Please help re. debt collection agency chasing money

[Lionmeetstiger]

Here's the story.

 

My girlfriend is from Asia and had been living in the UK for a number of years. She had a credit card with HSBC that she was paying off, but then left the country under the assumption that the debt was being taken care of by someone else.

 

She recently came back to discover that the debt had not been paid and now has Wescot Credit Services chasing her for £3700. She called them today and they've said she can either pay the £3000 in full or pay £172 per month over three years.

 

£172 over three years seems like a massive amount to me and would put her in all sorts of financial trouble.

 

She also doesn't have anywhere near the £3000 to pay it in full.

 

I've thought about the possibility of a loan to pay off the £3000 but she says that her new bank (three months new) won't give her one because she only has a temporary contract at work and because she has not been with them very long.

 

At this point i'm running out of ideas. Would wescott consider negotiating the repayments down and spread out over a longer time period. I'm shocked by their offer as it works out to way more than the debt itself.

 

Is there any cheaper way to get the £3000. Are there any loan companies with reasonable APRs that will consider lending her the money, given her situation?

 

Please help.

 

Thanks

 

ps i know this has probably been answered many times but i don't have time to search. Wescot want an answer by 9pm tonight.

[Mrs E Blackadder]

You could consider offering them an amount as a full and final settlement. I am hoping to to this with Barclays and am hoping someone on here can give me an idea of how much I should offer and how to go about it. I have read that you can offer as little as 15% of the total amount, although obviously the more you can offer the more chance there is of it being accepted.

 

I am also going to search here for threads regarding full and final settlements as it may be my only option for clearing up a bit of a financial mess!

 

I hope it's an idea that might be of use to you. Good luck and I hope your girlfriend manages to sort things out.

[Lionmeetstiger]

You could consider offering them an amount as a full and final settlement. I am hoping to to this with Barclays and am hoping someone on here can give me an idea of how much I should offer and how to go about it. I have read that you can offer as little as 15% of the total amount, although obviously the more you can offer the more chance there is of it being accepted.

 

I am also going to search here for threads regarding full and final settlements as it may be my only option for clearing up a bit of a financial mess!

 

I hope it's an idea that might be of use to you. Good luck and I hope your girlfriend manages to sort things out.

 

Yes i'm researching like a madman as we speak (although i should probably be working ) and it does seem as though these companies can and do accept some small full and final offers.

 

Any tips on what should be said to try and bring the amount down?

[Deb T]

How are justifying £172 a month over 3 years? That's like 6k back? They,re not licensed to offer loans are they?

[Mrs E Blackadder]

If anyone replies to my post regarding my problems with Barclays I will let you know what advice they give. I should imagine that taking the full amount and then knocking off any added charges might be a good starting point. Maybe you could then offer whatever percentage of the remaining balance you can realistically afford.

 

I gather from reading what I can find that debt collectors buy up many of these debts for tiny amounts, so if you can offer them something vaguely reasonable then most of them are happy to take what they can get. You may be in a better position than me as your girlfriend is dealing with a credit card and you can write to them asking to prove that she actually has a proper agreement with them (sorry can't remember off the top of my head exactly what it is called, it's something like a cca) and in some cases you can put the debt in dispute and not pay them anything until they can prove the debt. It may be worth a go for her, even if only to buy yourself some thinking time. You can also refuse to talk to the debt collectors by phone and ask for them to put everything in writing, again buying yourself more time and setting up a trail in writing that they cannot then dispute. You could do that tonight when they call. Ask for everything to be put in writing, and in the meantime you could ask (in writing) for them to prove that your girlfriend has a valid credit card agreement with them.

[cerberusalert]

How old is the a/c, when was payment made last?

[Lionmeetstiger]

How are justifying £172 a month over 3 years? That's like 6k back? They,re not licensed to offer loans are they?

 

I know it's a ridiculous offer. My girlfriend speaks with an accent so i think the agent has probably sensed some vulnerability and has gone for a big sale. I might try and take over the phone call later. How they're justifying that offer i'd love to know.

[Lionmeetstiger]

How old is the a/c, when was payment made last?

 

The last payment was made approximately two years ago at which point it was just a normal credit card debt being paid each month.

[cerberusalert]

When did she open the a/c and was it online?

[Lionmeetstiger]

When did she open the a/c and was it online?

 

 

I doubt that it was online but i honestly don't know and i'm also not sure when it was opened.

 

What are you getting at here? (I know that sounds rude but it's not )

[harrassed senior]

My first advise would be to never speak to any DCAs etc. on the telephone over these matters, you have already surmissed that they abuse this method. Also, you do not have a paper trail of evidence, which is important.

 

Notwithstanding any other advice you may receive, it is important to remember one thing: Your (or your girlfriends) Money is just that YOURS to decide how you will use it for your requirements. YOU will have the ultimate right to decide how much you will pay towards this debt.

 

At worse, if it were to ever go before a judge, he would almost certainly not be best pleased and would probably take it as an abuse of Court time seeing as how regular payments were already being made, no matter how small, and the plaintiff (DCA) would more than likely receive a rebuff!

[cerberusalert]

What are you getting at here? (I know that sounds rude but it's not )

Depending on how long ago and how it was applied for will determine on the likelihood of it being enforceable or not. Anyway for now send them a CCA request to see if they are entitled to collect this debt & if it's enforcable. If they fail to provide it within 12 working days from receipt, or the CCA is unenforcable you can legally withold any payment until they do. Send it recorded delivery enclosing a £1 postal order. When you get a reply, scan it & remove any identifying details and post it back here where we can have a look at it. We'll advise you from there;

 

Dear Sir/Madam

 

Re:- Account No: XXXXXXXX/Your Reference Number: XXXXXXX

 

This letter is a formal request pursuant to s.77/78 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974. I require you to provide me with a true copy of the credit agreement relating to the above account, together with any other documentation the Act requires you to provide.

 

I expect you to comply fully and properly with this request, within the statutory time limit. You are reminded that should you fail to comply with my request, the provisions of s.77 will apply.

 

If it is your view that you are not the creditor, s.175 of the CCA 1974 applies in the case of a simple assignment, and places a duty upon you to pass this request to the creditor. In the case of an absolute assignment, you are a creditor as defined by s.189. If you contend that you purchased the rights but not the duties of any agreement, you are reminded that s.189 of the Act is clear that an assignment is of both rights and duties.

 

Your attention is drawn to ss.5(2), 3(b),6 and 7 of the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (CPUTR). I enclose a postal order in the sum of £1.00, which is the statutory fee. Note that these funds are not to be used for any other purpose.

 

If you intend to send a reconstituted copy of the CCA you must declare the reason why it has been reconstituted and if the original exists and in what form (microfiche) etc.

 

If you are unable to comply fully and properly with this request, you should confirm this in writing at the earliest opportunity, and certainly within the statutory time limit for compliance, and return the fee.

 

Furthermore, with regards 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.

 

You are reminded of the following under Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008.

 

Trading Standards can bring about a prosecution if, with the object of coercing another person to pay money claimed from the other as a debt due under contract, he or she:

 

(a) harasses the other with demands for payment which by their frequency, or the manner or occasion of their making, or any accompanying threat or publicity are calculated to subject him or his family or household to alarm, distress or humiliation;

(b) falsely represents, in relation to the money claimed, that criminal proceedings lie for failure to pay it;

© falsely represent themselves to be authorized in some official capacity to claim or enforce payment;

(d) utters a document falsely represented by him to have some official character or purporting to have some official character which he knows it has not.

 

I am of the view that your harassment of me by telephone puts you in breach of the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008, 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.

 

Further to this if it is your intention to arrange a call from your 'Doorstep Collectors', I note that there is only an implied license under English Common Law for certain people to visit me on my property without express permission; the postman and people asking for directions etc (Armstrong v. Sheppard and Short Ltd [1959] 2 Q.B. per Lord Evershed M.R.).

 

Take note, I revoke license under English Common Law for you, or any of your representatives to visit me at my property and if you do so without my permission, you will then be liable to damages for a tort of trespass. You would also be conspiring in a trespass if you sent someone to visit me nevertheless. Any trespassers you attempt to send therefore will be dealt with accordingly.Be further advised that any further telephone calls from your company will be recorded.

 

(Print in red optional addition)

 

I look forward to hearing from you.

 

Yours faithfully **Edit to suit**

 

(Print do not sign signature)

[Undercover-Elsa]

Hi,

as above..neither you nor your girlfriend should discuss this on the phone with them under any circumstances..they WILL lie and try to frighten you into paying as much as possible. They DO NOT have the right to dictate how much you girlfriend can afford.

I would send them a formal request for the credit agreement to see if they have the right to collect this. The letter link is in the CCA request link below.

Elsa x

 

Edit..Cerbs got it covered!

Edited July 19, 2010 by Undercover-Elsa

[Lionmeetstiger]

cerberusalert - that is amazing, thank you so much

[tindwcel]

Wescot want an answer by 9pm tonight.

 

Ha Ha! They will have to wait a bit longer than that! Just to re-iterate what others have said... If you were contemplating talking to them on the telephone tonight, don't do it. Not tonight. Not ever.

[Halibutt]

Cerbs advice is the way to go - in my experience. If they do phone this evening, either ignore it or tell them that a letter is on its way.

 

Good luck!