Cabot: Continuing Phone Calls

meerkat2007

Cabot have been calling me every working day for getting on for 2 weeks now. My elderly mother has had the misfortune of taking the majority of the calls, and has now reached the point where she is abrupt with them and puts the phone down on them. I sent them the letter about harrassment, and to remove my number from their records early last week - recorded delivery, of course.

When I go to the Royal Mail website to check that it's been signed for, there is no proof of delivery available, even though the initial message on the website says there is. All I can tell is when it was delivered form their local delivery office.

Frankly, I'm sick to death of them calling every 6 months demanding more money, and now I think it's time to dig my heels in. Their letters used to state "annual review", but they'd still call every six months, so the last time I pointed this out to them, and now their letters say something about a review every 6 months.

When I wrote to them, I did tell them that my circumstances haven't changed since the last review, so I can't give them any more money. I thought I'd write again, but this time tell them that I was seriously thinking of moving to a DMP organised by one of the charities, in which case it would be highly likely that not only they but my other creditors would all get a cut in their payments, as I'm sure an organisation like CCCS or Payplan would help me to set up a budget where I'm not left so short of cash every month, as I am now.

My question is this: what do I do next? I don't want to talk to them - neither do I want to increase my payments to them, as I can't afford to. I'm happy to carry on sending them the payments I am currently making, I don't have a problem with that at all.

Robflh

Hi meerkat2007

As far as I know it cost nothing or very little to change your phone number. It is a pain to tell everyone what the new number is but it will stop them from phoning you and or your mother.

Sit down and compile an SOA (Schedule of affairs). Basically, it is a list of all the money you have coming in and going out. Wages, tax credits, benefit, gas, electric, credit card/loan payments and so on.

Work out how much each one is for a year and divide that by 12. Put the total you have coming in and the total you have going out.

For loans or credit cards, state how much the loan was for or what the credit limit is, who it is with and what the APR is.

If you have assets like a car or a house or stocks and share, list what they are and how much they are worth.

For more information click on the link below.
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/....html?t=107280

meerkat2007

Thanks, Robflh.

My SOA is pretty much ok, to be honest. I've inflicted the lack of "me" money on myself, in an attempt to get rid of my debts sooner rather than later. I've been in debt since the 80s, but hit the rocks with it all through a period of unemployment and then lower-than-previous salary in 2000/2001, so that's when it all went pear-shaped, and I started to have the likes of Cabot intruding in my life.

I will, however, talk to my mother about changing the phone number. I dare say she will be against it, as she has reached that stage in life where she wants as little change as possible, although if I can sell this to her as a way to end the phone calls, she may accept it then.

Thanks again

Robflh

Hi meerkat2007

On here somewhere there is a template letter or a letter you can amend to suit you.

It informs Cabot or any creditor that all future communications must be in writing only. That is supposed to stop the phone calls.

Hopefully, someone reading this will post it here or cut and paste a link to it.

If your debts are more then £15,000 an IVA might be an option. It can write-off up to 70% of you total debts but you must be employed or have a lump sum that you can offer your creditors. One of the other advantages of an IVA is that your creditors stop hassling you.

If you have no home of your own, ie you rent something and an old banger for a car, you could consider bankruptcy.

The great thing about posting an SOA on here is that many people will look at it and one of them may spot something you have missed. That could mean you paying off your debts a lot faster.

meerkat2007

Thanks - that's the letter I sent to them last week. It may have finally got through to them, as there's been no phone call today.

An IVA is not an option. I do not have a lump sum, and I have absolutely no intention of sellng my house just to keep that load of pond-life happy.

As for my SOA, I know that there are probably some savings I could make, such as my car insurance, but I choose to pay more for the peace of mind of knowing that I don't have an excess to find in the event of an accident, and that my NCB is guaranteed - the reason is that about 4 years ag, I increased my excess to £300 to reduce the premium and about 6 months later, I had an accident that meant I had to find £300 in a hurry. I decided I wouldn't be going through that again.

All things being equal, I will be done with all this in a little over 4 years - that's less time than I have already spent dealing with these vultures. And thanks to this great site, I now have the weapons to fight back, and the courage to do so.

Robflh

Hi meerkat2007

If you was to go for an IVA, you do not have to sell your house. You just need to have a job. Without a house being involved, you pay what you can each month for five years and the rest of the debt is written off.

However you do have a home and to do an IVA and keep the house you make 72 payments instead of the 60. There is a bit more to it then that but you would need to speak CCCS www.cccs.co.uk or www.Payplan.com to find out more. Both are charities and their advice is free.

If you can re-mortgage and at the same time increase your mortgage you can raise a lump sum for the IVA and pay off all your creditors in one go.

With either of them you would not pay back the full amount.

You only have to answer a few questions and even if you decide it is not for you, it will have cost you nothing.

meerkat2007

Hi Robflh, and thanks again for your reply.

According to the plan I have worked out, including the payments I'll be making from this month's salary, I have 53 more months of paying everything off,then I'll be in the clear, with a clear conscience that I've paid everything off.

Another thought just occurred to me while reading your post: if I did go for an IVA, I have a suspicion that that would suddenly appear on my credit record. The thing is, all of my defaults and the one CCJ I had have now dropped off my credit record - the only sign of my problems is a Capital One credit card that was paid off and closed 2 years ago, but shows on my record that it was paid off under a special arrangement.

While I don't intend to obtain credit ever again, I want to keep my record clear in case I ever apply for a job where a credit check is necessary. I'd rather pay everything back in full, so that I can keep that option open.

fermi

meerkat2007 wrote: »

if I did go for an IVA, I have a suspicion that that would suddenly appear on my credit record. The thing is, all of my defaults and the one CCJ I had have now dropped off my credit record - the only sign of my problems is a Capital One credit card that was paid off and closed 2 years ago, but shows on my record that it was paid off under a special arrangement

Your suspicion is correct.

An IVA is a formal/legal form of insolvency. That means that it appears in the "public record" section of your Credit Reference Files, and would stay there for 6 years.

Despite the "sales talk" given by the big IVA companies, an IVA appearing in your credit record is only slightly less harmful than full blown bankruptcy!

An IVA would seem to be wholly inappropriate for your situation then.