Credit Rating/Debt Woes

Jokah

May he continue to dig his hole....

Soon he will be applying to all those stupid debt clearing companies that advertise during the daytime tv programs....No time for him

spongebob

Originally posted by DaithiSurfer
No they don't send letters first in case you run again before they get to you.
<snip>
They do send letters in cases where the person is not likely to dissapear again or if they are a letters type of debt collector.

The cops only go if there is a possible breach of the peace, or if the agency bribes them. They have no business going as witnesses in a civil case and could be sued for it.

The skanger collectors are the type employed by catalogue companies and the weekly installment merchants. Normally the banks would not sell to that kind of collector but the original collector who bought the debt can sell it on to the verminous ones later on.

M

Victor

Originally posted by Muck
did he get a summons?

As best I know it is adequate to deliver a summons to a person's last known address for it to be deemed served. It need not be served in person.

b20uvkft6m5xwg

the user "InDebt" has asked me to move this back over to PI so they can reply unregged again.

Its a techincal more than a contextual reason, so they can keep there anonymity

Thx
D.

LegacyUser

Thanks 80p...

Anyway, to all those of you preaching and lecturing me on being responsible, and all those hoping I have my legs broken or am put in prison. Cheers. You've really helped me in my search for advice.

To all others who posted a fair/decent reply, thank you.

If you'd all care to read my first post my request is for help and advice on clearing my debt - meaning I want to pay it off. What is the best way I could do this.

My second request was for restoring bad credit. After I've cleared my debt or whatever.

These debts were run up when I was young and stupid. I didn't give a crap at the time what happened. I was in a good job and was paying them off perfectly. Then I was fired - and went into debt. I couldn't get employment here so moved to London. I informed the credit card company of my London address, and asked them to send a giro book, so i could pay my debt at £10 a week. I never received the book.

I worked a shít job in London and never heard from the company again. I forgot about it.

I now wish to pay off my debt and restore my good credit. So all on their high horses please bugger off.

XPThink - I'm trying to dig myself out of a hole. Don't judge when you don't know the circumstances. True... I should have been on top of this before now, but I'm not. My mistake. Which I now want to rectify.

I have never received a summons, even two years ago I applied for finance on a computer. Was refused. No goons came to get me/break my legs, and no summons came.

My two recent finance applications were to prove/disprove the info my relations friend gave saying I was clear. Obviously they were wrong.

Again, all those people with decent/non-scare mongering replies... thanks.

Sleipnir

If you want to clear the debt and get back on an even keel you need to go to the to whom you owe the money and talk to them.
You need to give them details of the address you had, credit card number (if you can remember it) amount owed etc.

Tell them you did it when you were 'young and stupid' but you want to rectify the issue now by paying it off by direct debit month by month.

If they've sold the debt on, you'll have to contact whoever that is.

With regards restoring your bad credit; there isn't really a way to avoid it being on your record, at least for 5 or 6 years.
Pay your debt back, pay your bills on time and if you kep that up, eventually they'll forgive you.

Jokah

Well I stand corrected....

Apologies.....

LegacyUser

Cheers Kananga. I'm gonna wait and see what my credit report says, and then start on paying it off.

XPThink... no worries. Thanks all.

Jokah

You go to the Irish Credit Bureau?

eth0_

Originally posted by InDebt

If you'd all care to read my first post my request is for help and advice on clearing my debt - meaning I want to pay it off. What is the best way I could do this.
I now wish to pay off my debt and restore my good credit. So all on their high horses please bugger off.

Your first post comes across as very blase, and I don't seem to remember you asking for help to pay it off, just asking is it true your credit record is wiped after 5 years, if so hahahah I beat the system. You can't honestly blame me and everyone else for 'getting on our high horse' about your post!

You don't need to get another loan to pay this off. It's not a large amount, not in todays society. You speak to your creditors, and arrange some sort of payment scheme. AFAIK there is some agency which acts as a go-between for you, for free. Can't remember the name though.

And it would probably help put things in perspective if you faced up to things, called your creditors and found out how much you now owe them. If you are so serious about clearing your debt you should have done that by now! If it's true what has been said about compound interest then you're in much deeper.

As for losing your job....did you not have payment protection on your cards?

Victor

Originally posted by eth0_
AFAIK there is some agency which acts as a go-between for you, for free.

www.mabs.ie

shoegirl

With all due respect to InDebt I have been in a much worse position and so I can understand why he feels so intimidated.

Actually his first posting was extremely blase, and as somebody who is cleaning up a much bigger debt problem as a result of an extremely abusive relationship (it sounds like an excuse, but when you live with somebody where the choice is to pay their share of the rent rather than be evicted, the choices are rather limited) it made me extremely angry. Many people in Ireland, lose their jobs or run into financial trouble and most deal with it. Its a common thing according to many debt counsellors for people to leave envelopes sitting unopened because they are just so scared of what they will find inside. Also, there is a lot of ignorance and myths about debt.

I think the first thing that indebt needs to do is to take responsibility for the debts of the past. Its easy to think that 5 years clears the debt. Actually, bank records probably goes back much further. Also credit ratings breakdown defaulters according to whether or not the debt was a) paid late but in full, b) settled with a partial payment or c) written off. This doesn't happen overnight. By the time it will have gone to court or been written off would be as much as 2-3 years after the original default. So the last entry on your record may only go back 3 years. Officially, the account is removed 5 years after the completion date of the account - which is the date at which you've either paid it off or its been written off.

So you need to realise that your actions - especially where debt is concerned - have major and lasting implications.

Firstly if the total debt is less than €2000 you won't see police or baliffs. The only people in prison in Ireland for debt are peope who don't pay court fines and serious fradsters.

If the banks were your lenders you'll have probably have had legal and legitimate "letter writer" type collection agencies. Actually there is one rather large agency in Dublin that deals with most of these but I don't know if they were operating a few years ago. I'd recommend reading this article which explains exactly what level of information is given on credit records:
http://www.ifha.ie/IBIS%20Applying%20for%20Consumer%20Credit.pdf

Basically, indebt should contact his lenders and come clean. Its possible that the debts are now written off, but there may be outstanding court orders. Its going to be a very unpleasant experience are he should immediately call MABS and get advice (www.mabs.ie).

The sad reality here for indebt and anybody who thinks they can just "walk away" is that it will come back to haunt you, and it is far less painful to take responsibilty. The lesson to be learned here is that you cannot just come back after a few years and expect things to be ok. And it will take you a few years to clear your name.

First things to think of for anybody in indebt's situation:
1. Talk to MABS and if they recommend a solicitor, find one
2. Talk to your old creditors and find out where the debt went
3. Follow the debt and see if it is possible to pay it off
4. Don't even consider getting your credit reference until you've done this. You can pretty much assume that you won't like what you see, so sort the other problems out first.
5. Don't even think about applying for loans or finance for the time being. You say you want to "restore your good credit" but here's the bad news: its going to be a long hard haul before any lender in Ireland will touch you. You might think its unfair, but failing to pay bills hurts somebody somewhere whose dependent on those bills.

spongebob

Post of the Month material, well said Shoegirl.

eth0_

Originally posted by Muck
Post of the Month material, well said Shoegirl.

I agree. I was able to pay off 6000 euro of debt in around 2 years, and i'm crap with money. So if I can do it, so can the original poster! Luckily I was never in any trouble with repayments so my credit record is clean and pristine, but I think if you've had difficulties you just have to accept there is no quick fix and you'll need to concentrate on repayments and living within your means for now.

Have to say i'll never get a credit card again though, they were the main cause of my debts. If only Irish banks would issue cards like Visa Electron which you can use on most common online stores, i'm sure people would be less in debt, especially young people. Laser is bloody crap, which made me apply for a credit card in the first place. *grimace*

Victor

Point of information.

Originally posted by Victor
For this type of debt, the statute of limitiations (Statute of Limitations Acts, 1957, 1991, 2000) is 6 years, not 5.

Sorry this is six years to sue you plus are further 6 years to enforce the judgement.

Our man in Havana

Actually you have 12 years to enforce a judgement.