Young and in a financial mess, being chased up and harassed by Debt recovery agencies

[zipmouth]

Ok, this is my first post so hello

 

Erm im not really sure where to start, but basically i have got myself in a really big mess finance wise. Im 20 and at university, im also currently looking for employment. My income comes for student loans and grants. I had a lot of family problems over the past year which is the main reason i got into so much debt and its become a vicious circle. I just ask for you not to be too hard on me, i realise i may have not acted sensibly

 

Anyway, the debts. So i will list all of the debts that i currently have:

 

Natwest Credit Card student: £450. This account has been closed and a default has been put on my account despite correspondence which i will elaborate on

 

Natwest Card: £1350. Same situation as the first.

 

Capital one card: £400. Default and closed account again despite correspondence.

 

Orange: £300.

Littlewoods: £1200

 

I started by writing letters to all the companies above, explaining that i got into arrears due to my father dying and becoming partly responsible for the running of my family home, and also gave an offer of a payment plan that i really probably couldnt afford. Not that it matters because they all refused the amount i offered anyway. At this point which was about june in this year, i just buried my head in the sand which was my mistake completly. I ignored phone calls and letters because i couldnt pay it at all. I also lost my job so had no other income and my student loans ran out quickly. Then, in particular with the banks, charges were given, then charges on top of charges and it was a vicious circle. I didnt write anything more to them until october after reading online about reclaiming bank charges and i am almost certain the charges that made my accounts with the banks unmanageable are unlawful, but they replied saying they were lawful. Im really quite scared about being taken to court and i cant ask my mum for any money to pay them to get them off my back because she is in an equally bad situation I just want to set up payment plans with all the companies involved, but they just wont accept what i can pay. Its getting to the point where i cant anwser the phone and get nervous everytime the door knocks due to letters threatening baliffs.

 

I just need some advice on what to do. I have and will continue to look in each companies relevant threads etc, but i think the help i need is more general. I'd seriously just like any advice or reassurance tbh

 

Thanks in advance, please ask questions because im certain ive missed out important details. I wrote this all a bit manicly

[GuidoT]

Welcome to CAG.

 

To my mind you debt does not constitute a financial mess, a lot of people come here with debts of £50K up wards, it is good that you are recognising the problem early.

 

I will leave someone else to advise you who knows about debt.

 

You will be fine.

[IdaInFife]

hiya and welcome to cag,

 

re write to them with another proposal that you can afford. try and include the first payment with it and just keep paying what you have offered.

 

you do not need to include and i and e but I have always found it easier to do so and it may help.

 

template letters can be found here:

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/general-debt-issues/20758-creditors-dcas-letter-templates.html

 

 

and here is the forum for reclaiming back those charges

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/#consumer-forums-center-bank

 

 

you can also do this with littlewoods (although this link is a different company but helpful)

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/other-institutions-successes/215315-studio-claiming-back-charges.html

[Aristoc]

Welcome to the consumer action group! I am a student myself, and though i'm in my mid twenties I can relate in that I have a large abbey student overdraft (defaulted in like 2006), a large current lloyds student overdraft, and absolutely huge barclaycard debt (for what was originally a £300 card). My girlfriend (also a student) is in a similar position.

 

I too left it for as long as I could without action, and now I may have left it TOO late to SAR abbey for all my statements, so it is important that you start doing something now.

 

That said, do NOT worry. Debt collection agencies are all about scare tactics. Remember, even in the event that you did end up with a CCJ (hopefully you wont), it still isn't something that should be filling your life with dread and worry. We've all been in the same boat at some point in our lives, which is why we're all here.

 

Let me ask a few questions which no doubt other CAGers will want to ask.

 

What is the current state of these debts. Which debt collection agencies are they with and how long have they been with them.

 

Do you still have copies of the default notices for these accounts?

 

Do you have a comprehensive collection of statements for the bank account? If so do a quick tot-up of the bank charges and see how far a reclaim would get you.

 

On the subject of bank charge reclaims its all a bit in the air at the moment because of a recent supreme court hearing. However if you check the huge red announcement thread you will see that an experienced QC has determined that there IS another avenue for consumers to attempt to claim back bank charges. We are currently awaiting updated letter templates, so all is not lost. In the mean time we can get you prepared re subject access requests (if necessary) and determining just how much you should claim for.

[postggj]

SEND THIS TO YOUR CREDITORS TO BEGIN WITH

 

LETS GET YOU SOME PEACE

 

 

 

Your Street

Town

City

Postcode

DATE HERE

Company Name

Road

Town

City / County

Postcode

 

Re: Harassment by telephone

 

 

ACCOUNT NUMBER: XXXXXXX

 

Dear Sirs

 

I am writing in relation to the quantity and frequency of telephone calls that I have received from your company, which I deem to be personally harassing.

 

I have verbally requested that these stop, but I am still receiving calls. (Delete if necessary)

 

I now require all further correspondence from your company to be made in writing only.

 

I am of the view that your continued harassment of me by telephone puts you in breach of Section 40 of the Administration of Justice Act 1970, and the Protection from Harassment Act 1997.

 

If you continue to harass me by telephone, you will also be in breach of the Communications Act (2003) s.127 and I will report you to OFCOM, Trading Standards and The Office of Fair Trading, meaning that you will be liable to a substantial fine.

 

Be advised that any further telephone calls from your company will be recorded. (**Even if you don‘t yet have recording equipment!!**)

 

 

Yours faithfully,

 

 

 

[NAME HERE]

.

[zipmouth]

Well the orange and littlewoods debts seem to be passed from agency to agency, although i mainly recieve letters from a debt agency called NDR who i think work for both orange and littlewoods.

 

The Natwest smaller debt i have recieved a letter from a debt agency although it seems to be mainly Natwest themselves that are writing to me. I recieve about 10 calls a day from them.

 

The other natwest debt is being dealt with with Natwests own collections (according to the letters) I will need to chack but i dont think i have recieved a letter from another agency about this debt.

 

The capital one debt has been passed around debt collection agencies. They have also been writing letters to my old employers address which is embarassing.

 

All the amounts i listed include a hefty amount of charges. The captial one debt is half charges that have been added and half the actual amount of credit i recieved! The Natwest accounts are at £200 for the student card in charges and £350 in charges for the other natwest account. I have this from a statement i requested from them when i was claiming back the charges. I'll watch the threads about the developments on reclaiming them though.

 

I have all the letters i have recieved from them stored away which i will brave tomorrow and thoroughly organise but they are pretty in order atm and i do also have the default notices. I had an email from Capital one saying they would send baliffs to collect 9 times the debt amount in items from my home which is a bit scary, mainly because they could take every item i owned and it probably wouldnt scratch the surface of 9 times £400! :S

 

Thanks for all the advice ive been given though, im going to read through the letter templates in the morning and set a whole day out to sorting this.

 

On a side note, in my letters to all these companies, i asked politely to deal with them using letters. However none have seemed to pay attention to this and are still ringing me everyday. How can i stress i want to correspond using letter only? Is this even allowed? :S

[postggj]

Send That Template By Recorded Delievery

 

Lets See Them Ignore That

[zipmouth]

Send That Template By Recorded Delievery

 

Lets See Them Ignore That

 

Thanks for that template, i was slowly writing my reply while you posted that. Im going to send it recorded delivery tomorrow morning asap. It is getting silly having to screen all my calls. Thank you

[postggj]

You Need To Give Them 14 Days

 

After That We Can Start Getting Heavy Then If They Ignore

 

That Template Does The Trick Most Of The Time

 

They Dont Want Any Complaints To The Oft Recorded Against Them

[natalie]

Well the orange and littlewoods debts seem to be passed from agency to agency, although i mainly recieve letters from a debt agency called NDR who i think work for both orange and littlewoods. NDR is their inhouse debt collection department.

 

The Natwest smaller debt i have recieved a letter from a debt agency although it seems to be mainly Natwest themselves that are writing to me. I recieve about 10 calls a day from them. Send the antiharrassment letter. If they call you again, dont say a word and just put the phone, off the hook on the side and walk away. See how much time they want to waste hanging on the line waiting for you

 

The other natwest debt is being dealt with with Natwests own collections (according to the letters) I will need to chack but i dont think i have recieved a letter from another agency about this debt.

 

The capital one debt has been passed around debt collection agencies. They have also been writing letters to my old employers address which is embarassing. Report this to OFT and the Information Commissioner straight away. They are not allowed to do this.

 

All the amounts i listed include a hefty amount of charges. The captial one debt is half charges that have been added and half the actual amount of credit i recieved! The Natwest accounts are at £200 for the student card in charges and £350 in charges for the other natwest account. I have this from a statement i requested from them when i was claiming back the charges. I'll watch the threads about the developments on reclaiming them though.

 

I have all the letters i have recieved from them stored away which i will brave tomorrow and thoroughly organise but they are pretty in order atm and i do also have the default notices. You need to check the default notices that they are correct. If they arent you are in luck

I had an email from Capital one saying they would send baliffs to collect 9 times the debt amount in items from my home which is a bit scary, mainly because they could take every item i owned and it probably wouldnt scratch the surface of 9 times £400! :S They cant send Bailiffs round without going to court, and I seriously doubt they will take you to court for £400.

 

Thanks for all the advice ive been given though, im going to read through the letter templates in the morning and set a whole day out to sorting this.

 

On a side note, in my letters to all these companies, i asked politely to deal with them using letters. However none have seemed to pay attention to this and are still ringing me everyday. How can i stress i want to correspond using letter only? Is this even allowed? :S

 

Refuse to speak to them, they will soon give up. If they continue report them to OFT and OFCOM

[zipmouth]

I received a letter today from "Triton Credit Services" regarding the larger of the 2 Natwest accounts asking for £1624 for immediate collection. Obviously, failing robbing a bank i couldnt get even half that much to pay them. Also this is the first time i have had a letter of this collection agency. From reading around, i think they work for Natwest in-house. What puzzles me is why its gone up £300 in about 2 weeks :S

[babybear39]

First of all, calm down

 

I'm a student with first hand experince of some of the worst in the DCA business and can catergorically assure you that the idiots CANNOT take your possessions wihtout a warant of execution which is a very LONG way off. Report them to TS and the OFT for these threats which are against OFT guidlines ant the CPUTR 2008. Insist that TS, via consumer direct, do somthing about these threats immediately as they are against the law.

 

Use the anti harassment letter above adding a paragraph on Furguson V British Gas Trading (you can google the case law).

 

They can't have what you can't pay and a CCJ or default are only going to last for 6 years (3 if the European legislation is brought in).

 

If a court appointed bailliff called they would almost certainly take nothing unless you have exspenisive items and that would only be after seriously defaulting on a CCJ. There are certain items a bailliff cannot take, take a look at the courts website

 

Good luck and best wishes,

 

Nadolig Llawen X