Restons Solicitors/ Arrow Global debt recovery.

[skhill1983]

HI All

Like so many people I am looking for some advice about Restons Solicitors and some very demanding letters I have received from them.

It all started a few years ago when I defaulted on an HSBC loan. Ultimately this ended in a CCJ where I agreed to pay £20 a month to a previous collection agency (I can't remember who this was with.) I kept up with the repayments every month, or so I thought. In March this year I received a letter from Restons saying that I had defaulted on my payments and they were looking to recover the money. When I rang them up to find out what was happening, they said that Arrow global had bought the debt in October. They said that they had sent me a letter advising me of this and again in December advising of the default of the payment.
They were very demanding on the phone insisting that I give them a lot of financial information about income, outgoings, husbands financial affairs ETC, which at the time I wasn't in the position to give them as I was at work. I explained that i was more than happy to cover the money that I had defaulted on to bring the payments up to date and to continue the £20 a month that was agreed in the original court settlement, but they said there were not prepared to do this without going through my financial information.
After this conversation I wrote directly to Arrow explaining the situation (I had both of my parents pass away within 2.5 months of each other last August and that I could not recall receiving any letters and that it was an over site on my part), I told them that I had brought the account up to date and that I was more that happy to re-start the payments as previously instructed by the court and how much they were prepared to accept as a final settlement. I also wrote to Restons advising them of the letter I had sent to Arrow and would await any instructions from them before giving them any of my information.
Restons have again written to me demanding my financial information and basically not to contact Arrow as Restons are working on their behalf and that they want all the information by the 18th April otherwise they will be taking further advice from Arrow. (I only received the latest letter last week)
Basically what I would like to know is are Restons within their rights to ask for my financial information, My husbands financial information (the outstanding money was an unsecured loan in my name only, from before we were married.) or if there is anything I can do to carry on with the original agreement ordered by the court.

Sorry for the long winded explanation, but any help would be great.

[nemesis45]

Re: Restons Solicitors/ Arrow Global debt recovery.

Restons are after a " common financial statement" i.e. the total household income and expenditure which is normal just put the £20.00 a month in a savings account so if Restons do apply to have the judgment changed you have something to show a judge + you have the letter (s) showing that you have shown willingness to pay the debt.
This is typical Restons conduct I'm sorry to say.
I've always maintained that and individuals debt is nothing to do with a husbands/wife's or partners finances.
nem

[Debt Camel]

Re: Restons Solicitors/ Arrow Global debt recovery.

Yes a debt collector is withing their rights to ask for you to supply this information. If you don't supply this, they can go to court and ask for a variation of the order to increase the amount you pay each month, or to enforce the judgement with bailiffs or an Attachement of Earnings. See https://debtcamel.co.uk/debt-collect...e-expenditure/.

You are not in a strong position here.

[Diana M]

Re: Restons Solicitors/ Arrow Global debt recovery.

From what you've said there is currently a court Order for £20 per month. If you breach that Order you may well find yourself back in court.

I'm sorry you've had to cope with family issues but sadly this may be seen as an 'explanation' by the court but not an 'excuse' for missing payments.

Debt purchasers have no heart unlike some creditors who can show forbearance when they're made aware of the debtor going through a sticky patch in life.

What you need to do is get things back on track by negotiation not confrontation.

You've been advised to put £20 per month in a savings account in preference to paying the owner of the debt the money which the court has ordered you to pay. This could lead to the creditor taking enforcement action against you such as bailiffs to your home, or an Attachment of Earnings, or a Charging Order on your property if the CCJ is £1k or more and was obtained after 1st October 2012. This would be an extremely unwise thing to do.

Restons shouldn't ring you at work. You can ask them not to ring you and put everything in writing.

Ask them (in writing) for evidence that Arrow now owns the debt and that the court has substituted their name on the CCJ.

I would let them know that you intend to continue with the payments ordered by the court and then start to pay them unless you can no longer afford that amount.

If affordability is is an issue then you would be at liberty to make an Application to the court to vary the Order downwards if that were the case (unaffordable). If you are on no/low income then you may be entitled to fee remission for the court Application cost.

If there are missed payments (for whatever reason) then see if you can reach an agreement to catch up with those if you can afford to.

Restons want money for their client which they believe they're entitled to collect as Arrow's appointed agent. They are an aggressive firm so the quicker you can resolve this situation the quicker they'll be off your back.

Only a court can order you to complete an I & E but sometimes common sense kicks in unless you relish the idea of going to court and arguing what you can/can't afford in front of a judge.

Di

[Amethyst]

Re: Restons Solicitors/ Arrow Global debt recovery.

Have you checked with your bank whether your payments had stopped in October or thereabouts after Arrow bought the debt , or were payments continuing to the original creditor/judgment holder ? Usually these payments are by standing order so wouldn't have stopped unless you stopped them, so I would check back through your statements and check exactly when payments stopped, then you can calculate if there actually are arrears, or whether Arrow/Restons are trying to enforce a Judgment owned by someone else.

I think that is your first step as you don't want to have your payments still going to one place when the debt is owned by Arrow. So if the payments are still being made you need to print copies of your statements showing that, write to Arrow and ask for payment details so the payments can be changed to them.

Without taking it back to court they can't make you pay more, they can apply for a variation or they can take it back to court for enforcement if they show the court you have defaulted on the original order.