A few questions

[dorishaslop]

Just out of interest, If I just stop my direct debits to my credit card debt payment (to a collections firm) and then relocate to another European country, can these people trace me and harrass me again, or can I wait out the six years and hope for the best

[cerberusalert]

can these people trace me and harrass me again

There are tracing agents which may be able to locate you, but much depends on how much information you leave back in the UK i.e telling banks or neighbours your forwarding address or even which country you're moving to.

[dorishaslop]

Thanks for the prompt reply, I would need to keep my account open for my disability allowance to be paid in, I am hoping to let my son move into my current house so he could just say he doesn't kknow where I am, but although I have been paying my debts every month I do pay the minimum they will allow me to but it still leaves me with absolutely no money to live on.. I wouldn't let anyone else know my new address abroad, and I do have a little place in mine right in the middle of nowhere but would the recovery people search for me or probably write off the debt, which amounts to about three grand for one company, and again for another three grand on a credit card. not a huge amount compared to some but huge for me. many thanks....

[cerberusalert]

I do pay the minimum they will allow me to but it still leaves me with absolutely no money to live on..

You should be telling them what you can afford and willing to pay.

but would the recovery people search for me or probably write off the debt,

For relatively small amounts like that they'll won't work too hard trying to trace you & even if they did it wouldn't be economically viable for them to try and pursue through a foreign court & they wouldn't be able to do it in the UK against a non-UK resident. Edited June 16, 2011 by cerberusalert
mong spelling

[cerberusalert]

I've moved your posts and created a new thread for you so as not to confuse someone else's thread.

[dorishaslop]

Many thanks, you've put my troubled mind at rest for now x

[dorishaslop]

can someone please tell me what is meant by a TRUE copy of agreement. sorry to sound dim.

[rebel11]

In essence it means 'the Original Credit Agreement', the one when the account was set up. Have a read of number 5 in my signature.

[dorishaslop]

Hello, I have three debts, two to Metropolitan Collection Agency for about £1500 each and one to MBNA for about £3000..

 

I was paying these off at approx £30 a month each but have now been made disabled due to Rheumatoid Arthritis..

 

I have been paying these debts off for a few years and although they stopped the interest I really don't seem to see the amounts going down much although I don't scrutinise the statements...

 

please can someone tell me how to write to these people and offer the sum of £1 per month as I believe they are obliged to accept this.

at present I am on Statutory sick pay and waiting for this to expire and then will claim ESA.

 

I have been ignoring the calls and letters since I stopped paying (stupid I know but I have to eat and I also have a injured dog who is costing money each month for bandages etc).

 

I stopped paying anything in June because someone told me they wouldn't take me to court over such small amounts but the worrying is getting to me now..

I am going to have yet another operation soon which means I will not be able to write for about three months..

 

. sorry for waffling but please help..

if anyone can help with a template

I would be so grateful

[rebel11]

Hi doris

 

Have you got any Penalty Charges you can claim back or have you been Mis-sold PPI on any of these products?

Have a read of 7 and 8 in my signature.

[raydetinu]

suggest you go and the CAB, they will help you do expenditure/income sheet and write to creditors offering the £1/month payment for you.

[Pootling]

I'm keen to know how to go about this too, everytime I call a debtor they persuade me I have to pay £60 per month minimum for late water rates and £15 pcm minimum for a credit card debt.. Im running out of money that can be skimmed from the food bill, or from clothing and other essentials

[dorishaslop]

Hi Rebel, I did claim back from MBNA and they paid £400 but instead of letting me have it, they took it off the balance which left me with another creditor called Investor Compensation who are demanding I pay them at £10 a month. they wouldn't listen when I told them I couldn't afford it so I stopped paying them too. Can I claim back from the HSBC bank for the debts which they have now passed to the Metropolitan Collection Agency, I'm sure I paid PPI on those loans but would like to be able to claim without having to pay at least 25% to someone. It actually took Investor Compensation over two years to get MBNA to return my PPI so I don't see why I should pay them off instantly. I have had letters and phone calls from IC and and Metropolitan which I have so far ignored. I had a call from MBNA when I defaulted and I told them that I couldn't pay the £37 per month they wanted and they told me to pay £1 from my debit card whilst they sorted things out and then 4 days after that they took the £37 anyway which left me and my dogs very hungry. so I don't want to fall into that trap again, (I cut my card up and asked the bank for another one so they can't take any more) I didn't even realise they could do that. Thanks for your advice though. and if you have a template letter for offering the minimut of £1 a week I would be grateful as I'm not very good at putting things properly in letters.

[Conniff]

There is no template letter for arranging to pay debtors £1 per month. It's not actually £1 per month, it's what you can afford after you have deducted all your priority debts and living costs from your income.

 

It's not good offering £1 if you have disposable income of hundreds. You make up a budget sheet and send them that showing that you can only afford £x. Send the first payment with the budget sheet and even thought they will complain or say that isn't acceptable, just keep sending the £x.

 

There is no legal minimum or maximum and they know that if they were to take you to court the judge would make sure you had enough to live on before saying how much you should pay. One judge at one of the hearings looked at the budget sheet presented to him and asked 'do you smoke' the answer was yes so he took money off for that as well. That was a little while ago now and wouldn't happen today, but it shows how they think.

 

As long as your not trying to fiddle the books or see them off, then you say how much you can afford and, of course, only in a letter, never ever speak to them on the phone.

[Hamster777]

I wrote to my creditors, explaining my circumstances and offered to pay £10 per month. I was unsure how to go about it at the time, but the ones I enclosed a £10 cheque with the letter accepted it and went along fine, the one I did'nt put a £10 cheque inwith the letter continued to hound me.

 

My suggestion is write to them and enclose the first payment with that letter. Also in the letter ask them to halt any interest, that worked for me, it was a few years ago, but worth a try. Good luck!

[Very Vince]

Has anyone else tried Hamster's strategy? I'd be very keen to reduce my payments to £10 a month but when you I speak to my various lenders on the phone they won't have a bar of it.

[dorishaslop]

Has anyone else tried Hamster's strategy? I'd be very keen to reduce my payments to £10 a month but when you I speak to my various lenders on the phone they won't have a bar of it.

 

I've done it today, I wrote to them and explained that I have more outgoings than incomings and have enclosed a cheque for £5 in each letter, I have asked them all (3) to continue to send me monthly statements and I will continue to send them £5 per month.. I have not sent and income and expentiture sheet. I don't see why I should.. so am now just sitting quiet and waiting to see what happens.. I'll keep you posted

[Conniff]

Has anyone else tried Hamster's strategy? I'd be very keen to reduce my payments to £10 a month but when you I speak to my various lenders on the phone they won't have a bar of it.

 

It's certainly because you are using the phone, and probably asking rather than telling. Don't use the phone, write and tell them and enclose the first payment with the letter.

[raydetinu]

Also offer to set up a SO for that amount to be paid monthly direct into account.

[dorishaslop]

Hi Caggers

I had two debts with HSBC which went into default... I then had a letter from Metropolitan Collections saying they had bought the debt and I was to pay them.. I arranged to pay them £5 a month for each debt and started paying last September...

 

Last week I got a letter from HSBC telling me they had passed the debt to another DCA(no mention of Metropolitan) and that the amount I owed was exactly the same as when I first started paying Metropolitan.

 

When I first decided to get everything in hand and pay all my debts I wrote to each creditor and told them I was willing to pay but that I would like a monthly statement.. none of them has yet sent me a statement, and good old Barclay card told me they would freeze the interest but have just sent me a letter with interest added.

 

It's enough to make me tear my hair out.. so now I have missed all the repayments this month and won't be paying anyone till I know what is going on!!

 

any suggestions would be appreciated.

Jan

Edited January 12, 2012 by citizenB
formatted for easier reading

[Stigman]

Hi Jan,

 

You do not say what the debts with HSBC are, are they for loans, credit cards, overdrafts?

 

Metropolitan Collection Services are HSBC, so is DG Solicitors, all in the same office.

 

As for Barclaycard, can you start a new thread for this please so the answers do not get too confusing, it helps to keep each debt to a separate thread.

 

Back to HSBC, you say it has been passed to another DCA, who is the DCA and are they collecting on behalf of HSBC or bought the debt?

 

Thanks

 

Stigman

[cerberusalert]

Metropolitan are the debt collection arm of HSBC so you have been paying HSBC all along. They may have transferred the a/c to an outside DCA to collect or even sold the a/c. Who are the new DCA?

 

What are the HSBC debts, credit card, loan?

[dorishaslop]

Hi there.. thanks for the prompt response. The debt is for an overdraft.. the other one is for a credit card, the letter I had from hsbc was regarding the overdraft amount which has now been passed to MKDP LLP...

I am also getting a daily phone call from CSL4 (whoever they are) they say that they have an advisor who wishes to speak to me, I have told them that I will not answer their security questions and would they please communicate via letters but they still phone every day to repeat the process.

[citizenB]

Metropolitan dont buy HSBC debt do they ? Any chance you can edit personal detail and post the letter up for us to have a look at please.

 

Dx100 – Instructions on uploading pdfs

scan the required letters/agreements/sheets

as a picture file

remove all pers info inc barcodes etc using paint

but leave all figures and dates.

goto one of the many free online pdf converter websites

convert the image to pdf format.

or ir you have PDF as an installed printer drive use that

open a new msg box here

hit go advanced below the msg box

hit manage attachments below that box

hit the add files button on the top right

hit select files, navigate to your file on your pc

hit upload files

NB:you can set where it goes in the post by hitting insert inline.

the hit reply button

[citizenB]

Have you written to them, confirm that you will only communicate in writing and are entitled to do so as per OFT Debt Collection Guidelines.