Jump to content


style="text-align: center;">  

Thread Locked

because no one has posted on it for the last 5304 days.

If you need to add something to this thread then

 

Please click the "Report " link

 

at the bottom of one of the posts.

 

If you want to post a new story then

Please

Start your own new thread

That way you will attract more attention to your story and get more visitors and more help 

 

Thanks

Recommended Posts

I posted this in another section then realised it should be here, couldn't move it so have re posted.

 

Hi Everyone, Wondering if anyone could give me some advice.

 

Took out ASDA store card couple of years ago, Debt on card went up to about £500 so I cancelled it. The debt was passed to The Lewis Group who I have been paying off for a while. Last Thursday I get a Pre Bailiff come round saying that I owe money on a store card. As I don't have a store card I sent him away, he said he'd come back with bailiffs.

 

Since then I have assumed it is the ASDA store card as it's the only store card I have ever had, but as I have been paying I couldn't see why they'd send a pre bailiff. Phoned them and they said the case has been passed to this guy and I can only deal with him. No amount total, no payment history, all I can do is speak to him, but they wouldn't give me his number. The only thing they said I could do was go through to a payment line and Pay £122.00 but they wouldn't say what it was for.

 

I can't contact this man as he didn't leave a number and the lewis group won't give me one so am I suppose to just wait till he comes back to get the number, probably rack up a bailiff visit charge. He said that the court have decided against me even though I haven't recieved any letters from the courts at all to summon me.

 

I don't know what to do, I'm starting to feel really panicky about leaving the house.

 

Any help would be grateful.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Last Thursday I get a Pre Bailiff come round saying that I owe money on a store card. As I don't have a store card I sent him away, he said he'd come back with bailiffs.

 

Take no notice, it's just a fancy word for a debt collector, who probably works for a firm that have bought the debt.

They have no right of entry, and they haven't been to court from what you've said, so all they can do is make a nuisance of themselves.

 

If I were you I would refuse to speak to any of them, and insist that if they have anything to say they should put it in writing.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Thanks for the super fast reply.

 

Yeah I'm assuming they haven't been to court as I'm sure the court would have sent me a letter to inform me preceding were being taken against me. I would like to deal with this in writing as I find all this very stressful and can see myself just getting upset over the phone or in person.

 

Should I write a letter to the debt collector or to the company (lewis Group)? as they said over the phone that they wouldn't deal with me any more and all correspondence had to go through the debt collector. Wouldn't even give me balance total or debt collectors number. And what should I put in the letter? as him not to come round again and how much he wants possibly?

Link to post
Share on other sites

Hi again,

 

I know I need to send them a letter so I'd like to do it as soon as possible. I don't just want them to stop visiting me, I want to set up an arrangement aswell. Do you think I should sent this letter?

 

http://www.consumerforums.com/resources/templates-library/86-debt-collectors/590-letter-used-when-a-dca-threatens-a-doorstep-visit-.html

 

Would this work as they've already visited me once? (I didn't let them in)

Link to post
Share on other sites

I don't see why not, but make sure you know what it is you are saying.

 

Don't say anything you don't believe and are not prepared to do.

 

Don't just send it for effect. If you make a threat you must be prepared to carry it out and take whatever consequences may arise.

 

I'm not trying to frighten you here, just want you to focus on what you are doing.

 

I've been there, done that. So now I don't gamble - now if I put it in writing or say it I really mean it.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Yeah that's a very good point, thanks. As this will be my first correspondence (bar a useless phone call) with them since all this has happened, threats aren't really a good way to start, nor do I really want to go down that sort of route.

 

I'm not disputing the debt, nor am I unwilling to pay (by instalments obviously, I'm not rich). I'm just getting frustrated that I thought everything was fine, but according to them it's not, yet they won't give me any details about my case or why this pre bailiff (DCA officer) has been called in.

 

Maybe a more simple letter to the Lewis group headquarters specifying:

 

My person details

Requesting debt total

Requesting contact be made by post

Request why DCA officer visit ordered

Request why I wasn't informed of this action being taken against me

Request DCA officers details (Tel No, So I can contact him)

Request if any sort of court or Bailiff action can be suspended until agreement can be determined

Request income assessment form or propose instalment amount

 

What do you guy's think, I know you all have a lot of experience with these sort of companies, will they answer with a grown-up response, I.E. give me details of my case, and work with me to set up an installments plan or will they just ignore it??

 

P.S. Thanks chris600uk for all your feedback. It's very, very much appreciated :)

Link to post
Share on other sites

What you do is simple. How you do it is up to you, because you can either do it yourself, or get help from the CAB to do it.

 

Add up everything that you owe to unsecured creditors.=A

 

Do an income and expenditure statement to work out how much you can afford to pay them sustainably.=B

 

Divide how much you can afford to pay (B) by how much you owe to all your unsecured creditors (A) to get C.

 

Multiply C by the amount you owe each creditor in turn.

 

That will give you the amount to offer them each month.

 

If they accept it fine, if not don't worry -- they can always take it to court, where your offer is likely to be accepted.

 

I've been there, and I did exactly what I said; all but one firm accepted the payment offer.

The firm took me to court, and the court ordered me to pay them five pounds a month.

That was 10 years ago, only 33 years to go.

Link to post
Share on other sites

hehe

pre bailiff!

 

door step visit from a DCA

totally illegal, call the police.

 

i wouldn't even bother writing anything to them.

 

keep paying the way you are.

 

its just a great big con to make you pay more.

 

oh and you have ofcourse CCA'ed these jokers haven't you?

 

dx

please don't hit Quote...just type we know what we said earlier..

DCA's view debtors as suckers, marks and mugs

NO DCA has ANY legal powers whatsoever on ANY debt no matter what it's Type

and they

are NOT and can NEVER  be BAILIFFS. even if a debt has been to court..

If everyone stopped blindly paying DCA's Tomorrow, their industry would collapse overnight... 

Link to post
Share on other sites

What you do is simple. How you do it is up to you, because you can either do it yourself, or get help from the CAB to do it.

 

Add up everything that you owe to unsecured creditors.=A

 

Do an income and expenditure statement to work out how much you can afford to pay them sustainably.=B

 

Divide how much you can afford to pay (B) by how much you owe to all your unsecured creditors (A) to get C.

 

Multiply C by the amount you owe each creditor in turn.

 

That will give you the amount to offer them each month.

 

If they accept it fine, if not don't worry -- they can always take it to court, where your offer is likely to be accepted.

 

Yeah I'll do that, even if they don't accept at least it might get them talking to me so I can sort something out.

 

oh and you have ofcourse CCA'ed these jokers haven't you?

 

Nope no CCA, don't even know what it is. I've always just got into debt, set up a payment arrangement and pay'd it off, I'm not use to all this. I've seen the CCA mentioned on a few of the other threads but assumed it was quite case specific and wouldn't apply to me.

Link to post
Share on other sites

hehe

pre bailiff!

 

door step visit from a DCA

totally illegal, call the police.

 

i wouldn't even bother writing anything to them.

 

keep paying the way you are.

 

its just a great big con to make you pay more.

 

oh and you have ofcourse CCA'ed these jokers haven't you?

 

dx

 

 

A visit from a DCA is NOT illegal. It may be undesirable, unwelcome or unhelpful but it isn't illegal.

I really do appreciate all those 'thank you' emails - I'm glad I've been able to help. Apologies if I haven't acknowledged all of them.

You can also ding my gong if you prefer. :)

Link to post
Share on other sites

Well as the first woman was so useless when I rang I thought I'd try again before sending the letter. Thankfully it was just the first woman being rubbish at her job.

 

I now have all my details, including total amount and a breakdown of payment history (apparently I missed a payment months ago so where I thought was paying up to date every month I was actually paying a months arrears if you get my meaning) that's why it was passed to the DCA collector apparently.

 

She also said that the collector can pass the account back to the lewis group once an agreement has been made (which I'd like to do, much rather pay by some sort of bank transfer than cash on doorstep). But again she wouldn't give me his contact details, even know apparently he's the only one i can deal with about this, she said I should just wait for him to come round again and sort something out then. But as last time I saw the DCA agent I refused him entry and he ran away saying he'd be back with bailiffs won't this waiting for him to come back just mean that I'm incurring charges that I could avoid if they just give me his number? Do any of you lot in your infinite wisdom of dealing with these companies know why they won't give me his number?

 

Thanks :)

 

(p.S. sorry for the epic monologue)

Link to post
Share on other sites

a door step caller from a DCA CANNOT add charges, and they cannot threaten 'coming back with a bailliff!!!!'

 

if that is so then a postman could add charges as he likes.

#

 

fire off a CCA request [look at the home page of this site]

then wait until you get the results back.

 

if anyone who is demanding money off you does not have the correct paperwork, then they have no legal right to demand payment.

 

dx

 

 

 

 

stop phoning these people........

please don't hit Quote...just type we know what we said earlier..

DCA's view debtors as suckers, marks and mugs

NO DCA has ANY legal powers whatsoever on ANY debt no matter what it's Type

and they

are NOT and can NEVER  be BAILIFFS. even if a debt has been to court..

If everyone stopped blindly paying DCA's Tomorrow, their industry would collapse overnight... 

Link to post
Share on other sites

Yeah I guess your right. Apparently I can't do anything until this DCA guy comes around again anyway so I may aswell send a CCA request off, unless anyone would advise against it? Don't want to make more hassle for myself :-|

 

Is there a template CCA letter around? I know it's probably somewhere really obvious but I can't see it :(

Link to post
Share on other sites

You know in your local rag in the job section, the ads that say.....

 

Earn £50-£500 per week, all you need is a car and phone.

 

Well thats the guy who came to your house.

 

He is not a bailiff... he is a nobody, he is a common peasent earning a little extra cash on commision.

 

 

Send this letter and enclose a £1 postal order. Do not sign it. Send it recorded and send it to the debt collection agency who are dealing with this.

 

Dear Sir/Madam

 

Re:− Account/Reference Number

 

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

 

Wait for 12 working days + a couple of days for the mail to get to them and if no reply is heard you can stop paying them. (If you choose to)

Link to post
Share on other sites

That's great thanks ashmk, I will get it sent off today. Just a stupid question, why not sign it? (not that I will, just curious) I've seen it said a few times on here not to sign a CCA request and always wondered why? I'm assuming to just print my name after 'Yours faithfully'.

 

Plus I'd like to say a big thanks to everyone who has responded. After the guy came I was really panicky, had visions of a bunch of thug baliffs coming back and breaking down my door and stealing all my stuff. But you lot have really set my mind at ease, I know the issue still exists, but feel happier about the situation knowing my rights (or atleast what not to do) :D

Link to post
Share on other sites

Dont sign it to prevent it being lifted off with a computer and pasted on a CCA. Not that they would do that.

 

When i send CCA's I type it all on a computer including my name at the end.

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • 5 months later...

Can i ask the OP, was the document with your details on it YELLOW?

 

If so this is how a collection is made usually after a court has given payment instructions and they have not been stuck to.

The collectors have very specific instructions. They have 28 days to collect or return the account.

The amount you will need to pay is 122.00p 22.00 is the charge made for sending the collector. The 100.00 is taken off the outstanding balance. The debtor on paying this, in cash or direct with a card, is given the option to set up a standing order. If they choose not to, then the DCA will give the debtor a reference number torn from the document he holds. This reference number has the number to ring to arrange payment ( the standing order minimum amount is stated on the document, if you cant pay it you need to deal direct with the office.)

 

During the visit, if you cant pay in full or monthly, the DCA will assess weather a bailiff could seize the value of the debt in goods, weather your willing but unable to pay, or weather you can but dont want to pay. Your reference number will reflect this, and the guys in the office will see the DCAs decision. The reference basically tells the office weather its worth going down the bailiff route. Depending on the reference and the call to the office, they will decide how to deal with the case.

 

EITHER way, NO DCA from that company should have threatened to come back with bailiffs. If you ring the Lewis Group, within 28days of having this DCA call, they should have the info you need, i see this is an old post though, so i would be interested to see what happened next?

Link to post
Share on other sites

Can i ask the OP, was the document with your details on it YELLOW?can I ask YOU.what this yellow document is?

 

If so this is how a collection is made usually after a court has given payment instructions and they have not been stuck to.if a court HAVE set payment instructions,that have not been adherered to.are you saying that a broken court order would result in a DCA collecting or accessing ?

The collectors have very specific instructions. They have 28 days to collect or return the account.

The amount you will need to pay is 122.00p 22.00 is the charge made for sending the collector.who sets the £22 fee. The 100.00 is taken off the outstanding balance. The debtor on paying this, in cash or direct with a card,would not recommend that anyone pays cash,or allows anyone to obtain their card details at the door. interesting that you dont mention receipt,and state card....but am sure that you are aware of oft guidelines.so presume you do not mean credit card. is given the option to set up a standing order. If they choose not to, then the DCA will give the debtor a reference number torn from the document he holds. This reference number has the number to ring to arrange payment ( the standing order minimum amount is stated on the document, if you cant pay it you need to deal direct with the office.)again not recomended that you give a dca bank details and keep all communication in writting,so there is no room for error.

 

During the visit, if you cant pay in full or monthly, the DCA will assess weather a bailiff could seize the value of the debt in goods, so we presume that your eyesight is that good,that you can see goods from the doorstep? and not only value the goods,but know that they do belong to the debtor and that they are not on hire?weather your willing but unable to pay, or weather you can but dont want to pay. Your reference number will reflect this, and the guys in the office will see the DCAs decision. The reference basically tells the office weather its worth going down the bailiff route. Depending on the reference and the call to the office, they will decide how to deal with the case. BS.

 

EITHER way, NO DCA from that company should have threatened to come back with bailiffs. If you ring the Lewis Group, within 28days of having this DCA call, they should have the info you need, i see this is an old post though, so i would be interested to see what happened next?

 

SAM

Link to post
Share on other sites

Can i ask the OP, was the document with your details on it YELLOW?

 

If so this is how a collection is made usually after a court has given payment instructions and they have not been stuck to.

The collectors have very specific instructions. They have 28 days to collect or return the account.

The amount you will need to pay is 122.00p 22.00 is the charge made for sending the collector. The 100.00 is taken off the outstanding balance. The debtor on paying this, in cash or direct with a card, is given the option to set up a standing order. If they choose not to, then the DCA will give the debtor a reference number torn from the document he holds. This reference number has the number to ring to arrange payment ( the standing order minimum amount is stated on the document, if you cant pay it you need to deal direct with the office.)

 

During the visit, if you cant pay in full or monthly, the DCA will assess weather a bailiff could seize the value of the debt in goods, weather your willing but unable to pay, or weather you can but dont want to pay. Your reference number will reflect this, and the guys in the office will see the DCAs decision. The reference basically tells the office weather its worth going down the bailiff route. Depending on the reference and the call to the office, they will decide how to deal with the case.

 

EITHER way, NO DCA from that company should have threatened to come back with bailiffs. If you ring the Lewis Group, within 28days of having this DCA call, they should have the info you need, i see this is an old post though, so i would be interested to see what happened next?

 

The answer to all this is to refuse to deal with such collectors - there are templates on CAG dealing with Doorstep Collectors of this type, so I'd suggest the OP does some more research on that before succuming to concerns raised in the post above.

 

Link to post
Share on other sites

I've asked for Doorstep Collectors post to be removed as he has been exposed on another thread.

 

The £100 charge for sending a collector is NOT allowed and is very much against the OFT guidelines.

 

Who is going to give the OFT teeth to implement their guidelines as LAW?

Link to post
Share on other sites

To me, the post from Doorstep Collector explains a lot. Obviously these Doorstep Collectors truly believe (whether through training or sheer ignorance) that they have all sorts of rights that they actually do not, such as being able to come into your home and assess what sort of assets you might have. Only an ACTUAL bailiff can do that, and only then after certain procedures have been followed. Do they truly believe that they can decide what can be taken by a bailiff, or do they just enjoy handing out bag fulls of intimidation to people who are unaware of their rights? I'm afraid that it all just confirms to me that doorstep collectors are usually untrained, probably uneducated (by the way DC, the word is spelt 'whether' not 'weather') and are the type of people who probably have struggled to find employment in another more reputable field.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Can i ask the OP, was the document with your details on it YELLOW?

 

If so this is how a collection is made usually after a court has given payment instructions and they have not been stuck to.

The collectors have very specific instructions. They have 28 days to collect or return the account.

The amount you will need to pay is 122.00p 22.00 is the charge made for sending the collector. The 100.00 is taken off the outstanding balance. The debtor on paying this, in cash or direct with a card, is given the option to set up a standing order. If they choose not to, then the DCA will give the debtor a reference number torn from the document he holds. This reference number has the number to ring to arrange payment ( the standing order minimum amount is stated on the document, if you cant pay it you need to deal direct with the office.)

 

During the visit, if you cant pay in full or monthly, the DCA will assess weather a bailiff could seize the value of the debt in goods, weather your willing but unable to pay, or weather you can but dont want to pay. Your reference number will reflect this, and the guys in the office will see the DCAs decision. The reference basically tells the office weather its worth going down the bailiff route. Depending on the reference and the call to the office, they will decide how to deal with the case.

 

EITHER way, NO DCA from that company should have threatened to come back with bailiffs. If you ring the Lewis Group, within 28days of having this DCA call, they should have the info you need, i see this is an old post though, so i would be interested to see what happened next?

 

 

This sounds like someone is giving out the advice to unjustly enrich themselves ?

So whats cooking today ?

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • Recently Browsing   0 Caggers

    • No registered users viewing this page.

  • Have we helped you ...?


×
×
  • Create New...