Cabot financial and ORBIT just sent a man to my door!! I am a vulnerable customer. What do I do?

sourcrates

Yes, anyone can knock on your door without permission, the postman, next doors kids, anyone.

What you can do is write to Cabot/spearmint, sorry Orbit, and tell them you are removing their right of implied access to your property.

You can also put a notice on your door or window, where it can be seen by callers.

That way anyone it concerns can be charged with trespass if they call again.

But I think the doorstep collector got the message, presented as it was, very much in the spirit of Arkell v Pressdram (1971 Private eye).

fatbelly

I'm not a big fan of implied right of access stuff. It's a bit Freeman of the Land.

To answer a couple of OP questions, it is not illegal to ask someone to pay something, but it would be illegal to suggest that they had any right to force entry or make any threat.

It seems that you have given a robust response and not offered payment, so there is no reason for them to return. If they did, we would be looking at whether that behaviour constituted harassment but I don't think a single visit reaches the required bar.

If in future you want to send £1 though the post, you can buy a postal order at the Post Office but they will charge you more than £1.

This is a good thread. Thanks for starting it.

MattMattMattUK

sourcrates said:

But I think the doorstep collector got the message, presented as it was, very much in the spirit of Arkell v Pressdram (1971 Private eye).

As a long term fan and subscriber of Private Eye I am well aware of Arkell v Pressdram, however I fail to see how it applies here. The Private Eye example was directed specifically at the person in charge, not any people lower down the food chain, and also relates to a long standing period of bad blood and malicious and unfounded defamatory allegations made by Arkell. Private Eye and Hislop himself have said many times and indeed had campaigns against the mistreatment of front line staff. 

If someone knocked on my door chasing a debt I cannot see how on any level it would be polite, civil or a decent thing to do to abuse them. I would, as I have on occasion with other door knockers tell them that I am not interested and closed the door. Why do others feel the need to abuse people, how does that benefit anyone, it is no different to the continually escalating levels of abuse suffered by retail staff, medical staff, parking wardens, taxi drivers, delivery drivers etc. If you do not wish to converse with someone then say so, there is absolutely no need to abuse them. 

MattMattMattUK

sourcrates said:

Yes, anyone can knock on your door without permission, the postman, next doors kids, anyone.

What you can do is write to Cabot/spearmint, sorry Orbit, and tell them you are removing their right of implied access to your property.

You can also put a notice on your door or window, where it can be seen by callers.

That way anyone it concerns can be charged with trespass if they call again.

No they cannot. Trespass is a civil offense, no one can ever be charged with it. One can privately obtain an injunction to block continued trespass and if it subsequently occurs then the perpetrator can be charged with breaching the injunction.

https://www.cps.gov.uk/legal-guidance/trespass-and-nuisance-land

fatbelly said:

I'm not a big fan of implied right of access stuff. It's a bit Freeman of the Land.

Totally agree with this, it has no legal basis. 

samantham06

Hi all, just to add some context-
I had help with stepchange and set up a £5 per month DD to them, I have paid it without fail for years, the debt is around £1100 ish, I have never missed a payment. They have no need or reason to send men to my door nor harass me via calls, texts, emails and letters.
They know I am a vulnerable person with not only autism but multiple disabilties and therefore am not in a good financial position, they said they were happy with the payment, then began bombarding me about a year ago. I told them last time they rang to leave me alone and that I was not prepared to go through my budget with them- (I do not have to?)
I struggle with things like this, am often extremely unwell and the last thing I need is to spend hours on the phone being made to go through my private finances and outgoings- which I struggle with anyway and require support to do.
I got several letters last 2 weeks alone making threats they would send someone, I emailed them yesterday morning and politely requested they LEAVE ME ALONE-I AM PAYING YOU AND AS I HAVE SAID MY SITUATION HAS NOT CHANGED
Then- I get a tall well built man turning up at my door with visible debt collector signage. 
Even the gas and electric company know not to send people to my door without asking me and confirming, then they have to have a password before I let them get access, my friends all know never to turn up at my door like that because I cannot deal with it.
I have been harrassed by a man in the past, the last thing I needed yesterday was a man from a company THAT I AM PAYING IT BACK TO... turning up unannounced. I get frightened when men turn up at my door. 
SO yes I told to him to F off, because he started questioning me, on my door step, in view of my neighbors and quite frankly I could not deal with it, and never should have had to. I am also a single parent and it upset my child. 
Why did they send him, when I am paying it back?

samantham06

sourcrates said:

Yes, anyone can knock on your door without permission, the postman, next doors kids, anyone.

What you can do is write to Cabot/spearmint, sorry Orbit, and tell them you are removing their right of implied access to your property.

You can also put a notice on your door or window, where it can be seen by callers.

That way anyone it concerns can be charged with trespass if they call again.

But I think the doorstep collector got the message, presented as it was, very much in the spirit of Arkell v Pressdram (1971 Private eye).

Thanks, but I already have a very visible sign saying no unwanted callers. Along with CCTV. 

samantham06

MattMattMattUK said:

sourcrates said:

But I think the doorstep collector got the message, presented as it was, very much in the spirit of Arkell v Pressdram (1971 Private eye).

As a long term fan and subscriber of Private Eye I am well aware of Arkell v Pressdram, however I fail to see how it applies here. The Private Eye example was directed specifically at the person in charge, not any people lower down the food chain, and also relates to a long standing period of bad blood and malicious and unfounded defamatory allegations made by Arkell. Private Eye and Hislop himself have said many times and indeed had campaigns against the mistreatment of front line staff. 

If someone knocked on my door chasing a debt I cannot see how on any level it would be polite, civil or a decent thing to do to abuse them. I would, as I have on occasion with other door knockers tell them that I am not interested and closed the door. Why do others feel the need to abuse people, how does that benefit anyone, it is no different to the continually escalating levels of abuse suffered by retail staff, medical staff, parking wardens, taxi drivers, delivery drivers etc. If you do not wish to converse with someone then say so, there is absolutely no need to abuse them. 

In the spirit of what you have said, this company have relentlessly harrassed a vulnerable person for years, despite me paying them back. At points this has made me unwell.
I have been harrassed and abused by men, then I get a well built man turning up unannounced and questioning me- whilst I myself am unwell, my child is there and I am on my own. I think the people crossing the line are CABOT not me. 

samantham06

EssexHebridean said:

Ayr_Rage said:

Surely you must already have the details if you have been paying it off at £5/month.

That doesn't necessarily follow. In any event it's not relevant whether the debtor has it - the relevant question is whether the creditor is able to supply it. 

OP - while I think most of us wouldn't exactly encourage you to swear at someone in this situation, telling them to go away is entirely appropriate.  You can also contact Cabot and tell them that going forwards they may only contact you by means of letters sent hard copy in the post, and that any further contact by other means will be treated as harassment and will lead to a formal complaint about their conduct. 

Fatbelly et al, is this a situation in which a formal revocation of implied right of access is appropriate and/or useful? 

Thank you, I should not have said F off, it was because he kept questioning me. However I do not usually use such language. It is not his fault, it is CABOT, if he comes again I will just say go away and shut the door. 

EssexHebridean

MattMattMattUK said:

sourcrates said:

But I think the doorstep collector got the message, presented as it was, very much in the spirit of Arkell v Pressdram (1971 Private eye).

As a long term fan and subscriber of Private Eye I am well aware of Arkell v Pressdram, however I fail to see how it applies here. The Private Eye example was directed specifically at the person in charge, not any people lower down the food chain, and also relates to a long standing period of bad blood and malicious and unfounded defamatory allegations made by Arkell. Private Eye and Hislop himself have said many times and indeed had campaigns against the mistreatment of front line staff. 

If someone knocked on my door chasing a debt I cannot see how on any level it would be polite, civil or a decent thing to do to abuse them. I would, as I have on occasion with other door knockers tell them that I am not interested and closed the door. Why do others feel the need to abuse people, how does that benefit anyone, it is no different to the continually escalating levels of abuse suffered by retail staff, medical staff, parking wardens, taxi drivers, delivery drivers etc. If you do not wish to converse with someone then say so, there is absolutely no need to abuse them. 

The OP has already explained that they are in a fragile place mentally - sometimes fragile mental health can mean that we react to thinks in a way in which we would not do in other circumstances. I absolutely agree that it's not the "right thing to do" to in any way be abusive to someone just going about their work, but I think it's safe to say that someone who's role includes knocking at the door of vulnerable individuals badgering them for money which they already have an arrangement to repay, and they are keeping up with that arrangement, has probably heard worse. No it's not right, but hopefully the majority here could have sufficient empathy to understand how it might occur that someone reacts in a way that with hindsight, might be regrettable. 

@fatbelly - thanks for the response on the implied right of access - noted. 

MattMattMattUK

samantham06 said:

Hi all, just to add some context-
I had help with stepchange and set up a £5 per month DD to them, I have paid it without fail for years, the debt is around £1100 ish, I have never missed a payment. 

Why did they send him, when I am paying it back?

In answer to that part, because they are looking for increased payments. Inflation and their cost of borrow are eating away at the value of the debt faster than you are paying it off. At £5 a month it will take you more than eighteen years to clear the debt. I presume that they are not charging you any interest which means that accounting for inflation you will have paid back less than half of the debt in real terms over that period, depending on how long you have been paying it back already that could mean that they would get less than a third over in real terms over the period of repayment.