kal i hope you dont mind
BOUNCY BALL have a read of the below hun-might ease your mind a little ps dont forget if ever youre scared or feel alone jump on here and we'll make you feel better luv FD X[:o)]
IVA : How to Deal With Creditor Calls.
There is nothing quite like having a call from a creditor. Especially when they are looking for a payment.
Just the thought of a creditor calling can be enough for some people to avoid answering their telephone, especially when they don’t have the means to pay the creditor anything until next month.
However, it is important to realise that communicating with your creditors is the key, so try not to hide from your creditors, as a lack of contact can be more damaging in the long run.
If you have not notified your creditors of your financial difficulties before hand, the first contact you will probably receive from your creditors will be from one of their recovery team, or late payments department.
Their reasons for calling you are generally to find out why your payment is late, or did not arrive when it was supposed to, and to establish when you intend to make the next payment to them.
Different creditors have different tactics, but they will vary their tactics, dependent on how much you owe them.
Strangely enough, it can be the creditors who are owed the least money that cause the most upset.
If you put yourself in the creditor’s shoes for a moment, you can see that if somebody in financial difficulties owed you £20,000 it is unlikely that they will be able to repay you any more quickly just because you are using threatening behavior towards them, whereas if somebody owed you £300, you maybe able to influence the client to maintain some level of repayments by threatening action against them.
Not all creditors will call you regularly, indeed, some may not call at all, but when they do call the type of phone calls you can expect from creditors can vary immensely, from a courteous call and a gentle reminder to a full threat of legal action against you should you continue to avoid payment of the debt.
So here are some golden rules that you can use to assist you when your creditors call
Stay calm and be polite, even if the person on the other end of the phone is being rude to you.
Take the name of the caller and the name of the creditor concerned and keep a date and time log of your conversations as it may be useful later on.
Keep your call courteous, short and to the point, and try to avoid being engaged in a conversation about your repayments.
Do not make a promise of a payment you cannot keep, as this can make the calls even more difficult later.
Try to keep control of the call. Remember, you are the still customer.
Then, depending on your situation :
If you are entering into an Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA): Give the name, address and telephone number of your Insolvency Practitioner to the creditor, and explain to them that you are in the process of proposing an IVA. Ask them to contact your insolvency practitioner, as they are dealing with all your finances and have instructed you to refrain from making any payments to your creditors at all.
If you are entering into a Debt Management Programme: Give the name, address and telephone number of your debt management company to the creditor, and explain to them that you are in the process of proposing a debt management program. Ask them to contact your Debt Management company, as they are dealing with all your finances and have instructed you to refrain from making any payments to your creditors at all.
If you have decided to declare yourself Bankrupt: Explain to the creditor that you are unable to make any further payments and you will be contacting your local county court with the intention of petitioning for your own Bankruptcy.
If you are losing control of the call, explain that now is not a good time to discuss it, and ask them to call back at a more convenient time. If necessary, arrange another time to discuss your situation and hang up.
