Very - where to start

[nattylou74]

Ok, bit of background. Me and my husband both have accounts with Very. Our monthly payments are about £44 each, but they are due to increase quite rapidly as we have quite a lot of stuff on Buy Now Pay Later, and the Pay Later range from January to June.

My hours have been cut at work, and as a result we are about £200 a month worse off.

So, I now need to contact Very and try and explain all this, but am not really sure where to start. I know that I have to do everything in writing, but I need to make sure that they only deal with me for both accounts. My husband works nights and I don’t want them calling the house when he is trying to sleep.

So, does anyone have any template letters that I could use, or any advice about the process and procedures this will need to go through.

Thanks in advance

[enaid]

Re: Very - where to start

Hi, my opinion just write the truth as best you can and tell them of your situation.
Make an offer of payment you can easily afford and stick to it, you can ask them not to phone you also, just by letter if they need to contact you.
They would much prefer you to be honest and pay something off what you owe rather than ignore the situation and make them chase their money.
Template letters are ok in some instances but I think in a situation as this best just to put it in your own words.
Good Luck Enaid x

[ODC]

Re: Very - where to start

By all means write to them and see what they say.. Under NO circumstances speak to them on the telephone

[labman]

Re: Very - where to start

I totally agree with Enaid. Write and tell them the truth. If they're awkward and refuse to help (hopefuly this won't happen) then get in touch with a free debt advice source and ask them to write on your behalf. The fact that it comes from an official organisation gives it more weight.

[Gorang]

Re: Very - where to start

I also mirror what enaid and labman have said

also
If you do this now, BEFORE the payments go up then that will also go in your favour as you are showing responsibility by contacting them first

Good on you for taking action before it happens

WELL DONE

[TUTTSI]

Re: Very - where to start

You should complete for your own records an income and expenditure sheet http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/...ad.php?t=19592 then you can see exactly how much you could possibly offer to pay on a monthly basis.

[labman]

Re: Very - where to start

Or if you want to add real weight to your offer, complete a Cashflow statement (Google CASHflow) and get it signed off by a licensed person. It then counts the same as a CFS, and they may well ask you to send one in (which you only have to do voluntarily) anyway.

I believe Celestine on Site Team knows someone licensed to sign off these statements.

[nattylou74]

Very - again

So, after sending letters to them detailing the situation, I am still waiting for a reply. To be fair, it has only been 10 days, but my payment is due next week.

So, do I do nothing, and wait for their response, or do I pay £5 as I offered in my letter?

Thanks in advance

[enaid]

Re: Very - again

If you offered £5 the I would pay it that way you have stuck to what you have stated.

[labman]

Re: Very - again

Always pay what you have offered. With Very they have a habit, once they realise you're potentially in financial difficulties, of blocking your payment account. If they have done this to you, change the password and that normally opens up access again and you can make your payment as usual.

[nattylou74]

Re: Very - where to start

Hi

Today, both me and my husband received letters form Very re our proposed pay arrangement.

They both say the same thing, basically that "they cannot accept our offer (£5) as it does not meet our minimum payment criteria"

They have asked that we call them (despite me asking for communication in writing only!).

They also say that failure to bring the account up to date will lead to admin charges being added to the account (I can claim these back though, right?). They also say that the account may ultimately be passed to external collection agencies.

I'm guessing that the last paragraph is prettymuch commmonplace for these kinds of letters.

So, what do I do now. I know I have to write them a letter, but I am not sure what exactly I need to say. Is now the time to ask for copies of our CCAs?

TIA

Lou

[nattylou74]

Re: Very - where to start

Does this sound ok?


Shop Direct Finance Company Limited
Sandringham House
Sandringham Avenue
Chelmsford
CM92 1LE


Dear Sir/Madam

Ref:

Thank you for your letter of 07-12-2011 concerning the above account.

We are are sorry that you feel unable to accept the offer which we have made. The majority of our other creditors have accepted the offers made to them and we have commenced payments.

We cannot offer you more because we can only afford £5 per month..

In the light of other creditors agreeing to our repayment plan, please would you reconsider our offer.

We will be making the payments in line with the offer to your company, on a monthly basis, by standing order as a gesture of goodwill.


We look forward to hearing from you as soon as possible. Please contact me in writing only.

Yours faithfully

[labman]

Re: Very - where to start

The problem you may hit is they are likely to ask for proof of your Income and Expenditure which is a perfectly reasonable and normal thing for them to do. Apologies if you have already done this, in which case ignore the next two paragraphs.

You will be told that only a judge can demand this from you, and that is true. However, if you want them to accept a repayment offer, common sense dictates that you send it to them.

Currently, it will be obvious that you have not worked out pro rata payments to your creditors, or I believe it highly unlikely that you have. Pro rata payments almost never give a nice round figure like £5.00, and the chances of it doing so for both your accounts are almost impossible.

If you have multiple debts and want them accepting by your creditors with interest and charges being frozen, and you really want to do your own DMP, I would reiterate the advice I gave above that CASHflow would be a good route for you to take. This would add enormous weight to your offer, and issues like this would be much simpler to deal with.

Do you mind me asking how you have worked out repayments so far? What is the total level of your debt? How old is it? How many creditors do you have? Have the others really accepted your repayment proposals? - if they have then that is a really good negotiating point, especially if you have worked out your debts on a pro rata basis.

Answers to these would make advising a way forward in terms of the best letter to send much easier.

[rft]

Re: Very - where to start

Hello Labman.
I also am trying to deal with Very. I asked for an address and a contact name in order to deal with my problem. To no avail. I deal with a different person each time I email. I sent a letter asking to pay a reduced amount. They refused to accept my offer as it "did not meet the minimum payment criteria". They say I should phone them to discuss this matter but I prefer to keep everything in writing. Can I insist on this? And where do I go from here?
Thank you

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Very - where to start

See my reply on your other thread ---> http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/...623#post312623