Almost two weeks and countless telephone calls later, PaydayExpress still refuse to set up a payment plan whilst some of the other firms are about to receive their third payment.

Dear Mr xxxx, Client Reference: xxxxxxx Thank you for your recent contact and your request for a repayment plan. Our accepted criteria for a repayment plan are as follows: • Significant Loss of income • Unexpected change in personal circumstance, e.g. Long term sickness • Severe Disability or illness (including close family members) • Terminal illness or Mental illness (including close family members) • Deceased (including close family members) • Redundancy or Reduced hours (contractual hours reduced by company) All or any of the above may require documented evidence. I.e.: • If you are now unemployed or in receipt of financial support, please provide proof of unemployment or redundancy. If your contractual hours have been reduced by your employer, please provide a letter from your employer on company headed paper to confirm this. • If your circumstances have changed due to personal illness, please provide a copy of a doctor’s note or hospital letter. If your financial circumstances have changed we may be prepared to consider a reasonable and affordable repayment plan. A repayment plan does not vary or release you from the terms and conditions of the signed loan agreement, so if you fail to comply with the terms of repayment plan we have the right to obtain payment of the full amount outstanding together with accrued interest and charges from any of the debit cards that you have supplied to us. At 90 days past the original due date whether an agreed repayment plan is in existence or not we will register a default on your records with credit reference agencies. Should you wish to discuss these options or your account please call our office on 0115 908 1163 and one of our advisers will be able to assist you. Alternatively you can contact us at [email protected]. (there may be up to a 3 working days delay in responding due to the number of emails we receive) and in order to understand your current circumstances as well as trying to resolve this with you, contact is preferred. The above number will pass you through to a Financial Difficulties agent whom will try to help you. Our opening times are: Monday to Friday: 9am – 5.30pm Regards, Payday Express

Good Morning, Further to my recent e-mails and your response below, it is my intention to repay £78.17 per month for twelve months via Standing Order. This is a realistic amount given the £4,606.00 I owe to all five payday loan companies, on top of the circa xxx I currently owe in long-term repayment plans which total xxx payments per month. I cannot afford to offer any more as things stand and sincerely hope that this is acceptable. If so, I propose to pay by Standing Order on the 26th Day of each month (will pay amount for August asap upon receipt of your bank details). I currently live with my wife and two children (ages 12 and 8). A brief summary of my income/expenditure is provided below:- Salary xx Child Benefit xx Mortgage xx Utility Bills xx Council Tax xx Groceries xx Insurance (Car/Life/House) xx TV Licence xx Public Transport xx Fuel xx Road Tax/Breakdown Recovery xx Mobile phone xx School Meals xx Health xx Clothing/Hairdressing xx Repairs/Emergencies/Children's Clubs/Entertainment xx Long-term loan repayments xx Payday loan repayments (inc. proposal for PayDayExpress) xx Please once again accept my apologies for being unable to honour my original commitment. I look forward to hearing from you by return of e-mail as I am extremely anxious to come to an agreement at the earliest opportunity. Many thanks. Kind regards xx

Almost two months on from this and I have arranged plans with everyone save for Payday Express as we continue to go around in circles. It really is pathetic. Most of the other companies have already received two payments out of twelve whilst these clowns continue to send a generic response to my proposals with upwards of what must be five hundred calls in work. I have to say that, regardless of what people think of these companies and their purpose generally, I have found them more than reasonable to deal with. I will post my most recent correspondence with Payday express below:-

Response:- Dear Mr xxxxx, Client Reference: xxxxx Thank you for your recent letter. Our accepted criteria for a repayment plan are as follows: • Significant Loss of income • Unexpected change in personal circumstances e.g. Major Loss of income • Severe Disability or illness (not excluding close family members) • Terminal illness or Mental illness (not excluding close family members) • Deceased (not excluding close family members) • Redundancy or Reduced hours (contractual hours reduced by company) We are unable to set a repayment plan unless it is evidence that one of the above has caused yourself financial difficulties. Should you wish to discuss these options or your account please call our office on 0115 908 1163 and one of our advisers will be able to assist you. Alternatively you can contact us at [email protected]. Please do not hesitate to contact us should you require any further information. Regards, Payday Express

I have just sent them this e-mail:- Good Morning, I would be very grateful if you could please note my original request to undertake all correspondence via e-mail. I am currently receiving a substantial amount of telephone calls in work which I simply cannot answer. Discussing matters over the telephone is not going to alter my current financial situation. I have made a realistic offer of a monthly payment which I would like you to consider at the earliest opportunity so that an arrangement can be put in place. As previously indicated, I am trying to address these debts in a fair, reasonable and realistic way and I am not trying to run away and hide. Many thanks. Kind regards xxxxx I hope they don't send me a generic response.

Many thanks for your response, renegadeimp. These calls are now causing me massive problems in work. What worries me is that I'm off for two weeks from this Thursday and colleagues will have to answer my direct line which is going to be exceptionally embarrassing.

Another generic response:- Dear Mr xxxxx, Client Reference: xxxxxxx Thank you for your recent contact regarding your account with Payday Express. We note that you are currently unable to repay the balance on your account as agreed. Please contact us on 0115 908 1163 to discuss the repayment of the outstanding balance. If you do not contact us then interest and charges will continue to accrue as well as collection activity in line with our collections policy once your account falls overdue. Our opening times are: Monday to Friday: 9am – 5.30pm. Regards, Payday Express

Many thanks for the link, maroondevo52. A quick update:- Other than Payday Express, everyone appears to be acting in a very reasonable manner. Other than a computer-generated response, Payday Express will not reply to my e-mails, have rang me upwards of two hundred times in work and have applied charges of over £200.00 since my payment was not taken on the 26th July 2012. Any advice please?

Thank you for the very helpful and detailed response, PDLVictim. Today is D-Day and I have already had several exceptionally pushy and embarrassing calls from PaydayUk whilst at work. Is there any way to stop this please? I have sent all five companies an e-mail and wish to communicate only by e-mail.

Good Afternoon Everyone, I wonder if anyone would be kind enough to provide me with some guidance. What started out as one PDL with one company to finance car repairs following a failed MOT and assist with buying birthday presents for my two children who were born on consecutive days, has now spiralled completely out of control and has resulted in me owing circa £4,600 on my next payday, 26th July. I have bitten off more than I can chew and simply do not have the resources to pay these off. This amount is spread between five companies as follows: Quick Quid £1,819 Payday Express £938 Wage Day Advance £775 Lending Stream £635 PaydayUK £440 Paying deferment fees will not only leave me and my family with nothing to live on for the next month, but will also see me in an identical position next month. I feel like the only way forward is to e-mail all five companies explaining my position and ask if they would consider a repayment plan. I am not seeking to have anything reduced and it is my intention to pay off every penny I owe as they are my debts and the money was issued to me in good faith, it will just now take longer than I originally anticipated. I am embarrassed and sick with worry about this situation which is aggravated by my wife having been Sectioned under the Mental Health Act and also the death of an extremely close relative. Having had a look around the sub-forum, I fear I am going to have severe difficulties with Quick Quid and Payday Express and perhaps others. I have also today applied online for a Lloyds TSB Basic Account as I note that it may be prudent to open a new account. Any advice would be gratefully received. Many thanks in anticipation. Kind regards Chris