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Debt collector calling

neenah

Can anyone offer some advice please.
I had a debt collector call to my door last night looking for me. My partner answered and said I wasn't home as I was in the shower at the time. He didn't introduce himself as a debt collector but my partner said he's pretty sure he is one as he refused to talk about anything with my partner and he had paperwork in his hand.
I know I have a debt owing for a loan I took out 10 years ago. I had received a few letters from the bank I owed it to and one from a debt collection agency in Dublin but this was years ago and to be honest I had almost forgotten about the loan til last night. I presume that's what the debt collector called for as there is nothing else owing.
Does anyone know if I have any rights when it comes to dealing with these people as they scare the life out of me and I'm terrified he will call again and I won't know what to say or do.
He left no details apart from a phone number to contact him on.

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L1011

You don't need to talk to anyone at the door about it; and although a head in the sand approach isn't the best way to deal with anything - a debt of that age that hasn't been acknowledged for that period is not enforceable in court unless you acknowledge it again.

Odyssey 2005

Call him and find out !. He will be back,again and again. May not even be what you suspect.
Afraid to open your own door is no way to lead a life.
Loans are like taxes and the IRA. ...they never go away.

neenah

L1011 wrote: »

You don't need to talk to anyone at the door about it; and although a head in the sand approach isn't the best way to deal with anything - a debt of that age that hasn't been acknowledged for that period is not enforceable in court unless you acknowledge it again.

Thanks for your reply that's put my mind at ease a little

neenah

Odyssey 2005 wrote: »

Call him and find out !. He will be back,again and again. May not even be what you suspect.
Afraid to open your own door is no way to lead a life.
Loans are like taxes and the IRA. ...they never go away.

I honestly couldn't call him I suffer with anxiety and haven't slept all night worrying about it. I'm terrified he will call again today and I have 3 young children here so I don't want to get upset in front of them either. I wouldn't mind as much if I had the means to pay it but as it is we are struggling to pay our mortgage and bills.

Doctors room ghost

Still has to be dealt with though. The bank are obviously still keen on collecting the debt or else they have sold it on and the collector is now charged with collecting it.could you seek legal advice on this and maybe come to a written agreement with the company to pay back an affordable amount per week until it’s clear.
It’s not nice but it won’t go away until dealt with

neenah

Doctors room ghost wrote: »

Still has to be dealt with though. The bank are obviously still keen on collecting the debt or else they have sold it on and the collector is now charged with collecting it.could you seek legal advice on this and maybe come to a written agreement with the company to pay back an affordable amount per week until it’s clear.
It’s not nice but it won’t go away until dealt with

I know it had to be dealt but sending a big burly man to a woman's door isint the answer.
I had answered the banks letters and tried to come to an arrangement with them at the time but they sold the debt to Cabot in Dublin. I tried to come to an arrangement with them also but heard nothing back from them and that was definitely 9 years ago now

spyderski

Doctors room ghost wrote: »

Still has to be dealt with though. The bank are obviously still keen on collecting the debt or else they have sold it on and the collector is now charged with collecting it.could you seek legal advice on this and maybe come to a written agreement with the company to pay back an affordable amount per week until it’s clear.
It’s not nice but it won’t go away until dealt with

it may not actually have to be dealt with though. Given what you have said, the debt is probably statute barred, and therefore unenforceable in court. You need to find out what the person who called to your door is looking for - it may not be what you think. You definitely need to ring him and ask, but do not acknowledge you owe the debt, or promise to pay anything. Tell him you need to check your records and will get back to him. If the debt he's chasing is statute-barred, they cannot take you to court.

Having said that, if the debt is small, it may just be handier to pay it off.

Odyssey 2005

Neenah, it's time you put your big girls knickers on and faced this. You obviously knew this day would come. If you don't want your children to see you getting upset(perfectly understandable) then you need to take the initiative and call them. They will not beat you up. I sure you could nominate someone to speak for you if your not comfortable with it.

lawred2

neenah wrote: »

Can anyone offer some advice please.
I had a debt collector call to my door last night looking for me. My partner answered and said I wasn't home as I was in the shower at the time. He didn't introduce himself as a debt collector but my partner said he's pretty sure he is one as he refused to talk about anything with my partner and he had paperwork in his hand.
I know I have a debt owing for a loan I took out 10 years ago. I had received a few letters from the bank I owed it to and one from a debt collection agency in Dublin but this was years ago and to be honest I had almost forgotten about the loan til last night. I presume that's what the debt collector called for as there is nothing else owing.
Does anyone know if I have any rights when it comes to dealing with these people as they scare the life out of me and I'm terrified he will call again and I won't know what to say or do.
He left no details apart from a phone number to contact him on.

a debt collector at the door is entering into seriously dodgy territory. They have no authority to do so.

I would be contacting whomever has engaged these debt collectors to desist immediately or you will contacting the guards and reporting harassment. Instruct them to only engage with you through registered mail.

The only person authorized to come to your door is a court appointed sheriff.

neenah

Odyssey 2005 wrote: »

Neenah, it's time you put your big girls knickers on and faced this. You obviously knew this day would come. If you don't want your children to see you getting upset(perfectly understandable) then you need to take the initiative and call them. They will not beat you up. I sure you could nominate someone to speak for you if your not comfortable with it.

I just need to build up the courage to ring

Doctors room ghost

neenah wrote: »

I know it had to be dealt but sending a big burly man to a woman's door isint the answer.
I had answered the banks letters and tried to come to an arrangement with them at the time but they sold the debt to Cabot in Dublin. I tried to come to an arrangement with them also but heard nothing back from them and that was definitely 9 years ago now

I’m not saying sending someone to your house is the answer and I don’t personally agree with it but that’s the company’s policy in order to make contact with people who are being hard to contact and have borrowed money which is now outstanding.im not saying you,but people borrow money and seem fine with hiding in the shadows and hoping the problem goes away with no intentions of repaying the borrowed amount.
It won’t go away until it’s payed or goods to the value of the loan are recovered.
And whether it’s a man or a woman who owes the money and the house that the collector is calling to shouldn’t make any difference. The collector is just there doing their job,collecting a loan from a person who has borrowed money and not payed it back.

spyderski

Odyssey 2005 wrote: »

Neenah, it's time you put your big girls knickers on and faced this. You obviously knew this day would come. If you don't want your children to see you getting upset(perfectly understandable) then you need to take the initiative and call them. They will not beat you up. I sure you could nominate someone to speak for you if your not comfortable with it.

Cabot, and their wholly-owned legal outfit, "Belgard Solicitors" are nothing but a crowd of scumbags. They buy up residual debt for cents in the Euro from financial institutions, and they try to hassle and intimidate people into paying. If the debt is statute barred, don't feel under any moral obligation to pay these undesirables a penny.

neenah

lawred2 wrote: »

a debt collector at the door is entering into seriously dodgy territory. They have no authority to do so.

I would be contacting whomever has engaged these debt collectors to desist immediately or you will contacting the guards and reporting harassment. Instruct them to only engage with you through registered mail.

The only person authorized to come to your door is a court appointed sheriff.

The problem is I don't know who has sent him as the bank sold the debt to Cabot in Dublin originally. He didn't say who had sent him and wouldn't discuss anything with my partner

spyderski

Belgard Solicitors will have sent him, but it doesn't matter. Either the debt is statute barred or not. That means 6 years from the date you last made a payment, or acknowledged the debt.

IITYWYBMAD

neenah wrote: »

I just need to build up the courage to ring

Pick up the phone today, and deal with it. Your anxiety is just going to grow, as the days and weeks go on. You'll be hopping every time the doorbell goes, and it's no way to be living your life. As has been suggested above, you can nominate your partner to deal with it, but you have to make contact.

These debt collectors are normally professional, and all they want to do is collect the debt. As has been suggested, it may not be enforceable, but burying your head will escalate it in your mind to such an extent, that the longer you leave it, the less likely you'll be to sort it.

It's only a phone call, and these people are dealing with literally hundreds of these cases a day. If your partner is willing to speak on your behalf, just pick up the phone, ring them, tell them that X is dealing with this matter, and not to contact you directly again. IF they say that the call is being recorded, inform then that you are doing the same "for the record". Be firm, polite and just tell them that you are not in a position to deal with this, but your partner has agreed to speak with them on your behalf. Do not elaborate and do not say anything else. It'll be over in 3 minutes, and the relief you'll feel will be immense. Do it now...

neenah

spyderski wrote: »

Cabot, and their wholly-owned legal outfit, "Belgard Solicitors" are nothing but a crowd of scumbags. They buy up residual debt for cents in the Euro from financial institutions, and they try to hassle and intimidate people into paying. If the debt is statute barred, don't feel under any moral obligation to pay these undesirables a penny.

Do I debt owing anything if he calls again or if I ring him? If I do this is there anything else they can do? I've read horrible reviews about Cabot and belgard solicitors.

neenah

IITYWYBMAD wrote: »

Pick up the phone today, and deal with it. Your anxiety is just going to grow, as the days and weeks go on. You'll be hopping every time the doorbell goes, and it's no way to be living your life. As has been suggested above, you can nominate your partner to deal with it, but you have to make contact.

These debt collectors are normally professional, and all they want to do is collect the debt. As has been suggested, it may not be enforceable, but burying your head will escalate it in your mind to such an extent, that the longer you leave it, the less likely you'll be to sort it.

It's only a phone call, and these people are dealing with literally hundreds of these cases a day. If your partner is willing to speak on your behalf, just pick up the phone, ring them, tell them that X is dealing with this matter, and not to contact you directly again. IF they say that the call is being recorded, inform then that you are doing the same "for the record". Be firm, polite and just tell them that you are not in a position to deal with this, but your partner has agreed to speak with them on your behalf. Do not elaborate and do not say anything else. It'll be over in 3 minutes, and the relief you'll feel will be immense. Do it now...

Do I acknowledge to him that I owe the money? It's not that I want to hide but the stress is immense. My partner is happy to deal with him but will I tell him to acknowledge the debt ?

spyderski

There is no need to acknowledge anything. Ring him. Ask what he called about, tell him you'll check and ring him back. If it is the statute barred debt, call him back and tell him you owe Cabot nothing, and if he calls to your house again you'll ring the Gardai. You'll most likely never hear from him or Cabot again. If they persist with chasing the debt, and you feel under pressure from them, contact your local MABS and ask them to deal with the issue for you.

IITYWYBMAD

neenah wrote: »

Do I acknowledge to him that I owe the money? It's not that I want to hide but the stress is immense. My partner is happy to deal with him but will I tell him to acknowledge the debt ?

No. Ring the number. Tell them somebody called to your house. They'll ask for your name, and immediately tell you why they called. Listen to them, and tell them that you are not in a position to deal with this, and that your partner has agreed to act on your behalf. If they ask you any other questions, tell them that you are not in a position to deal with this, and that your partner has agreed to act on your behalf.

If your partner gets a call, he should ask them to send out all paperwork, and he'll get back to them. At that stage, get some advice, and deal with he issue then.

Please remember, that you are one of ten of thousands dealing with small things like this, and the more you procrastinate, the bigger this tiny problem will seem. Pick up the phone, and just call them. They have no power over you, and as soon as you call them, you are tackling the small issue.

Odyssey 2005

Never knew unpaid loans were statute barred after 6 years. Every day is a school day !

duffman13

OP just call, not to put to fine a point on it but it may not even be a debt collector. They didn't identify themselves and just asked for you. Make the phone call with your number hidden and enquire as to the nature of the call.

Seve OB

it was a solicitior
your unknown great uncle has died, montgomery brewster was his name
you are in the will but there is a catch............you will have the option to take a million quid now and be happy. or take 30 million now, and have one month to spend it with nothing to show for it at the end of the day. if you can do that, without telling a soul what you are up to, then you will inherrit ridiculous sums of money... hundreds of millions... then you should be able to clear your debt

bertsmom

Would you not just ring and see if it is a debt collector and if it is and it is a genuine loan you took out in the past maby set up a manageable payment plan? I know I would definitely have anxiety if I had a debt hanging over me.
If you did borrow the money maby just pay it back and then it's one less thing to worry about.

spyderski

bertsmom wrote: »

If you did borrow the money maby just pay it back and then it's one less thing to worry about.

OP, you didn't borrow the money from Cabot. They made a business decision to buy distressed debt at approx 10% of par (face value), in a speculative deal that will see them make significant profits based on an overall recovery rate.

Honestly, have no guilt about paying these bas**rds nothing. They are the Vultures that are in the news at the moment.

CruelCoin

lawred2 wrote: »

a debt collector at the door is entering into seriously dodgy territory. They have no authority to do so.

I would be contacting whomever has engaged these debt collectors to desist immediately or you will contacting the guards and reporting harassment. Instruct them to only engage with you through registered mail.

The only person authorized to come to your door is a court appointed sheriff.

It could well be the sheriff...

The OP did say they didn't identify the guy.

dr.fuzzenstein

spyderski wrote: »

OP, you didn't borrow the money from Cabot. They made a business decision to buy distressed debt at approx 10% of par (face value), in a speculative deal that will see them make significant profits based on an overall recovery rate.

Honestly, have no guilt about paying these bas**rds nothing. They are the Vultures that are in the news at the moment.

Or pay your debt and these "vultures" wouldn't exist in the first place.
It's this "free money" attitude that is to blame that Irish interest rates are twice what they are elsewhere in Europe. My German mortgage is around 2% and that could be considered expensive.
This post is point in case. It's this Irish "rebel spirit" which only results in things in Ireland being difficult and expensive. Banking and insurance are two prime examples of this "sticking it to the man" attitude.

Squiggle

CruelCoin wrote: »

It could well be the sheriff...

A debt can't be enforced without a judgement which doesn't appear to be the case here.

OP debt collectors calling to your door have no right to be there if you don't want them there. Ask them to leave and if they don't call the guards. Don't engage with a caller other than asking them to leave. Without a judgement against you a creditor/debt collector is only chancing their arm trying to get you to pay up.

If in the very unlikely event court proceedings are issued against you, don't ignore these as the statue barred defence can be used if is more than six years since you last made a payment. The creditor of course will know this which is why they won't pursue the legal route!

Relax you don't really have anything to be concerned about. These guys rely on fear to get you to pay.

spyderski

dr.fuzzenstein wrote: »

Or pay your debt and these "vultures" wouldn't exist in the first place.
It's this "free money" attitude that is to blame that Irish interest rates are twice what they are elsewhere in Europe. My German mortgage is around 2% and that could be considered expensive.
This post is point in case. It's this Irish "rebel spirit" which only results in things in Ireland being difficult and expensive. Banking and insurance are two prime examples of this "sticking it to the man" attitude.

Yeah, we get it. Irish people are corrupt, the country is a kip, and Germany is much better. The master race love vulture funds. You must be delighted you're over there. You'd be better off sticking to German message boards altogether, I'd say.

Squiggle

dr.fuzzenstein wrote: »

Or pay your debt and these "vultures" wouldn't exist in the first place.
It's this "free money" attitude that is to blame that Irish interest rates are twice what they are elsewhere in Europe.

If banks had behaved responsibly during the celtic tiger we wouldn't have a mess. Instead they gave out 100% mortgages, loans of seven times income, gave 5 year fixed rates to make sure borrowers would pass stress tests etc. The endless reckless lending came with the blessing of the Central Bank, the Regulator and the Government. When reality hits home they all want Johnny and Mary to carry the can for what went on iwth the "free money". And of course we pandered disgracefully to the ECB to make sure the Anglo bond holders got their money. Imagine a risk free corporate bond - you couldn't make it up !!!

Kristopherus

If to OP has corresponded with the bank, the 6-year rule reverts to the last date of correspondence, afaik.