Brighthouse problems. Advise please?

[mumof4boys]

Hello. I have read many threads on here on brighthouse over time and now needing help myself.

 

I have a fair few agreements with brighthouse making the payments £73.19 per week!

 

Stupid me, yes I know.

 

However I got myself in to a few problems when my partner was out of work and we sold everything to make ends meet..

However he is back in work now, but we're struggling making the payments.

 

I contacted brighthouse and decided to be open with them and explain the situation

and ask if I could set up a payment plan as I still want to pay but can not afford the amount.

 

I was made to feel like a child. I have rang them back today well the 0800 number for customer relations. As I want no dealings with my store.

 

They have told me they need a budget plan well whilst I have done one, my monthly leftover is £73 a month!

 

I am petrified if I miss a payment and they turn up at my door..

I offered £25 a week. I was told no.

I will have to beg borrow and steal to make any extra money each month to pay them.

 

I am at a loss at what to do now,

 

I can't take food out of my childrens mouths to please them, I know full well I did wrong.

 

But I am trying to sort it, however they don't seem to be compliant or helpful at all.

[citizenB]

They are not allowed to advise you to "beg, borrow or steal" to make payments to them.

 

Do you hvae any insurances on these items ? If you entered into these agreements prior to September 2013 (I think) then you might be able to reclaim the insurances as they were mandatory.. and this is not allowed.

 

In view of the statement above, I really advise you to keep off the phone with this company, unless you are in a position to record the calls.

 

What are the items you have .. and when did you enter into these agreements. ?

[mumof4boys]

The items I had before I sold them were

 

Tumble dryer January 2012

xbox one 2013 November

xbox one 2014 february

laptop may 2013

samsung s4 september 2013

samsung s3 august 2013

22inch tv august 2013

3ds console november 2013

 

All have insurance ones taken prior to 2013 no OSC on them.

 

They're planning on calling me back. I am up to date with my payments and as of yet not in arrears, however I will no way be able to make my payment on Saturday to the full amount. They asked if I wanted to refer a friend as that will give me £50 credit with them to help make a payment. I told them no. They said they usually only offer to take the items back and store them or full return and as I do not have them there is nothing they can really do.

 

I have been with them for 6 years and paid off all other items

[Jason BrightHouse Web Rela]

Good Morning mumof4boys,

 

We appreciate that our customers’ circumstances may change at any time. In order to make our customers experience with BrightHouse as smooth as possible; we take each customers circumstances into consideration and are committed to assisting all customers through any financial difficulties.

 

If your BrightHouse account is in arrears or if you are experiencing any financial difficulty, we’ll listen to your individual circumstances and then agree on the best course of action to help you get back on track.

 

In order to assist you, we do have a number of options which may help lessen your payments and we are keen to assist you and discuss the options available to help bring your account back on track.

 

Your local store are best placed to discuss these options with as they manage the account and are responsible for taking payments but if you are having any difficulties with discussing these options with your local store, we can arrange for a Regional Manager to discuss your concerns with you directly and put in place measures to resolve any concerns you may have with any aspect of the service you have received.

 

It sounds like you have already spoken with our Customer Relations Team and we will be happy to escalate any concerns you may have with your store, if this has not been done already.

 

I kindly request that you get back in touch on 0800 526 069 or by emailing us at customer.relations@brighthouse.co.uk with your account details.

 

I would like to say that this request for you to contact us, is only for us to help assist you and that it is not a demand for payment.

 

Please also continue to update this thread with any feedback you may have.

 

Many Thanks

 

Jason

Web Relations Team

[mumof4boys]

Jason at brighthouse. I have already spoken to customer relations and to my store, both unhelpful. My account is not in arrears as stated above, but will very likely be going into arrears as of this week.

 

Brighthouse are not willing to help when I have offered to set up a payment plan. Yes I understand that going from £73 a week to £25 payments means it lasts longer to pay off the amount, however shouldn't brighthouse be happy they're still receiving payments at all and that I have not flitted about and done a runner?

[Jason BrightHouse Web Rela]

Dear mumof4boys,

 

I am sorry to hear that you seem to have not been satisfied with the response you've received from the store and our Customer Relations Team.

 

I would like to take this opportunity to assure you that we are keen to assist you and as mentioned in my previous response, if you are experiencing any financial difficulty, we’ll listen to your individual circumstances and then agree on the best course of action to help you get back on track.

 

In order for us to do this, I would be happy to escalate this matter to a Regional Manager who will formally investigate your concerns and personally liaise with you to resolve any issues that currently have.

 

Please send an email to customer.relations@brighthouse.co.uk quoting your reference F0707769 in the subject line and your account details and any additional information you may have regarding your concerns and I can raise this with a Regional Manager.

 

We look forward to hearing from you.

 

Many Thanks

 

Jason

Web Relations Team

[ashmk]

Don't be afraid of them if they do turn up, they are powerless.

 

Don't open the door and tell them you are calling the police.

 

They will likely tell you they are calling the police, or say good call them or some other nonsense about you stealing their stuff but this is all a bluff.

 

Tell them you are calling if they do not leave and if they do not, then do it.

 

Call 101 and tell them the van/car registration, that you are feeling threatened at your door,

you have 4 children etc etc.

 

Film everything on your phone for evidence for the police and later to upload to YouTube to share how these crooks work.

 

I must also say that selling the stuff was a bit silly but what is done is done. It does not give them the right to come to your door and harass.

[mumof4boys]

Oh I know ashmk, I fully understand is was a huge stupid mistake to sell the things. But unfortunately I was in a dire state and struggled tremendously as well as been rushed in for emergency surgery in this time too I felt I had no option. It's a major regret. They're however declining my offer of £25 a week.

 

Which surely if they came to my door and told me they was taking me to court, a judge would see I was offering payments?

[mumof4boys]

I am also very worried about prosecution for selling the items. Majority end in November 2015. Is it worth me trying to find a part time job ( have been unable to work due to I have a blood clotting disorder) to make the payments each week.. if I make the payments can they still prosecute me for theft as I do understand this it what it is classed as.

[ashmk]

Yes a judge would see. Put that offer in writing to them so they cannot deny it.

[Guest whistl]

Brighthouse have never taken anyone to court, they are scared to death of any negative publicity.

 

You have sold the goods, so make it easy on yourself and read the following which is information I have used and given to others in the past in similar situations.

 

• send a letter to their head office refusing access to your property and refusing telephone or email contact to any employee of Brighthouse Ltd or Caversham Finance Ltd
  
• in the same letter make a formal offer of payment that you CAN afford to stick to (say £2 - £5 weekly given your finances) which they will undoubtedly refuse
  
• they will refer your case from your local store to their Account Recovery Managers (whom work for Caversham Finance directly) whom will not be able to contact you due to the letter above
  
• they will then send you a letter from a solicitor who will mention the full outstanding balance including all interest etc... and their fees (basically to prompt a response from you)
  
• they will sell your debt on after a further 3 - 6 months to a debt recovery firm (assuming they can find one to buy it as these debt firms have barely recovered 1% of their outlay in the past 7 years of buying Brighthouse Ltd debt)
  

 

after all this... there is nothing left for them to do and because they chose to refuse your initial repayment offer they are left with receiving no payment at all from you and having wasted 6 months of their time to no avail.

 

long story short:- there is nothing to worry about, just follow the above steps as they can do nothing and have no power at all to do anything to enforce collection of the debt.

[renegadeimp]

Nice to see BH come out with the copy and paste responses again.

 

Also the post above is very concerning as it advocates theft and debt avoidance

[Guest whistl]

Nice to see BH come out with the copy and paste responses again.

 

Also the post above is very concerning as it advocates theft and debt avoidance

 

It advocates neither theft nor debt avoidance!

 

it advocates taking charge of the situation by limiting their ability to pressurise via incessant phone calls and physical calls to your front door.

 

Brighthouse are supposed to offer options to help, however this usually equates to insisting on a payment a close as possible to the original arrangement or reducing the payments a tad and extending the length of the agreement, which given the OP is clearly not a viable solution.

 

If you can no longer afford to make payments and you no longer own the goods then you cannot return them either permanently nor temporarily, Therefore you make an offer that you CAN afford to meet, the OP noted her difficulties and made an offer of payment which was dismissed out of hand, if you are paying £70 a week then you may as well offer £5 a week as offer £25 as Brighthouse will 99% sure refuse the offer and from the OP I would say it is a fair assumption that £25 would be a stretch and not a long term solution.

 

You are within your rights to use any and all of the actions I posted above as each step is both legal and lawful, whilst ensuring that YOU have control over managing your debt rather than putting that power in someone else hands.

[renegadeimp]

My point was if you sold the item, then it can be seen as theft, as it is NOT your property to sell. Theoretically, BH could chase you down that route if they wanted to.