Debt Collectors

rog2

lozzie84 wrote: »

Thanx for your help, I have been reading through the forums and it looks like Triton are very nasty with everyone.

An attitude of debt collection agencies that is, sadly, not unique to Triton, lozzie.
However, there really is very little that they can do, despite their threats, if you are making regular payments.

lucy7509

Do your letters regarding harrassing phone calls really work?

Loads of people have complained about the cc companies calling 3-5 times a day.

But do the calls really stop after the cc receiving the template letter, it looks and sounds a bit harsh?

I only ask cause I was on Thisismoney site, and read an article regarding a man who had 762 calls from Halifax cc, regarding missed payments.

He had to go to an attorney and request them to conduct all further contact through the attorney.

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/credit-and-loans/debt-news/article.html?in_article_id=424665&in_page_id=62

artnoble

NeilQuinn wrote: »

Hi

Got a phone call off Triton debt recovery tonight, I'm behind with payments on a Mint credit card (along with a few others). Total debt is £3800 and they asked for payment in full ......I said if I was struggling with the normal payments of £75 then how could I pay in full! Asked them if we could agree a plan (all the other credit card companies have agreed to this). They said they'd be looking for the debt to be cleared @ £600 per month......what a joke:rotfl:

When I told them that was impossible because I have nowhere near that sort of spare income they simply said it would be passed to solicitors for legal action in the morning. Nice to see there are some caring companies out there eh?

What's the worst case scenario once solicitors are involved, anybody know? What sort of payment will they demand?

I had a letter from triton solicitors which was exactly the same as the one from triton, the only difference was that it was on different coloured paper and had a different logo. it was even sent from the same office.

I just said this is all I can afford, like it or lump it.

Survivor28

Hi
I myself have been hounded by triton =(. It was NatWest card of £10000. I have paid them £750 already as i got scared by their theats. I have worked out how much i can pay which is £200 a month and have told them that. They have recently requested that i fill in a financial statement form to complete and a copy of my wage slip but do i have to send them a copy? Im confused and worried that they will start sending letters to my work? What shall i do?

Hope you can help

Jesthar

Hi Survivor, and welcome!

You might want to start your own thread, this one is rather old!

Anyway, no, no and thrice no - you do NOT have to send them personal financial details like that.

Secondly, you have to remember that these companies employ the biggest bullies they can find in order to frighten people into giving them money they can't afford - but you do NOT have to take it from them! There are laws which are designed to prevent them from calling you at all hours, which say they must only deal with you in writing if you request it, which prevent them from doing anything which may distress you - all of which they routinely ignore and break as they hope people don't KNOW the law and will cave in under the pressure and pay whatever is demanded. In fact, it's perfectly possible that they don't even have a legal right to pursue you for any money.

Sadly, many of these bullies get away with it. However, YOU just landed in one of the best places on the net for helping people deal with the underhand tactics of Debt Collection Agencies and turning them from the hunter into the hunted!

So, I guess the first questions are how old is this debt (when did you take the card out, and when did you last make payments to it), and have you asked the DCA (Debt Collection Agency - Triton in this case) to supply you with the legal proof that you owe them the money for this debt in the form of a valid Credit Consumor Agreement (CCA)?

~Jes

Survivor28

Hi Jesthar

Thank you for much your swift reply, i wished i could have replied as quick!
So in reply to your question, apparently it was passed to Trition about 3 months ago. My debt is a credit card so ive had it for years, its just in the past year its got tough keeping up with repayments. I have not yet sent them a CCA but plan to do that today. I got abit confused as to where this would lead to once i requested this from them? and then what to do afterwards?

Survivor

PS: Many thanks for your welcome:cheesy:and i didnt have a clue how to start a new thread lol!

Jesthar

Hey survivor

You're welcome!

Right, CCA. There are far better experts around than myself on this (I'm technically a Mortgage Free Wannabee, not a Debt Free Wannabee), but basically, if they can't supply you with a true copy of your CCA withing 12 working days, then they have no legal right to demand money from you until such a time as they CAN produce a valid CCA. As your card is one you've had for a long time, the odds that they can do this are already pretty small, so you stand a fair chance of the debt being unenforceable.

I'm not sure where the template CCA letter is, sorry (there are template letters for all the stages), but remember to include the 'I acknowledge no debt to your company' line at the top, and DON'T sign the letter, just print ot type your name - some DCA's have been known to forge paperwork with sample signatures.

If they CAN'T produce the require paperwork, this is where you hit dilemma time. You admit you owe the money, so you may wish to carry on and pay it off anyway. From a moral point of view, if the debt were still with your original creditor, that would be my first consideration. HOWEVER, your debt is not with your original creditor, but rather one of the bunch of blood sucking parasites which are Debt Collection Agencies, who bought your debt for peanuts (and probably with the full knowledge it was unenforceable as the required paperwork doesn't exist), and are simply out to extort whatever they can. SO, if you want to tell them where to go, I'd say feel free - you've never owed THEM a penny, and won't until they can provide a valid CCA.

~Jes

Survivor28

Hi jes
Many many thanks again for your advice. Oh did you mean to say if they CAN produce the documents then I'm a Lil screwed so to speak?:(I'm sending the cca today and hoping for the best. But won't they keep calling until I pay them something and send a threatening me to go court or pay the whole amount?

Survivor

Jesthar

Hi Survivor,

Yes, if the can produce a valid CCA you legally owe them the money. But the key words are 'can' (the older it is, the less likely they are to have it), and 'valid' - if they don't have the real legal deal, they may well send you something they hope looks enough like one to convince you to pay (possibly a photocopy of an application form), then lie like the blazes that you now have all the proof that is required by law. So if you do get anything back from them which they claim is a true copy of your CCA, don't take them at their word, but scan it and post it up here for analysis by the experts - they'll soon tell you if it's valid or not.

Even if they do come up with a valid CCA, then they can't demand you pay them back at a rate you can't afford. Yes, they will hassle you to pay them more and more, but set up a standing order (NOT a direct Debit, as that puts THEM in charge of how much money they take, whereas a standing order lets you dictate what you can afford to pay them) for an amount you know you can reasonably afford a month. They will still stomp and sulk and demand more, and possibly threaten court action, but if you stick to paying them a fair amount regularly then if they do take that step they can't argue you have been making no effort to pay them.

Anyway, all that is only for if they produce a valid CCA - let's see if they can find one first! Let us know any replies you get.

~Jes

cheesedoffwithdebt

HI all- I got a letter from Triton today which is why I'd looked out this thread and I am in a DMP with Payplan.
I called Payplan for advice as to how to respond as the letter wasnt entirely accurate-

"despite numerous reminders you have still not made payments" I have replied, in writing, saying that NAt West card services have been notified at each step of the way, and yes they have sent numerous reminders but none of them refer back to correspondence I have sent in.
Payments, not to their liking, have also been sent in and until last month accepted, but for me it's the early stages of a DMP so they have only just got round to sending the boys in.

I've read mixed reports on here about Debt Collection agencies- Triton are part of RBS who are themselves in rather deep do-do with debt- so I would expect them to be aggressive really they have the government to answer to, but everything I've read from various sources indicates you need to keep reiterating what you can actually afford, and paying it.