Debt recovery - Problem

[mattyfez]

I can't believe that the advice given by somebody who woked for a debt collection agency is "Ignore them".
You should never totally ignore people threatning you with collection of monies owed.
Sure, if the debt is in dispute then dispute it.
Write the correct letters and get the right people involved.

Just sitting back and doing nothing gets your case to court quicker and once they have ruled it all becomes a lot more difficult.

Not entirey true, unless it is a court appointed bailiff, hired as the result of a lost case and refusal to pay the court, then they are merley invoices, these people have no power what-so-ever and rely purely on intimidation to recover cash, use lots of official looking letters with very strong wording.

They usually purchase debts from companies such as Gym's, mobile phone companies etc, for as little as 10p in the pound, so for an alleged debt of £100 they might pay £10 for.
If they succeed in recovering over a tenner from you, they are in profit, but we all know they demand vast sums of cash, and they rely on people being scared into paying. This is how they make money, and they make lots of it, as most people become intimidated and just pay.

I would advise just sending a single letter to them by recorded delivery, stating the dispute with the gym in this case.
Never speak to them on the phone, never engage in any comms unless written letter by recorded delivery.

These companies dont go to court, they just hound people until they cough up, if they had any kind of case then they would simply send a single letter, and then comence proceedings, but they do not, they just keep chipping away in an attempt to grind people down.

 

[Stanman67]

Debt recovery =/= bailiffs and as such they can only threaten you until you pay voluntarily. To make you to pay they have to take you to court first, which I doubt they will unless they have enough evidence you did something wrong. So, don't be in any hurry to resolve it.

But they can inflate the orginall debt with there fees etc, If your 100% certain you gave the notice required by the contract or they broke the T&C, than do not pay otherwise settle up or negotiate repayment.

 

[Naamiko_O]

hey mate, I had exactly the same thing with Esporta. I joined for 3 months on a 12 month contract and then cancelled my DD,

They contacted debt collectors about the money and I kept getting letters through and phone calls. I gave a letter to Esporta saying I was sacked from my job because that I could no longer make payments, they were ******** and didn't forward the letter to the debt collectors who kept ringing me so I sent the same letter to them and they haven't been in contact since

Tell the gym you were sacked, give them a letter from your boss. I mean you can make it up if you want to
Send the same letter to the debt collectors and saying that you got sacked and that in the terms of the contract with the gym you no longer have to pay. Job done

 

[Guy]

Update:-

Thanks for the advice everyone, sent them a letter via recorded delivery to advise that the account was in dispute and quoted some of what mejinks wrote (cheers).

Got a letter today saying "NOTICE OF LEGAL PROCEEDINGS"!!! Got a bit worried, so I phoned them (i know, i know but they got me). They confirmed that the case has been closed and passed back as of yesterday, wooo!

So I'm going to contact the gym to sort this out, to find out what I owe and everything. As i don't want this to pop up again, plus if I do owe them some form of fees, fair enough. But I'm not going to pay some random fee that was never stated or agreed to in the T's and C's.

cheers again guys

 

[mejinks]

Remember, that if they send any more letters or phonecalls, it is harassment.