To think that debt collectors are the SCUM of the earth!!!

[lucyellensmum]

What the hell makes someone want to take a job that capitalises on someone elses misfortune.

The majority of people in debt are in that situation through no fault of their own. There of course is an element of bad money management but most people avoid it - don't they??

I have had the unpleasant task of dealing with the debt collectors who took on my overdraft, which i must admit i stuck my head in the sand and should have sorted it out before, but i didn't due to PND and other reasons.

I have agreed to make what i feel is a reasonable monthly payment of £50 as this is all i can afford. I get monthly phone calls telling me this isnt enough etc etc - its a debt of just under 2K, so it will not take forever to clear. I am hoping to be in a position to clear it sooner.

So, they ring me last month - they say, "ooh, we can put you through to our sister company they might be able to help you" no mention of a further loan - but it turns out they are peddling a further loan. I refuse as this clearly makes no sense. They say, ok wait for the company to get back to you. This was ELEPHANT loans by the way, so they are a sister company to debt collectors loan sharks. Now because i refused the loan they say im not making the effort to clear my debt I missed last months payment because the man from elephant said wait for them to call.

Now i get a solicitors letter demanding all the money - yeah right, i can;t afford £50 so i am not going to be in a position to pay it all off am i!!

I phone them, they talk to me like im an idiot - im not, im just not in a good position financially at the moment, ive posted about this before, things are sorting themselves out but people like this making unreasonable demands dont help.

They refuse to put anything in writing but are not insisting on an income report form - so i said, ok, you send me one i'll fill it in - so he said, no, go away and make a spreadsheet on excel (assuming a lot there then!!) and send it in to us, i said, without a request in writing then you can go without - he said, they dont have to put anything in writing, my DD was screaming by this point, wanting her mummy, so i told him, right, i'll pay £100 tomorrow and £50 next month, etc, not a penny more - like it or lump it.

These people are bullies, and if i had been more mouse like as i have been in the past they would have bullied me into an agreement i couldnt possibly keep. Yes, i know the original debt was my own fault, but that is besides the point. People in debt arent just avoiding payment, they are in money difficulties and its shit and you (debt collectors) can all fuck right off!!

Sorry, rant over

you need to always kep paying them as if you get taken to court they will see a history or irratic payments - you are playing straight into their hands - you then need to go to citixens advice pronto here

it just annoys me custy that all i have as proof of payment is a receipt from the bank of payment into a random bank account. Nothing in writing, but it seems they are well within their rights - WTF!!! I know what you mean though - i will defo keep up the repayments. I just hate their bullying tactics - like i said SCUM

Isn't nursing, social work, prison service and indeed, the police force also capitalising on other people's misfortunes? Not to mention undertakers......

tbh I think yabu a bit.

You owe the money because you have fallen behind on the repayments, I think you're lucky that they've agreed for you to repay at a rate you can afford - these companies are not there for the good of the poor - they're there to make money.

If everyone who borrowed money thought they should be allowed to repay on their own terms then these companies simply wouldn't be able to exist because no-one would repay their debts and therefore the companies would never make any money.

I do agree that some of these loan companies that lend money with no credit checks etc are morally dubious at best, but there are enough warnings out there about these type companies that people really should think twice before borrowing from them.

You CAN tell them you will only deal with them in writing. I think the Finance Ombudsman has something on their website about it that, if you write saying that you will ONLY deal with them in writing from this point on, if they call you up it counts as harassment?

Whilst sympathising with your current plight I would have to disagree that the majority of people in debt are in that situation through no fault of their own.

You wouldn't believe what some people prioritise over keeping their debts under control.

You are definitely doing the right thing in insisting on everything being in writing.

I have no problem with agreeing terms and keeping up with the payments. But i would have thought that i am entitled to something in writing, i have no receipt from the company etc etc.

I am behind with my payments because we have a very low income. I'm not behind because i can't be arsed to pay. Its humiliating and depressing, and quite frightening really.

Especially when you talk to someone on the phone who is going out of their way to be difficult. First of all saying, no no it MUST be paid in full today - well, funnily enough, as i was quite assertive in my refusal they suddenly went back to the original payment scheme. To be fair, the guys on the end of the phone are just call centre workers so not really there fault, but there is someone out there driving a big flash car on the back of other peoples misfortune.

As for the comment about emergency services - come on, they are there to HELP and they get an OK wage, but deserve so much more. It is NOT the same thing AT all.

YANBU.

I realise that my debt is my problem, but I lost my job after being badly injured in a car crash that wasn't my fault. I had several months with no money at all, dh's wages were (barely) covering everything else. I was horribly depressed, in severe pain. And you know what? I had a call from a debt collection agency, and he kept interrupting me when I was trying to explain why I wasn't able to pay, and said that I was making excuses. When I made it clear that I had no way of paying, had no credit card, and no friend with a credit card that would pay (£500 on the spot) for me, he started threatening me. When I broke down in tears, he laughed at me for being "pathetic"

I know these people have a job to do, but there are other ways of getting results.

Deepbreath - I would have put the phone down on the bstard, then called back, maybe pretending I was going to make a payment and complained BIG* time about his attitude and that they should look forward to a call from the press

You should definitely be entitled to correspond with this company in writing only, and I would write to them to tell them that.

But while your own situation is something that has essentially been out of your control, in the majority of cases, people get into debt because of bad money management and will do anything to pay the minimum possible, so these people have to be more forceful otherwise they run the risk of never getting their money back.

Message withdrawn

thankyou for your post little one - will defo have a look at that later. I hate being in debt, i really would rather not be - but we are struggling. We manage to pay the mortgage, but only just so these people are way down on my list. I will definately only be dealing with this company in writing from now on - thankyou.

I was hassled by a debt collection due to a mix up by Fed ex. I payed a tax bill for import duty once and was sent another bill for the same amount a week later. I ignored it, assuming it was an admin error, since i'd payed over the phone by card. Fed ex then sold the "debt" on to a collection agency who hassled me so much that i just payed again cos i was scared of losing my credit rating. The best bit - the amount of the debt was £5!!!

Message withdrawn

Debt collectors have to be forceful, if they weren't I cant imagine they would recover much of the money owed.

Some people do fall on bad times and some get into debt as they borrowed more than they could afford, either way the money was borrowed and should be paid back.

If you default on any borrowings, I dont think you have the right to moan when the company take measures to recover their money.

If things are really that bad, you need to see the CAB about hte possibility of either IVA with the creditor, as every time things to go debt collector and/or court the debt just grows greater.

It's not a nice prospect, I've been there myself.

But it's better than dealing with what you are now.

sitdown is right, a lot of people prioritise trivialities ahead of paying their debts and it's not on.

Message withdrawn

with all due respect, you borrowed money and could not pay it back.

I appreciate that you had an accident/depression or whatever, but surely you cannot honestly expect any company to let people off with debt because of reasons like that? That would cover such a huge proportion of their client base. TBH, I find it a bit that you would even think that.

Many people in debt are jut avoiding payment, and while I am sure your problems are real, I am also sure there are just as many people who lie.

Debt collectors are real people, and while you might not like people asking you for money back that you borrowed from them.. you have to agree, it is completely justified. I think calling them 'the scum of the earth' is highly uncalled for.

Message withdrawn

Okay, well what do you expect them to do? 'oh you arent feeling too well just now? Oh right, well you hold onto our money then for the time being'

I had these debt collectors harrass me in our last flat because the former tenants had run up tens of thousands of pounds in unpaid debt.

They can only intimidate and bully you if you let them.

I wound them up to no end and took the piss out of them because it wasn't my debt so I knew that legally they couldn't do anything.

In Scotland, bailiffs can only come after you for council tax.