Lowells & a statute-barred debt

sourcrates

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 dis-like the term "scumbags", but I can think of one or two debt collectors whose modus operandi fits nicely into that bracket.

You will probably know this already, but the two worst ever debt collection companies were, eventually taken to task by the FCA a few years ago, heavily fined, ordered to re-train their staff, and improve due diligence in all areas of their business dealings.

A complete root and branch re-boot of there operation`s, which also included changing their names.

I won`t go on to list the various breeches of laws, guidance, and statutory rights these companies subjected there clientele too, needless to say the list was a long one, and after many thousands of complaints, the FCA acted, and they both operate very different business models today.

It is companies with such reputations, that give them all a bad name, nowadays most collectors fall over backwards to help customers deal with there debts, affordability is everything, it has not always been so, and is again, mostly due to FCA intervention.

This is why I suggested a change of tac to the OP, being truthful can sometimes be helpful.

mcpitman

@sourcrates I couldn't agree more.

The reboot of those firms was questionable at best as the same director/ownership structure is still in place, despite the name changes. Even one of the "well known" firms off of the telly box has recently been put to rights for their behavior and methods of debt collection.

Not all debt agencies are bad, my friend had a really positive experience where they worked with her to agree payment terms and for one of the debts (of the three they had) they even told her they wouldn't enforce it as it wasn't enforceable.

Same friend also had a really negative experience which I got involved with, harassing bailiffs' thinking they had more power than they do have, barging into her property was the line where I lost my temper with them. I could hear the shouting and aggression from the debt collector in my kitchen a number of doors away.

MrsPanscrubs

Hi all, 

Playing Devil's advocate here, Lowells - although I've never spoken with them by phone, have been swift and professional with me. I haven't felt harassed or beaten down by them. All communication has been in writing from them. I wanted a specific outcome - an affordable payment plan that I felt I could manage. My online accounts are all in place and I'm able to overpay where I can to reduce the terms. 

This is all, of course, being that work is secure and that's something I never take for granted despite being on a permanent contract. My sector has suffered during the pandemic and is only just getting on its feet. 

I've paid off two of the small ones which has left the length of the repayment plan in place as I'm assuming they'll still split across the remaining four accounts with just increasing the payment amounts to them. 

Thank you, everyone. This has been a fascinating discussion and I appreciate all the posts. 

IntoTheForest

Lowell's will have bought these debts for pennies on each pound. If I were in your situation I would leave the statute barred debt until last. If you still want to clear it then offer them 50pc, or less, of the amount. They will have made plenty of money off your other accounts.