How much information is a debt company entitled to?

swingaloo

Im asking on behalf of a gentleman neighbour. He has a company called Cabot chasing him. He has been paying them an agreed sum for the last 4 years and has never missed a payment.

He says he has previously been asked to increase his payments but each time has told them that his circumstances have not changed and its all he can afford. He is on benefits, he gets DLA and ESA.

Today he has had a letter with a form asking for all his income and outgoings. They also want proof of his benefits.

He has other debts (Im not sure what they are but he says there are 2 and he is paying each company pro-rata with the highest payment going to the biggest debt).

Can anyone tell me what information he is obliged to give them Im sure I once read somewhere that you cannot be forced to fill in an income-expenditure form but cant remember if thats correct or not.

Apparently 2 of his debts are payable to Cabot and the only way he could increase his payment on the one they have written to him about would be to reduce the payment on the other one he pays to them. I think he is feeling quite threatened by then but I dont want to give him incorrect information.

swampduck

He needn't tell them anything if he doesn't want to.

But a quick call to Stepchange may put his mind at rest and if he's struggling to cope with his payments now on a low income they may be able to help him with further advice.

Swampy

sourcrates

swingaloo wrote: »

Can anyone tell me what information he is obliged to give them Im sure I once read somewhere that you cannot be forced to fill in an income-expenditure form but cant remember if thats correct or .

Hi,

Just how would they go about forcing him to fill in a form ?

They are entitled to nothing, nada, zilch, zero, absolutely nothing.

He dosent have to tell them anything, he dosent have to answer there letters, calls, questions anything at all !!!!

He should pay what he can afford, and that's it.

If they pester him for more, tell him to send a written complaint to there compliance manager :

Customer Care,
Cabot Financial (Europe) Limited,
PO Box 241,
West Malling,
Kent ME19 4NA

swingaloo

Thank you very much for the replies.

National_Debtline

Hi there,


He is not required to send proof of his benefits and/or bank statements. Whilst he isn't obliged to send a SOA it is good practice to do this (especially if nothing has changed - a SOA will back that up). If nothing has changed then his offers shouldn't change either (he is right about that). It is also quite common practice for collectors to check if someone's circumstances have changed every 6 - 12months. If they are asking for this information more often than that, then that sort of behaviour may be classed as harassment and he could consider a complaint.


Roughly how much is he paying these debts each month? If it is quite a low payment (because he is on a low income without a likely prospect of things improving), and he has health issues and if he has limited assets, then he may be able to ask them to write the debt off. https://www.nationaldebtline.org/EW/sampleletters/Pages/Write-off-the-debt-(sole-name).aspx


Laura
@natdebtline