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HSBC have sent in the Americans to collect.


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Hi,

You have probably heard this all before but to me this is new and I really could do with some sound advice.

I moved to Spain over 7 years ago and for a time I was able to repay the debts I had with HSBC, in total they amounted to around 4, maybe 5000 pounds. To be honest I am not sure it is that long ago that I had the overdraft / credit card etc. Because I worked for an English Company and was paid into my HSBC account paying them was easy but that all changed early 2009, I lost my job. I went into my branch in the UK when I went back to the UK and explained my situation, I tried to send them whatever I could to pay the debt but eventually I just couldnt manage it and had to decide whether or not I ate or paid back the debt. I guess I hid my head in the sand and hoped against hope they wouldnt come after me. But I was wrong. For the past couple of months I have been receiving phone calls on both my mobile and home telephone number from an American company who say they have been instructed to collect the debt by HSBC. At first they said I owed 3000 pounds and that they would accept 1500 to settle the account. I didnt have that amount. Then I got another call telling me I owed 5000 then another telling me the amount was 5000 plus the 3000 now they are saying it is 15,000.

I have stopped answering my phone now because they are making me sick with worry.

What do I do? I couldn't pay the 1500 much less 15,000.

I am living in fear that bailiffs will be sent to my door or worse.

Can the Americans do anything to me or my home?

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Hi Welcome to CAG.

What is the name of the company chasing you???

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I am living in fear that bailiffs will be sent to my door or worse.

Can the Americans do anything to me or my home?

 

In a word no, not unless they've obtained a CCJ here in the UK which they would have to ask a Spanish court for permission to enforce & they cannot obtain a CCJ against a non-UK citizen.

 

They would have to take this through the Spanish legal system which given the amount allegedly owed would not be financially viable for them. They are sabre ratling and trying to intimidate you into making payment, just ignore them.

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Is it the nice Glen Mathew From Bluenose who describes himself as an attorney from Washington DC that's calling you? He used to call and write to me a lot but I ignored him and he's stopped!

 

The guy is called Glen Matthew, Collections Supervisor, Bethesda MD, where ever the heck that is. Wonder if it is the same guy, wish he would leave me alone.

 

I hate being in this situation, but what can I do, I have no assetts that I can sell off, (got asked that last call but one) no relatives I can borrow from, (got that asked too), no way of getting a bank loan to pay them off, (this one had to be the icing but I guess some folk might be able to do this) and no prospect of getting another job. I literally live hand to mouth. I am stuck here with no place to go and these people won't leave me alone despite my explaining ad-nauseum that I am not in a position to pay them so much as a red cent. Honestly I feel sick everytime the phone rings because I fear it is them phoning me to tell me they are coming to repossess the house or something. (My house by the way is a cassita in the campo against which I couldnt get a loan if I wanted plus I wouldnt be able to repay the bank here, so that option is out of the window too, I was asked this as well).

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Do not speak to them on the 'phone, tell them you will only correspond in writing.

 

By asking you to borrow money they are in breach of OFT guidelines & if they are acting on behalf of HSBC it is the bank who will be held responsible for their actions.

 

They cannot send in bailiffs or repossess your property without a court order & they won't be able to get one.

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Do not speak to them on the 'phone, tell them you will only correspond in writing.

 

By asking you to borrow money they are in breach of OFT guidelines & if they are acting on behalf of HSBC it is the bank who will be held responsible for their actions.

 

They cannot send in bailiffs or repossess your property without a court order & they won't be able to get one.

 

They sent me an email yesterday to which I haven't responded (mainly because I am scared too) stating they are about to hand my case to local Attorneys, Mr Matthew stated in it that I owe a combined balance of 15,650 pounds (My cards and overdraft weren't for this amount and when 2 phone calls ago I asked them to show me where this amount came from they failed to respond). They have said that I have to respond before the 20 March or the client HSBC will lose patience and start proceedings. I do not know how to respond to them, they said they may be willing to accept monthly payments but as I do not know how much money I have coming in from month to month, (they asked me to prove that too) what more can I say, other than what I have done already. I cannot promise to pay x amount and then renege because I don't have money coming in that month can I. They would go ballistic and I doubt very much they will believe I am in so dire a straight as I am, and I fear showing them a statement would give them access to my bank here. (even though there is no money in my account).

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I doubt very much whether they will pass it on to a 'local agent' & even if they did they will be easily dealt with. They are trying to intimidate you.... don't let them do it.

 

It is a UK debt covered by UK law, the CCA 1974 & CPUTR. When and if a 'local agent' gets involved they will have to prove the debt exists, how much & they have the right to recover it along with a copy of any agreements & a statement of a/c.

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I doubt very much whether they will pass it on to a 'local agent' & even if they did they will be easily dealt with. They are trying to intimidate you.... don't let them do it.

 

It is a UK debt covered by UK law, the CCA 1974 & CPUTR. When and if a 'local agent' gets involved they will have to prove the debt exists, how much & they have the right to recover it along with a copy of any agreements & a statement of a/c.

 

Thank you so much for your help, I feel slightly better, though I am still terrified of these people. I cannot begin to tell you how sick I feel when I see an overseas number light up my phone. Add to this they are now sending me emails and I feel they are surrounding me on all sides and like sharks in bloody water are going to take a bite out of me any minute. I know this must sound dramatic but I am not a bad person and have never ever reneged on any of my obligations before. I simply cannot do anything about this one and cannot see a time when I will.

 

Is this company like most debt recovery companies wherein they buy the debt from a company and try and get what they can from the debtor or is this company actually working for HSBC? I have googled the company but it is somewhat a trumpet blowing site and can find little info regards.

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I believe the way these companies work is to intimidate you into making a payment and then they think they can then enforce the debt in the country where you are living.

 

Just ignore them and if they manage to speak to you on the phone, don't get into a conversation, just end the call politely. Once the realise they are not getting anywhere, they will give up. The people I know who had moved to Spain with UK debts, never had the debts chased there beyond a few weeks of getting letters, phone calls and emails. From what they said, they had a couple of different international debt companies chase them and then nothing.

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Is this company like most debt recovery companies wherein they buy the debt from a company and try and get what they can from the debtor or is this company actually working for HSBC?]
they will probably have bought the debt for a fraction of it's value from HSBC. The bank will have sold it for around 10% of it's value & then claimed tax relief. The DCA will be chancing their arm hoping that they can intimidate you into making payment. Ignore their emails & 'phonecalls they will eventually probably offer you a lower settlement figure hoping that they can make some profit.

 

Basically there is nothing they can do, they will not spend too much time, effort or money chasing this. They will move on to other fish.

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When they call and speak to you do they ask you security questions to verify your ID? If not they're probably in breach of some part of the DPA. If they do just refuse to answer them - you don't know who they are so you could be giving personal info to anyone!

Emails are simple - add them to your spam list and you won't see them.

Check the currency for the amount they are asking you to pay - they demanded mine in Dollars which made it seem a lot more than it was!

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When they call and speak to you do they ask you security questions to verify your ID? If not they're probably in breach of some part of the DPA. If they do just refuse to answer them - you don't know who they are so you could be giving personal info to anyone!

Emails are simple - add them to your spam list and you won't see them.

Check the currency for the amount they are asking you to pay - they demanded mine in Dollars which made it seem a lot more than it was!

 

The email said they wanted over 15,000 pounds plus, it also gave the figure in dollars. Either way I don't have the ability to pay a tenth of it much less the full sum. I have decided that I will no longer answer their phone calls and most certainly won't answer their emails. I don't think they have my address, I know they asked me for it one time and I refused to give it. They kept on saying they needed to send me the information regarding the debt but I was too nervous about giving my address to someone I just didnt know. So I didnt. However, the bank have always had my email address so I guess this is how this company got that.

Whilst the people on the phone have always been polite their calls have actually started to make me feel ill. I am not a nervous sort of person but my nerves are tattered because of the worry. Thanks for the advice and for not judging me.

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No one here will judge you - 95% of the people here either are or have been in the same boat as you're in now and will do their best to give you advice relevant to your problem.:-)

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when i moved to the Netherlands about 4 years ago i left a small debt in the Ireland and was contacted by Bluestone as i was still in contact with the bank in Ireland. They called me and i kept on saying to them that i had no money and was still looking for a job. They kept on sending letters and the amounts kept on rising, and rising until it was about 5 times the initial amount. I vividly remember them calling me and i actually laughed at them and their ridiculous charges and told em good luck in getting that out of me. As i had only been here a few months i changed mobile numbers, pre-paid not registered and dumped my old number after telling the people who needed to know my new number. They sent a total of 2 more letters threatening to pass it on to a local collection agency, then never heard from them again. Its all bluster my friend, either ignore, or change your number. From personal experience you have absolutely nothing to worry about.

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  • 1 month later...
Well the Americans are after the Americans too. I left the UAE with some credit card debt. I was contacted by this Glen Matthews fellow here in the US saying I owe this astronomical amount of money. I'm curious if the statute of limitations applies. Did you hear anything again from him?


I am receiving phone calls at different hours of day & night which I am not answering. It's the only option open to me as I am broke.

 

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I'm pretty sure they can only call you between the hours of 9 and 9 anything outside that time is harassment and you can file a complaint - keep your phone log of when they called.

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I am now getting calls from Madrid, not sure if they are from these people or someone associated with them but as I now no longer answer calls from any number I do not know I am ignoring them. This probably isn't the best idea seeing as if they are associated with this Glen Mathews guy and are in Spain they may send in the heavy mob or whatever they do here but if you don't have the money to pay the first lot of folk how the hell do they expect you to pay the umpteenth set of folks down the line.

I am honestly at the end of my tether with this, I just want it to stop. I know they want their pound of flesh, that is what they do, go after people who owe money and try and bully them into paying them the debt plus their exhorbitant fees but when the well is dry it is no good throwing the bucket down it to draw up water.

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