very.co.uk, fallen behind with payments,

[jamiecoxy]

hi. im pregnant and have recently been in hospital due to a stomach infection, during this time i fell behind with bills, very.co.uk being one of them. they have now added two £12 charges to my account for a debt collection letter and missed payment fee, and now want the total of £333.62 by december 27th.

 

i have rang and apologised and explained my situation and offered them £40 which is the most i can pay but they are refusing? im thinking of borrowing the money to pay them but deep down i know thats a bad idea.

 

im really stressing now ive ran into so many problems recently and am having a horrific pregnancy, please help!

[Scone76]

Hi just wondering have you asked them to set up a payment plan with the maximum you can pay a month, in the past Ive missed payments and they have involved debt collectors but spoke with them and set a plan up, might be worth a try, hope it does

[renegadeimp]

Never deal with DCA's unless they own the debt. Deal with the OC directly.

 

Op, if you can only afford £1 a month, then tell them thats what they are getting. Pay using internet banking. You are in control of what you repay, not them. As for the DCA's, like i said above, ignore them. Tell them to jump off a cliff or play with traffic. They have absolutely ZERO legal rights unless they own the debt.

 

As for the charges, ignore them. They are ALL unlawful and unenforceable and can be reclaimed. You also NEED to stay off the phone and only communicate with them in writing.

[jamiecoxy]

thanks for your reply, i have just rang them again stating that, i can pay £40 on this coming monday, they have now said i can pay a reduced payment plan of £143 a month starting on the 24th of january. this buys me some time and i should be ok to make this payment, HOWEVER, all this does is reduce the arrears and interest to my overall balance will still keep piling up!

 

what would be the best thing for me to do regarding this debt? i have been looking on these forums and there seems to be so many options to not pay and request a credit agreement, am i better off doing that? the debt is for goods i have purchased through the catalogue so i feel i should pay, and if i dont pay will they send the men around to take things ive bought?

 

many thanks for all replys and help.

[Bazooka Boo]

Stop, stop STOP!

 

Don't discuss this over the phone, as you have found out they are completely useless and handling phone calls.

 

You can forget the charges completely for now.

 

How are you paying them?

Set up A STANDING ORDER or use internet banking, if they have your bank card/credit card details then cancel them with your bank

tell them your card has been compromised and you need a new one.

 

Of course you should pay for what you have purchased, BUT this WILL be on YOUR terms and NOT theirs!

 

STAY OFF the phone, if they ring laugh and hang up.

 

Write them a letter, and TELL them, don't ask, that you will be paying an amount you can afford which will be ££PP and that as a gesture of goodwill they are to remove all fees/charges including any interest they have added which have accrued on those charges.

[jamiecoxy]

many thanks, will doing this instead of what they are asking me to do, affect my credit rating badly?

[Bazooka Boo]

I'm unsure, if they're petty minded then they might try and mark your credit file, however, if this is

not going to last longer than six months then they shouldn't.

 

Write to them and say that you will be able to bring your account up to date within six months, or sooner? Explain the reason why you missed one payment,

but don't harp on bout it, as they really couldn't care less about you, your just a number and you earn them profit, that is it.

 

To reciprocate your gesture of good will, they should refund these 'charges' and any interest they have added on these charges.

 

If they don't want to play ball, then the gloves are off, documents and agreements will be requested, and payments will drop to £1 a month for the life of the debt.

[renegadeimp]

Forget what they are doing. They exist solely to intimidate and threaten you. They are hoping you do not know the law and your legal rights.

[jamiecoxy]

ok, so i will write to them, explaining i can only afford £40 a month, am i requesting that they stop all interest on the account also? i did ask that on the phone but she said they cant do that? if im only paying £40 a month and they are still charging me the ridiculous interest monthly i will be paying this forever!

[renegadeimp]

Are you sure you can realistically afford that per month and maintain payments?

 

Work out a budget and see what you can actually afford. And please, stop listening to the crap they tell you on the phone. The min wage phone reps are told to ignore every single thing you say and do whatever it takes to get money from you. The law, and regulations say the opposite.

[jamiecoxy]

is there any links to templates here that i could use to send the letter to them? many thanks.

[renegadeimp]

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/forumdisplay.php?405-Debt-Collection

 

Have a look in there

[jamiecoxy]

hi, again guys, i have wrote up a letter from a template here, including my personal budget sheet and will be sending it tomorow. if it is refused what is the next step? many thanks for all your help, hope you all had a good christmas.

[Bazooka Boo]

Don't worry about their next step or their refusal,

it matters not one jot.

 

You have done MORE than is required, if they foolishly choose to refuse your very generous offer, then you can

adjust that offer to £1 a month for the life of the debt, which will not include any of their fees/charges nor interest incurred on those fees/charges.

 

You have gone above and beyond what any debtor needs do to satisfy a parasitic creditor.

[renegadeimp]

If they refuse, it, then you send the letter again, but use much stronger language and specific phrases. Dont worry though, they will push their luck but in reality, they either accept your proposal or get £1 a month for the life of the debt.

[jamiecoxy]

hi again guys, received a letter today, thanking me for my letter and offer, but sadly declining it as it does not meet their minimum payment criteria. they have given me a phone number to ring to offer guidance and a alternative solution but i somehow dont think its going to help me out. i sent them my income/outgoing sheet stating that i can barely afford the £20 a month. what do i do now? many thanks. also they are still adding admin charges ? how is this going to get resolved if they add more to the debt!?!?

Edited January 27, 2014 by jamiecoxy

[renegadeimp]

Forget their silly minimum requirements. You pay what you can afford, no matter what they say. Do NOT phone them either. it is your right to have all financial dealings in writing for your own records. have a nose around the catalogue forums and youll soon see what they do.

[jamiecoxy]

thanks for your reply, is there a standard letteri can write to them now? thanks.

[renegadeimp]

Just restate what you have already said and TELL them that is what they are getting whether they like it or not. However, put it politely so they cant say you have been uncooperative. If they still refuse, then grab their bank details and your account number and pay them via standing order. FORCE them to accept your money.

[jamiecoxy]

would requesting the cca agreement be of any use at this stage?

[renegadeimp]

Can try, but all they would have to do is provide a reconstituted one if the account was opened post april 2007.

[Bazooka Boo]

Dear Bill & Ben,

 

Thank you for your letter dated dd/mm/yyyy the contents of which have been noted.

I am sorry you feel you can't accept my generous offer of ££ per month because it doesn't meet with your arbitrary "minimum payment criteria".

 

I am also aware of your continued ignorance of my financial situation and have continued to add charges to this account, further frustrating my attempts to bring this to an amicable and mature conclusion.

 

Therefore in light of your actions and attitude, I have set up a standing order to pay £1 a month for the life of the debt. your agreement is not required, and no further correspondence will be entered into regarding this matter.

I have attempted to be amicable and have made you a very generous offer considering my circumstances, you have chosen to ignore this, therefore you have made this decision for me.

 

Regards.

(PRINT YOUR NAME)

[jamiecoxy]

just wrote out letter above. thanks very much. i cant wait to see what they respond with after this one!

[Bazooka Boo]

It'll be an ignorant one at best, if at all! They'll just farm it out to some lowlife DCA, who can definitely get the run around..

[jamiecoxy]

if i start getting debt collection agency letters, what do i do then? carry on making my £1 payment to very, themselves or deal with agency?