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Debt Collectors
Former Member
Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
I just had one come to my house because i havent paid a debt and they are ringing me later because I wasnt here?? What will they do with me???
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Comments
How much do you owe? Who with?
You've let it get too far already if the collectors are already coming, they'll probably take your stuff.
Crucial questions:
How much do you owe?
How long is it overdue?
Do you have an income?
Can you afford to pay?
Since the answer to the third one is no, then you must get in contact with the bank ASAP, and explain your circumstances and agree to pay some back each month, possibly at a lower rate. Some debtors will allow you to pay back £1 per month. The fact that debt collectors are knocking on your door already is concerning though!
I'd say first of all, get in touch with your Citizens Advice Bureau and talk to them. You can move your debt over to a lower rate if you can find one that will have you. I recommend also you check out http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/ as its all about playing with money and they have a dedicated section for those in debt.
Call the company, tell them you're willing to pay back x amount a month. And stick to it. Even if it's £5 a month, they can't refuse to cut a deal with you.
Do not bury your head in the sand. Contact your creditors and say what you can afford to pay. Say that is your best offer, but be reasonable. They will probably take a sensible offer, because if they took you to the county court all the court would do is order you to pay the money back at a rate you can afford- courts are normally very generopus about what constitutes affordability.
If you have debt issues you need to get in contact with your local Citizens Advice Bureau. These are the details for the CAB in Grimsby. Do not bury your head in the sand, the debt and the creditors will not go away.
Of late firms like concillia have taken to knocking on doors before court action has taken place to "talk about" debts.
There are different types of "debt" too, but I'll not bother with that here. (Legal issues and giving advice are the preserve of professionals like Kermit, only qualified legal types can give legal advice because only they are insured to do so. Shit. That was legal advice......
I know because someone I know does it.
That's if you agree to it. The have zero power to physically take anything from you, but they are very good at pretending that they do. or that it will save time, or "if it was up to me..." or "it'll save hassle in the long run..>" etc etc etc
In fact they can stop your cheques and card from working without ever going near you. The only reason for doing it is to faze/frighten you into settling up quicker.
It's a bit like the TV licence people, they try and bluff your money off you when they really haven't got a leg to stand on.
Of course they can stop them at the bank - the 'taking them away' from you is for humiliation purposes more than anything else. To embaraass you into sorting your accounts out.
Also, I know people who have been taken to court over TV license fees. So, they clearly do have a leg to stand on if you don't pay.
No you don't, though.
The bank can go to the court and demand for their things back, and the court can decide to agree with the bank. Then the bank can come into your house and take their things back.
They have no legal rights of access onto your property.
If they can prove you knowingly received a TV signal without a licence then the court will fine you.
A TV Licence man has no rights of access to your land. If he peers in your windows he is, technically, trespassing, and you would have a civil tort action against him. Though you'd probably have trouble winning the civil action. He cannot enter your house without either your permission or a warrant, and if he does all evidence against you is inadmissible.
They like to pretend they are allowed in, and a lot of people believe them, and let them in without a fuss. But they have no rights of access, so you just tell them to piss off and get a warrant. And break the aerial before they get back with it.
If it gets that far. Which isn't to likely, because by then they will have stopped them anyway.
Like you said, it's just to shame you into paying.
Of course, they are relying oon you to provide a lot of the information they will use to do this. The less you say the better, although questions are always a good thing to ask. Is the TV licence a contract or a tort? Who knows? Certainly not the TV licence people. It's been a few years now and still no answer............
You don't have to talk with them at all. They try to flash the PACE regualtions at you so you will think it's somehow official or "police" in nature but it's all bollocks.
Kind of.
You don't have to talk to them, they can't arrest you for it. But PACE does still apply- anything you do say may be given in evidence against you, but if you say nothing it could harm your defence in that the prosecution can state that you said nothing.
And in fairness, unless you have a good reason for not saying owt, it doesn't look too good when you go before the mags (who are often already out to find for the prosecution anyway).
PACE is more to ensure that any interview is recorded properly anyway. If it gets to interview stage, its normally worth playing PACE by the book.
As I am sure you know, you are not the corporation that the birth certificate creates. What ties you to your name?
Anyway,
I can't advise you about who the "present occupier" is because that's a legal term and I don't know what it means and I am not allowed to give legal advice.........I advise you to seek a solicitor or other legal professional.
Imo, and this isn't legal advice ofc, your best bet is always to ask reams of questions and take no position other than "I don't know, if you explain it to me I might be able to help you".
I'm not guilty, I'm not innocent, I just don't know and want more information to help me decide. I will happily pay any debt I lawfully owe, I just have a few questions.
Yeah, cos having people come round, knock on your door and demand money isn't that much shit
:yeees:
I have no more constructive advice for you. Hope it all works out, hollie.
Simple but little known fact, if you let them into your house then they are legally obliged to take notes of anything of value or take the goods on the spot if you have refused payments etc so all you need to do is NOT let them in and find a way of settling your debt seeing as they dont just go away.
by "that much shit" i just ment it could be alot worse than it is and can easily be sorted.
Even if you let them in, debt collectors have no right to take any property that does not belong to your creditors, or does not have a charge placed on it by your creditors. By that I mean they can only take property upon which a debt is secured; e.g. TVs or cars when the credit agreement has been defaulted upon.
They certainly cannot legally walk out with your wedding ring because you didn't pay the car loan, and they cannot legally walk out with any item of property if you did not pay the gas bill. They can disconnect your meter, but they cannot take property.
Whether they take notes of your assets or not is neither hither nor thither. They can't walk out with it except in certain circumstances, basically if you become insolvent.
But no, don't let anyone into your house without the appropriate warrant. Especially when you are in the right, but certainly when you're in the wrong.