Payment demand out of the blue. Help Please!

[worried99]

Hi Everyone,

I have just had a call from a "Craig" at Calders this evening. A month ago they had offered me a deal of a one off payment to clear off my debt however, my situation means that I cant pay it. I had been over to my local C.A.B. office and they helped me draft a financial statement which Barclays & Calders had a copy of with a token payment on it which again they refused. Tonight they have threatened to write directly to my employer asking for a direct payment from my wages and have also threatened me with the doorstep baliff routine.

 

Are they able to write to my employer? If they do send someone round not appointed by a court I will tell them where to go or call the Police.

 

I would appreciate any help or any ideas or advice for me on this. Many thanks in advance.

[huggy41]

bump

[Brassed off]

Hi Worried99 and welcome to CAG

 

Firstly, stop talking to Calders on the ‘phone. If they ring, refuse to answer any security questions and tell them to put everything in writing only. Don’t enter into any conversation with them at all. They (and many other DCAs I might add) will threaten allsorts on the ‘phone but ‘phone calls can later be denied. It’s purely scare tactics to get you to pay them.

 

In the highly unlikely event that they send someone round, ask them politely to leave your property as they are trespassing.

 

Just so that we don’t hijack Patma’s thread, could you start your own thread and give us a little more detail about your circumstances so that we can help you out - ie whether you are unemployed, whether this is a credit card/bank account, how old is the debt, how much is it for (a rough guide will do), etc

 

If you’re not sure how to start your own thread, have a read of The Dummies Guide below:-

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/welcome-consumer-forums/107001-how-do-i-dummies.html

 

Good luck

 

Bo

 

PS – Sorry for mini-hijack Patma. Just thought I’d steer Worried in the right direction

[Patma]

Hi Worried, Welcome to the forum.

It's about a year ago now that Calders began to hassle me and it was only thanks to all the help and support I got from other CAGGERs that before too long, I was able to fight back and win.

Brassed off has given you some excellent advice about not talking to them on the phone etc and I can only echo that.Also keep a log of all the calls in case you need to make a complaint to Trading Standards and/or The OFT. Also make sure you keep all their correspondence.

 

If you can give us more info, we will be able to give you better help and advice. Don't worry, you've come to the right place and you'll be fine.

 

I don't know about writing to your employers, but I would have thought that would be a clear breach of the Data Protection Act. Hopefully someone with better knowledge will be along to advice you on that point.

[Brassed off]

A DCA would not be able to write to your employers without an Attachment of Earnings Order obtained from the Court. As usual, this is just another DCA trick designed to put the frighteners on you and yes, you're right Patma, it would be a clear breach of the DPA

[Patma]

Thanks for clarifying that Brassed off.

It sounds like a really low tactic to threaten someone with that, but what a way to turn the tables if you managed to record the conversation when that threat was made!

[huggy41]

PATMA save this for when you feel down or giving in check it out first press here

[seriously fed up]

I know this is a kind of old thread, but its a perfect illustration of a problem that I have just now. Some time last year I asked Barclaycard from my CCA agreement and what they sent me back looks very like what Patma has posted on this thread on 8th December 2007, 13:34. Seahorse in a later post (8th December 2007, 13:57 ) makes it pretty clear that this is not a CCA. Could someone either post a CCA, or advise me what I should be looking for when they finally send me one. I say “they” as I have several requests for these out. As anyone familiar with my thread re 1st Credit will be aware, they haven’t even come up with anything – not even an application. But there are others out and I would like to be sure that when they do reply (and some are flying pretty close to the wind time-wise) that I know what to look for (or not!) Thanks

[Patma]

Hi Seriously fed up,

Well done for digging up a CCA response that looks like yours. I'm no expert at knowing what constitutes a vaild CCA and all the responses I've received back from my requests have been duff ones, so I've no experience of the real thing.

What I can tell you is that I've had no further trouble from Barclaycard from any of my accounts. I had a visa, a mastercard and a Reserve account and after sending my SAR and discovering they'd been written off without bothering to tell me, everything has been nice and quiet from them.

Good luck with yours, seriously fed up. Keep us posted please as to how you get on.

Patma