Arrears, some advice before they get completely out of control.

RAS

Hi Optimus

Moorcroft are very well known on here as a bunch of bullies. Sorry you are dealing with them.

As a precaution do not pay them on your card as some DCas have been known to help themselves to additional sums.

If they take you into court, as you say, providing you can prove that you are making a a reasonable conttribution based on your income, they can whistle. it may be that the court decided that you needed to pay even less, so they would be silly to push it.

Given other people's experience, I would not suggest offering £50 - £100 as they will demand that £100 each month.

You need a copy of the OFT Guidelines in case they speak to you again, you are properly armed, although you have done admirably so far. Will list it for you later.

rog2

RAS wrote: »

You need a copy of the OFT Guidelines in case they speak to you again, you are properly armed, although you have done admirably so far. Will list it for you later.

You must have seen my 'green light' RAS :rotfl: :rotfl:

Optimus - Link to OFT DebtCollection Guidelines is:

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

MOORCROFT are a really nasty crowd, so download a copy of the guidelines and read them BEFORE you talk with Moorcroft.

Optimus_2

Thanks folks,

I had a read over them and one particular paragraph stuck right out.

The following:

2.12f: Visiting or threatening to visit debtors without prior agreement when the debt is deadlocked or disputed.

By 'deadlocked' we mean where a debtor (or debtor’s adviser) agrees there is a debt and has offered a repayment programme which has not been agreed by the creditor or debt collector. We are not saying that any offer must be accepted but we have seen cases where offers are disregarded and a debtor is told that 'we are sending field agents'.

Many debtors are unlikely to understand this term and are likely to view the visit as a threat designed to make them offer more money when they can pay no more. Some letters appear to be designed to give this impression.

This sums up my conversation with "Jennifer" at Moorcroft nicely. I was told I "must" pay £42 to them now, ie: over the phone, then make two further installments of £200 over two months. As I said previously, I remained calm and polite, and offered a payment of £100 on the 21st of this month when I receive my Salary ... this was rejected point blank and I was told that "the account cannot be held any further because no payment has been received in three months".

It was three months ago that I received the call saying I "had" to pay the same installments as above or an agent would come to my door and value goods to pay the debt ... I was sent a payment book, and instructed to make installments per above. I know now I should have tried to pay them something, but every month I've had cheques and charges coming out my account, so I've not been in a position. However, this month they'll get £50 from me to get the ball rolling.

Horrid company, and it must take a "special" kind of person to work for them.

RAS

Optimus wrote: »

I have found these and used the snowball calculator, but it is utterly fruitless until I clear these arrears and have my accounts in full, proper, working order month in, month out.

Hi even clearing your backlog of arrears, it would pay to clear the ones with the highest APR first, as that way you pay least interest and have most of the money going to clear the arrears faster.

You may also have to think about the amount of debt you have rather than just your arrears and your monthly payments. Plainly over time you have built up a few thousand. By comparison, your arrears are an urgent but small problem

Optimus_2

Well, things are beginning to look up a little after a night on eBay.

I listed things which, since moving from my Mum's, are now deemed luxuries and surplus to requirements. My girlfriend isn't a fan of home cinema, even though my room at my Mum's was a mini-flat with sofa, big screen, and home cinema ... so the amplifier and speakers are all on eBay and I have an offer of £100 for the amplifier already. It's a Denon, which cost £450 around four years ago, but in my situation £100 is £100. The speakers, hopefully, should fetch around £150 in total (a pair of floor standing front channel and a pair of rear channel speakers).

I'm also on the verge of selling my iPod video (60GB), again for £100 through an offer to end the auction early. I have also listed a golf bag which I know will return what I paid for it since it's a limited edition.

I've basically taken on the mindset of detaching myself from what I'm doing on eBay, because if I dwell on what I'm selling I won't want to part with it ... but I keep telling myself it's for "the greater good" (I sound like the Neighbourhood Watch weirdo's in Hot Fuzz now!).

RAS

So you could pull together a quarter of your debt from e-bay with luck, maybe more?

Obviously you need to send £50 to Moorcroft.

What's the sitaution with the Staff Loan, my gues is the APR is good but do you get into trouble, is it embaressing to be in arrears?

Other than that, what is the debt with the highest APR, bearing in mind that you may also get wallloped by chargs on some acounts (like you old overdraft), so the cost of being in debt might be a lot higher than the APR?

Optimus_2

RAS wrote: »

So you could pull together a quarter of your debt from e-bay with luck, maybe more?

Obviously you need to send £50 to Moorcroft.

What's the sitaution with the Staff Loan, my gues is the APR is good but do you get into trouble, is it embaressing to be in arrears?

Other than that, what is the debt with the highest APR, bearing in mind that you may also get wallloped by chargs on some acounts (like you old overdraft), so the cost of being in debt might be a lot higher than the APR?

APR, at this moment in time, does not bother me RAS ... right now my main concern is paying off the arrears and getting my accounts on track with normal monthly payments again. APR will come into the equation when I begin to tackle the debt itself, ie: the standard balance with no arrears to worry about.

I stand to make at least £400 from eBay in the coming week, that will enable me to pay off smaller arrears such as my Clydesdale (£51) and HFC Bank (£89 over 3 accounts) higher purchase arrears. I also got a letter from GE Money requesting £146 to bring my B&Q/Comet card back in line, so they'll be paid also. That comes to £286, and with Moorcroft getting £50 and Halifax and Virgin getting £100 each, that comes to £536 ... so eBay should cover the vast majority of that repayment plan, with a little of my salary being used if required.