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You will probably need to do a new income & expenditure letter to show that you need to reduce payments due to reduction in income. Payplan will go through that with you. There is no set time limit to pay back by, but it can be re-evaluated at any time. Bankruptcy is an option that you can consider, but you will need to weigh up if this is an option that you want to persue as it may affect things for you in the future. You also have to pay to be declared bankrupt -around £200 last time I heard but I wouldn't be suprised if this had increased. I would discuss this with both Payplan & the citizens advice bureau to see if this is something that would be a possible option for you. As to the house you inherited, I'm really not sure 100% so can't help you with that! Hopefully someone else on here can give you some info!

The orange debt collection department is called Northern Debt Recovery -more than likely still in the same office. I have dealt with them before & they are very agressive but not very bright. Expect threatening letters from them, but like I said, it's still just from Orange. It might be a good idea to speak to the CAB (or your solicitor if they can't help) to get advice on where you stand legally. If they can't prove that you have accepted the service in any way then I'm not sure how they think they can keep persuing you. It may be that one of their staff has ballsed up at some point & they didn't send you any form of contract to sign when they should have. They do record calls, but that's nothing to worry about -most companies do it. Hopefully someone with more legal knowledge can advise if you need to request proof that they have a contract with you, & what to do from here. If you don't get advice after a couple of days just post 'bump' until you do. Hope you get it sorted. I would never be with Orange for anything after how terrible they are now -seems the whole company has changed since that french company took them over (forget the name)!, as they used to be quite good years ago...

If nothing was signed by yourselves, & obviously they are saying it was all agreed to over the phone in the first place so there would be no agreement via internet either, you have never used the sims & a neighbour signed for them, I agree they are highly unlikely to be able to prove they have any contract with you. They would need to prove that they have a contract with you to get you to pay them anything. If you have never made a payment to them, you have never signed any paperwork & have not used the sims then you have not acknowledged any contract existing so I would agree with flyingdoc & send the sims back to them registered post, perhaps with an informal typed letter saying that they have been received in error, & do not sign it. Keep a copy of this & get a print out of the signature from when they sign for it at their end & I would not acknowledge their attempts to collect any payments from you.

you can also register specific numbers with optout I think it costs around £5 then you let them know when a certain number calls & if they continue to call after optout have contacted them, it gets escalated. I was getting calls once a day from 2 seperate numbers & it took about a month for it to stop with optout & (touch wood) I haven't had any problems since. I might add that this is a cheaper alternative to recording calls -marketing & other similar nuisance calls who have gotten hold of your number from wherever. I don't think it would work on companies if you hold a debt with them & they are chasing you for it -but then it may still be worth a try!

One thing that has been mentioned by one of the 'paying' debt management companies is that the free ones such as Payplan or the CCCS tend to pay more proportionately to a certain creditor if the actual creditor funds/sponsors them than if they do not. Is there any truth in that, or would they work on a strictly pro rata basis? Hello there. The fee-charging firm have told you a lie there, both payplan and cccs work on a strictly pro-rata basis. I can 100% guarantee you that as I work with both firms very closely! >>sequenci is absolutely right! The majority of these companies, if not all of them, do help fund payplan & the cccs, that part is true, but payplan & cccs do work very strictly on a pro rata basis. I have heard, however, that some of the companies that charge a fee have been known to favour some companies over others but this is absolutely hearsay & I don't know how true that is! do you think that payplan and cccs are equally good at e.g. freezing interest. I would say better in my experience of advising HUNDREDS of clients. >>again, I absolutely agree! If you have property I would steer very clear of an IVA, it is VERY likely you will pay 100% of the debt back. We've heard of people actually paying more back in the past. One to consider is that if your equity is similar to the debt level your creditors may argue (at the creditor's meeting) that you should simply remortgage and pay them off. The vast majority of IVA's have an equity clause which will expect you to try and remortgage about 4.5 years in anyway. With a debt level of £15k and a monthly instalment of £200 a DMP would take just over 6 years, I feel you would be miles better with a DMP due to the fact that they are way less risky with no implications with the property. Under an IVA you will heavily scrutinised by the Insolvency Practitioner, this could be hassle you could well do without. >>From my experience I would also advise a DMP over an IVA any day, especially if you own your property, for the reasons sequenci has already gone through. It would also be less risky if you situation were to change again at any point in the future.

Wow, this whole thread is bizarre! Not sure how it went from an innocent request for help regarding a son's loan -which my advice on would be that requesting a settlement figure is usually unproductive & that you would tend to have better response if you give an offer of settlement figure, backed up by income & expenditure evidence or they will just reject it...but since that first post was amazingly in August 2007 I'm sure that case is well on it's way to being resolved! I am gobsmacked at the posts of these Welcome employees! So rude & unhelpful! If you are so happy working for them & have no problems with what you do & can sleep well at night etc etc then why come onto a support forum to defend them? Methinks they are not as comfortable in their roles as they make out! I agree with various points on here...Welcome usually charge a crazily high interest due to the fact that they offer loans etc to people who have been refused by everyone else. People who are desperate, & whom may not necessarily read the small print or pay enough attention to the PPI they have agreed to as they are merely focused on getting the money & just say yes to everything. Everyone (I hope) knows that if you get a loan, credit card etc you will be charged interest & if you don't pay back on time you will get charged, & you will in the end always end up paying back more than you initially got, but that's the condition of them 'lending' the money to you in the first place. It is not free money. Most people understand this. Unfortunately, alot of people come into unforseen circumstances in that even though they had every intention of paying back installments etc on time, their situation changes & they for whatever reason cannot afford to. These people are not bad people & are not stupid people & they try everything they can to sort things out through great stress. There are also people who for whatever reason think that they are better than others & should be able to get money that is not theirs & never pay any of it back. This ruins it for everyone else who has every intention of paying back money they owe & take responsibility for it. Debt collectors treat everyone as the latter & they are very well 'brainwashed' into believing that what they are doing is right & have no problems with what they do. Welcome as far as I know are doing well & is in no danger of getting into difficulty at the present. I have heard that there is restructuring, & they are also just one part of a very big company: Cattles. They lend to the people who noone else will, & so long as people who cannot get credit elsewhere keep taking out loans with them, they will carry on exactly the same. I would advise noone to go to Welcome for anything, -no matter how bad it is at the time, it can only ever get worse if you go with them!

Payplan are one of the good ones -if your wife is not already with them you may want to advise her to discuss her situation with them also, or with the CCCS. As to your creditors following you abroad, yes they more than likely will -depending on who your debts are with, when the debts are from & the type of debts. If you are wanting to clear the debt before you go, then that may be very difficult, however, I'm sure there would be no problem in continuing with Payplan after you move are wanting to continue to clear your debt. If that is the case then I would speak to Payplan to let them know that you are moving & they will advise your creditors who will be more agreeable if you let them know you are moving than them having to find out the hard way.

It's so good to know that the cag helps so many people, who will then go on to help others on here through their own experiences. Debt absolutely affects health, & depending on the individual can lead to so many different illnesses. There really needs to be more support services in place to help people deal with this, or at least make people more aware of the help that is already on offer.

If you have anybody -close family member or partner, that you trust & that you have spoken with regarding your situation, you may be able to request that they have authority to discuss your account with the CCCS & other creditors. You can ask if this is possible with the CCCS & you would be required to send letters to them, much like the one you would have sorted with the CCCS for them to have authority to discuss your account with your creditors. It would certainly help with the stress you are under, especially with your ill health, to have somebody else speak to them on occasion so that you don't feel that you have to cope with everything by yourself.

I absolutely agree. I would have a chat with payplan too as they are a free service that you are already using & will be able to give you very good advice.

Now then! It doesn't stop them buying it & trying to collect on it...which they do!

Which debt management company are you with?

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Hi I hope i you are getting somewhere with this! I would also agree that it is a very good idea to pluck up the courage to speak with your council about this, even though if they are anything like my council they will be horrible to you on the phone, at least you would get more information from them about what they are expecting & if there is a way for you to work with them to get the bailiffs off your back. It is also a good idea for you to speak with the Citizens Advice Bureau if you haven't already & they can let you know where you stand & what you can do to help you out of this situation. Council bailiffs unfortunately can have more power than a standard bailiff in that the council can grant them warrants to enter your property without permission to seize goods. They are not allowed to remove any 'tools of the trade' as said on here previously, but they can in some situations get access to your property without your permission which is why I would advise you speak with both your council & CAB to sort this out. I really hope you get this sorted! Good luck & let us know how it goes!

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Hi Molly, good luck in getting it all sorted! There's good advice on here, but also try to speak to Citizens Advice Bureau, it may take a while to get an appointment but it will be very helpful to you. You can also talk to Payplan & CCCS who will negotiate payment options with your lenders on your behalf & their services are free. You just need to work out your income & expenditure & then go from there really!

That is completely true! Advice from lenders is always to go with a free service provider Payplan, CCCS. Like most people have been saying on here, any money paid out in fees to a company is money that could be going straight towards the debt itself. these companies who charge to help you pay your debts are exploitative & prey on vunerable people. They make me so mad! Gregory Pennington & Eurodebt are well known for being awful companies. They will keep increasing their fees so that you are fooled into thinking that you are paying off your debt but in fact the majority of the money you pay out goes to them & your debt never really gets any smaller! & like I said already, most lenders are reluctant to deal with these companies as they are very unhelpful & will always advise you drop them & go to a free provider. These companies that charge will advise you to not speak to the lenders regarding your account as they know that the lenders will tell you to get rid of them!

Just be aware that even though the debt would fall off your credit file after 6 years, some companies can still buy this debt & persue you for it after the 6 years has passed, as I'm sure quite a few people on here have experienced. Hopefully, someone with experience with that situation can give you advice on what to do if it happens!

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