The Dreaded Knock at the Door - Part 6 of Our Story
Monday, May 23, 2011 @ 5:42 PM
I’ve been wondering whether to give out all the gory, gritty details of our experiences in the UK or whether to sugar coat everything? But I thought that if anybody is reading this in the UK and is going through the same misery that we went through I might just be able to give a few nuggets of advice. We had no income and lots of expenditure! We did all the sensible phone calls to the banks and credit card companies that we owed money to and tried to negotiate lower payments. Most of them were really helpful with the one exception being Santander. They wouldn’t budge over payments .So if anyone out there is dreading the postman’s visits and those lovely “Your Payment is Overdue” letters as we did for months, then my first bit of advice would be to contact the Consumer Credit Counselling Service or C.C.C.S. They are on the Internet and they are a totally FREE advice service. Everyone on the other end of the phone is completely understanding and non-judgmental. They helped me out a lot, providing me with template letters & Income & Expenditure details that could be forwarded to any creditors. I was advised to offer my creditors a very small monthly amount and even if they complained that it wasn’t enough I was told to ignore their pleas for more money and just keep on paying regardless. Priority bills have to be mortgage/rent, council tax and then utilities. A credit card company cannot get you evicted from your home, whereas a mortgage company, landlord or the council can.
My second snippet of advice is to try and avoid debt management companies, if you can. Obviously I don’t want to tar everyone with the same brush but we knew someone who used to work for a debt management company. They would set up a payment scheme between you and your creditors but pocket a large chunk of your money instead of paying your debt. So do your research and be wary.
Now the really nasty one – debt collectors or bailiffs. We had one debt with a certain company, that despite being told we had closed the company and that the company had no assets kept pursuing us. For your information if a bailiff knocks on your door YOU DO NOT have to let him in. They cannot force their way in. And beware if they ask to use your toilet or use your phone to make a call, its one of their sneak tactics to get inside. Even if they arrive with police assistance, the police are there purely to keep the peace and cannot force you to let the bailiff in. DO KEEP YOUR DOORS & WINDOWS LOCKED if you leave the house though because bailiffs DO have the right to enter your house through any open door or window, even if they have to climb into your back garden to do it. However, they CANNOT list anything they see though windows. Again, if you find yourselves in the unfortunate position of having people knocking on your door, check out the Internet for details and know what your rights are!
