The fees / interest are surely either what you agreed to initially, or added because you breached the agreement.
I stand by my previous post. Pay your debts.
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You in Trouble with Debt?
- Thread starter The Rivet
- Start date
The fees / interest are surely either what you agreed to initially, or added because you breached the agreement.
I stand by my previous post. Pay your debts.
sorry, have thought about it, but cant work it out......DMP means what (Debt management programme?)
(if its really simple, then I apologies inadance for being stupid!!)
That is indeed correct !
Dusty_Fryer
New member
If anyone's worried about their debt, the Consumer Credit Counselling Service is a good place to start. Don't be afraid of talking to friends and family if you consider yourself to have a problem. It is tricky but also don't be scared of speaking to any lenders involved to see if they can help you by dropping any interest or fees - for a while at least. You may be surprised at their willingness to help if it means they might get some (or all) of their money back. Of course, if you are comfortable living with debt or not wanting to pay it back then more power to your elbow.
Uncle C
Well-known member
I have been owed fair amounts of money in the past and believe me its equally stressful to be on the opposite side of the fence being faced by someone who doesn't have the moral backbone to pay back what they borrowed.
A slightly simplistic statement to say the least. A change of circumstance, especially in the current climate, can make this impossible. It's not irresponsible to borrow money you can afford at that time.
The biggest problem IMHO is banks such as HSBC etc selling their debt - it shouldn't be allowed. The original contract was between the lender and the borrower. Neither party should be able to pass their side of the responsibility to another organisation without the other party agreeing. Some DCA companies, actually nearly all of them, are predators preying on peoples misfortune.
Pretty pink fairy
Banned
- Jan 30, 2008
- 31,981
Lush
Mods' Pet
Some of the worst culprits are apparently older people, with a 'you can't chase me when I'm dead' mentality. So now you know who's paying for all those luxury cruises.
Does no-one save up for stuff anymore?
Shropshire Seagull
Well-known member
We had a thread on here recently about welching on a bet.
Many took the moral high ground that it was bad and something they would never do.
Yet here some appear to advocate borrowing and not paying back as acceptable.
I accept that personal circumstances can change leading to financial hardship, but that still does not mean its okay to leave the debt ignored / unpaid.
If people think that taking a loan out with no expectation of full repayment is acceptable - I think that is wrong, as would Load Denning's "Reasonable Man".
Many took the moral high ground that it was bad and something they would never do.
Yet here some appear to advocate borrowing and not paying back as acceptable.
I accept that personal circumstances can change leading to financial hardship, but that still does not mean its okay to leave the debt ignored / unpaid.
If people think that taking a loan out with no expectation of full repayment is acceptable - I think that is wrong, as would Load Denning's "Reasonable Man".
I don't agree. I'm doing some consultancy for a DCA at the moment and a vast majority of defaulted debtors are 25-40 year olds who have brought cars or spent on store cards.
swindonseagull
Well-known member
If you take out loans etc be a good citizen and pay them back
bha100
Active member
- Aug 25, 2011
- 898
Arthur
Well-known member
Right all knowing NSC I would like some advice.
Yesterday when I got home I had a letter from South East Water informing me I owed them £170.54 from a previous address. However the previous address on the letter is actually the current address I live in. So I rang them up this morning and they told me they'd closed my account but re-opened me a new one at the same address. The girl I spoke to from debt collection couldn't work out what was going on so I put through to customer services. They informed me that the debt was from a previous company that they merged with in 2007 but they couldn't work out why it's taken so long for them to chase me up on the debt. So I'm awaiting a phone call back.
Given that it's getting on for 6 years ago this thread rang a bell in my head.
So my question to you lot is am I within my rights to try and string this out for as long as possible and take it over the 6 year mark and then refuse to pay or now that they have contacted me about it am I going to be liable to pay it (assuming I do actually owe them the money that is).
Strictly speaking because they've contacted you before the six years are up, and you rang them, you're liable.
That said, given it's come out of the blue after so long and is for a relatively small amount there are some things you could try.
Firstly ask them for the evidence that you owe them the money - i.e. a breakdown of the £170, what dates it covers, that the debt is yours, why they had closed the account. Tell them that until they can prove the debt is yours that you deny the debt.
If they do send appropriate evidence ( I'd wager they can't !) then go back to them and say that you still deny the debt but as a sign of goodwill and to allow both parties to bring a close to the issue that you will offer them say £40 as full and final payment but you accept no liability of the debt by doing so.
Arthur
Well-known member
Cheers, I'll give it a go.
As you say it's £170 it's not the end of the world, but it's £170 more than I want to pay if I don't have to. I'm also a little surprised that I would owe them the money anyway, I'm pretty reasonable at staying on top of bills and I've obviously had bills from them which I've paid over the last 5 and bit years. Why wasn't it mentioned on these?
The highlighted bit is the perfect arguement for you to deny the debt. Remember it's up to them to prove you owe it NOT for you to prove you don't. If you held out and they took you to small claims court then the judge would rule on the probabilty that you owed the money - a number things would go in your favour in that determination - how long they've waited to tell you, your good payment record, the fact it wasn't on any previous bills from them etc etc.
I agree with you in principle BUT the key word in your post is desperate. Being deep in debt and being too embarrassed to talk to anyone about it is mind blowing depressing and you'll do almost anything to get a little bit of money to keep you going. Money a few clicks away can prove too tempting for some. I'm all for "only spend what you can afford" and "pay your debts" but I also have sympathy for people that have got into the vicious cycle. Too many people just continue on rather than seek help from debt charities. The reason ? Because so many people respond in the way you just have !
My circumstances have changed many times and I've often had periods when repaying debt was really difficult, but I didn't try to ignore it and walk away from it, which some on this thread seem to be suggesting is a legitimate course of action.
With regard to the lenders selling on the debt - they wouldn't do it if there hadn't been a breach of the original agreement, so again your argument doesn't stand up (plus it's probably in the Ts&Cs that were originally signed that most people think they don't need to read).
The debt collection agencies are not "preying on people's misfortune", but will be reminding people of their responsibilities. As others have said, if you speak to most companies rather than ignoring the problem, then they will be more than happy to get something rather than nothing and you won't end up with a third party to deal with.
Companies using debt collecting agencies is no different to using a solicitor to deal with a dispute on your behalf. You use people with the right skills for the job. I know there are some that are just nasty to deal with (a bit like the CSA!), but the best idea is to avoid getting them on the case in the first place.
See my post #16 in this thread.
As Westdene has already said, challenge them for the detail of the debt. When I did that, it turned out that they'd been charging me too much and that I had paid it, so was owed a refund!
The very worst that can happen is that you will make them an offer of a small percentage of the debt which they are likely to accept.