BOS: "Failure to settle debt..a vist to your home by one of our collections officers"

U

unstacked

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Hi,

My husband has an outstanding personal loan with Bank of Scotland for over €16,000 which he wasnt making payments on because he was unemployed.

He has started work again and has started paying about €5 per week back as he has other loans to the value of €35,000 as well and this is all he can afford since he is also paying his half of the mortgage / €225 per week.

He received a letter from a solicitors in Dublin today stating that "you have failed to honour your promise to settle your outstanding indebtness" "Failure to settle the outstanding debt IMMEDIATELY may result in the first instance, in a vist to your home by one of our collections officers"

Can someone tell me does this mean that they will come and take items from the house? What options does he have?

My husband does not have the money to settle this debt at all ! He is barely managing to pay other debts, keep a car on the road and work ( thank god ) oh and pay the mortgage ( this has arrears on it but at least we are making the payments now ).

Our mortgage and health are more important at the moment and we are glad we are back on track ( albeit with arrears but at least back on track )

Any help or advice here would be welcome ! :(
 
Hi - my understanding of a collections officer would be sending someone from the bank to visit your home and speak to you about your current situation and to try and settle on a payment plan. I wouldn't imagine that they could come in to your home and retrieve y?our belongings, is this the first letter of contact with them? The letter states that it may result in the first instance which sounds like this is not for definite. Have you spoken with them and explained your situation and agreed on a monthly amount to pay? If you have no luck with them maybe Mabs may be able to get involved on your behalf.
 
Collections officer, debt collector, field agent are just terms for heavies the bank may or may not send around to persuade you to pay. They have no power to enter your home and certainly have no power to take your possessions. You are not obliged to engage with them at all and you are certainly entitled to slam the door on them.

Only the sheriff can take stuff when he has a court order.
 
First thank you for all the replies.
I suppose the first port of call is to phone the Solicitor.

Those letters really border on bully & scare tactics dont they ! Well, if you dont have the money you just dont have it. As long as they loan is not secured on the house then its oaky. Out PPR is much more important..just wanted to make sure no one was going to come in and grab items...thanks again !
 
Collections is just a banking term for the loans recovery department. There should be no need for you to pay a solicitor. Either you decide to engage with the lender, give details of means and come up with a plan to make repayments. Alternatively you tell them that there is no money and you are not paying and they can pursue any legal path that they wish to.
 
We've actually got two Sheriffs - one in Dublin and one in Cork, in the other counties the county registrar performs the same tasks. Oh, and his men are known as court messengers and not deputy sheriffs :D

Back in the '80s I worked in the insolvency dept. of one of the big 4 accounting firms and we always had problems convincing people that there really was a sheriff and that if they did not deal with their debts they could expect a visit from him some day!

Jim2007 (Switzerland)
 
unstacked said:
As long as they loan is not secured on the house then its oaky. Out PPR is much more important..just wanted to make sure no one was going to come in and grab items...thanks again !
Click to expand...

Well if you fail to address the issue, then at some point I expect you may have a visit from the sheriff or county registrar depending on where you live.

Jim2007
 
As far as I know there's actually two sheriffs in Dublin now...it's far from a laughing matter if it gets to the stage where they're involved.
 
Would it not be a better idea at this stage to contact MABS and seek their advice and guidance on dealing with the bank.
 
Presumably this letter was on foot of previous correspondence. Did your husband maintain contact with the bank? Is there some agreement in place of €5 p.w.? I assume the bank didn't willy-nilly pass this on to an agency if there was communication and agreements already in place.

If he has not already been in contact and explained his situation, he should. They will probably require evidence of all incomes and outgoings to agree some repayment plan. In any event, it is very important that he maintains contact and discussions with his lenders at all times.
 
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