Why can't letters be nicer?

[Roundcat]

Hi - I just joined this site a few moments ago and already am beginning to feel better about my situation - the details of which I wont go into now. So thanks for setting this site up and thanks to everyone here who is sharing their experiences. The important thing for me is to remember - it is just money and it will get sorted. But I have to motivate it and I need to adjust my life to accomodate it.

As someone who is not being chased by creditors but is borrowing money from one place to pay another place and is constantly juggling I am still terrified when the tax bill comes in (Im self employed) and the very sight of the brown government envelope fills me with dread.

For me there should be some legislation which prevents 'austere' communications from creditors - or even councils. I am talking about miserable brown envelopes, red letters and threats ("if you dont pay by such a date we will be forced..." etc).

I am sure most people are in a bad financial situation (as I am) by pure ingnorance and making mistakes financially in the past. There is no intent on my part so why add to my burden with psychological fear provoking stationary?

Does anyone agree this will help? Can't the FSO(Financial Services Ombusdman) do something? Is putting those in debt into a state of dread really helping them get their money back?

[Adam Davies]

Hi and welcome
It's quite normal to 'fear' the post when you have debt problems,I can remember not wanting to open the mail.
The secret is to pull your head up,decide to attack your debts and make the first step in finding a solution
We are here to help

[angela18]

Hi Roundcat, me and hubby are like that with the post at the moment, we are in the progress of trying for IVA. Borrowing off Peter to pay back Paul isn't so good. Eventually Peter will link up with Paul and credit could stop. We just felt that a vicious circle of credit was no good for our lives and health. You should really speak to someone who can help, we did and I feel loads better already..

[Roundcat]

Thanks angela and andy. I'm confident a solution is out there but am not sure which IP to choose (does it matter?).

The letters just seem like they are designed to strike fear into you before you even open them - and I just dont think its fairplay.

After all I was never prepared at school for dealing with my finances and never realised I was getting into a mess - I always thought it would work itself out and it taken me to get to 37 before I've woken up and realised I need to do something asap.

[angela18]

you can look at different IPs on IVA.com, we did and we are with Melanie an expert on this site, but there are loads which come highly recommended. Give it a go.. sooner rather than later

[MelanieGiles]

It does matter about choosing the right IP if you are self-employed. A lot of IPs will not deal with self-employed cases as they take additional care and attention, and do involve dealing with HMRC.

To proceed with an application, you will need to have your trading accounts up to date, together with a projection of anticipated future trading results to demonstrate to both the IP and your creditors that you have a viable business which can firstly support your household and general expenditure and secondely leave sufficient money to make ongoing IVA contributions - whilst of course setting aside sufficient monies to meet your HMRC stage payments.

A good IP can help you to put these figures together, and also explore all options with you. Your own situation does not sound too despearate, so perhaps with some careful budgeting and valuable guidance from an insolvency professional it might be possible to trade your way out of your situation rather than resorting to formal insolvency proceedings.

[Soulgrowth]

I completely agree Roundcat. I had a letter from the tax office a few weeks ago essentially saying "we are coming to put you in prison, do not pass 'go', after which we will hang you" for failure to return a partnership tax raturn ... all of which was addressed and completed by my accountant months ago.[:(]

Debbie

[lily]

After making an offer to one of my creditors, I recieved a vicious letter back refusing the offer. I dont take it personally, I borrowed the money, I dont expect them to like the fact they took a chance on me and lost, but I was really just trying to settle the matter. I wrote back pointing this out and asking why the threats?? Is it just company policy?? Could they suggest a less aggresive way to communicate??? Why state that I am ignoring the matter when I have hard copies of correspondance and proof of postage?? This was followed up by a letter by a third party on my behalf. They settled the following week.

[chris.g]

These letter have one sole purpose, to try to get you to pay up!!!!! They have no soul and feeling, you owe us money and we want it back!!! They don't care that we have no money to give them......
In all fairness it's probably cost the companies a hell of a lot to get someone to word these letters so that they have maximum impact on us. Everything comes down to pychology and manipulation, the more they get off us before we go bust, the better for them.....

[angela18]

Hi I work for HMRC... please don't hold any oth this against me!![:I]

[joh71262]

On the up side, my junk mail has never been so scarce !

No offers of loans or credit cards - my IVA has saved many tree's ! )

[go_4_broke]

Hi Roundcat

If you want a change from brown envelopes and red letters you need the Co-Op Bank as one of your creditors. I'm always amused by the tricks creditors and especially debt collection agencies use to try and get your attention, a classic example being the fake telegram. The Co-Op used to send out letters from an (I'm sure entirely non-existent) organization call the 'Central Bureau of Defaulters' whose stated purpose was 'Recorders of Defaulted Debt on Public Records & Debt Administrators'. These came in a very colourful bright yellow envelope! The letter went on to say, in not no many words, that if you didn't pay up, a 'DEFAULT REGISTRATION' (their caps) will be recorded against you for 6 years! In other words, you will be recorded at the credit reference agencies as having been defaulted, well, big deal! At the end of the day it was a pretty cheap attempt once you saw through it but some people could have been quite worried by it, hence the tone of my reply which I reproduce in full below :

<div align="right">A Debtor
Naughty Town
Slapped Wrists
UK


Tel: Not b***** Likely

4th April 2003</div id="right">


<div align="left">The Amusingly Titled Central Bureau of Defaulters
The Co Op
Salford</div id="left">

Dear Sirs

Many thanks for brightening up my day with your hilarious letter in its colourful springlike yellow envelope.

I haven’t had such a good laugh in ages as I read of the obviously completely bogus ‘Central Bureau of Defaulters’.

I also couldn’t help noticing how similar in format the letter was to those produced by the Co-Op.

Some mistake, shurely ?

Yours in Stitches


A Debtor (Scared, Not)

Best Regards, Simon

PS Please note the telephone number - I recommend everyone uses this one.

[YummySheep]

Just to follow on from Melanie's post. I would suggest researching IP's in your local area as the other reason for some IP's not taking self employed clients is that a face to face meeting is required. Also as a self employed person, the whole process is a little bit more complicated. Nothing that a licensed Insolvency Practitioner can't handle but often with large national firms, you will never speak to the IP, just their staff. If things go wrong, your livelyhood is at risk so doing your research and choosing the right IP is very important.

[chris.g]

haha Simon, Mercer's used to send us peachy card-like envelopes, typed in a fancy font trying to fool us. The letter inside stated that our account was in arrears and they were there to help, they wanted to help and to contact them to let them help. Could they write off the debt with them or stop the crazy charges? No, so they couldn't really help at all........

[lily]

This letter had me laughing out loud. Thanks so much.

If asked my telephone number, I say 0121 do one. Our area code is 0121.