I really need my life back

[Pixie]

Re: I really need my life back

A CCA request will start the ball rolling with UE so you will be able to send tried and tested template letters which leave a paper trail. The amount of letters does tend to lessen considerably when they realise you're not going to play ball.

Like MrsD suggests, have a look at the UE diaries and especially UE - One year on - allaboutFORUMS which shows how UE has helped people.

It's never a good idea to just ignore all letters. People have received ccjs that way and not known about it until it's too late.

Whatever you do, I certainly wouldn't start making payments to them now.

[Survival]

Re: I really need my life back

A CCA request will start the ball rolling with UE so you will be able to send tried and tested template letters which leave a paper trail. The amount of letters does tend to lessen considerably when they realise you're not going to play ball.

Like MrsD suggests, have a look at the UE diaries and especially UE - One year on - allaboutFORUMS which shows how UE has helped people.

It's never a good idea to just ignore all letters. People have received ccjs that way and not known about it until it's too late.

Whatever you do, I certainly wouldn't start making payments to them now.

thank you

ok will have a nose around that section now, will definitely not start paying

[ScabHunter]

Re: I really need my life back

There is one other possibility which I've not seen mentioned yet – DRO. Now, I'm not suggesting for one moment that DRO should be used in the present circumstances (it couldn't be anyway without loss of the job as the gap between income and outgoings is too high), but it is a useful tactic of last resort to bear in mind in the unlikely event that everything else goes tragically wrong.

A DRO is worth considering when you have no assets, extremely low income, and alleged debts which are all fully enforceable. It is like a nuclear bomb, it wipes everything out, but of course there is fall out and pollution. It is very much a tactic of last resort, and it is also worth mentioning that it is not a sure thing. You have to pay £90 to apply for a DRO, and this is non-refundable even if the DRO is not granted.

When is it worth considering? Well, I would think about it if, and only if, two or three of these alleged debts became subject to court orders, which I stress I do not expect to happen. In that case, the creditors would have far more potential leverage in the future, including right to seek attachment of earnings from a future job or a charging order on any property you might own.

It is also important to understand DRO from the point of view of the creditor. You ask in an earlier post why the creditors would not seek to enforce the alleged debts, well, one possible reason would be risk. The creditor has to weigh up the potential gains against the possible risk involved in bringing the action, which is not cheap or easy. In your present situation, the court would be unable to award anything more than token payments, and one of the risks the creditor has to perennially live with is that of the debtor seeking a DRO which could dissolve the entire account. In the civil courts, you can win and still very much lose.

On another point altogether, what happened to the default notices for these accounts? These are the classic example of why you should never leave letters unopened or destroy incoming mail – the enemy could just have sent you an asset which will work in your favour. I wonder how many debtors have looked at a default notice, seen it is a demand for money they cannot afford to pay, and torn it up without a second thought? This is a mistake, as a termination of account on the back of a defective default notice can, indeed should, affect the probability of the outcome of any court hearing. If you have any default notices, keep them safe, along with the envelopes they came in.

A final point I haven't yet seen mentioned – are the wages from the part time job being paid into an account which is entirely separate from, and unrelated to, any organisation with which you have an alleged debt? This is absolutely essential to avoid the possibility of “set off”, which is the removal of money from one account to feed another in the same organisation. If your current bank account is entirely separate, then you are safe, and if it isn't, you are are at risk. This needs to be addressed before you do anything else.

Sorry for the long post, hope some of it is useful.

SH

[Survival]

Re: I really need my life back

Hi Scabhunter

thanks for such an informative post.

I admit I have been rather naugthy in terms of destroying and ignoring letters, although since it was mentioned previously by a poster, I'm keeping a cursory eye upon things.
Debt relief orders are something i'll bear in mind, right now, nothing much has changed apart from letters asking me to get into contact with said creditors as I had originally contacted them all to establish small repayment plans. This was soon abandoned when I joined this forum, and got 'schooled' so to speak LOL.

Yes wages go into a basic account unconnected to any of the lenders, it did originally go into a think bank account, but I manged via hook or crook to get a basic account lol

I'm glad you mentioned DRO's though, as my friends father I think could benefit from this, and i'm gonna keep convincing my friend to join here (still refusing the idiot) and further investigate that option.

thank you so much!

[Survival]

Re: I really need my life back

Just a little update, nothing much has changed, creditors still asking me to make contact. I've changed sim so no horrible phone calls. All in the meantime I got myself into a spot of bother with parking fines. Council though have accepted a payment plan for all fines.

I really am my own worse enemy sometimes when it comes to common sense and money lol