Shop Direct littlewoods Default notice

Markoo_2

This morning, I received a letter, a Default Notice, saying, that if I don't pay the full amount by such a date then further action will be taken against me, possible court action etc?

6 months ago i had to stop working due to a disability and thus have not had enough income to cover all of my outgoings I have been making payments every month of roughly 50% of the minimum payment

I am planning to return to work in a few months time and thus be in a position to pay off the debt relatively quickly as its not a huge amount £1600. but until then can anybody offer any advice? i am not familiar with the procedure of anything like this as i have never been in debt before.

I have spoken to stepchange, who were helpful but also recommended me to change my bank, and stop paying ALL of my creditors, i have a couple of other credit cards etc which i pay every month and have never missed a payment, Stepchange recommended i stopped paying every thing and change my bank while they make up a payment plan offer.

I am confident i will be able to pay this debt off within sometime in a few months time without issue and thus i am not sure weather its worth the step change route at this point, If i was not confident i could pay this off then step change sounds ideal.

Can anybody advise what action shopdirect are likely to take next if i don't pay the full amount within 2 weeks? The letter mentions the court may allow more time etc, This is totally new to me can the court allow me to pay smaller amounts per month etc? I am also worried about bailiffs's etc

Any help is greatly appreciated

sourcrates

Markoo wrote: »

Can anybody advise what action shop direct are likely to take next if i don't pay the full amount within 2 weeks? The letter mentions the court may allow more time etc, This is totally new to me can the court allow me to pay smaller amounts per month etc? I am also worried about bailiffs's etc

Any help is greatly appreciated

Hi,

Yes i can tell you exactly what action shop direct will take.

Its the same action as any creditor would take chasing a bad debt, but with shop direct, it goes something like this :

The default notice you have received is a standard notification they are required to send to you by law, all it does is outline your position, and tell you what action you can take to remedy the breach.

Now obviously you cant pay in full, so the account will be passed to there own "in house" debt collectors, last time i looked it was NDR payments, they will contact you, and try to come to an arrangement with you, however they tend to want too high a monthly payment from you, most cant afford what they ask, so then the account usually gets farmed out to an outside DCA, who then go through the same process, but will be satisfied with a smaller monthly payment.

So dont panic, if you read the letter carefully it will say "we could take action through the courts" or "we may take action" all very carefully worded, designed specifically to get you to contact them, very clever, as they play on your worst fears.

They dont take action through the courts themselves as a rule, thats usually a lot later down the line, you dont need to bother about that, and certainly put thoughts of bailiffs out of your head, thats extremely unlikely ever to happen.