The worst yet???

[soashamed]

I am in such a mess, i think i could quite possibly be the worst case yet with regards to these payday loans!!

 

This time last year i took out a payday loan, and yes got caught in the cycle... ended up with 6+ loans and a couple of months later defalted an ALL of them!! However unlike most "Normal" people i chose to ignore all the calls, letters and emails hoping it would all just go away. I would open perhaps one letter a week freak out and hide it away or tear it up.

 

I did open a letter from Lloyds TSB saying that they had given me an unauthorised O/D and had paid Wage Day Advance £750... and now i owed them money, i failed to contact them regarding this and they froze my bank account. I have another account with lloyds and i started using it as my day to day account but recently i have been going overdrawn so it's just a matter of time before they freeze that one too!!

 

So here i am... nearly a year later, so angry at myself for letting this drift on without doing anything. I don't have a clue what to do or where to start, i have lost track of who i owe money to, what amounts are outstanding and what debt collection agencies relate to what original loan companies.

 

I now live with my boyfriend who does not have a clue whats going on and i fear he would leave me if i told him the truth, which to be honest i wouldn't blame him for!! All the letters etc. that i do receive which to be honest is not many now go to my parents address where i stayed prior to moving in with my partner..

 

I so close to having a breakdown, i know how stupid i have been and know i dont deserve any sympathy but any advise or thoughts would be greatly received?

[PhoenixLaw]

Hi! Firstly, step back and take a breath. You will be fine but need to be in the right state of mind. This site will probably be your saviour. Do you keep all correspondence?

[soashamed]

Hi, and thanks for replying..

 

Well not really.. I have stopped opening letters up, some i keep eventhough i don't open, some i just tear up !!!

[renegadeimp]

You're nowhere near the worst. We've had people with 11+ PDL loans on here.

 

Lets take a look at what you can do.

 

First PDL's are low priority debts. They like to think differently but that doesnt change facts. In regards to Lloyds giving you an overdraft, you really need to get a complaint into their Information Commissioner, the branch manager, the OFT and FSA as they have authorised and taken your money without your consent. This is technically theft.

 

Open another bank account such as a natwest step account or a coop basic account. On those, it is impossible to go overdrawn. Money cannot be guaranteed on those accounts so as such any transactions will not go through if the money isnt there. This will lift a weight off your shoulders as you can now start a formal dispute with lloyds, and negotiate any repayments on monies that you do owe.

 

If possible, open 1 with each. Or 2 accounts with the same bank. This allows you to keep your day to day money in one account and send the other money when needed to pay bills. (Remember, with a natwest step account, you dont get a credit card, overdraft facility etc. You get a simple, basic bank account and a VISA cashpoint debit card. It's one of the best things you can do while you get your finances in check as you dont have to worry about going overdrawn or erroneous transactions.)

 

If you want us to help you, if possible, can you give us a complete run down of who you owe money to and the amounts they claim you owe, along with the original loan amounts + original stated interest.

This will give us much more information to work with and we can advise a lot better and more importantly, more specifically.

 

Take a deep breath and try not to worry, everyone on this site has been in debt at some time or another so we know exactly what you are going through.

 

Myself, i owed around £7-8000 a few years ago, and with careful planning and negotiation, wiped around £4500 off that debt as there was no chance of me repaying it, and paid the remaining amount over 3 years at a rate i could easily afford. I now have all my debts paid off and around £4000 in the bank for emergencies .

 

The answers to your problem are out there We just need a bit more information to go off

 

The easiest way to find out who you owe money to is wait for the letters to come then respond to them as they appear.

 

In the worst case scenario, youd be paying £1 a month to each PDL, even after its been to court. They cant arrest you, they cant take stuff from you if you dont have luxuries and only have basic living essentials or even try for bankruptcy. If they did the latter, then it would defeat the purpose as their own debt would be wiped and they wouldnt get anything.

 

So in short, STOP WORRYING . It's semi-serious, but nowhere near as serious as you think it is.

 

Heres what you can do for us. Each time you get a letter for one of these debts, write it out in a post in this thread so we can advise you. If you get any phonecalls, DONT give them your NAME, ADDRESS etc. Simply hang up. If they keep calling, get the callers company name, and if possible the account number, then hang up. Post the results here and we can give you a letter to send to them to stop them calling you. Never get into a discussion with them on the phone.

Edited April 10, 2012 by renegadeimp

[PhoenixLaw]

All I would say, as there are much more people on here that are better equipt to give advice(renegadeimp being one of them) is the following: With regards to your boyfriend: Get in control and empower yourself and then if he does find out then at least you are handling the situation and are more knowledgable about this in the future. The worst you can do is sit there worrying. Eveyone has different vices at different times in their life, this is just yours now, not forever.

[renegadeimp]

If im honest, you should sit your boyfriend down and tell him. He might take it in his stride and try and help. Think of it this way, if he finds out down the road that you were keeping this a secret from him, he might get pretty upset. You could offset it by saying its just 2 or 3 and youre working on paying them off.

[toptrapper]

If im honest, you should sit your boyfriend down and tell him. He might take it in his stride and try and help. Think of it this way, if he finds out down the road that you were keeping this a secret from him, he might get pretty upset. You could offset it by saying its just 2 or 3 and youre working on paying them off.

 

Have to agree with renegadeimp here, a problem shared is a problem halved. I nearly lost a long-term relationship over PDL's until I could take no more and let it flood out, my partner stood by me, helped with the correspondence and took some of the burden from me. Good luck, you're not on your own, keep us informed how you get on and if there's any additional support we can help you with.

[soashamed]

Thank you so much for your responses and advise, it really helps!!!

 

I think you are right, one of the first things i am going to do is change my bank account...

Apologies i dont think i was very clear before with regards to Lloyds, with my original account i had a £200 O/D which i was in by £200. When i defaulted on the WDA Loan thats when they gave me what they called an "unplanned O/D" of aprox £750. Does the fact i did have an authorised O/D make a difference??

 

Because i am not sure on who/what amounts i owe do you think i should request statements from the original PDL companies i can remember? or is this a bad move??

 

Last night i opened a letter i received last week that had been festering in the bottom of my bag...

 

" LLoyds TSB Bank PLC have passed your debt to iQor Recovery Services Ltd with instructions to recover your outstanding balance of £1,323.50 in full. Accepted methods of payment are detailed on the reverse of this letter.

 

Our actions will continue regardless of whether you actually read this notice or not.

 

If you do not take action to resolve this matter immediately, we may commence legal action in the County Court/Sheriff Court. This may well result in a judgment/Decree being recorded against you.

 

Any Judgment or decree entered against an individual is recorded on the public register and is likely to affect their credit status and ability to obtain credit in the future. We advise you take action to resolve this matter and contact our offices immediately.

 

We also may instruct a Debt Collector to visit your home and collect the debt personally if you do not make an acceptable payment proposal.

 

If you think you cannot pay the debt in full at present then please call us immediately between 8am and 9pm Monday to Friday to discuss how you intend to pay this debt."

 

Any thoughts on what to do??

 

"Myself, i owed around £7-8000 a few years ago, and with careful planning and negotiation, wiped around £4500 off that debt as there was no chance of me repaying it, and paid the remaining amount over 3 years at a rate i could easily afford. I now have all my debts paid off and around £4000 in the bank for emergencies ."

 

That is so amazing!!! ... Gives me a bit of hope!

 

With regards to my boyfriend, i agree with all your comments on telling him.. but i think i would like to take some time to get things sorted in my head first and feel more in control again.. I would like to have made some kind of start at dealing with things myself before letting him in.

[renegadeimp]

Let them contact you. Don't contact them. Some PDL's have actually made up contracts when vunerable people have enquired. Others pile on more charges. It's just not worth chasing them.

 

In regards to lloyds, i would dispute their claim as they gave you an overdraft without permission and for a unauthorised transaction.

 

Also with the letter .. "If you do not take action to resolve this matter immediately, we may commence legal action in the county court/Sheriff Court. This may well result in a judgment/Decree being recorded against you." Note the keyword...'MAY'. It's a simple form letter designed to scare you into paying. Just a normal tactic for a DCA with no legal rights at all.

 

"Any Judgment or decree entered against an individual is recorded on the public register and is likely to affect their credit status and ability to obtain credit in the future. We advise you take action to resolve this matter and contact our offices immediately."

 

Again, they are assuming they will win. Just another scare tactic.

 

 

"We also may instruct a debt collector to visit your home and collect the debt personally if you do not make an acceptable payment proposal." This is not allowed. You can write them a simple letter which revokes their access to your property or any place you own. Should they break this order, the police can be called. If they do turn up anyway, simply answer the door with the chain or through the letterbox, and tell them to go away and you are only communicating with the head office in writing. If they refuse to leave or put a foot in the door, call the police immediately and tell them you have someone at the door who is trying to gain entry and you are scared for your life.

 

Just remember, there are ways around the unfair repayments and to get you on a payplan that you can afford. However, we need more specific information to help you. As you noted, i've been there and done it with much higher priority debts than a Payday loan. There is hope, just keep at it.

Edited April 11, 2012 by renegadeimp

[soashamed]

Thanks again for your advise, i will work my way through all the letters tonight and try to work out what's what, like you said i need to be more specific in order to receive any more help.

 

One question..

If i want to write a letter offering a repayment plan, do i write to the original creditor or the DCA's??

 

Many Thanks.

[Blossom99]

I wrote to the DCA as when I wrote to the original creditors they just said they weren't dealing with it anymore and to speak to the DCA.

[bigegg]

There's a few simple rules when dealing with debt:

 

1. Never use the phone. Make sure ALL correspondence is in writing. Refuse to answer security questions if they phone you.

2. See rule 1

3. Write (don't phone! see rule 1) whoever is asking for money.

4. Use every and any possible reason to make formal complaints - take the complaints as far as you can.

5. NEVER phone a debt collector.

6. Worst case is you go to court and a judge orders you to repay at an amount affordable to you. If that's a quid a month - that's all you'll have to repay.

7. See rule 2.

8. Make a file for each account - a4 envelope or box file, or even a shoe box.

Keep all correspondence, both sent and received INCLUDING envelopes.

9. See rule 5.

10. Make a new thread on here for each account - we will help you through this.

11. Did I mention don't phone? One conversation (and I use the term loosely) with a threat monkey will spoil your entire day. Until you realise that YOU are in control, and they can't touch you. Then you can have fun by winding them up [1]

 

You are not even CLOSE to the worst. I was close to 50K in debt - mortgage, secured loans and unsecured credit cards. I still live in the same house, the loans from companies who obeyed the law (few and far between) were paid in full. The ones that tried to play fast and loose with the law to gain extra profit got little or nothing.

 

Oh - and tell your boyfriend - if he can't cope with a little thing like this (and it IS a little thing), what's he gonna be like if you have a major problem?

 

If the letters start to bother you, remember what shakespeare had to say about debt collectors' letters:

 

"Tis the tale of an idiot. Full of sound, and fury, yet signifying nothing."

 

[1] I was particularly impressed by one of the members on here (might be fuzzybobble) who phoned and tried to give card details to a DCA.

It was a christmas card :.)

[renegadeimp]

I would write to the DCA in the first instance but add the clause that any repayment through them is done on the basis that ALL charges and interest both from the DCA and the original creditor is stopped or preferably removed.

[Hotlips85]

Set up a new bank account and type up a letter to all 6 companies offering a re-payment plan, don't worry and don't stress. It's not that bad okay , we all muck up, I owe money to people and have about 7 debt collection companies writing to me but I am not stressing at all because they have no powers any way. You don't need to tell your boyfriend, its your business and if he found out and dumped you he wouldn't be the right man for you any way, my other half laughs at me and says i'm silly. you MUST stop stressing . xx

 

I pay all mine £5 a month and that keeps them off my back lol

[soashamed]

Hi,

 

I am still working my way through all this mess and my most recent battle is now this Carter Forbes that relates to a loan taken with Monkey Dosh, They have been calling my work all the time, making out they have the right to do this as i had been warned. I have sent them the harassment letter template from here and sent that recorded delivery, i also emailed this to them too! Do these letters tend to make them stop calling??

 

Since sending this off to them, i have also emailled them and requested a breakdown of the amount i owe, and that i can only afford £30 per month. This was my reply...

 

 

Hi xxxxxxx,

Your capital amount borrowed is £150.00

Interest overall: £375.00

Interest Rates are 25% of capital and applied on a monthly basis.

Your account has been applied with 10 months interest as your loan has been overdue since July Last year.

As you have failed your payment plan your actual balance is £525 (interest + capital).

As an offer of good will we agreed to reduce your balance down to £400.00 if you could repay it over 3 months, If you were able to up your monthly payment from £30 which you have recently mentioned to £50 then we could keep the balance at £400.

However failure to do so will result in your balance being £525. Also to prevent anymore interest being applied to your account we would need payment before the 27th of June. This may be a token payment of £20.00 at the start of June and then the £50.00 on the 27th or just the £50.00 at the start of June.

Any advise please??

[toptrapper]

No they don#'t have the right to call you at work if you've demanded that they cease. Bang the phone down, record the time and date of the call and get complaining. You don't have to put up with this.

[renegadeimp]

You MUST get a full report into the OFT and trading standards about them calling your work. This single action could mean that they get shut down or have heavy restrictions placed on them. They are breaking multiple regulations AND breaking the data protection act, which puts them into criminal court jurisdiction.

[renegadeimp]

Hi xxxxxxx,

 

Your capital amount borrowed is £150.00

interest overall: £375.00

Interest Rates are 25% of capital and applied on a monthly basis.

Your account has been applied with 10 months interest as your loan has been overdue since July Last year.

As you have failed your payment plan your actual balance is £525 (interest + capital).

 

As an offer of good will we agreed to reduce your balance down to £400.00 if you could repay it over 3 months, If you were able to up your monthly payment from £30 which you have recently mentioned to £50 then we could keep the balance at £400.

However failure to do so will result in your balance being £525. Also to prevent anymore interest being applied to your account we would need payment before the 27th of June. This may be a token payment of £20.00 at the start of June and then the £50.00 on the 27th or just the £50.00 at the start of June.

 

They cant apply multiple amounts of interest over a 30 day loan, regardless of what they say. They can try, but it will never stand up in court if you question it.

 

Now for the fun bit. They want to do a good will gesture. This definitley means there is something going on with the amounts. They cannot demand a token payment by a certain date, and if you are in financial difficulties, they must acknowledge this, and not force you to increase the amounts you repay. This is a direct breach of OFT regulation.

 

Get complaining to the OFT, trading standards, and Stella Creasy MP.

[soashamed]

Thank you, i will put my complaints in straight away. I dread going into work now because of them and jump when the phone rings!

 

I might sound a bit thick but can you explain to me how they are breaking the data protection act? When i hang up on them at work they just call straight back!!!

 

So if i tell them that all i am paying is £150 + £37.50 (1 months interest) eventhough i took this out 10 months ago?

 

I will offer to pay this £37.50 for the 1st month followed by six monthly installments of £30 over the next five months. If they refuse this and demand i pay more should i just go ahead anyway and tell them to take me to court if they think it should be more??

[renegadeimp]

Tell your boss to get it reported to OFCOM. You can do it yourself if you want.

 

Also:

 

The phoning of an employer by a creditor is fully against OFT/FSA and FOS regulation. You must report them as they could have heavy restrictions placed on them, or they could even lose their license for this.

 

The phoning of an employer by a creditor can also be seen as a criminal act, as it can be seen as embarrassing, harassing and bullying behaviour, as well as it breaking the Data Protection act, and the Protection from Harassment Act 1997.

 

They are also breaking Section 40 of the Administration of Justice Act 1970, if they do not stop contacting you by phone when requested to do so by either yourself or your employer.

 

Tell the PDL this, and also tell them that you WILL be issuing complaints immediately to the appropriate authorities, and also be registering the issue with the police in view of obtaining criminal charges against the company and the people who are calling your employer or you.

[toptrapper]

Apologies for the resending, laptop on the blink.

Edited May 29, 2012 by toptrapper

[soashamed]

Is the £150 + one months interest all they should get from me?

[renegadeimp]

What you actually owe is on your agreement. It's the loan, plus contracted interest over the period you wanted to lend it.

[soashamed]

This is what they replied to me ...

 

"Unfortunately we are unable to reduce your balance to £187.50

You have made no payments to ourselves in previous months and are not eligible for the reduced amount that you mentioned.

Regarding your complaint about being contacted via telephone, I am happy to correspond by e-mail as long as you reply within 2 days. Failure to do so will result in contacting you in a variety of ways."

Not really sure what to respond with, i would really appreciate your help??

[renegadeimp]

Oh dear. Theyre openly saying they sre going to break the law. give me a couple of mins and ill write you up a replu.