Personal Debt- debt collectors what to do

danotroy

Hello, I need a little help which I hope someone can help me with.

I took a loan out from a bank in 2009. For 20,000 or there about. I had an Agreement with the bank to freeze payments for the first year so I only started paying it back towards the middle of 2010. To date i have managed to get the loan down to about 10,000. My payments have been rather erratic but up until now I had managed to keep them off my case. I am currently in Australia and I left a sum of money in my account to take care of the loan. some of you will gasp at this but
I was waiting for a letter from the bank to let me know when i was over drawn so I could currencyfair some more money home. Alas no letter arrived from the bank and it did cross my mind as to why it had never happened I even questioned my parents to see if any letters had arrived. But there was only a medical card renewal form and o2 looking for 30 euros that i owed, i paid the 30 to 02 btw .

Yesterday my mother rang and said a letter from the States had arrived so she opened it and low and behold a debt collection company are looking for me for the sum of $13,000. I rang the bank and they said that its out of their hands now and i need to contact the debt collectors. How come the bank never notified me I was going into arrears? They never got a solicitor after me, (a solicitor sent me a letter in the early stages of my repayments when I fell behind and I paid plus some more to keep them happy) the bank never told me that they were going to employ a debt collector or that they were selling my loan to a debt collector let alone one from the States.

SO.... where do I go from here?
I am going to contact the debt collectors tomorrow via skype
How should I approach them?

Should I ask for proof of the debt?
Should I give them my address?
Should I ask them to knock a couple of G's off if i can settle the debt within a year?
Do they have to agree to any reasonable offer I make them
If I manage to show that I am paying back the loan will they let me revert to the bank and pay them?
Does going through this process hurt my credit rating?



I have been reading online and some of the above questions are things I have pulled from reading on various debt help sites. These sites are in the opinion that you should play hard ball and give the impression you can pay you will pay but you will not be lead into an arrangement you don't want to be.

I am currently in full time employment and I have about 7,000 that I can use to pay the loan. So I am in a position to pay, but not in full right away. Should tell the debtor that I can pay 3,000 straight away as a good will gesture or arrange a monthly amount of 1,000 to get the ball rolling.


Thanks guys i know i've asked a lot but I want to cover all my bases as I am not burying my head in the sand as I realise the importance of the situation.

wmpdd3

Was this an unsecured personal loan with no guarantor?

Was it with an Irish bank?

I would not deal with a non Irish debt collection agency, how do you know its not a scam, will the bank confirm that they sold your account to the company, get this first. Also how will you know that this company will update the ICB.

Should I ask for proof of the debt? the fact you rang them could be seen as proof of the debt or you acknowledging the debt.

Should I give them my address?
I wouldn't, but I would give them your country. Tell them you are between homes.

Should I ask them to knock a couple of G's off if i can settle the debt within a year?
I would give the impression that your are short of money at the moment but would like to pay what you can afford but that you may be able to source money for a full and final payment in a couple of months time.

Do they have to agree to any reasonable offer I make them
No, they can bring you to court, the thing how lightly is that?

If I manage to show that I am paying back the loan will they let me revert to the bank and pay them?
As far as I know no, the debt has probably been sold for a lot less than the amount owed to the debt company so the bank is finished with it. But some collection agencies are just another part of the bank trading as a debt collection agency who have different rules from the Central Bank.

Familiarise yourself with the Consumer Credit Act.

Does going through this process hurt my credit rating?

Your credit rating is already hurt badly and it will be until 5 years after the final payment on this loan has been made or it is written off.

Most of the advice above is dependant on your loan being a personal loan and not a business loan.