Orange Debt passed to DLC

[mysticegg]

Hello,

 

I am quite worried about a debt I have for £608 with DLC (passed on by Orange). I got a call today and I offered to make regular repayments of £25 per month (My wife and I are currently unemployed and we are very behind on other bills).

I explained this to the lady on the phone but she insisted that I had to make the full payment as this is what was instructed by Orange.

 

They said the best they could do is £60/month for the first 2 months then the rest of the balance becomes payable in full.

 

I told them I wanted to make a gesture payment of £10 now, just to show that I was making an effort to clear the account and she said this was fine, however she still said my account will be passed to the legal team.

 

Do you think they will allow me to pay by instalments? Surely they can't refuse an offer of payment?

 

 

Yours desperately,

mysticegg:(

[rob_s]

they have purchased the debt, oranges' instructions carry little weight at this point.

if unemployed, go see citizens advice as they will have fought this position a million times, so someone will be able to help.

[buzby]

Have you been told that Orange purchased the debt, or simply passed it on to them for collection? They verey rarely sell on a debt unless it looks too difficult for them to pursue it. It's worth asking for a little slack....

[mysticegg]

Have you been told that Orange purchased the debt, or simply passed it on to them for collection? They verey rarely sell on a debt unless it looks too difficult for them to pursue it. It's worth asking for a little slack....

 

They didn't actually say it had be sold or passed, I just assumed that the debt had been passed from Orange on to them, as has happened with other companies I have had dealings with.

 

I haven't had problems explaining my situation to other companies. On the whole, they have been quite understanding (with one or two exceptions where I had to really push to get an affordable payment amount).

 

Surely if the other companies could have demanded "Immediate payment in full", they would have done so instead of setting up a payment plan...?

 

They must realise that I don't have the money to pay them, so I think this is just a scare tactic trying to get me to pay up the full amount before they offer an instalment plan.

 

What do others think?

[buzby]

The trouble is many people who are confronted by a debt collector take the offensive, and try to minimise ANY outgoing simply to be rid of them, even if they would have no difficulty in clearing the amount. This desensitises them to those who REALLY cannot afford to make payments.

 

France Telecom (who own Orange) have been desperate to get the money out of Orange to make them look more profitable, so their pressures cascade down the line. It's all down to negotiation and if they're prepared to, or to cut and run... get 60p on the £ from the agency, who will then try to charge you £2.50 for every £ you owe on spurious charges. If there are any unjustified charges you are at liberty to have them checked, so make sure any additional charges billed are reasonable, if not, dispute the amount and make token payments that suit you.

[mysticegg]

I'm getting quite worried now to be honest - i've seen a couple of posts from people who have had debt with DLC and have had posessions reposessed etc.

 

Because I'm not in a position to pay what they ask, are they likely to accept lower repayments or will they just take me to court? - they said they were passing my notes on to the litigation department.

[buzby]

If you ignore it, they'll pursue you. If you respond, that makes it less likely. However follow my earlier advice to increase your chances of success. What happens to 'other people' won't necessarily happen to you.

[davethorp]

OK they cannot repossess your possessions just like that. Firstly they will need to have taken you to court and obtained judgement. Then they will need to obtain a warrant of execution to send in bailiffs. Then someone needs to be daft enough to let the bailiffs in or leave a door/window open for them to get in. They cannot force access unless they have already gained peaceful access by you letting them it. So you don't need to worry about that.

 

First thing will be to SAR the debt collectors and orange and find out if either have added any unlawful charges to the account. It's unlikely orange will have besides any early termination charge that is a part of your contract but the debt collectors may well have.

 

Deal with the debt collectors only in writing from now on. If they ring up tell them that you will only deal with them in writing and then end the call. Do not be drawn into a discussion on payments you can afford over the phone as they will pressure you into making a high payment that you can ill afford.

 

Have a read in the debt collection and debt areas of the forum as there is information there that will help and people there to help you. There are also some template letters at http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/general-debt/20758-creditors-dcas-letter-templates.html which may be useful when writing to the debt collectors.

 

Above all don't let them pressure you and bully you. End of day they would rather have a regular token payment going into the account then a really high payment that you fail to make after a week or two

[mysticegg]

Thanks for the advice everyone. The amount I owe is the amount from the last bill I received from Orange and i'm satisifed that a SAR wouldn't yield any extra information.

 

I've sent DLC a letter based on a sample template linked above:

 

Dear Sir/Madam

 

Ref: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

I am writing to you as an open gesture to attempt to resolve my financial situation.

 

We enclose a Personal Budget sheet, which shows our total income from all sources, and the total outgoings of our household. As you can see, we have little money left to make offers of payment to creditors.

We are in arrears with many of our utilities and council tax, day to day living is quite honestly a struggle.

 

In view of our circumstances, would you please accept my offer of £25 per month.

If interest or other charges are being added to the account, we would be grateful if you would freeze these so our debt does not increase.

The offer made to you is on a pro rata basis, as used by the county court.

 

Should my circumstances improve we will contact you again.

 

Thank you for your assistance. We look forward to hearing from you as soon as possible.

 

Yours faithfully

Hopefully this will prompt a more favourable reply than 'We want the full balance immediately'.