Belgard solictors

141992

Hi im just looking for advice im recieving threats from this place demanding i pay €525 in four days or they will bring me to court im very nervous as im livig at home with my parents and they will freak out if any debt collectors call here or they send the gaurds to the house with a court summons .. i dont no what to do im a single mother only on 220 a week gettig no support from the childs father i was paying 30 a week but ended up being 35 because it was postal order thats a lot for me to be paying so i stopped (i no that will look bad in court) but i dont no what to do any advice would be greatly appreciated

Vicxas

All you can do is try and ring them and see if they're willing to negotiate the payments.

Ignoring them will only make it much worse.

141992

Vicxas wrote: »

All you can do is try and ring them and see if they're willing to negotiate the payments.

Ignoring them will only make it much worse.

I tried negotiate with them before to no qvail they insist i can afford to pay them the 30 euro im just thinking let them bring me to court im sure the judge wouldnt make me pay them as much anyways

5rtytry56

Make visit to a Citizens Advice Bureau. These offices are located in any decent sized town and suburban town. Advice is given out free. There is even one in the Square Shopping Centre on the ground floor.

141992

5rtytry56 wrote: »

Make visit to a Citizens Advice Bureau. These offices are located in any decent sized town and suburban town. Advice is given out free. There is even one in the Square Shopping Centre on the ground floor.

I will do that thank you

vandriver

Ring them and just clearly state that you can no longer afford 30 a week ,as you are on social welfare.
If they ask you to fill out a SFS,ask them to post it out to you.Dont discuss figures over the phone.
When you get the SFS (standard financial statement) you fill out your income,and your costs like rent ,food,bills,clothes for both of you etc.Dont forget anything and put in a percentage of things you might only buy every few weeks.
At the end of the form,you will have a surplus (maybe) or probably very little left over.
Make them an offer based on this of say a fiver a week or whatever.If you don't think even this is affordable,then just fill in an offer of zero per week.
Their job is to pressure people into paying,but if you can't,there is actually just about nothing they can do for such a tiny amount.
There won't be guards calling to your door as it's a civil matter.
If it ever comes to court(it won't ) the judge can see that you have informed them of your situation,and that you don't have the means to pay.
Keep copies of everything,and don't negotiate over the phone(they are better at it than you are).
Just so you know,the Insolvency Service calculates that the minimum that a one parent,one child family living rent free needs to live on ,not including child benefit,is €1,176 a month before they reckon there is any capacity to repay debts.
So...calm down!In the great scheme of things,this is a completely insignificant amount(not to you,I realise) which you most likely have no means of paying off,and once Belgard or Cabot realise that,they will move on to other people who have a chance to pay something.
Finally,if your parents could get together a few hundred euro,you could make an offer in full and final settlement of the debt,if you would want to explore that avenue.

141992

vandriver wrote: »

Ring them and just clearly state that you can no longer afford 30 a week ,as you are on social welfare.
If they ask you to fill out a SFS,ask them to post it out to you.Dont discuss figures over the phone.
When you get the SFS (standard financial statement) you fill out your income,and your costs like rent ,food,bills,clothes for both of you etc.Dont forget anything and put in a percentage of things you might only buy every few weeks.
At the end of the form,you will have a surplus (maybe) or probably very little left over.
Make them an offer based on this of say a fiver a week or whatever.If you don't think even this is affordable,then just fill in an offer of zero per week.
Their job is to pressure people into paying,but if you can't,there is actually just about nothing they can do for such a tiny amount.
There won't be guards calling to your door as it's a civil matter.
If it ever comes to court(it won't ) the judge can see that you have informed them of your situation,and that you don't have the means to pay.
Keep copies of everything,and don't negotiate over the phone(they are better at it than you are).
Just so you know,the Insolvency Service calculates that the minimum that a one parent,one child family living rent free needs to live on ,not including child benefit,is €1,176 a month before they reckon there is any capacity to repay debts.
So...calm down!In the great scheme of things,this is a completely insignificant amount(not to you,I realise) which you most likely have no means of paying off,and once Belgard or Cabot realise that,they will move on to other people who have a chance to pay something.
Finally,if your parents could get together a few hundred euro,you could make an offer in full and final settlement of the debt,if you would want to explore that avenue.

Thank you this gave me peace of mind ive been so worried ive emailed them as i dont want to communicate with them over the phone as their very persuasive and id end up agreeing to pay more than what i would be able to afford if i was under pressure. When they email back i will ask them to send me out those forms thank you for the reply

vandriver

Here's a small tip:
When you're filling out the form,do it on a separate piece of paper first.You want your expenses to be as near as possible to your income.Dont underestimate anything.
If you have nothing left at the end of every week,and your SFS shows a surplus then you've forgotten something.
When your figures all match up,then fill in the form.

KEEP COPIES OF EVERYTHING AND DONT NEGOTIATE OVER THE PHONE.
(Sorry for shouting)
If they have your mobile number,block them as it only will give you too much stress when their number pops up on your screen.(they use lots of numbers,but they all start with the same digits)

141992

vandriver wrote: »

Here's a small tip:
When you're filling out the form,do it on a separate piece of paper first.You want your expenses to be as near as possible to your income.Dont underestimate anything.
If you have nothing left at the end of every week,and your SFS shows a surplus then you've forgotten something.
When your figures all match up,then fill in the form.

KEEP COPIES OF EVERYTHING AND DONT NEGOTIATE OVER THE PHONE.
(Sorry for shouting)

I dont mean to sound stupid but what do u mean by surplus lol

vandriver

Surplus means if you put down income of €220 and expenses of €200,you would have a surplus of €20.
It's whats left over.

141992

vandriver wrote: »

Surplus means if you put down income of €220 and expenses of €200,you would have a surplus of €20.
It's whats left over.

Ok i get you ill bull**** my way through it i dont mind paying a fiver a week or a tenner but 35 euro is a bit much

pilly

These guys are known for using bullying tactics so don't entertain them over the phone. Ask them to do everything in writing.

141992

pilly wrote: »

These guys are known for using bullying tactics so don't entertain them over the phone. Ask them to do everything in writing.

I just hope they recieved the email because the last thing i need is to be brang to court

pilly

141992 wrote: »

I just hope they recieved the email because the last thing i need is to be brang to court

Very unlikely for that amount of money and as others have said nothing to do with the police so don't stress over them knocking at the door.

141992

pilly wrote: »

These guys are known for using bullying tactics so don't entertain them over the phone. Ask them to do everything in writing.

Thank you im more at ease now after these replys

davo10

Who do you owe the money to? Is a service provider or a small business? They are the ones you should be dealing with.

Ineedaname

141992 wrote: »

I just hope they recieved the email because the last thing i need is to be brang to court

They're not going to take you to court. That's just scare tactics.

Relax.

141992

davo10 wrote: »

Who do you owe the money to? Is a service provider or a small business? They are the ones you should be dealing with.

I owe the money to eircom p

141992

Ineedaname wrote: »

They're not going to take you to court. That's just scare tactics.

Relax.

I just rip up the letters is it worse to ignore them and hope they go away?

davo10

141992 wrote: »

I just rip up the letters is it worse to ignore them and hope they go away?

They are unlikely to bring you to court for such a small amount but if you are more concerned about debt collectors calling to the house, this is a possibility.

Really you should be communicating with Eircom about this rather that the debt collectors. Ripping up the letters doesn't help.

5rtytry56

davo10 wrote: »

Ripping up the letters doesn't help.

don't do this.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Contact Eir and make a payment arrangement. You don't dispute owing them, so deal directly with them.

TheDoc

5rtytry56 wrote: »

don't do this.

OP definitly shouldn't have his/her head in the sand about owed money for service to Eir, but why not rip these letters up?

As told hundreds of times, debt collectors have no authority,power or standing in this country. They operate on commission and don't acquire the debt like in other countries where they become effectively the contract holder.

OP should be discussing with Eir and ignoring these groups, no?

goodlad

I had these clowns onto me before about money i supposedly owed to Meteor.
I just threw their letters in the shredder everytime i got one.

They called me a few times and i just hung up. They just went away after about 2 months. I wouldnt stress over them.

I was also getting bills from meteor every 2 weeks for the amount owed. (i didnt owe them anything). After ignoring the debt collectors the next bill i got from meteor was zero owed so clearly they just write it off eventually.

cabbie04

Cabot