Moral support - Scared of phone!

pinkladymel

Hiya everyone
today I am biting the bullet and phoning people who I owe money too. A few of these people my entire debt is made out of just charges. I am really scared when it comes to talking on the phone so I kind of need to have a think through before I call. Can anyone advise me what kind of things they would have up their sleeve if calling asking for the charges to be taken off? I know you can send martins letter but they are asking for the money right now and I thought this might be a bit of hope.

thanks everyone xx

lynsayjane

I would advise not phoning them hun. All due respect but you sound terrified of calling them and if you do they might be able to push you to agree to payments you can't make.

The best advise is to write to them all. First work out exactly how much you owe them and the charges then send a letter to each with a cheque for a token amount (£1 if thats all you can afford) to show willingness to pay and at the same time make an innitial request for them to consider cancelling the charges (along with any interest accrued on them) in order to save both them and you the time and money involved in legally pursuing the refund.

I know it'll take a couple of days longer but it'll save you the agro you'll get on the phone. Also in the letter state that any future correspondence should be by post. Then if they phone you merely state that you have made this request and will not enter into any other form of contact with them.

pinkladymel

that was so informative and helpful thank you so much. I have been told that if I dont pay by tomorrow they will send my details to a debt collection agency and serve me with a default. This frightens me as I don't even know what it means! Is it ok to ignore that and get the letters off in the post today or should I pay them right now?

I am a bit frightened, you're right LOL Just trying to get straight for christmas and I can't make the money stretch far enough

Thanks for your help xx
Mel

misspoppy

do you think it would help if we helped with your SOA ie you write down all that you spend and we pick through and help you find some savings. It might also be worth calling CCCS or national debt helpline, if you google them them you will find lost of advice

newlywed

A default is a black mark on your credit rating which will affect who will give you any more credit - eg new credit cards/loans etc.

The debt collection agency is more likely to accept a lower monthly payment to pay off the debt.


If you do feel you need to ring them, try writing down what you want to say and reading it out. I find that helps (spent years walking away when the phone rang - including at work).

pinkladymel

im just sitting here with a notepad working out my soa now miss poppy

see, the problem is, i'm stupid and I haven't paid any bills for a few months because I just buried my head in the sand and now I have got people coming from everywhere wanting their money

misspoppy

well put down the essentials ie rent bills food insurance and other regular spends eg petrol, school trips, holidays birthdays, lunc money and work out who you owe after and we can see how much you hve to give them

don't forget to put all your income down too you can see how to do it but looking at the top of the DFW page or the budget planner on the right of this page

kat79

Hi Pinklady, I too am scared of the phone. I only answer my phone if i know who it is (mobile obv!) and let the machine get the rest. I'm also scared of caling creditors and prefer to do everything by post, at least that way I have a hardcopy record of what i've said and what they've said to me.

pinkladymel

you all make me feel so much better thanks so much
trying to sort out my soa still but cant remember all my flipping log-in codes


guess thats the problem with having so many debts!!

misspoppy

you could always open some of the letters!!! we;ve all had a pile of unopened post!

wok_boy

Just make funny noises down the phone, that'll soon scare them off