Barclay Card

[Sugababe]

Has anyone had dealings with Mercers Debt Collections Ltd in Liverpool, my Barclay Card account has now been passed over to them, they have called today to say that door stop collectors will be calling in 1 week (very worried) - I am currently awaiting my proposal from Melanie

[Shining]

Hi sugaababe, I had the same week in, week out with Mercers they were awfully demanding and I posted on here re their threats and luckily that's all they turned out to be. Just be polite, give them Melanies details (which you will do numerous times) and explain the situation. They scared the life out of me saying doorstep collections but nobody ever visited me, well now while I was at home anyway. Won't be long if Melanie is on the case, hang in there x

[size5]

You are in safe hands, but to put your mind at rest, a doorstep visit is no more than a telephone call on legs in reality. They have no power, they are not bailiffs and all that they can do really is to ask you what you are doing in regard to the outstanding debt, at which point you would simply refer them to Melanie and her team. That is why in the majority of cases no one calls, it is more of a hollow threat than something to really worry about.

Regards.

[chairmanmiaow]

I've had a visit from Scotcall (who mercers use) - they are fine. Just told him what I've told Mercers about 15 times and he was fine with it.

They have no powers, they're not bailiffs - and you don't have to worry about bailiffs unless you've had a ccj against you

[chris.g]

I was informed by National Debtline to write a brief letter, stating that under no circumstance did I want to be visited either at home or work or contacted by phone regarding my debt. Any correspondance should be in writing and any attempt to contact me other than letter would be seen as harrassment and that they would be reported. This I did and I must admit that although they bombarded me with letters, as I ended up not answering the phone so not sure if they phoned, but they never did send anyone to my house or place of work. Worked with a few other 'debt counsellors' who contacted us regarding our debts also.
Unfortunately, some people don't know their rights and they can be bullied and intimidated by creditors in the attempt to get a payment.

[go_4_broke]

Agree with Chris, here's the one I used to use -

I write further to your letter of the . . . and notice of your intention to send a personal representative.

It is my policy not to receive personal callers in these matters under any circumstances.

I would further advise you that until I receive confirmation in writing from you that no further personal callers will be sent, no offer of payment will be made.

Your attention is drawn to the notice on the reverse of this letter.

The 'notice on the reverse' was a large Admin of Justice anti-harassment notice in big letters and red ink.

Worked a treat no-one ever called ! I think the bit about 'call. . . and you get no money' may have helped. . .

Best Regards, Simon

[MelanieGiles]

I like that letter Simon! So long as you have not copyrighted it I will be using this for my own clients! Can you give me the exact wording of the reverse.

[go_4_broke]

Thanks Melanie, you are very welcome, feel free. The 'reverse' is shown below, it is a bit stroppy in retrospect (but then so were the creditors letters), you might want to tone it down a bit, (tho I did have it looked over by a solicitor who couldn't find anything specifically wrong with it).

Best Regards, Simon.

<center>DO NOT IGNORE

IT IS A CRIMINAL OFFENCE UNDER THE ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE ACT 1970 TO HARASS A DEBTOR

THIS COULD INCLUDE ANY OF THE FOLLOWING

· Calling at the debtors premises repeatedly or during antisocial hours
· Attempting to contact the debtor at work or any place other than the contact address given
· Attempting to contact the debtors family, friends or neighbours
· Advertising or making the debt known to any third party
· Any other manner defined under the Act as ‘calculated to subject him, or members of his household to alarm, distress or humiliation’

IF YOU UNDERTAKE ANY ACTION WHICH MAY CONSTITUTE HARASSMENT ACTION WILL BE TAKEN AGAINST YOU AND YOUR PRINCIPALS

THIS COULD BE IN THE FORM OF

· Reporting your company, your principals and named individuals to the Police
· Reporting your company and your principals to the Trading Standards Office
· The seeking of an injunction under the terms of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997
· The seeking of damages and costs under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED !
</center>

[MelanieGiles]

Nothing wrong with that - and all completely accurate. It is an intrusion into my clients peaceful enjoyment to send them threats of home visits, and therefore I feel that your letter is entirely appropriate in the right circumstances.

Thank you for taking time to reproduce this - I am sure other forum members will be able to use this to great effect as well.

[go_4_broke]

Thanks for the vote of confidence Melanie, I was always a bit worried about that one ever since the solicitor went a slightly funny colour when I showed it to him!

I found when dealing with my creditors I could resolve it down to perhaps half a dozen fairly standard letters along the lines of the above, I'll perhaps put the rest up somewhere as time/space allows.

Best Regards, Simon

[MelanieGiles]

Good idea - and perhaps Andy can put a sort of shared area on the site so that they are easily accessible. Might be sensible to e-mail them to him so this can happen.

[chris.g]

Very good letter Simon, should help quite a few people out when they are getting hassled and harrassed by their creditors.
It's such a worrying time when you can't pay your debts, it's very different to WON'T pay your debts. To be threatened and intimidated by some creditors only adds to the pressure and feeling of hopelessness.
Sometimes you have to fight fire with fire and if they are sending threatening letters, turn the tables on them and throw the threats back to them. It's all legal but we rarely do as we owe them money and we feel obliged to be compliant and polite, to the loss of our rights and sometimes dignity.

[go_4_broke]

Thanks Chris and yes you are absolutely right that is very much my philosophy. Much 'debt collection' activity amounts to little more than low-level intimidation/harassment, it is quite pathetic really.

I think the 'can't pay/won't pay' thing is very relevant here because to a debt collector, someone who is preparing an IVA proposal is very likely going to be put down as a 'won't pay' until some concrete evidence is produced and will therefore be subject to maximum botherment. In fact I'd like to bet that 'preparing an IVA proposal' or 'looking at an IVA' is probably in the debt collectors' desk organizer Top Ten list of not acceptable excuses for non-payment!

Melanie, I think there is already a Template Letters section on the site, perhaps Andy/admin can arrange for it/them to be added if suitable. I think some of my others may be fairly similair to what is already there, but I will have a look and if I think they could be of use I will send them in if someone can give me a suitable e-mail address.

Best Regards, Simon

[Adam Davies]

Hi
Simon,send the letter tome using the contact Andy link,I will add it to the template letter section of the forum
Regards

[Sugababe]

Thank you for your responses - Mercers are really doing my head in they are now calling me twice a day (morning and afternoon) as if I have any further info to tell them other than I am awaiting my proposal. They are asking me to make token payments until my IVA is approved should I do this? or just ignore them?