Contacting DCAs

[blackrain]

I kind of know what everyone is going to say about this but just confirming I am doing right thing....

I have written to DLC with a pyment plan and previously said I would only deal in writing.

They haven't bothered to reply to payment plan but instead sent a letter saying 'CONTACT US URGENTLY ON THIS NUMBER'
and that's it.

Question: Should I just continue making the payments I have worked out and ignore the letter or write again to reiterate that I won't be phoning and they can either accept the payment or lump it?

Can't really be bothered to keep on writing. Besides all the money on stamps and envelopes could be going towards my payments!

[gravitas]

id definately get your payment plan sorted and get it in writing that they will accept it otherwise they will continue to pursue you and point out any payment you have sent was accepted as a payment against your balance but not as part of any agreement.

If your not getting anywhere by post, phone them but with hold your number so they cant get it and add it to their automated dialler, just in case you cant get an agreement on how much to pay

depending on how much you owe try offering a settlement of up to 50% as its getting near the end of the month so they will be accepting bigger discounts,

who is your debt with?

[blackrain]

Debt is too big to offer 50%. I will write again. Making sure it's recorded etc. If they want to deny there is an agreement I can still show a court I was paying regular amounts and it was all I could afford. The dca is DLC who are basically completely incompetent. No point in phoning as I still wouldn't have any proof there was an agreement and they won't speak if I tell them I'm recording.

[NailPost]

Make the barstewards work really hard for their money. Phoning is easy compared to writing letters and as can be seen from other threads isn't something most debt collectors can do properly. You may very well accept you owe the money but for very little outlay (about £2.50 in total) you can demand all the bits of paper you are entitled to receive by law from those who demand money. Send them a CCA request, you'll find one in the sticky's, and until you receive those details proving the debt, how they came to the sum being demanded and a deed of assignment you will make no payments. After all no peperwork = no debt.

Don't feel intimidated by them. By making demands of DLC which they are obliged to comply by law, you are enuring you are in control of the situation.

If they don't comply with your request - report them. If they continue with demands for you to phone them - report them for harrassment. In other words make life as difficult for them as they would make for you.

[blackrain]

Dopn't worry, I'm not intimidated at all. I've got the CCA request already typed. Funny enough I was going to send on ebefore Christmas but wiht one thing and another....

One question though (or two). If they don't own the debt would there be a deed of assignment and are they the right people to request CCA off? Should they still have the info if they are acting on behalf of a bank?

Ok that was 3 questions!

[sarahpp]

Originally Posted by blackrain

Dopn't worry, I'm not intimidated at all. I've got the CCA request already typed. Funny enough I was going to send on ebefore Christmas but wiht one thing and another....

One question though (or two). If they don't own the debt would there be a deed of assignment and are they the right people to request CCA off? Should they still have the info if they are acting on behalf of a bank?

Ok that was 3 questions!

Yes, you are right to send your CCA request to them. You are trying to establish who owns the debt. If they don't own it they will not have a deed of assignment because the original creditor has not assigned (or sold) the debt to them.

Quite often, if they don't own the debt, they either pass it back to the original creditor or you never hear from them again! Not always though -some either pretend that they haven't received the letter or use the £1 postal order to start the clock ticking for payments against the debt (so that they can say you have acknowledged it) That is why I always put "this payment is under no circumstances to be offset against the alleged debt"

If they do own the debt they will have to produce the Credit Agreement to enforce it. Deeds of Assignment however, are a bit of a grey area. In theory, you should have been told by the original creditor that the debt had been assigned. Some DCAs will produce Deeds and others refuse.

I would just send them the CCA request and see how they react . Be careful how you word it though if you have already sent in a payment plan because they will say you have acknowledged the debt by sending that in. Everyone's circumstances are different and your letter needs to reflect this. For example, my own letters start. " I had placed my financial affairs with a Debt Management Company as I felt unable to deal with the stress of repeated demands from creditors but, I have now taken back control of my affairs and have been going through my paperwork. I can find no reference to any debt owing to ***** and I therefore do not acknowledge this debt etc etc" Like I say though, everyone's circumstances are different.

Hope this helps

[blackrain]

Thanks. I know they don't own it but I would still like them to provide whatever it is they are supposed....statement of account and what not. Plus I wanted to remind them I sent a reminder about the payment plan.

Was looking for an envelope and guess what I found? A prepaid envelope printed for them! He he. Bit cheeky to use it I suppose but hey I'm getting fed up paying for stamps.

[laaldinger]

Originally Posted by blackrain

Was looking for an envelope and guess what I found? A prepaid envelope printed for them! He he. Bit cheeky to use it I suppose but hey I'm getting fed up paying for stamps.

Heck no, why pay more than you need to. Every penny saved is a penny less to them. lol
Besides, if they want to send you pre-paid envelopes to 'encourage' you to pay up, you might as well 're-cycle' it.