Moorcroft.....Request for increased payments !

[maxibon]

Finally on 28th December we received a payment book and a letter (dated 9th December!) "confirming that we are prepared to accept your offer of £40 per month.....this arrangement subject to periodic review and may be terminated at any time by us". The letter continued to say that should we fail to keep the agreement then legal proceedings would commence without further reference for the full amount outstanding.

 

I am just in the process of composing a letter denying having made an offer of £40 per month and sending a payment for the amount that we did agree. Is there anything which I can do to stop Moorcroft increasing my 'agreed' repayments and thereby taking me to court for non-payment? This all seems very underhand as it is not my fault that they have not sent me a payment book on four occasions then claim that I am in default? To cap it all my wife has phoned me at work to say that another letter has arrived saying that as I haven't paid in accordance with their letter of 9th January then they will be taking legal action unless we make payment of £80 immediately!

 

On a separate but related matter one of the other debts was to Bank of Scotland whom we have been paying for 8 years without missing a payment, but they have now passed the debt to Moorcroft as they have 'had a clearout'. The amount owing looked higher than I thought it should but BOS are unable to provide me with a statement of payments made and amounts owed. The first we knew of the change was when Moorcroft wrote to us asking for contact to make a payment arrangement, so I went via the website and asked for a payment book to maintain our payments at the amount set by the Court originally. No acknowledgement and no payment book so far and it is almost 2 months since Moorcroft wrote to us.

 

Sorry for the long post but is anybody able to advise on what I should be doing?

 

And I haven't even started on Britannia Music yet

 

 

Hi there,

 

Do not worry about Moorcroft at all. They have purely increased the payment to 'test the water' so to speak and see if you will pay. I would call them ( not very good at responding to post or emails) State you have not agreed to increase the payments and that you wish to offer £XX pm ( any figure you wish but preferably above £3pm. Confirm to them this is all you can pay and that you will forward them a financial statement to support this .

 

All you then need to do is send in a financial statement to them and confirm the offer of payment. If you say 'I will pay the first payment by switch today over the phone' even if its £5 they will want to take it as it counts for that indivduals ' figures' and they will also change your agreement there and then as they want to ensure that your payment shows on their stats!.

 

Its all about bonus with people there. They get bonus on 1)amount of switch payments i.e how many switch payments not amount 2 ) how many INCREASED offers they have managed to get out of an individual ( you will often find they try and increase your payments by £10 pm or a min of £5pm to get good figures. 3) they will also tell you, you have to pay up in 2 weeks as anything over that does NOT go on their stats.

 

Them Stating "another letter has arrived saying that as I haven't paid in accordance with their letter of 9th January then they will be taking legal action unless we make payment of £80 immediately!" Is RUBBISH. Basically if you cant pay it, You can't pay it.

 

When you do call

1) Do confirm your basics etc to them so they can speak to about the account.

2) Do not give out any phone numbers and dial using 141 as they will take your number if you dont.

3) Do Not confirm if you are a homeowner or Employed as they will ask you this.

4) They will say pretty much straight away after confirming you details ' So your calling re XXXX account with an outstanding balance of £XXX .We will require full payment today to prevent any possible legal action.' This is a ploy to scare you...ignore them. If they say You WILL be taken to court ask to speak to a manager immediatley as they cannot threaten you with this, They are only allowed to say 'POSSIBLE' legal action etc

 

Any thing else just ask but all in all you just make an offer and send in a financial statement that shows this is all you can afford and they have to accept it.

 

If I have been helpful just click the scales to the left hand side...and Good luck

[maxibon]

No problem for the help. I used to work there and my sister still does! Crazy Girl!...

 

I was only there for 3 months as I hated their scare tactics and the way you had to badger people for money. I do customer service not Customer Scaring so left!!:o

 

Give them a call and demand it be reduced, If you say you are sending in a financial statement they will await for that to arrive so ask for them to put it on hold for 2 weeks to give you a chance to send it in. Tell them to update their system and add notes to state 'awaiting financial statement' and also ask them to enter the offer onto the system as £XX per month and they will do so.

 

If they are being awkward just ask to speak to Dawn McGuire as she is the manager or any manager for that matter and explain you did not agree to the increase etc to them. By the way they are open till 9pm

 

Let me know how it goes if you really struggle maybe I could speak to an insider for you!!

[maxibon]

Thought this link may help too

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/debt-bailiffs-advice/20758-creditors-dcas-letter-templates.html

 

[maxibon]

Thank you for the compliments its much appreciated.

 

The only reason I suggest credit debit card is that the telephone monkey at the other end will update your file immediately to show paid £5 by card and then the next payment will automatically not be due for another month. They wont swindle any more as all calls are recorded and they have to give you the Authorisation code if you want it which will link to your bank statement and show how much taken.

 

I understand the concern but they were good with this aspect of the job even if that was ALL they were good at!!

 

xx

[maxibon]

They are what passes for respectable in the British debt collection sector but that really doesn't mean a lot!!

 

 

 

I wouldnt say that too easily!! I heard many a time people saying to 'debtors' ( their words not mine!) 'yeah ...we are gonna take you to court on the 18th if you dont pay' when actually we had only intended to send them another awful letter..and people telling customer to shut up or they would send someone round to their house!! Clearly breaching their ISO license.

 

My manager who sat next to me spoke quietly and i soon disovered why when I heard him saying..' come down to the office then and we can have it out I know where you live and your phone number now anyway'!!!!!!

 

I took a lot of crap from people though calling me an F'ing this and that, Opening the post in the morning to find Dog Poo is when you really know a job just isnt worth it. If everybody was as civilised as they are on this forum with dealing with debts then i am sure the collectors would be more polite and helpful! Tis the way of the world though....

[maxibon]

I expect this is someone just chasing you still for the debt as any work on a sunday was outbound calling you did as overtime.

 

It wont be a response to your letter as yet unfortunately.

[maxibon]

Any luck Sidewinder?

[maxibon]

Hello again!

 

You appear to at least be getting a reponse re your BOS account so that SOME progress! Good to hear

 

Can I just clarify is this a CCJ account or none CCJ?... as if its NOT you can do the below, if it IS.. its a different story as you have to apply to the court to amend your monthly payments etc ( You can ring Northampton County court and explain this and they will send the relevant forms...)

 

With regards to making a payment arrangement that is of course up to you as to how much you can afford. However much you offer though just ensure you send a financial statement to back this up and prove this is all you can afford.

 

They will then accept your offer.

[maxibon]

You see, there is a difference with CCJ's than there is to debts without CCJ's. Moorcroft cannot amend the amounts without the courts first agreeing to this. I cannot remember the name of the form for the life of me!! ( it begins with an 'E' is all that comes to mind) and that Northampton CC will send you one, once you complete this and send it back your new payment arrangement will be set.

 

Moorcroft have no right to demand any higher than you agree and can afford.

 

It may be worth calling Moorcroft on this occasion and speaking to the courts team as they do know their stuff and are quite helpful unlike the call centre staff!! They can clarify when you need to take action by etc...

 

I hope this helps...for some reason I thought this was a NON CCJ case!

[maxibon]

I don't object to the budget planner but on past experience items on it can be queried as justification for an agreement being made for a higher amount to be paid each month and juggling stuff around is tricky enough as it is!

 

Do you mean that your financial statement did show you had more spare then you were offering to pay and that they said you could AFFORD more based on this?

If so I would suggest you include all costs outgoing and show the remaining amount as the amount you wish to pay ....Include EVERYTHING..I saw many statements with 'holiday money -£200pm' on them which is going a bit far but I am sure you get my drift!.

[maxibon]

think we were typing our posts at the same time there!!!

 

Oh well! Good luck with it...Northampton CC are very good so will know what this form you need is called...when you find out let me know cos its really bugging me now!!!!

[maxibon]

Yes it is! Dont know where I got beginning with 'E' From then? Must be the wine last night?!

 

Variation order is the one you need to amend payments if you wish to do this

 

Thanks for putting me out of my misery!