above, none involve insolvency i.e. bankruptcy or a Debt Relief Order. If you don't mind me asking, is there a specific reason you've not considered this? It seems that you've been battling with the debts for a long time and they're still quite large, relative to your income.

Dennis
@natdebtline

Wolfsbayne

National_Debtline wrote: »

Hi Wolfsbayne

Of the options you list above, none involve insolvency i.e. bankruptcy or a Debt Relief Order. If you don't mind me asking, is there a specific reason you've not considered this? It seems that you've been battling with the debts for a long time and they're still quite large, relative to your income.

Dennis
@natdebtline

At the moment it's because I'm a self-employed bookkeeper with a view to training as an accountant in the near-ish future, bankruptcy would bar me from doing so. Even a CCJ could prevent me from working as anything but a self-employed accountant.

I guess in the past, I was only 22/23 when I had these debts and I thought I would be able to get a well paid job again and clear them, unfortunately ill health has prevented that. When all the creditors turned round and accepted the offers of £5 or £10 a month, I could manage that and was happy with it. Little did I know then that the debts would keep getting sold and the process would start again, etc.

harveybobbles

The letter they have sent will be full of words like "may" "if" "could" "can" so that they scare you into paying.

National_Debtline

Wolfsbayne wrote: »

At the moment it's because I'm a self-employed bookkeeper with a view to training as an accountant in the near-ish future, bankruptcy would bar me from doing so. Even a CCJ could prevent me from working as anything but a self-employed accountant.

I guess in the past, I was only 22/23 when I had these debts and I thought I would be able to get a well paid job again and clear them, unfortunately ill health has prevented that. When all the creditors turned round and accepted the offers of £5 or £10 a month, I could manage that and was happy with it. Little did I know then that the debts would keep getting sold and the process would start again, etc.

Hi again

OK, that makes sense, thank you. I would be coy about airing your career plans to any creditors though - if they know you explicitly can't consider insolvency, they may feel they have you in a corner and persist with payment demands accordingly. Every so often when a debt changes hands, its new owner will make a renewed effort to up its returns from the debtor - usually by making not-so-subtle threats of legal action.

Can I assume that these debts no longer feature on your credit file, given their age? If so, they will no longer affect your creditworthiness unless they seek CCJs against you (unlikely on the balance of things) or make you bankrupt (virtually inconceivable).

So, should you give them your new address? Yes, if you want to be sure of promptly receiving anything urgent e.g. court forms, as opposed to relying on a re-direction.

Issuing them with a fresh copy of your income and expenditure, accompanied by an offer of payment (even if it is just the status quo) may be the best step to take for now. This should demonstrate to them that there is nothing to be gained by acting on their threat of court action.

Given that you're a bookkeeper, I'm sure you can work out your own net income (!) but if you need any assistance, you can get in touch with our colleagues at Business Debtline who serve the self-employed:

www.businessdebtline.org

Dennis
@natdebtline

Wolfsbayne

Thanks Dennis