pls help new here

[jennier600]

i am a one parent on income support having left a abusive marriage and having a breakdown which im recovering from .i have catalouge debts in my name although house i live in is exs name only.im recieving calls day and night they are calling niebour telling her im in debt.they are abusive on phone and say i have to pay it all straight away.i havent got the money every time i tried to reduse my payment when had catalouge they wanted me to take out a loan or pass to debt collector .if i couldnt pay them the full amount how could i pay plus a loan .every time i write to complain about harrasment they change letterhaad or company so im not able to say i wrote to you .ive disputed the amount owed but they ignore and get abusive till im scared to answer my own phone they withhold no or send letters like i got this morning sayingthey have been instructed to do whatever appropriate action neccasary to recover debt and intend to process my account into pre litigation with relevent checksto commence legal action then seek court order and warrent to siezegoods .im so scared if they take exs stuff out of house hel go mental at me and i need here to live with kids till i can get sorted .i dont know what to do i havent got money and the debt i do owe im not refusing to pay but i could afford couple of pounds a week only .i dont know were to turn pls anyone help or advice were i can get help this is happing they sayon or around 5th june

[Guest forgottenone]

Okay, hello firstly. Someone more experienced will be along soon with more expertise but to look at some of your concerns. And, in my own way, try to reassure you a little about what they CAN and CANNOT DO. Plenty of which I see they've already done in your posting here.

 

Seems like you've had the usual - as you'll find out from reading CAG more - 'threatograms' eg threats 'we are going to come, ransack your home, sacrifice family, make you perform rituals ... you will dance to our tune come what may.

 

Okay, firstly, these are threats. Used to simply put the fear of God into you. Now you are on CAG, you will come to see how ludicrous some of these threats are.

 

Phoning your neighbours? Breach of OFT guidelines on collecting debts. And approaches they can make to collect on them. Essentially, as far as I am concerned anyway, they are using psychological harassment just in doing so to merely put you under more stress in knowing you know your neighbours know about your debt. Giving out info to a third party for example.

 

One of the most important things to remember is they are not baillifs. Sure, they may make out in their letters they are - they aren't. Only a court can send bailifs. Not a DCA on their own merit. Yes, they will allege they can, purely to frighten you into phoning, paying.

 

Golden Rule - no phone contact, even if they phone, log all calls if you can, including numbers, any messages left or not. This can be used later if you complain. Abusive? Okay, that's psychological harassment designed to place you under stress. And can be dealt with by one of the template letters here in the template section. If they continue to harass you by phoning they can be fined after sending them that letter.

 

Remember, it's YOUR terms NOT theirs. You have more rights than they want you to know about. And will in no way let you know what they are. They will breach your rights, hence the phone calls.

 

Few final things, as someone will be along shortly with more advice. Mine is regretfully limited. Would this be Littlewoods or Shop Direct you are talking about here 'catologues?'

 

They are known for trying to force you to refinance when in these messes.

 

Lastly, have you contacted any of the free debt charities out there? Consumer Credit Counselling Services being just one? They are free, at the end of the phoneline and will offer you advice, help you to produce a budget sheet, offer of token payments - which, from what you say, is likely in your situation - and a common financial statement aka a income/expenditure form which you would then send to all your creditors. There is also a template for one on CAG in the template section.

 

Make sure you send all post/letters recorded delivery. Yes, they will make out 'we never received them' but at least you have the RD stub as proof you wrote should you ever need it at a later date.

 

Most important thing though is no phone contact. Only in writing.

 

One of the things someone at CCCS said to me when I first contacted them was about the threatograms they send out saying 'we will get a court order/warrant, send bailifs round' and that was 'they miss everything out inbetween' ie your own rights in this situation. Because there are and is a good deal more happens in between they do not wish you to know, hence their scare tactics.

Edited June 4, 2008 by forgottenone

[Guest forgottenone]

Here's one of the template letters I mentioned re 'telephone harassment'. One majorly important thing I forgot to say was do not ever sign anything, print your name.

 

Your Street

Town

City

Postcode

DATE HERE

Company Name

Road

Town

City / County

Postcode

 

 

Dear Sirs

Harassment by telephone

 

FORMAL COMPLAINT UNDER THE CONSUMER CREDIT ACT 2006 COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE

 

Account Number: XXXXXXX

 

I am writing in relation to the quantity and frequency of telephone calls that I have received from your company, which I deem to be personally harassing.

 

I have verbally requested that these stop, but I am still receiving calls. (Delete if necessary)

 

I now require all further correspondence from your company to be made in writing only.

 

I am of the view that your continued harassment of me by telephone puts you in breach of Section 40 of the Administration of Justice Act 1970, and the Protection from Harassment Act 1997.

 

If you continue to harass me by telephone, you will also be in breach of the Communications Act (2003) s.127 and I will report you to OFCOM, Trading Standards and The Office of Fair Trading, meaning that you will be liable to a substantial fine.

 

Please treat this also as a formal complaint, and send me a copy of your company complaints procedure.

 

Be advised that any further telephone calls from your company will be recorded. (**Even if you don‘t yet have recording equipment!!**)

 

Yours faithfully,

 

 

[NAME HERE] (type don't sign)

[jennier600]

thankyou so much ive been so scared as i dont understand what it all means prelitigation .yes it is littlewoods .i feel so stupid not knowing all this but im so very grateful for you taking time out to reply .im going to read your reply andfollow the steps you said to take .they mentioned a walking possesion agreement which will mean all my goods are now theres.they said i have to sighn it when bayliff ask but they will get a warrent of exection and someone sent to my address.im confused by it all i know i dont owe what they say but i owe somthing and i dont expect to be let of paying it but i cant give them what i dont have .ive been told they can get into house if i leave a window open legally is this true do you think .

[jennier600]

by the way its the first time ive heard from this company

[Michael Browne]

they mentioned a walking possesion agreement which will mean all my goods are now theres.

 

A walking possession agreement means that the goods that have been seized now legally belong to the bailiff and can be removed at any time. However, he will allow them to remain in your home and you can continue to use them providing you keep your side of the agreement, e.g. you make agreed payments.

 

In order for a walking possession order to be valid, a bailiff should have gained peaceful entry to the property. He cannot force an entry and you are entitled to refuse to allow him into your house

they said i have to sighn it when bayliff ask

If you have refused entry, you do not have to sign anything

 

It is not enough for a bailiff to list items that they have seen through a window and push a walking possession order through the letterbox for you to sign and return.

 

You should never sign a walking possession order in these circumstances.

[jennier600]

you have eased my mind .i cant believe they can do this its horrible .you know when littlewoods say you can have credit they are meant to get you to sighn credit agreement i forgot to send it back sighned does this make any difference.sorry to keep asking questions when youve been so kind already

[Blossomandebony]

Hi, Jennier,

 

Have you received a County Court Judgement, (CCJ) for this debt?

 

BAE

[jennier600]

i dont think so .would they inform me if i had recieved one .with all the problems with ex half the time he didnt even let me see mail but not in the last 6 mths has anything come to say i have recieved one

[Guest forgottenone]

Ah, in which case have you considered requesting a copy of your original credit agreement? I can never find the templates in here.

 

I've also seen something on CAG about supplying goods on credit before one is signed as well.

 

Don't ever feel stupid. You aren't. Just we all need help at times in our lives with knowledge/expertise we may never have needed before. I never knew about CAG for example - nor even where to get help last year with a DCA letter that did just what it said on the tin - freak me out so badly I paid them the amount in full within 3 days of getting the letter; plus their apalling abuse over the phone line when I did phone them.

[Michael Browne]

Ah, in which case have you considered requesting a copy of your original credit agreement? I can never find the templates in here.

Here you go:

 

Creditors and DCAs - Consumer Wiki

[Guest forgottenone]

Was gonna mention about the CCJ, but waited for other replies/more advice. Is this Nationwide Debt Recovery BTW? Just mention them because they are also Littlewoods own in house collections arm ... with another name pretending to be a DCA. It's also one of the standard letters NDR, plus the rest of the bunch send out. If I have this wrong, please disregard.

 

A CCJ would be on court headed paper.

[jennier600]

i think id have done the same and paid only i havent got it to pay .ive spent most of the day in tears .i think its so kind that you all give up time to try to help people out with this and im so grateful to you for doing so .do you think i should ask for a copy of it then cause they havent got it i know i didnt sign it .

[daarab]

Here's a CCA template

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Your Name]

[Your Address]

[The Company's name]

[Their address]

REF:

My REF:

 

[Date]

Dear Sir/Madam

ACCOUNT NUMBER:

Re:

 

I do not acknowledge ANY debt to your company. I require you to supply the following documentation before I will correspond further on this matter.

 

1. You must supply me with a true copy of the alleged agreement you refer to. This is my right under your obligation to supply a copy of the agreement under the legislation contained within s.78 (1) Consumer Credit Act 1974 (s.77 (1) for fixed sum credit) - your obligation also extends to providing a statement of account. I enclose a £1 Postal Order in payment of the statutory fee and Data Protection Request.

this fee is not to be offset against the amount allegedly owing under any circumstances.

2. A signed true copy of the deed of assignment of the above referenced agreement that you allege exists.

3. You are notified that you are obliged to supply these documents, whether you are the original creditor or not under S189 of the CCA 1974.

Non-compliance with my request is a criminal offence under the above Act and will result in a report being submitted to the relevant statutory authorities.

 

As you are aware, a credit agreement that is not properly documented and signed by the customer is totally unenforceable under the CCA and therefore is a complete defence to any court claim that is issued.

 

Take note at this stage, that any legal action you may contemplate will be both vigorously defended and contested.

 

Yours faithfully

 

Just remember to keep smiling and ask if you need help.

[boavista1952]

you know when littlewoods say you can have credit they are meant to get you to sighn credit agreement i forgot to send it back sighned does this make any difference

 

That may very well be your saving grace ..... I'm sure someone with more knowledge will be able to advise you correctly on that!

[Blossomandebony]

hi, Jennier,

 

It's unbelievable what these companies will do to force payment from you. Talking about a Walking Possession when they don't even have a court judgement against you!!!

 

Basically, if they've not been to court to get a judgement against you, then bailiffs are about as close to knocking on your door as I am!!

 

Take a deep breath, stay calm and listen to the advice the people on this site will give you. I was in a position only two years ago with creditors calling and harassing every day for debts of over £80,000!

Now I know my rights and I'm in control, they've mostly given up and left me alone. So however bad you think your situation is don't worry, you will beat this!

 

Now, you asked about them not even having an agreement? Hallelujah!!! No agreement = no enforceable debt.

 

The first thing I would do is to ask them to produce the said agreement. if they can't within 12 days, you can stop paying them ANYTHING because they are in default of the law.

 

Then we'll take it from there

 

This is the letter to send, with a postal order for £1.

 

Dear Sir/Madam

 

Re:− Account/Reference Number 4563210025897412

 

With reference to the above agreement, we would be grateful if you would send us a copy of this credit agreement.

 

We understand that under the Consumer Credit Act 1974 (Sections 77−79), we are entitled to receive a copy of our credit agreement on request. We enclose a payment of £1.00 which represents the fee payable under the Consumer Credit Act.

 

We understand a copy of our credit agreement should be supplied within 12 working days.

 

We understand that under the Consumer Credit Act creditors are unable to enforce an agreement if they fail to comply with a request for a copy of the agreement under these sections of the Act.

 

We look forward to hearing from you.

 

Yours faithfully

Mr A N Other

 

Oh yes, Jennnier, and read, read, read the threads on this site, along with the FAQs. After all, knowledge is Power . . . Good luck.

 

BAE

[Blossomandebony]

Oops - just saw Daarab got there first with what could be an even better letter!

 

BAE:)

[Guest forgottenone]

do you think i should ask for a copy of it then cause they havent got it i know i didnt sign it .

 

Yes, definitely.

 

ive spent most of the day in tears

 

(((jennier600)))

[daarab]

Also Jenni have a read of what DCA can and cannot do at

 

http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/business_leaflets/consumer_credit/oft664.pdf

[jennier600]

it was ndr i was being harrassed by and i wrote to them asking them to stop and that i disputed the amount or debt but they just kept ignoring me and threatened me on phone saying i should think seriously about paying as if i went to prison what would i do about kids .id get them taken of me .i kept saying i havent got this money to give you dont you understand but he said well its up to you then i got loads of letters from loans companys offering me loans.i sent them my income and out goings and what was left was 2 pound and they ignored and rang day and night i was getting 16 calls in two days.i dont want to go to prison or even risk my kids being taken .so ill try anything to resolve it but i havent got any goods the house is in exs name and he owns contents accept clothes ect and kids stuff

[daarab]

They cannot send you to prison for a consumer debt.

[Michael Browne]

Let's get one thing straight:

 

You will not go to prison...ever!!

 

NDR will tell you anything they can think of in order to frighten you into paying. From now on do not talk to them, just say you will only deal with them in writing and hang up

[jennier600]

ah your all so nice and helpful and funny i am smiling now i promise . im going to go through each reply you sent with fine tooth comb and do as you advised .im not so scared now thankyou sincerly i mean that .i promise to let you know or keep you posted .thankyou loads dont feel alone in all this now .

[Guest forgottenone]

Okay, jennier?

 

i dont want to go to prison or even risk my kids being taken .

 

I can only reassure you here but that will not happen.

[jennier600]

so i cant go to prison i thought i could .thats just really mean saying that .i wont speak to them on phone again ill do as you said