My 2 pence worth!

[PAWS]

The government is obsessed with keeping us healthy. It spends millions ‘nannying’ us and steering us away from fried foods, fags and booze. Fair enough but consider this;
Although we will never know for sure, it is estimated that 50% of people with unmanageable debts seriously consider or even attempt suicide.
Suicide remains the leading cause of death in England and Wales for men aged between 20 and
34 years of age (24% of all deaths in 2013) and for men aged 35 to 49 years (13% of all deaths in
2013).
As with men, suicide is the leading cause of death among women aged between 20 and 34 years of
age in England and Wales, accounting for 12% of all deaths registered in this age group in 2013. It
is the third leading cause of death for those aged 35 to 49 in 2013 (6%)
So, are they really trying to ‘save us’ or just trying to cut the NHS budget?

[enaid]

Re: My 2 pence worth!

Well I was listening to the Labour Party new leader contest and I think it was Liz Kendall saying about Jeremy Corbyn that he wanted to take us back to the 70's 80's well I think I prefer that to the Victorian era the Clone Clowns are wanting us to revisit.

[wales01man]

Re: My 2 pence worth!

The older we get the more I think we want to go back to how things were. Problem seems to be when we were back there we wanted something different my view is that we all want a fairer much more descent society something we may not get sadly

[PAWS]

Re: My 2 pence worth!

When people say they want to roll back the years I do not think they wanted to go back to the class divisions of the nineteenth century!
People are dying of lack of care and although there are no longer debtors prisons, peoples’ lives are restricted by debt and they are being hounded, literally to death. We may talk about Victorian loan sharks who would break your legs if you did not pay up but the mental torture inflicted on many is often far worse than a ‘roughing up’. Let us not forget that age old baton; Shame. Telling you that you will be hauled before the court like a common criminal is one of the best treats to get people to pay up even if they have to starve their family to do it.
And what are the government doing about it? A Pensioner who killed himself after being hounded for an £800 debt did not know where to turn but he probably had a drawer full of expensive government leaflets telling him to take his coat off when it gets warm! Poorer people cannot afford to use the legal system to fight injustice. Regardless of the law stating that a claimant must provide the proper documents to prove a debt exists how many people on here are fighting CCJs that have been unfairly applied?
We have people killing themselves because of debt. We have people dying of medical conditions that timely intervention could have cured or actually getting lethal infections in the hospital. We have intelligent people unable to afford further education. We have many thousands relying on free food handouts. We have children living in cold damp homes because their parents cannot afford heating. We have chronically sick and disabled people living in disgraceful poverty without access to essential services.
Good old days, my a**e.

[enaid]

Re: My 2 pence worth!

Exactly Paws, the powers that be now are putting us in positions where we are parallel to the Victorian era.
Often with different approaches but with the same results, massive class differences, poor getting poorer, rich getting richer.
What sickened me the other day was someone saying that kids who have free school meals should also be fed in the school holidays as they are not being fed at home.

[FlamingParrot]

Re: My 2 pence worth!

When people say they want to roll back the years I do not think they wanted to go back to the class divisions of the nineteenth century!
People are dying of lack of care and although there are no longer debtors prisons, peoples’ lives are restricted by debt and they are being hounded, literally to death. We may talk about Victorian loan sharks who would break your legs if you did not pay up but the mental torture inflicted on many is often far worse than a ‘roughing up’. Let us not forget that age old baton; Shame. Telling you that you will be hauled before the court like a common criminal is one of the best treats to get people to pay up even if they have to starve their family to do it.

The DPA has gone a long way towards stopping this situation, hence the need to go through security questions before anyone will discuss an account with you. I've also seen in US TV series and movies envelopes marked "Final demand" or "Overdue" on the outside, no idea whether they really do that in the US or it's just a prop but I've never seen that here, DCA envelopes are all very discreet so no-one needs to know.

And what are the government doing about it? A Pensioner who killed himself after being hounded for an £800 debt did not know where to turn but he probably had a drawer full of expensive government leaflets telling him to take his coat off when it gets warm!

This is where places like this come in, it's not just a question of showing people how to deal with their debts but also telling them that debt is nothing to be ashamed of and that getting a CCJ isn't going to be the end of the world if it comes to that.

Poorer people cannot afford to use the legal system to fight injustice. Regardless of the law stating that a claimant must provide the proper documents to prove a debt exists how many people on here are fighting CCJs that have been unfairly applied?

This is also largely a result of ignorance because government leaflets don't seem to tell people that creditors can just issue court papers and request default judgment when you don't respond in 14 days. There are many who still think if they move and don't tell the creditor where they live they can't take any action, a hangover from the distant past mentioned above when people would borrow from local sharks. Licensed creditors can just log on to MCOL and issue a claim at your last known address. The law allows for default judgment because in the absence of that option, people would just ignore claims and pretend not to have received them. People need to be made aware of the fact that if creditors don't know where to find them, they can just obtain a CCJ in that way and it's always much harder to apply for set aside than to defend a live claim.

They also need to know that you need to take action in the early stages after default, i.e. send a SAR to get all the account history while the bank still has it (as many argue they can't go back further than six years), send your CCA requests so you know what you signed or didn't sign and what they've got to show for it so you can react accordingly. Once they've got judgment they don't need to respond. A lot of people here haven't got a clue when they last paid and seem to think there is a database out there listing all statute barred accounts. :mmph: Knowledge is power! :grin:

We have people killing themselves because of debt. We have people dying of medical conditions that timely intervention could have cured or actually getting lethal infections in the hospital. We have intelligent people unable to afford further education.

The one I've highlighted is very easy to resolve as noted above, just by educating people a little. There are some who still think you can go to prison for debt (albeit when you ask them most seem to be foreigners who came here recently). It's also a very common misconception that if you don't pay the creditor can just send bailiffs round and they can break in or you have to let them in and they can just raid your home and take everything. They need to know that's not the case and there's something you can easily do at every step of the way, even when the bailiff is outside! There's also a lot of confusion surrounding various types of debts an how bailiffs are used. Court fines, traffic penalties and council tax are different from consumer credit debts.

We have many thousands relying on free food handouts. We have children living in cold damp homes because their parents cannot afford heating. We have chronically sick and disabled people living in disgraceful poverty without access to essential services.
Good old days, my a**e.

These are the side effects of capitalism, plain and simple.