incessant calls - some downright nasty

[Piston Broke]

ANy advice on here would be fantastic. Im sure im in the same situation as many who are reading this forum whilst either going through the IVA process or thinking of starting it.

i should say that i am going through the iva alone, although my wife is fully aware and fully supports the decision - its just i took all the credit in my name, so she has no reason, nor in fact is able to go through it with me. I have to say Im glad for her too!

At the time i decided an iva was for me i hadnt missed a single payment to any of my creditors, but at the advice of my facilitator, i stopped making all payments to creditors.

within days, we started to get some calls, which increasingly got nastier and more frequent.

Now Im lucky, because i often work abroad and for the past two and a half weeks i have been in the beautiful Tirol region of Austria with work and am lucky enough to have been able to bring my family with me at no cost as my company has an apartment there (Yeah, i know - lucky, lucky, lucky) The main reason i brought them - apart from the great weather we are having here, is to avoid the calls, particularly as when my wife answers the calls she cant even speak to the creditors because of the Data Protection act, and the fact it is my debt.

What i would like feedback on, is whether it is ok for her to stop answering the phone to them during hte day when i am at work, or will it just make it worse?

she has had M&S financial services make her cry and Goldfish make her cry twice with their totally nasty and downright unfair treatment - she simply answered the phone to them and got the icy blast of a woman telling her that there was no point 'harbouring me' as they would get to speak to me sometime (i was again out of the country, and my wife told them so, but was accused in all but words of lying)

is there hope until my iva goes through that this can be avoided?

[chris.g]

Unplug the phone.....simple as!!
Make sure that people who you want to contact you have an alternative number. Some creditors will still phone on an evening, some on here have had calls upto 10pm!!!
Or your wife could just refuse to talk to them, politely of course, and then just put the phone down.
You should also contact your ip and tell them of the harrassment. It is their job to deal with your creditors and they have a bit more clout than us mere mortals.....[:)]

[Wizzard]

The easiest way and the one that worked for me is to change the phone number. Of course you need to notify friends and family of the change. Another method is to answer the phone, apologise and say hang on, someone at the door ... and put the receiver down by the phone. Go back in 30 - 40 minutes and hang up. Someone on here advised that one and I thought it was great lol. contact your IP and give them the names of the company hassling you and they will sort it out.

[Til]

I would agree.

Unplug the phone or switch off the ringer then they can leave messages for you which you can ignore!

We had similar tale - many many calls - but in the end we just kept ignoring them until we were in IVA.

Of course if you feel you can talk to them yourself then it is sometimes worth explaining to them that you are applying for IVA - this sometimes gets them to stop for a few days but prob not - however don;t let any of these call centre staff tell you that they would not agree to IVA as they are not the decision makers and have no say whatsoever in your case.

If your wife is at home these calls are not for her so tell her to ignore the phone - good luck [:)]

[Piston Broke]

Thanks - that was my natural inclination, but I thought it best to check how others had dealt with the situation.

thanks for the advice.

[kallis3]

I am sorry to hear about all your calls, they must be the most stressful part of this whole business.

It is fine for your wife to ignore the calls, or she could just say that you are not at home and hang up. If you have an answering machine, as soon as it cuts in they will either leave a message (which is easily deleted), or cut the call off.

As Wizzard says, change your number, we did and it was fantastic. also changed my mobile number as well and they had no other number t contact me on.

Hang in there - these people are just bullies who will try to get you to pay because they are on commission. They have no rights in voting, so ignore any threats in that direction.

I would also write to them and inform them that you will not deal with them over the phone, but will deal by letter.

[Viki.W]

Piston Broke, sorry your wife is having hassle, it's different for me as my creditors only have my mobile number, if they phoned the home phone I would hate my Dad to answer if they were going to treat him the way they have treated your wife. "Harbouring"[?] Jeez![:(]

I agree with everyone else here, either unplug, leave them on hold while you make your tea or change your number. You could always try calling them and changing your number with them to perhaps your mobile so you can see who it is calling or to a number that doesn't even exist (someone suggested this recently).

Hope you get things sorted soon. X

[kallis3]

Refuse to confirm your details as well, they cannot discuss anything with you if you don't.

[MelanieGiles]

There is really no need for this nastiness on the part of the creditors - especially to your wife. I really cannot see that it is going to get them anywhere bearing in mind your current circumstances.

[TheMatrix]

They have no right talking to anyone but the account holder, unplug the phone, get caller id or change the number that will stop the b*****ds upsetting your wife.

Once your in the IVA though those calls must stop by law.

[Moneystinks]

Mercers bsolutely refused to speak with me regrding a B'card debt in my hubby's name. I told them they would have a long wait to speak with him and hung up, needless to say they rang straight back so I too left the phone on the side.

I hope it all gets sorted soon for you. X

[Jan01]

I think the phone calls were the worst thing about going for an IVA. Like many people I hadn't missed a payment and was advised to stop payments. I would just let calls go to the answer machine. If I did answer the phone I had a script and said something like I am going for an IVA as I am unable to pay my debts and my IP has advised me not to pay any money to my creditors and if they needed any more information to contact my IP gave them the name and the phone number and put the phone down. I was polite and gave the information put would try not to get into conversation with the caller.

I was also lucky in that the phone calls stopped very quickly after the IVA was approved.

Some of the callers were very rude and nasty and wouldn't listen to me and kept on ringing many times a day. I feel there should be a code of practice re phone calls once someone is applying for a IVA and the companies have been notified by the IP that calls should stop. After all people going for a IVA are facing up to the problem not ignoring it and looking for a solution.

Jan

[TheMatrix]

I agree, unfortunately as soon as you mention IVA alarm bells start to ring and they know they are not going to get all their money back so they resort to all tactics while they can.

Something should be done at the iva application stage in my opinion, like a restraining order put in place to stop all creditor contact on the point of applying for a iva.

[kallis3]

That would be brilliant, but I can't see it happening. Even now, when an IVA has been approved, people still get phone calls and letters, when legally these should have stopped.