Jacobs again

[sneeksby]

Hi,
Another Jacobs problem to solve if you can,

I had two debts assigned to Jacobs in march 2010, each of approx. £400. I agreed a payment plan of £20 per month ,
in august/September 2010 I had some extra cash so paid one off and continued to pay the other one at the £20 per month as agreed.

Last month Jacobs contacted me and wanted to increase the payments, I ignored their request and they phoned me, they wanted me to provide all my benefit details and I refused so yesterday I received a letter stating that if I don’t provide the proof within seven days they will pass this over to their enforcement officer.

Is there any way that I can take this off Jacobs and back to my local council to complete the payments as I do not want to deal with Jacobs again? As I stated I have not missed any payments and feel that this is a bullying tactic by Jacobs.



thanks in advance

[Caspar]

Re: Jacobs again

I guess from their point of view, as you have paid off one debt completely there is no reason why you can't pay £40 towards the one remaining debt now.

You could try writing to the Head of Revenues at the council, but to be honest, unless the bailiffs have applied unfair charges, which doesn't seem to be the case, I doubt they will consider taking it back. If however they pass it for stronger enforcement when you have maintained an agreed repayment plan, then you have got cause to complain.

[sneeksby]

Re: Jacobs again

Hi,
Thanks for the reply, I'm sorry but i did not explain properly previously, my agreement was £20 per month and the two debts were to run consecutively, therefore i have only ever paid £20 per month and not £20 on each debt.
My concern is that;
1 i have never missed a payment/broken the agreement
2 if i agree to pay more (even though i cannot really afford to) what is to stop them coming back again for even more.
i fear that they are a law unto themselves so is there a way to have my case reviewed before a court or returned to my local authoriy.
Hope i have clarified the situation.
Thanks again

[WendyB]

Re: Jacobs again

Do an income and expenditure sheet, send it to them showing that you cannot afford to increase your payments. point out to them that they agreed to £20 per month, and as you have never missed payment, therefore you are not in breach of the agreement, so on what legal grounds can they escalate to their enforcement officer?

They are probably just trying scare tactics to get it paid off sooner. Did you get the instalment agreement in writing?

[sneeksby]

Re: Jacobs again

Hi Wendy,
Yes we did get the agreement in writing and i will complete an income/expediture sheet but I feel as you do that these are scare tactics and they will just ignore whatever i send them.
I will keep you informed of any outcome/communications i recieve.
Thanks again

[WendyB]

Re: Jacobs again

you're welcome. If you have it in writing they don't have a leg to stand on.

[Bill-K]

Re: Jacobs again

You have faithfully paid what was agreed, haven't you ?

Then, after a little windfall, you chose NOT to go down the pub and blow it on booze. Instead, you chose to put it toward reducing your debt.

Sure - you could have chosen to split it 50/50, but you didn't. You chose to pay off one debt completely, which simplified matters somewhat.

IMHO - and with all due respect to anyone who thinks otherwise - you should NOT have to send these cretins yet ANOTHER IE sheet, simply because they have seen you acting responsibly with regard to your debts. You are keeping to your agreement with them, and I think you should remind them of that - and of their obligation to keep THEIR agreement with YOU, which you have NOT broken.

You should NOT be forced to grovel any more than you have been, especially as you have apparently made every effort to pay these debts as soon as you were reasonably able to.

BUT....if you HAVE won the Lottery, then pay up !!! Now, THAT would be an IE sheet to remember, eh ?

[Caspar]

Re: Jacobs again

In theory I agree totally with you Bill. However, should the bailiffs continue to misbehave, the more the OP can be seen to be remaining absolutely faultlessly professional in their conduct, and the more evidence they have of this, the stronger their case becomes.

I also agree with Wendy that as long as things are in writing, they really don't have a leg to stand on and are putting themselves at serious risk of a formal complaint should their conduct continue in this way.

[sneeksby]

Re: Jacobs again

Hi Bill,
In theory I totally agree with you and would love to ignore them and see what they do next but I (my wife) have decided to submit an IE sheet as we do not want any unpleasatness at the door and if they do try the monkey business we know that we can do no more and will have to approach our local council to see if they are prepared to take the case back.
Regards
S

[Bill-K]

Re: Jacobs again

Agreed - Do NOT ignore these creeps. I didn't mean to suggest that you totally ignore them - they won't let you do that, anyway, will they ?

No - I really just don't think you should have to keep dancing to every tune they play. They get a perverse pleasure out of this, I am sure, and that's why they enjoy their jobs. I just don't think you should feel that you have to complete an IE sheet every time someone there gets a bee in their bonnet. Just a simple letter explaining and confirming that the only change in your circs was the receipt of a small windfall, which you used to pay off one of the debts. Ask them politely if there was anything they considered wrong in doing this, and apologise for not asking THEM how they would have liked YOU to spend YOUR money.

But - yeah, I KNOW what it's like having these creeps on your back, and if you really feel that sending another IE sheet will help, then that's fair enough. But try not to give them the impression that you are petrified of them. They smell the fear, and they home in on that smell.

[WendyB]

Re: Jacobs again

I agree with Bill.

Alternatively, don't bother with the IE sheet, or even explaining about the windfall. Just send them a letter saying something along the lines of

"We made an agreement that I would pay £20 per month, until the debt was paid. To date I have not defaulted on any payments or breached the agreement in any way. I will therefore not be increasing my payments. Should you be under the impression that your threats have any legal standing, then please provide the relevant statute/laws/acts of Parliament to substantiate this. In the absence of any of the above, I will presume that your threats of passing to an enforcement officer are merely a ploy and are clearly in breach of the OFT Guidelines 664 which deal with debt collection.
For the avoidance of doubt, please be advised that I will continue making payments as per our written agreement. If you have mislaid your copy of the written agreement, please let me know as I would be pleased to provide you with a copy.
Also please note that I DO NOT give permission to be contacted by telephone and insist that all discussion pertaining to this matter be dealt with in writing.
Now sod off back under your stone and leave me alone, you gitbags"

Maybe you should leave out the last line, but I think they'll get the drift....