i've had a response... I emailed my ex-employer directly yesterday as I had not had a response from the debt collection company to my offer to pay £40pm and explained to them (my ex-employer) that I could only afford to pay £40pm and the reasons why. I thought it would be easier to negotiate and liaise with them directly rather that going back and forth through a third party. I have just heard back from my ex-employer and they have refused my offer of £40 per month and have insisted that they will only accept £60per month and they said if I am unable to comply with this they will be forced to pass the matter back to the collection agency. However, by chance I happened to check an old email address to find a response from the collection company (even though I told the debt collection company that I rarely used and that my work email was the best way to contact me and all communications from me had come from my work address) to say that their client (my ex-employer) had accepted the £40pm on the basis that I started payments immediately. This email was dated earlier this week. Where does this leave me?? I definitely cannot afford to pay back £60 per month and wonder where I stand in negotiating the amount am I to pay back? I’m worried that if they pass the matter back to the collection agency they will take me to court to prove I can only afford £40pm but I really don’t want it to get to that point! Can I go back to my ex-company with the email I’ve just found and re-negotiate seeing as they had already agreed the amount with the agency?

thanks! i went back to them witha maximum offer of £40pm and said that i cannot afford to go any higher than that due to other financial committments so waiting to hear whether they agree to that or not. although i sent this via email almost 3 weeks ago and have not had a response as yet.should i chase the debt collector or is it best left waiting for them to come back to me? i'm just worried that they will refuse this offer of payment as well and will end up taking me to court to try and make me pay back more over a shorter period. i may contact my old employer to find out who is dealing from there side adn try and negotiate with them rather than through the debt collection company and its already dragged on for almost a month. thanks for everyone's advice-much appreciated

well the money they took was to cover the bulk of the cost of the course and this £500 is the last little bit owed. (long story but basically the course was £3500 and i had to pay 1/2 as long as i stayed with the company for 6 months afterwards, but i left after 5 months a 1 week meaning i had to pay the 1/2 paid by the company - which they took the month and a half salary towards, leaving just £500 left to pay when i left). I'm happy to pay it back as i said i would but i dont want to get into more debt by doing so. I will email them and offer £40pm as i just want to get them off my back! I dont really want it to get to the point of court though, as it may affect any applications made by me or my partner in the future and i dont really want it to put marked against our new address.

thanks for the advice on both sides - might give it a try offering them £40pm at a push, but i really cant afford to go any higher than that at the moment. although the main reason i cant afford to pay back much more that £30 a month is because in the 2 months before i left, my ex-employer took half of one months salary without telling me or giving me advance notice and then took the entire months salary the next month - i was told of this beforehand but when i contested it they refused any other option. This consequently put me in a large amount of debt which i am still trying to pay back. Do you think its worth trying to push for the £30pm on this basis or should i give in a little and offer them £40pm - £10 per week? i'm just a bit worried that if i agree to pay £40, they might try and push for more money again and that i'm going end up with more financial problems! i understand they they want the money back as soon as possible and that my financial situation is irrelevant to them but can they really dictate how much i am to pay? like you say, my financial situation may change and i may be able to pay more at some point in the future but also, may end up with no way to pay at all!

I left my last employer last December owing them around £500, the remaining amount owed for a course I undertook. When i left i was asked to sign to say i would repay the amount when I was paid from my new job but heard nothing from them about repaying. I moved house in January and subsequently forgot about the money I owed, until last week when I received a voice message from a debt collector company saying if I didn’t contact them in the next few days they would be starting legal action. I called them back and discovered they had been sending letters to my old house, which I was unaware of. I agreed that I would pay the money back, however I couldn’t afford to do so in one lump sum but could pay back in monthly instalments – of which I proposed £30 per month (after looking at my finances to see what I could afford.) I have just received an email from the debt collector saying that my ex-employers have rejected my offer to pay £30pm as it would take too long to repay the debt and said they would accept £60pm. I’ve looked again at my finances and I cannot afford to pay £60pm due to other financial commitments such as mortgage, bills etc. I signed to say I would pay back the money but the contract did not state when the money was to be repaid by, how I was to go about repaying or whether I was to repay monthly, weekly or in one lump sum. Can they make me pay more? Can they start legal action if I don’t pay them what they ask? Any advice anyone has in this area would be most appreciated!