1st Credit

[questioner]

I have been paying a minimum agreement to several creditors for months. However, recently the aggressive 1 st Credit lot have apparently taken one account (off Benificial I think) and are threatening us with mucho legal action and all such lovely things. We explained that we had been to agree all this with CAB ages ago and that all our creditors were happy with a quid a month as we are skint. Not 1st Creidt though who are threatening us like a mad dictotorship.

 

They say give us the full amout due now which is impossible, or we have had it.

 

What can we do? the agreement was for the quid a month with the creditor so why has this changed?

 

CAB were not very intertested on the phone and said to just call into their office and not to worry. We are terrified.

Edited May 9, 2008 by questioner

[ODC]

CAB are correct. Do not worry. If you are in a DMP and have shown that all you can afford is a quid a week then no court will order you to pay any more in spite of the bovine excrement that 1st Crudit come up with

[questioner]

ODC

 

Thanks so much for your kind comments. We are sick with worry. How can Ist credit tell us that we are going to be taken to court and have our house invaded for our items etc when we are doing our best to pay all the creditors the quid as arranged previously with CAB? They said that our offer to them of a quid (as with all the other creditors who are happy with this) would be 'refused' point blank with no redress against their decision. Still unsure of where we stand as you can imagine. Will they take us to a court? We even offered to send Ist Credit our fanancial statement as with the other creditors like CAB originally told us to but Ist Credit virtually told us to stuff it and didn't want to know - just gave us a sea of hostile threats and treated us like crooks. What is wrong with these people are they mad? We are just an ordinary family with small children trying to survive. I can understand why some folk take their own lives with horrible firms like Ist Credit hounding them. I don't know how they can sleep at night. I would pay the debt tomorow if I could.

[ODC]

Its important to remember that 1st Credit have NO LEGAL POWERS whatsoever. They cannot send baliffs round to your house to remove property. A court can only instruct baliffs if a CCJ has been awarded against you and you fail to keep up repayments on it. In view of your present circumstances the Courts will NEVER order more than you can afford. What you got was one of 1st Credits professional bullies. They are totally ignorant of the law and devoid of even the most basic of social skills. They show their ignorance by the way they attempt to bully people on the phone and coerce them into committing to payments they can ill afford. NEVER speak to them on the phone and insist on all communication in writing.

[questioner]

All I know is that when we first got into debt we went to the CAB. they helped prepare a fanancial statement to give to creditors which showed that a quid a month was all we could afford after expenses were taken out. Nothing has changed and we are still on low income. Now this I st Credit gang have taken over the account and are refusing to accept the pound a month offer. They say only the full amount will do which is not possible. If what you say is true - which I am sure it is - why are these bullies not trained properly to deal with us? Is this just a ruse to make us afraid and worried to death and what is the point when we cannot gave more than we have fairly offered. TALK ABOUT HARRASSMENT! What will happen when we explain all this to CAB next week? Thanks again we may now sleep tonight a little better after your kind advice. And we will NOT speak to these idiots on the phone again as you suggest. Others had told us to be polite to such bullies but how can anyone be nice to such types that threaten your home and life?

 

Even after all this we are still concerned by their horrid threats that they will refuse to accept the pound/month offer - what next? They cannot get blood out of a stone so will they send the boys round to rough us up - nothing would surprise me over this mob and people should expose them whanever possible. Surely some law existsd to stop such harrassment?

Edited May 9, 2008 by questioner

[ODC]

They cannot send ANYONE round. Their threats are like their heads --- EMPTY

[questioner]

I meant to say that one of their delightful callers threatened to make us bankrupt too if we failed to immediately give them the full amount due. None of the other creditors we have ever mentioned that one and happily took our quid per month offer without moaning about making us bankrupt. Ist Credit also said something about taking six times the amount due if it went to court. What is that all about? Cant wait to see what CAB say next week.

Edited May 9, 2008 by questioner

[ODC]

If you hadn't already discovered it 1st Crudit are full of sh!t. They talk nonsense and their call centre threat monkeys are allegedly some of the most poorly trained and arrogant bullying lying cheating people that God ever put breath into allegedly

[Mrs_Ryan]

Cristal, Im quite worried about what you said....

 

I CCA'd them in January, the same time as I filed an official complaint which the FOS are now looking into with the implication I would inform the police and the media if they continued to harrass me (I have a long term chronic illness and I am a carer for my partner so there are 2 vulnerable people in the house) their final response was a joke, they ignored most of the points I made which I pointed out to the FOS, but they did write and say the agreement wasnt available, so Im just really worried they are going to do the same thing to me....

 

oh well, would like to see them try.. will send our friend Mr Plod round to have a quiet word with them if they try anything.... and thats before I have a go at the charges on the account - about 2k on a 4k balance which they arent going to get a penny of....

 

They said in the letter their monkey would be disciplined for his attitude... he will probably get employee of the month They got noticeably flustered when my aunt told them she hoped they were proud of themselves for harrassing a vulnerable person and an acquaintance of hers who is a high ranking officer in the police was very interested in their behaviour something really needs to be done about this lot.... i was actually in Redhill near their threat centre at the height of my woes with this shower and my mate had to convince me that going round there and throwing eggs/insults at their windows wasnt a good move... so I aimed them at the paparazzi outside the court instead (insults, that is, not eggs. Waste of good eggs!!!)

[questioner]

So it seems that we are not the first people to have suffered the bullying methods of the SS-style credit squad. They must be exposed for this odious behaviour at every turn and I for one will seek to do just that.

 

I can only thank the good people on this thread for their helpful comments.

[babybear39]

Take a look at this and let it be a warning and, hopefully, a help in what these monsters get up to:

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/debt-collection-industry/92556-help-again-please-1st.html

[questioner]

I went to CAB and they managed to get a 1st crudit assistant to talk. He changed his tune and now, low and behold, wants to see our fanancial statement. This is a turn up as last week they would not listen and refused to even talk about it. Why are crudit so nice to CAB yet treated us like dirt when we tried to simply explain how hard up we were and struggling to even give a quid a month to all the other creditors who have accepted such an offer?

[minglex]

I have received a letter from 1st Direct and now their solicitors LCS, saying I must pay debt in full within 14 days (letter sent May 9th) and that if I can't I should call them. I was going to do this and arrange a repayment programme as I'm now in a position to do this, but after reading the forum I'm inclined not to. They sound apalling.

 

I owe £7,500 to HFC Bank, but the debt has been passed around a lot. It was with Lowell, and I was paying them back 20 quid a month, but then, according to Lowell, HFC called back the debt, so that all came to an end. A couple of months passed and I got a letter from 1st Credit (I'd rather hoped HFC'd written it off - fat chance). It was sent to my old address - they don't have my new one as I've been living abroad for the last year, although I'm now living with my girlfriend in the same city - and so I didn't reply to the first one hoping, studpidly, it would go away. It hasn't. As I say, I have a letter from LCS solicitors.

 

I have never been in this position before. I am asking if there is anyway I can duck this debt. Is there? After all, they don't have my new address or a telephone number for me. Sure that's just wishful thinking.

 

Anyway, can anyone advise what I shoud do about the LCS letter. I read through the forums, but am confused. It would be reallly helpful if someone could send me the template letters.

 

I have taken heart and comfort from the posts on the forum - they really do try it on, don't they? - but I just need someone to give me a simple step-by-step guide to dealing with LCS.

 

Looking forward to hearing from someone.

[babybear39]

Hi minglex and welcome to CAG

 

Firstly, we do not encourage debt avoidance in any way.

 

We do, however, encourage the consumer's right to establish the DCAs legal right to collect on an alledged debt.

 

This is achieved firstly by sending them this letter:

 

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

 

Use letter N and head it with I DO NOT ACKNOWLEDGE ANY DEBT TO YOR COMPANY. Send the letter to 1st credit and copy it to LCS.

 

Amend the letter to suit, use a £1 postal order for payment of the statutory fee for this service, keep a note of the PO number (to check if it's cashed as this is proof of reciept of your CCA request) and copies of the correspondence, send recorded or special delivery, and DO NOT sign your name, print it

 

Good luck and best wishes.

[minglex]

Thanks so much for your reply. Very helpful.

[minglex]

I presume that after I have sent letter N they will have to contact HFC and get the original agreemetn. After that, do I start trying to cut a deal/

[babybear39]

Wait and see if they can come up with the true executed agreement

[questioner]

1 Credit are so abstract for I have several creditors who are happy to take the offered quid a month (as CAB have proved that this is all I can afford). 1st Credit however seem to enjoy hounding poor people or at least that is my experoence of this lot.

 

Are there any rules/regulations about them having to accept the quid all like the other more sensible debt collectors as I have shown that is all that I have to offer? How do they expect one to pay what is not available to give?

 

If they take me to some court I still wont have anything else to give them like I and CAB told them on my fanancial statement. What will they do to me? I just wish I could know the answers to these questions which are causing so much upset.

 

I am trying to be helpful but they seem to want to stress me out to force me to pay up money that I have not got.

[ODC]

Should 1st Crud take you to Court they will look unreasonable to say the least when you prove you have offered them as much as is practical in the circumstances. If they do manage to produce a VALID EXECUTED CCA then offer them £1 a month. Send it to them and if it goes to court you can at least show you have been reasonable. A Court will NOT order you to pay more than you can afford

[babybear39]

I completely agree with ODC and also, the court will not like 1st credit wasting their time.

[Angel104]

LCS solicitors do not exisit. They are first credit you should report this to the Law society.

[ODC]

I completely agree with ODC and also, the court will not like 1st credit wasting their time.

All this of course assumes that they can come up with a valid properly executed CCA.

[questioner]

Thanks a lot guys.

 

CAB just told us to send in the standard letter explaining our difficult circumstances and the fanancial statement which has been accepted by all our other creditors.

 

CAB also told us to send in the usual quid like we had done to the previous creditor before them. We told I st Credit that we only wanted to hear from them in writing but they rang us so we told them to do as we asked and the caller quickly hung up.

 

If a a court will NOT order us to pay more than we can afford (as we have just proven to 1st cred) why then are they still hounding us? Are they suffering from a lack of communication or just totally thick? I had thought that any sensible court would think it odd for them to try and do us when after the monthly income is all added up we provably only end up with a few quid in the kitty.

 

Another thing is that our other creditors have mentioned final settlements once or twice. At present we have no way of doing that but as a matter of interest what sort of percentage of any lump sum would all the creditors take? Are they any rules on this? CAB also told us that settlements can be had for a "fraction" of the total sum still owed. ???

 

Is it that greedy creditors can see that one's situation is not likely to improve fanancially so they want to grab whatever they can if a tasty little lump sum turns up or what???

 

Excuse my ignorance please but what is a CCA ??

 

 

Great forum - thanks again.

[ODC]

Thanks a lot guys.

 

CAB just told us to send in the standard letter explaining our difficult circumstances and the fanancial statement which has been accepted by all our other creditors.

 

CAB also told us to send in the usual quid like we had done to the previous creditor before them. We told I st Credit that we only wanted to hear from them in writing but they rang us so we told them to do as we asked and the caller quickly hung up.

 

If a a court will NOT order us to pay more than we can afford (as we have just proven to 1st cred) why then are they still hounding us? Are they suffering from a lack of communication or just totally thick? I had thought that any sensible court would think it odd for them to try and do us when after the monthly income is all added up we provably only end up with a few quid in the kitty. The telephone monkey who called you works on commission. The more they can coerce you into paying the bigger monthly commission cheque they can get

 

Another thing is that our other creditors have mentioned final settlements once or twice. At present we have no way of doing that but as a matter of interest what sort of percentage of any lump sum would all the creditors take? Are they any rules on this? CAB also told us that settlements can be had for a "fraction" of the total sum still owed. ??? Full and Final Settlements vary greatly. Bear in mind that most DCAs usually buy debt at about 10p in the pound so they will probably settle in or around the 40p mark.

 

Is it that greedy creditors can see that one's situation is not likely to improve fanancially so they want to grab whatever they can if a tasty little lump sum turns up or what??? Yep. DCAs are run on SHEER GREED

 

Excuse my ignorance please but what is a CCA ?? A CCA is the document you signed when you took out a loan or Credit Card. Without it the DCA cannot enforce the debt although they will tell you otherwise. If you make a formal request for it they must supply it within 12 working days.

 

 

Great forum - thanks again.

Glad to be of help

[questioner]

Thansk again ODC - you are a star.

 

I have heard that if one has a large percentage of creditors who are happy to accept a final settlement figure then the others have to accept the decision of the majority also. Is that true?