From the other side.....experience of a debt collector

Apple_2

Roger_Rampant wrote:

Pity you weren't willing to let him have a fiver a month to pay them, and preferred to leave him "scared to death"

I don't think a fiver a month goes far on 40k of debt.

Actually you would make a good debt collector Roger - you share their attitude - should of, ought to, rob your granny etc as long as we get ours.

Until you've walked in someone else's shoe's don't be such a pompous prat.

End of conversation.

Roger_Rampant

Apple I sent you a PM, as I don't want to drag this thread off-topic

Andrew1303

Hi, I'm reading all this with interest.

I currently have a debt with my old bank. unpaid o/draft, that is now with a debt collection agency. According to me the last time i agreed to pay anything to this debt was August 1999, in a telephone conversation. Since then it has gone to two debt agencies, the second one is now threatening legal action.

It seems that as soon as august 2005 comes to an end, the limitation act should apply. I understand then that the creditor cannot chase me for the debt, and must write it off. Is this true, and how do i make sure it happens?

All (sensible) advice is welcome

thanks...A1303

louise1234_2

Apple wrote:

Actually you would make a good debt collector Roger - you share their attitude - should of, ought to, rob your granny etc as long as we get ours.

The common view I was trying to dispel by starting this thread :wall:

Dammam

louise1234 wrote:

The common view I was trying to dispel by starting this thread :wall:

You're fighting a losing battle Louise. Whilst the establishment collectors such as yourself are not a problem to deal with, a number of these debt collecting agencies who buy the debts are unfortunately just as Apple describes.
The problem is, with many people (myself included) they bury their head in the sand rather than confront the problems early on. Therefore they (we) veto the right to speak to the more sympathetic collectors from the original lender and end up with any fly by night bunch who are happy to chase money in whatever way possible. I've had the same experience of "lend it from your family, you wont want our collectors knocking on the door with all your neighbours watching, we'll take you to court" threats.

You have, hopefully, shown everybody that it's far better to deal with the banks, buiding societies etc who operate under a far stronger code of ethics than the companies formed purely to chase bad debt. Just as there are good and bad traffic wardens (allegedly), so there are good and bad debt collection agencies. Leave things too long and you'll end up at the mercy of the bad ones.

Apple_2

louise1234 wrote:

The common view I was trying to dispel by starting this thread :wall:

Apologies Louise, I got caught up with the responses from Roger. I think anyone caught up in debt is stressed. I am anyway.

headchef

I have 5 seperate debts, each with household name lenders. Once I plucked up courage to contact the lenders I learnt very quickly what the rules of the game were. I realised they were doing a job and it was up to me to prove to them that I meant what I said when I needed to reduce the amounts I was paying. I owe them the money after all. It always pays to keep your cool and be polite but PERSISTENT.
All but one of my debts has been sold on. Because I was now familiar with the 'rules' (great thanks to the literature from CAB etc) I knew what could and couldn't be done to collect a non-secured debt.
I also have experience (via my other half) of debt collecting through the High Court and Sheriff's Office. He successfully sued (without a solicitor - he had to do the legal work himself) his ex employers for Constructive Dismisal. They wouldn't pay, so he took the case to the High Court. This meant a Sheriff (didn't even now we still had these in England) could be 'employed' to walk into the debtors premises and seize whatever he saw fit to settle the debt. The only other bodies with this power (as I undertand it) are the police and Inland Revenue. Anyway, the Sheriff did leave with a cheque, and then another a few weeks later.
Imagine our surprise when a man turned up on our doorstep with a note addressed to me, demanding a signature. OH explained I was out but he could sign for it. The other guy was adamant it had to be me. OH probed and probed. The guy was trying to look tough (he probably was but OH is a bit hardned himself now!) but admitted he's been employed to deliver the letter by hand to make it look like some king of court summons. 'You're having a laugh!' was OH response. Anyway he signed for it and I opened it later.
The 'letter' was designed to look extremely threatening; bright red with 'demand' written all over it. But it had not substance other than the usual 'you owe £xxx. Pay full amount by yyy or we'll take action'.
And when I phoned to discuss, I was hit with a barage of questions 'do you own your home?' ('yes, some of it at least and no you can't take any of it for an unsecured loan') etc
The point is, it worries me no end that people in a vulneralbe situation may be scared to death by this incident (my mum would have been). That's what makes these debt collectors the bad guys. They use effective scare tactics. So be clued up, be firm and above all, be polite!

frepol

Roger_Rampant wrote:

Being out of work shouldn't mean no payments. These organisations are perfectly aware that people out of work receive benefits, anyone should be able to make small regular payments, even homeless unemployed people

Not the case at all -

1) It can take weeks to get the first payment of benefits (know somebody at the moment who is up to 3 months waiting for first JSA payment)
2) Women especially who have not paid enough NI contributions over the years.
3) People who are dismissed from their employment (even if claiming for unfair dismissal - initially at least)
4) Homeless people who cannot prove a permanent 'address' such as a usual shopfront etc.
5) People who have to leave their employment for whatever reason - eg sexual harrassment, discrimination etc
6) People who cannot take the job that the dole office wants them to take - even for example mothers with young children who have been threatened with the loss of their benefits if they don't take night shift work.
7) Most claims for disabability benefits take ages to process and usually require an appeal.
8) People with mortgages don't get the interest paid for ages into their claims meaning that virtually everything goes towards the mortgage and borrowing form friends and relatives etc. Losing your house at this point will not necessarily get you high up the social housing list, leading to the aforementioned homelessness.

I can continue to demonstrate your ignorance if you wish.

Regards.

kalico

nrsql wrote:

Their stance seemed to be that they had the debt passed on but not the history and I either paid or got taken to court (which they wouldn't do even though I requested it) - didn't matter that debt was not valid (in one case the company actually owed me money).
[snip]

They would also seem happy to discuss things over the phone but not put anything in writing except that there was a debt outstanding.

Thanks for that post. I have been in exactly this situation for the last year or so with more than one mobile phone company passing their debt for incorrect billing to a debt collection agency.

You are right that their number one weapon to try to get me to pay has been intimidation. On the phone, they seem rude and start the conversation like they already expect a fight, depite my remaining calm and polite and asking for them only to communicate with me in writting and that if they are going to take me to court for the £60 or so, then could they please get on with it so that I may counterclaim.

But the calls and letters still come, threatening that the sky may collapse and the seas may boil if I do not pay up.

Interesting to know that these agencies only pay about 20% of the debt.

Roger_Rampant

I can continue to demonstrate your ignorance if you wish.

Please feel free. There are always plenty of excuses that people can make, they can continue to bury their heads in the sand indefinitely, but the reality is that until they face up to the problem and start talking to the lenders constructively the problems will go from bad to worse

What they love is somebody like you giving them a whole list of reasons why it's OK for them to continue to spending their money on other things and not sorting out the problem debts. What they actually need is somebody making it clear that the problems won't go away until they face up to them and sort them out - that's what I'm trying to do, in my own inimitable style. I think that might also have been a point that the OP was making, but rather more subtly than me

I've been homeless and I've had to sort out a mountain of debt myself, I've also helped various friends of mine negotiate with their creditors and put their lives back on track

Actually I would probably make a terrible debt collector, as I become really irritated with the attitude that is commonplace in this country that "everything is somebody else's fault". Problem debts won't sort themselves out, and the first step is to contact these people and haggle...