Scotcall, housecall please, please help.

[helpneeded2012]

Hi,

 

My husband and I moved into our house with our children and to help us furnish it we started to use catalouges, he had a steady full time job and we kept our payments unti he effectivly had a breakdown and lost his job.

 

I had outstand mental health issues already and we have struggled ever since.

 

We stopped paying our cataluges as we were reduced to income support and because of our issues we found it too hard to even think about what was happenening and ushed it away.

 

I have just had a visit from scotcal and im very, very scared.

 

I don't know what to do and as far as i can gether I shouldn't ring them???

 

I want to ring and see hwat they want us to pay off as im terrified of them returning whilst my husbands out or me ending up in court my anxity is very bad and ive been crying all morning,

 

I don't know wat to do, we have no car, no savings, no property, no investments and i haven't got a lump sum to offer them but im terrified of having to go to court.

 

I've never been in trouble in my lfe and i can't stop crying

 

any advice PLEASE??

[padja]

right scotcall have as much rights as the milkman to visit you so ignore their threats. They have no legal rights to come to your property so lets get them stopped visiting you. In the library section of this site you will find a template letter to stop the visits. Ignore the threats they make to you. The next template letter to send is the stop phoning me letter. The reason to send these is to get them to start a paper trail. When did you last make a payment to these catalogues? Stay off the phone these people are very skilled in getting you to agree to make payments you cant afford with all sorts of threats. These are not priority debts and all that can happen is they can go to get a CCJ but doing that means they will get a payment but only a very reduced one that you can afford. So they try to avoid that with threats and remember thats all they are threats they have no legal rights to do anything to you. What I suggest is you right to the catalogue company explaining the position you are in and offer a payment of £1 a month for the foreseeable future until you are in a better position to pay it off. But dont ring Scotcall or be frightened by them they have as much legal rights as Mickey Mouse has

[unclebulgaria67]

Do not worry. Scotcall are just a debt collection agency that has no powers to demand anything. These catalogue debts are not a priority. The priorities are the legal ones e.g Council Tax, TV Licence and then the ones that allow you to live e.g rent, gas'electric/water, food. If the catalogue companies or whoever currently owns those debts wants to take you to court, then they will have to go through the correct process, by first sending you a letter saying that what they will be doing. They would then issue a court claim against you and you would have the opportunity to provide the court with information. A court would only ever require you to make reasonable repayments based on your ability to pay. So after all of the basic living costs were taken into account, if you only had £1 per month left, then that is all the catalogue companies would get.

 

Don't ring them, never do that. Just wait for any letters to come through and write back saying that would like all communications to be in writing only. You could advise them of your current financial and health circumstances, so are not able to deal with this currently. You could also visit your local citizens advice bureau about this and they will tell you what to do.

[dx100uk]

first port of call

please check your CRA file

 

snotcrawl nor ANY DCA/Doorstepper have ANY LEGAL POWERS TO DO ANYTHING

 

totally ignore them.

 

 

dx

[citizenB]

If you are struggling, you might want to have a read of the following and then perhaps contact one of the numbers shown below..

 

The following has recently been brought to my attention and could prove very useful. Especially now the OFT guidance specifically states it's an Unfair practice to ignore a cashflow budget!

If you are experiencing difficulty in repaying your debts, CASHflow is a way for you to negotiate affordable repayments with your creditors. Before you can use CASHflow, you must have spoken to one of the free advice agencies licensed to offer CASHflow to their clients. The advice agency will start by talking to you about all of the options available, and can help you to decide if CASHflow is the right one for you.

 

If you decide to use CASHflow, you will be provided with all of the tools you need to be able to complete your own financial statement and negotiate offers of repayment with creditors yourself. This will enable you to stay in control of your situation, but still have support from an adviser at any stage if you need it.

 

You can contact a local advice agency to check if they offer CASHflow. You can find a list of free advice agencies that are near to you by searching for a money adviser in England or Wales, Scotland, or Northern Ireland.

Alternatively, you can call National Debtline on 0808 808 4000

CASHflow: http://www.cashflow.uk.net/

National Debtline: http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/

https://www.mymoneysteps.org/

xx

[helpneeded2012]

Thanks. it was about 2 years ago i last paid. will follow your advice and send the letters

[helpneeded2012]

Whats a cra file please x

[dx100uk]

see my sig below

 

dx

[MARTIN3030]

Credit reference agency-Equifax Experian or Callcredit

[Bombaymix]

Hi there!

 

I'm sure you've got some reassurance from the comments above and as usual some good advice.

 

They have no right to intimidate you or upset you.

 

Please believe, being in debt is not a crime. These DCAs will make you believe it is.

 

If they return. Simply tell them that they are on your property without appointment and to kindly go away and you'll deal with it in writing.

 

Please don't upset yourself further over it xx