Where to start?

[Akaseo]

Hi,

Been lurking around this forum looking for advice for a quite a while now, well where to begin?

In 2005 I was made homeless due to the death of my parents and subsequently bought a property as I was on a fairly decent salary at the time, I took out a loan to cover legal costs etc and the things that had to be paid up front and I got a credit card from the same bank which helped me to furnish the property (Pretty irresponsible I know) but at the time I was young, single and the repayments really were not much of an issue to me at all, I paid these debts consistently for 3 years until in 2008 I had to take a demotion at work or risk losing my job completely, I lost a huge chunk of my income and the repayments became more and more difficult, around the same time I met my now wife who had 2 children and long story short got married, so I had gone in the space of a few months from a single man with decent salary and some debts to a married man with 2 children and a lower income, something had to give and it wasn't going to be my new found family, I sold my house to save money but due the the flagging economy it was worth less than I had paid for it all those years earlier and only just brought in enough to clear the mortgage. So I was left with approx £15k worth of debts and nowhere to live, I had an opportunity to move abroad and get work and housing and so I took it, and me and my new family moved overseas, It was never my intention to stop paying my debts however due my new stepsons developing a medical condition and some other changes in circumstances I first started to fall behind on payments before eventually stopped paying my debts alltogether. This has been on my conscience ever since and I have felt guilty from the day I cancelled the last standing order. Since then I have moved back to the UK I have had no contact with my creditors for 4 years and no payments have been made on any of the 3 accounts (2 credit cards and a bank loan) I know that if I wait another year these debts will become statute barred (Taken out in Scotland) and since none of the creditors know where I live etc the chances of corresponding with them before this occurs is slight so realistically I have the option of waiting a few months and sort of forgetting about these debts. However as I stated above this has been on my mind for some years and caused me great concern, I am now in the fortunate position of having worked myself back up to a decent lvl of salary and my wish is to repay these debts which according to my credit file now stand at just over £18k to 3 creditors in total, I could pay in £600 monthly towards these debts without too much disruption to my life as it is now and crucially I would finally have peace of mind about the debt. The problem is I dont know where to start? If I contact the creditor and state my wish to pay the debt will they demand payment in full immediately? What are my rights, I know I havent paid for a long time but I want to pay now and am able to offer I think a realistic payment amount but I honestly dont know where to begin, at the moment I am living happily and quietly in a rented accomodation but if I initiate contact with these companies will I start beig harrased by doorsteppers etc. Any advice/help that can be offered to someone who dearly wants to pay his way out of his mess would be greatly appreciated. thank you in advance.

[bluebottle]

Re: Where to start?

:bump:

[Bill-K]

Re: Where to start?

Hi and welcome Akaseo. Of course, we cannot condone debt avoidance - but having said that - I did a 'runner' some years ago during a dark part of my life. So - your current intention of repaying those old debts makes you a better person than I !!!

I'm guessing that these debts are now being handled by DCA's, and DCA's are not known for being reasonable or fair. So - as you suspect - the danger is that as soon as you start to make a move toward repaying the debts, they could all descend upon you like sharks in a feeding frenzy, and quite mercilessly demolish the security which you now finally seem to have - after years of insecurity.

As your intentions are honourable, my own personal suggestion would be to wait until the debts are all statute-barred. You will then be in a better position to 'run the show.' I'm not sure exactly how to go about it, but I think you could then make 'Full and Final' settlement offers to the DCA's - where you offer them a reasonable amount to settle the debt. The DCA's usually buy these debts from the Original Creditor (OC) for a very reduced amount, so they are usually in a position to accept such offers. Once the debts are statute-barred, then you are in just about the strongest bargaining position possible, IMO. Basically, the offer is not negotiable - it's literally 'take it or leave it. I'm sure the DCA's will be happy to 'take the money and run.'

Just make sure that you keep - very safely - the written agreements to settle, and acknowledgements of full and final settlement.

Lastly - and by no means least(ly) - I'm not too sure on the Limitation Act, and would appreciate the opinion of others on this. One particular question I can't answer with my limited knowledge of the LA is this: If Akaseo makes a F&F offer AFTER the debt is Statute-Barred - does that constitute acknowledgement of the debt and re-start the 5-year LA clock ? If so, then I guess we will have to be very careful how we word any offers. Akaseo may have to play the part of an 'anonymous benefactor' acting on his behalf.

[ODC]

Re: Where to start?

If Kaesong is living in Scotland the debts become extinguished after 5 years and no sort of acknowledgement will restart the timer. As these debts have been doubtless sold on to some scummy DCA and the original creditor having received tax relief on them as well as pennies in the pound I would be vey loathe to contact and DCA ever. Keep your powder dry and if the catch up with you then start the letter ping pomp with them. A word of advice though. Do not fill in warranties or register mobile phones as you will start receiving an Amazonian forest of begging/threatening letters from the scum

[brian77]

Re: Where to start?

As ODS says these people are nothing more than scum, please, please, please do not contact them, if you do you are guaranteed this debt will be much more than the 18k you think it is now, do you think for one moment think the DCA will have it on their conscience as they rip thousands of people off on a daily basis, keep your money, give yourself a pat on the back and take your step children on the holiday of a life time and if it helps clear your conscience why not donate the first installment of £600, you where thinking of paying them to your favourite charity.
The people you took out the original debt with has been paid by the DCA and as stated you paid the first three years off the loan so everyones happy except the DCA but they don't matter LOL, wait for the loan to be statute barred and write them a nice thank you letter.

Cheers Brian

Cheers Brian

[Akaseo]

Re: Where to start?

Thanks for the responses , certainly some food for thought, one question though is there any way for certain of finding out who now owns these debts? If as you all suggest after 4 years they will no longer be with the original creditor? The original creditors were Halifax for loan and cc and a cc from Mbna.

[ODC]

Re: Where to start?

By now they will have travelled through numerous DcAs. It's hard to say which of the morons will have them now. When and if you receive a letter then let us know. If its from Lowells or Muck Hall or Motormile then you can rest easy as they will not have any paperwork nor the intelligence needed to take it to court. In the meantime sit tight

[Akaseo]

Re: Where to start?

I see Mackenzie Hall mentioned a lot and from what I can gather, if I am contacted then should hope its from them as they seem to be not very credible, I still have an issue with sitting tight on a moral basis though , but at the same time I don't want to jeopardise my new found security. This in my opinion is where the debt recovery procedures get out of hand and in actuality are ppreventing people like me from repaying my debts due to fear.

[figaro123]

Re: Where to start?

I would like to start a thread, how do I do this.
Thanks

[figaro123]

Re: Where to start?

I would like to start a thread how do i do this

[brian77]

Re: Where to start?

Hi Figaro
Go to the section you want your thread to appear then on the top left hand side you'll see start new thread just click on that and away you go.

Cheers Brian

[ODC]

Re: Where to start?

I see Mackenzie Hall mentioned a lot and from what I can gather, if I am contacted then should hope its from them as they seem to be not very credible, I still have an issue with sitting tight on a moral basis though , but at the same time I don't want to jeopardise my new found security. This in my opinion is where the debt recovery procedures get out of hand and in actuality are ppreventing people like me from repaying my debts due to fear.

Its great yjat you have morals but hen dealing with DCAs please leave your morals to one side. DCAs are the lowest form of life who will lie, cheatt and do anything ti get money from you. Please be very wary about anything they say. Remember the allged debt that theya are chasing you for they probably only paid 10p in the pound for. The OC has received tax releif on the money. Whats moralistic about that??

[Akaseo]

Re: Where to start?

Its great yjat you have morals but hen dealing with DCAs please leave your morals to one side. DCAs are the lowest form of life who will lie, cheatt and do anything ti get money from you. Please be very wary about anything they say. Remember the allged debt that theya are chasing you for they probably only paid 10p in the pound for. The OC has received tax releif on the money. Whats moralistic about that??

I understand completely and the nature of these agencies and the tactics they are known to employ is the main reason for my fear of initiating contact with them, however as I said I have no idea who would now own these debts as I have been completely uncontactable for over 4 years not even living in this country, my main worry though is that out of the blue I will recieve some sort of demand for payment from a company I haven't heard of and be caught completely off guard, to be honest if that was the case I'd probably be panicked into paying more than I have to, what would my first steps be should they intitiate contact?

Again I really appreciate the time you guys take to help people out.

[Celestine]

Re: Where to start?

Wow, what a lovely chap you are.

Some points of clarity.

The 'debts' will now be much higher than the 18k you estimate.

All of your debts will have been sold on to a 3rd party Debt Collector for approx 10% of its original value. It will have changed hands many times now.

There are a multitude of these companies and even attempting to contact them could trigger a pandoras box effect.

The original creditors will have written off these debts and claimed tax relief.

Sooo, if you have money to spare, donate to Shelter (as you have experienced homelessness) or any other charity close to your heart.

We do not recommend debt avoidance but the only approach we do advocate is to repay the original creditor, in your case this would seem utterly pointless.

[Nikolai]

Re: Where to start?

Your honourable intentions will count for nothing with these scum. Please don't jeopardise the security you have by contacting them. When commercial lenders lend money, they KNOW some of it is going to go bad. This is why their interest rates are high. You are not dealing here with people who have feelings, it's not someone you know, it's an original creditor who has no conscience about selling your debt for pence in the pound to the lowest form of pond life you can imagine, who will lie, cheat and force their way into your new, happy life and make it a misery. I know, I've been there. You owe it to yourself and your family not to put this at risk. Hope this is clear enough. Give your conscience a well-earned break!!