Ninehigh
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| posted on 4/11/10 at 06:05 PM |
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Debt advice (ish!)
With so many people losing their jobs, and debt in general being a problem amongst the general population I've seen a lot of the dabt advice
that organisations (such as the CAB and proper advice people, whose names escape me) and I've now seen the other side of it from the companies
you owe money to.
So here's what I've learned:
A debt advice company will tell you to contact the people you owe, explain the situation and together you can work out a plan that means they get some
money and you can still afford to be alive.
However when you do this, a certain company (and I'll be happy to name them if anyone asks) will tell you to miss a payment. They can't do
anything until you miss a payment. What they do however is send you a letter telling you that you've missed a payment and charge you £25 for
taking their advice. Then you can pay them £1 a month, and let gracefully let you. Continue with this forever because the moment you tell them
you can resume the normal payments they start harassing you. I've dealt with a good few debt collection agencies in my time and some of them
have been abusive but this loan company have beaten them all. My gf recieved a letter today charging her £25 for missing her payment on the 16
November!
So the moral of the story is if you do find yourself unable to pay off loans and such, don't contact them, hang up as soon as they call and make
them send it to debt collectors, who know that they have to accept any reasonable offer you make, and as long as you're paying them they
generally leave you alone.
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Hellfire
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| posted on 4/11/10 at 08:17 PM |
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I'm not disputing what you've written above but I've also had to deal with a few debt collection agencies in my time. Not mine I
hasten to add!
The most useful information I found was on the National Debtline website. The information is clear
and concise and really useful and best of all, it's FREE.....
Phil
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Ninehigh
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| posted on 4/11/10 at 09:11 PM |
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Oh no the debt collection agencies, even the more, er, offensive tactically ones are more civil than this loan company.
My point is that agencies like that national debtline give advice to people, I'm thinking maybe they should give the same advice to creditors
(if I have that the right way round) so that when you call them and try to discuss your financial problem they know how to behave too.
All debts of mine (all old ones) are being paid off, the real cutter is that my missus has never missed a single payment to anyone in about 14 years
and now she has from the advice of the people she's paying.
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Hellfire
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| posted on 4/11/10 at 09:36 PM |
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Creditors do know how to behave, they have clear written guidelines. They just don't play within those guidelines until they've
been advised to do so. It's in their interests to harass you and intimidate you to the point where you pay up in full.
Most loan companies would advise that whilst you are making regular monthly payments there wouldn't appear to be a problem. It's only by
actually defaulting on a payment that you are able to highlight a potential problem to them.
You can't just decide to pay your creditors £1 per month after you've missed a payment and continue forever. It's all down to
personal circumstance and what you can afford to pay. If the creditors decide to recover money from you through the courts, a personal budget sheet is
required to demonstrate your income and outgoings and show what you can realistically afford to pay.
As you default on payments, the loan company cut their losses and sell your debt on to a debt recovery agency. Each time this happens the debt
recovery company becomes more heavy handed in their approach but if you follow the guidelines on the National Debtline website, there is light at the
end of the tunnel.
Phil
[Edited on 4-11-10 by Hellfire]
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Ninehigh
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| posted on 4/11/10 at 10:33 PM |
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Yeah but we haven't missed a payment.
We took their advice and now they're being offensive to us for it.
[Edited on 4/11/10 by Ninehigh]
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Hellfire
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| posted on 4/11/10 at 10:49 PM |
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Offensive in telephone conversations or by letter?
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Ninehigh
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| posted on 4/11/10 at 11:19 PM |
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Oh just on the phone, which they have been told several times not to contact her by.
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Hellfire
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| posted on 5/11/10 at 12:07 PM |
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Telling them is no good.... They need it in writing, officially. Once they receive it, the telephone calls will stop. Sample letters are
available on the National Debtline link in one my previous post.
Phil
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coozer
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| posted on 5/11/10 at 12:57 PM |
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Debt, whats that?
1972 V8 Jago
1980 Z750
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Peteff
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| posted on 6/11/10 at 05:03 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by coozer
Debt, whats that?
It's when you buy stuff you didn't really need with money you haven't really got 
yours, Pete
I went into the RSPCA office the other day. It was so small you could hardly swing a cat in there.
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Paul TigerB6
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| posted on 6/11/10 at 06:46 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by coozer
Debt, whats that?
Its what happens when you get married (alegedly)!!
As above - telling them on the phone to stop the calls gets ignored. Everything should be put in writing both ways (to them and correspondence to
you).
If you follow the moral of the story - dont expect to be getting credit again in the near future!! It's not in the loan company's best
interests to send anything to a debt collection agency - for them it's a last resort to get back a proportion of what they're owed. Speak
to the company and tell them you'd prefer everything in writing - i've not come across a company yet who wont come to an arrangement if
the debtor is reasonable and genuine (I work for a Financial Advisers)
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Ninehigh
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| posted on 12/11/10 at 11:21 PM |
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Yeah done all that, they were kinda fine (until we actually acted on their advice and then it was wrong) and then they harassed us mercilessly when
she told them I'd got a full time job. We still don't know what my average take home pay is (been here about 6 weeks) but that's not
good enough.
Btw I got into this kind of trouble about 2002, they still won't touch me despite the only missed payments I have is when barclaycard cancelled
my direct debit and then refused to set it up for 4 months...
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