Lowells & a statute-barred debt

mcpitman

DjangoUnchained said:

Personally I dont think anyone should feel any moral obligation to pay debt collectors anything, whether or not you feel the debt is yours. These scumbags paid less then 10% to obtain your debt. They lie and cheat people where they can get away with it. Dont pay them please.

Alternatively, if someone pays their bills in the first place the original debtor gets 100% of the cost back as agreed at the time the debts were borrowed.

The chain of "scumbag" events starts when people take on debt they can't afford then whine when the debtor dares to ask for repayment.

I don't think debt collectors are all angels and have had some dealings with misinformed muppets from these companies before, but lets face it if the bills were paid the companies wouldn't exist.

EssexHebridean

For clarity @mcpitman - that is a VERY long way from what the OP is doing in this situation. 

mcpitman

EssexHebridean said:

For clarity @mcpitman - that is a VERY long way from what the OP is doing in this situation. 

Agree - that wasn't aimed at the OP at all.

MrsPanscrubs

I didn't take the comment as anything other than a note of observation. 

I'm going to throw what I can at the enforceable debts to avoid further action and hassle from Lowells. There were 6 accounts and one has been fully paid now. Mentally, I'm in a much better position to face this situation head on than I was a few years ago. Work is stable and secure for now. My credit cards were in place before all of this occurred and rarely used these days. Given the amount of the statute barred debt, I'll likely pay it not because I feel any obligation to Lowells, I don't  but for my own peace of mind. Having reflected over the last couple of days, it is sitting there as an unsettled bill, therefore does need to be paid.  

I have learned the hard way and I'm fortunate that I'm working, and my living costs are affordable. I can live without spending on anything other than debts for the next 18 months and having gained inspiration from DF boards and diaries, I'm determined to reach my target. 

DjangoUnchained

mcpitman said:

DjangoUnchained said:

Personally I dont think anyone should feel any moral obligation to pay debt collectors anything, whether or not you feel the debt is yours. These scumbags paid less then 10% to obtain your debt. They lie and cheat people where they can get away with it. Dont pay them please.

Alternatively, if someone pays their bills in the first place the original debtor gets 100% of the cost back as agreed at the time the debts were borrowed.

The chain of "scumbag" events starts when people take on debt they can't afford then whine when the debtor dares to ask for repayment.

I don't think debt collectors are all angels and have had some dealings with misinformed muppets from these companies before, but lets face it if the bills were paid the companies wouldn't exist.

Life would be simple and 100% debts paid but in reality, often people default through no fault of their own, loss of job, illness, pandemics etc. Very often the creditor will get paid, maybe slower and not the full amount but more often than not more than they have sold the debt for. I believe the debt collection industry is dirty and corrupt and i am in favour of anyone avoiding paying them whatever. 

mcpitman

DjangoUnchained said:

mcpitman said:

DjangoUnchained said:

Personally I dont think anyone should feel any moral obligation to pay debt collectors anything, whether or not you feel the debt is yours. These scumbags paid less then 10% to obtain your debt. They lie and cheat people where they can get away with it. Dont pay them please.

Alternatively, if someone pays their bills in the first place the original debtor gets 100% of the cost back as agreed at the time the debts were borrowed.

The chain of "scumbag" events starts when people take on debt they can't afford then whine when the debtor dares to ask for repayment.

I don't think debt collectors are all angels and have had some dealings with misinformed muppets from these companies before, but lets face it if the bills were paid the companies wouldn't exist.

Life would be simple and 100% debts paid but in reality, often people default through no fault of their own, loss of job, illness, pandemics etc. Very often the creditor will get paid, maybe slower and not the full amount but more often than not more than they have sold the debt for. I believe the debt collection industry is dirty and corrupt and i am in favour of anyone avoiding paying them whatever. 

I don't think we are going to agree then.

If life were simple, businesses would be able to buy commodities and gain more than their net cost to become profitable and sustain employment for their staff.

If life were simple, lenders wouldn't need to sell the debt when they have already spent more in effort and time chasing the debt down than is profitable to pursue any longer, a 10-20p in the pound return is better than zero or negative in a business sense.

If life were simple, we would protect ourselves with savings or products should we lose our jobs, fall ill or a global pandemic's occur.

If life were be simple eh?

sourcrates

mcpitman said:

DjangoUnchained said:

mcpitman said:

DjangoUnchained said:

Personally I dont think anyone should feel any moral obligation to pay debt collectors anything, whether or not you feel the debt is yours. These scumbags paid less then 10% to obtain your debt. They lie and cheat people where they can get away with it. Dont pay them please.

Alternatively, if someone pays their bills in the first place the original debtor gets 100% of the cost back as agreed at the time the debts were borrowed.

The chain of "scumbag" events starts when people take on debt they can't afford then whine when the debtor dares to ask for repayment.

I don't think debt collectors are all angels and have had some dealings with misinformed muppets from these companies before, but lets face it if the bills were paid the companies wouldn't exist.

Life would be simple and 100% debts paid but in reality, often people default through no fault of their own, loss of job, illness, pandemics etc. Very often the creditor will get paid, maybe slower and not the full amount but more often than not more than they have sold the debt for. I believe the debt collection industry is dirty and corrupt and i am in favour of anyone avoiding paying them whatever. 

I don't think we are going to agree then.

If life were simple, businesses would be able to buy commodities and gain more than their net cost to become profitable and sustain employment for their staff.

If life were simple, lenders wouldn't need to sell the debt when they have already spent more in effort and time chasing the debt down than is profitable to pursue any longer, a 10-20p in the pound return is better than zero or negative in a business sense.

If life were simple, we would protect ourselves with savings or products should we lose our jobs, fall ill or a global pandemic's occur.

If life were be simple eh?

Personal debt is massive in the UK.

Take one debt purchasing company, Lowell for example, they are just one of a few dozen debt purchasing companies that operate in this country, not to mention the hundreds of smaller debt collection companies that operate here as well, last year, Lowell had 750,000 clients on its books, that`s just one company.

So times that 750,000 by the number of debt collectors/purchasers, and that`s an awful lot of defaulted debt.

Ideally those with credit cards would clear there balance in full every month, yet only a small percentage of people actually do this, most run historic balances, sometimes for many years, high interest and further borrowing stop them from ever clearing the balances in full, and they end up defaulting, lots of folk also rely on credit to pay there essential bills, especially post pandemic, lack of savings, financial planning, low wages all add to this problem.

You can`t simply tar all defaulters with the same brush, life is not like that, you also can`t change financial behaviour over night, people default for many reasons, also with the current cost of living saving is nigh on impossible for most, life in todays Britain could certainly be better for a lot of people.

Creditors never lose out on these things, they just factor in the cost of collection onto there other financial products, they claim tax relief on the bad debt, and also get some money back from the sale, the biggest winners are the debt purchasers, 10 to 20p in the pound is about the average they pay for a portfolio of bad debt, they then attempt to extract the full face value from the debtor.

I could go on about this longer, as I am a fervent believer in consumer rights, the debt collection/purchasing industry is well overdue an overhaul in my opinion, and yes this is a contentious issue for some, usually for those who have never experienced debt of any kind, for those that have, tend to be much more understanding of how and why these things happen, having to default on your debts can happen to the most financially savvy of us, the pandemic has shown us this quite clearly, never count your chickens.

mcpitman

sourcrates said:

mcpitman said:

DjangoUnchained said:

mcpitman said:

DjangoUnchained said:

Personally I dont think anyone should feel any moral obligation to pay debt collectors anything, whether or not you feel the debt is yours. These scumbags paid less then 10% to obtain your debt. They lie and cheat people where they can get away with it. Dont pay them please.

Alternatively, if someone pays their bills in the first place the original debtor gets 100% of the cost back as agreed at the time the debts were borrowed.

The chain of "scumbag" events starts when people take on debt they can't afford then whine when the debtor dares to ask for repayment.

I don't think debt collectors are all angels and have had some dealings with misinformed muppets from these companies before, but lets face it if the bills were paid the companies wouldn't exist.

Life would be simple and 100% debts paid but in reality, often people default through no fault of their own, loss of job, illness, pandemics etc. Very often the creditor will get paid, maybe slower and not the full amount but more often than not more than they have sold the debt for. I believe the debt collection industry is dirty and corrupt and i am in favour of anyone avoiding paying them whatever. 

I don't think we are going to agree then.

If life were simple, businesses would be able to buy commodities and gain more than their net cost to become profitable and sustain employment for their staff.

If life were simple, lenders wouldn't need to sell the debt when they have already spent more in effort and time chasing the debt down than is profitable to pursue any longer, a 10-20p in the pound return is better than zero or negative in a business sense.

If life were simple, we would protect ourselves with savings or products should we lose our jobs, fall ill or a global pandemic's occur.

If life were be simple eh?

You can`t simply tar all defaulters with the same brush, life is not like that, 

Which is my point, life isn't simple and not all debt collectors are "scumbags".

Let us be clear on one thing - It's the ridiculous advice of "don't pay them please", which is way off kilter here.

Anyway, it's clear my rather obtuse view of DjangoUnchained's opinion seems to have been misconstrued on this occassion.

OP - good luck, you have a clear plan.

@sourcrates - you are correct on all points above and I agree, after spending over 20 years in Financial Services I fully understand the inner workings of credit and risk profiles.

MrsPanscrubs

Thank you @mcpitman. I am reading with interest all points made and I understand why some people are hostile to DCAs, just as much as I understand your points and EssexH's..I think it is an interesting discussion. 

For me  DCA's will always exist and I feel nothing other than Lowells are in my life and will be for the next 18months. That is nobody's fault other than mine regardless of my situation at the time.. I am where I am at this point in my life and I feel settled in my approach with them. They've responded accordingly and as long as I stick to the arrangement, they'll leave me alone. 

DjangoUnchained

mcpitman said:

sourcrates said:

mcpitman said:

DjangoUnchained said:

mcpitman said:

DjangoUnchained said:

Personally I dont think anyone should feel any moral obligation to pay debt collectors anything, whether or not you feel the debt is yours. These scumbags paid less then 10% to obtain your debt. They lie and cheat people where they can get away with it. Dont pay them please.

Alternatively, if someone pays their bills in the first place the original debtor gets 100% of the cost back as agreed at the time the debts were borrowed.

The chain of "scumbag" events starts when people take on debt they can't afford then whine when the debtor dares to ask for repayment.

I don't think debt collectors are all angels and have had some dealings with misinformed muppets from these companies before, but lets face it if the bills were paid the companies wouldn't exist.

Life would be simple and 100% debts paid but in reality, often people default through no fault of their own, loss of job, illness, pandemics etc. Very often the creditor will get paid, maybe slower and not the full amount but more often than not more than they have sold the debt for. I believe the debt collection industry is dirty and corrupt and i am in favour of anyone avoiding paying them whatever. 

I don't think we are going to agree then.

If life were simple, businesses would be able to buy commodities and gain more than their net cost to become profitable and sustain employment for their staff.

If life were simple, lenders wouldn't need to sell the debt when they have already spent more in effort and time chasing the debt down than is profitable to pursue any longer, a 10-20p in the pound return is better than zero or negative in a business sense.

If life were simple, we would protect ourselves with savings or products should we lose our jobs, fall ill or a global pandemic's occur.

If life were be simple eh?

You can`t simply tar all defaulters with the same brush, life is not like that, 

Which is my point, life isn't simple and not all debt collectors are "scumbags".

Let us be clear on one thing - It's the ridiculous advice of "don't pay them please", which is way off kilter here.

Anyway, it's clear my rather obtuse view of DjangoUnchained's opinion seems to have been misconstrued on this occassion.

OP - good luck, you have a clear plan.

@sourcrates - you are correct on all points above and I agree, after spending over 20 years in Financial Services I fully understand the inner workings of credit and risk profiles.

I am hostile to DCAs i admit it. I was in financial difficulty  a few years ago. I came to arrangments with all my creditors and kept to the agreements and paid them all off, some earlier than agrred to. One exception was barclaycard. I paid as agreed and was never late or short with the monthly payment but they saw fit to sell it to a DCA. As far as im concerned i have no intention of ever paying the DCA now. They cant/havnt come up with the agreement  and morally (not talking legally) i dont feel i owe them anything. tbh its £4.5k, i can easily pay that back in a flash as ive made a lot of dosh recently but they can sd off. Il let them take me to court befor i pay them anything.