EOS, Moorcroft and Lowell Portfolio were OK to deal with really.

[Johnny Brassic]

Hi all, I just wanted to tell people I have recently dealt with the 3 companies named above for 5 differant debts for anything between £350 and about £1800. Its taken me 8 months of negotiating and letters back and forth but each of these debts has now been dealt with and I am paying them off at £5 each per month until further notice. Our financial situation is income support/incap benefit due to me having to have spinal surgery and my wife having MS.

At all times I kept them informed of what I was doing next, my finances, my health, etc, I only wrote to them and most of all didn't let them bully me into financial agreements I couldn't meet when I spoke to them on the phone on odd occasions.

To anyone having problems, stick to the facts, don't get drawn into arguments, don't ignore their letters but most of all stick to your guns. Work out what you can pay and refuse to pay anything more. My stubborness paid off, so can yours! I got letter templates from here, changed them slightly to make them more personal to me and sent them off. I read a lot about what others were doing as well which helped. Good research and clear communication is king!

Just thought a little positivity would help others feeling stressed and under pressure.

Good luck, anything is possible.

[dx100uk]

i hope you cca'ed them all first?

 

dx

[Johnny Brassic]

There was no need to be honest with you. We were paying all the debts up until August last year when my wife was made redundant.

They were for catalogues, Cards etc and none were in dispute at that point, all were legitamate and none were in arrears.

When my wife was made redundant we tried dealing with the companies directly but none of them would help or accept reduced payments. At that point I dug in my heels and decided it would be easier to deal with DCA's so ignored the original companies and waited for DCA letters to roll in. I've dealt with DCA's in the past and find them easier to deal with if you tell them what you're doing and keep up a dialogue. I think they work on the understanding that something is better than nothing.

At no point was I trying to duck out of paying my debts and I let them know this right from the offset. For me honesty and brute stubborness has paid off.

[Johnny Brassic]

I should also add that offers for reduced lump sums have already come in for 2 of them. If I had a few hundred quid spare I could actually save myself a lot of money lol.

[dx100uk]

sounds like there was

 

anyone that offers a discount knows they will never win in court...........

 

that could be through an issue with paperwork or unlawful charges/PPI.

 

IMHO you have p'haps 'given' some money on a plate, when there was no need too.

 

ofcourse DCA will negotiate, as long as they get something, when they know they should be getting nowt!

a read of seq's blog in my sig might be worth your while

 

dx

[Johnny Brassic]

The exercise was to get some debts dealt with and paid. None of the debts were in dispute, I/we signed credit agreements and was not/am not trying to wriggle out of my responsibility to pay back money I have borrowed in any way shape or form and legally owe. None of the DCA's acted unlawfully and were actually more helpful than the companies I owed money to in the first place.

The reason I put this topic up was to show people that no matter how dire your situation (we went from earning £2400 a month to being on income support/incap benefit) if you talk to people and are not entirely unreasonable it is possible to come to an agreement that suits you and not everyone else.

Trust me i'm not in the habit of paying money I don't have to! Intrim Justicia are chasing me for a 9 year old debt (statute barred anyone) and are getting a wall of silence in return.

I just thought it would be nice to post something positive for a change.