Debt advice needed please. L&T

manzy

Hi everyone, I am a new poster here and in need of a little advice please.
here goes.
I have a debt of £546 which was passed onto Legal & trade roughly 6 months ago I have been paying Monthly payments every month as agreed by them. I called them 2 weeks ago asking for a letter stating what I owe now as I might be able to pay off the full amount. They sent me a letter out saying I know owe £446.
But my circumstances have changed and I cannot pay off the debt in full, I rang to tell them this and a very angry man said to me if I dont pay it in 2 weeks time in full they will take me to court. I said I can't pay I just can't he said " well you need to pay off a lump sum of it and then you can go back to paying by instalments" He wants me to pay at least half. I dont even have half of it I have 4 kiddies and a home to run what can I do about this it cant be right can it? any advice appreciated Thanks in advance.

shell_girl

Hi Manzy and welcome to the boards!

They sound like really nice characters you've been dealing with :mad:
They can't make you pay what you don't have so please don't worry- if you've been paying regularly an amount agreed by them then they're not in a position to start bullying you now- and they're not allowed to either!

I'll have a quick look around as I know there's loads of advice here about this type of thing- once I've got it I'll come back and post here... but don't be surprised if someone beats me to it :rotfl:

In the meantime- welcome again

trying-very-trying

Hi Manzy! I just wantd to send you a warm welcome to the forum. I can't add much to sg's post, but I'm sure there's a way out.

shell_girl

Hi Manzy!
Sorry for the delay- work got hectic! How rude of my job to get in the way of my MSEing:rotfl:


Ok, the first thing I would recommend is that you have a look at the National Debtline website

http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/

If you want to contact L&T to sort this out, you will find templates for letters you can send to them to negotiate installments. You can also provide them with a breakdown of your circumstances if you want to prove to them what you can afford to pay them.

It sounds to me as if they're trying it on- basically they've heard you say you MAY be able to settle in full and their nasty little radar has gone into overdrive at the smell of more money! As long as there have been no missed payments then there is no reason at all why you shouldn't simply carry on paying them the amount you have previously agreed- no court in the land would rule against you for continuing to make payments at the rate agreed!

You don't mention how you pay them each month- if you do this via DD I would consider changing it to a SO just to be on the safe side- this way YOU have control of how much is paid rather than L&T.

I hope this helps a bit,

manzy

Thanks for your replys shell_girl I will take a look at the link and see what I can do. I pay by payment slip at the post office and havn't once missed a payment. I just wish they wouldn't put pressure on me like this If I could pay it in full I would just to get them off my back. Thanks anyway your advice was helpful. Also thanks for the welcome trying-very-trying.

shell_girl

If you find that they're putting pressure on you there should also be a sample letter to send them instructing them to ONLY contact you by letter. These agencies can be real gits over the phone, and rely on you weakening when they shout and rant.

Hold on to the thought that it's only a debt! You haven't done anything wrong- if there were no debts not only would these people not have a job but we wouldn't have the DFW board... They have absolutely NO RIGHT at all to try and bully or intimidate you, so if you do find speaking to them on the phone unpleasant, just use the letter to tell them that you will only deal with them in writing.

Best of luck

Tabby_Kitten_2

I was watching the end of a progamme on channel 4 not long ago, not sure what it was, and they were interviewing someone who had worked for a debt collection call centre and they do this to look good to their 'customers' as it looks good if they get a lump sum.
Wish I could remember what the programme was... Good luck